E-audiobook
The war an intimate history, 1941-1945
Record details
- ISBN: 9781415943120 (sound recording : OverDrive Audio Book)
- ISBN: 1415943125 (sound recording : OverDrive Audio Book)
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Physical Description:
electronic
electronic resource
remote - Publisher: New York : Books on Tape, 2007.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Downloadable audio file. Title from: Title details screen. Unabridged. Duration: 8:49:48. |
| Participant or Performer Note: | Read by Ken Burns. |
| System Details Note: | Requires OverDrive Media Console Requires OverDrive Media Console (file size: 126894 KB). Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | World War, 1939-1945 -- United States World War, 1939-1945 -- Social aspects -- United States |
| Genre: | DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOK. Audiobooks. |
Electronic resources
- AudioFile Reviews : AudioFile Reviews 2007 December/January 2008
Producer and war documentarian Ken Burns reads it all, almost. He retains his famous "this happened to us" style of telling history by having three other voices, one of them Tom Hanks's, read a few sentences about every half-hour. The result has more cohesion and flow than a production in which multiple narrators share the task as equals. Burns's soft voice disappears into realistic images of flaming kamikaze planes diving into U.S. ships and the deaths on the Normandy beaches. His tempo may seem slow, but it yields perfect diction. The creators' historical compression of WWII into nine hours of compelling audio meets Burns's intention of educating younger minds in an engaging manner about the greatest war of the twentieth century. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, AudioFile Best Audiobook of 2007 (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine - Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews - Audio And Video Online Reviews 1991-2018
This audio companion to Burns' award-winning documentary (a 2007 Booklist Editors' Choice selection and Top of the List winnerâvideo & DVD) examines the experiences of those who served and those on the home front during World War II. This is a stirring work, and Burns' reading evokes a hushed reverence. He sets up the drama and delivers with a calculated, composed tone of awe and wonder. His reading might be oppressive in large doses, but the horror of war justifies Burns' occasional breathlessness as he recounts the personal tragedies of this historic military clash. It would be easy for the statistics and descriptions of military strategy to dominate and diminish the listening experience, but Burns' heartfelt enthusiasm for the material keeps things moving along. Other readers, including Tom Hanks and Josh Lucas, relay some passages, adding variety and emotion. Mainly, though, this is Burns' audio baby, and he handles it with care. A moving and informative listening experience. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2007 July #2
Epic, lavishly illustrated accompaniment to the PBS series, of a piece with The Civil War, Baseball and other such overstuffed packages."For those Americans who lived through the Second World Warâ¦it remains to this day simply The War." So write Ward (Unforgivable Blackness, 2004, etc.) and filmmaker Burns at the close of this history, which manages to be at once pointedly cautionary ("no nation should embark upon any war without first understanding what its cost will be") and celebratory in a Capraesque sort of way. Their WWII is a story of ordinary Joes (and Janes, though they figure a touch too little here) made extraordinary by circumstances; some of them have been overlooked, such as the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and some are overlooked even here, such as the 10th Mountain Division. Despite limitations of coverageâand it's to be noted that this is emphatically the American war, which began more than two years later than the Russian, British and French war against fascismâWard and Burns take a wide-angle approach, considering the effects of combat on the home front and providing plenty of photographs that have not been seen dozens of times in other books; the absence of iconic Iwo Jima and Times Square shots is refreshing, the inclusion of made-for-moderns images of mayhem and death often disturbing, which is just as it should be. Interspersed throughout the text is an affecting war-at-home commentary from contemporary newsman Al McIntosh, who writes of apprehensive draftees leaving and equally apprehensive veterans returning to Wisconsin. Other voices include the scholar-veteran Paul Fussell and the great combat journalist Ernie Pyle, who writes of GIs turned from civilians into hardened warriors: "The most vivid change," he observes, "is the casual and workshop manner in which they now talk about killing." Excellentâan introduction to the war for the uninitiated, and a scrapbook of sorts for those who remember it.First printing of 650,000 Copyright Kirkus 2007 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2007 October #5
A striking and philosophical look at the everyday citizens who helped shape the course of WWII, The War is masterfully narrated by author Burns and an assortment of Hollywood talent, including Tom Hanks and Josh Lucas. This collection spans the American side of the war from 1941 to 1945, relating intimate tales in chronological order. The author's narration is solid and unwavering throughout, while brief but emotional interludes by the other readers lend a distinct theatrical quality to the material. The acting is brilliant and the material is psychologically gripping. Using personal letters from family members to soldiers overseas, critical events in the war are brought to life with stunning clarity. Headlong into character, Lucas's raspy, Southern tone makes him an unexpected standout, with his raw performances bringing a brutal realism to the story. Listeners will be engrossed for hours while history buffs will experience the war in a new, more personal light. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, July 30). (Sept.)
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