Secret Warriors by Taylor Downing audiobook

Secret Warriors: Key Scientists, Code Breakers, and Propagandists of the Great War

By Taylor Downing
Read by Derek Perkins

Blackstone Publishing 9781605986944

Unabridged

Format : Library CD (In Stock)
  • ISBN: 9781481520546

  • ISBN: 9781481520522

  • ISBN: 9781481520539

Runtime: 13.13 Hours
Category: Nonfiction/History
Audience: Adult
Language: English

Summary

Summary

A startling and vivid account of World War I, Secret Warriors uncovers how wartime code-breaking, aeronautics, and scientific research laid the foundation for many of the innovations of the twentieth century.

World War I is often viewed as a war fought by armies of millions living and fighting in trenches, aided by brutal machinery that cost the lives of many. But behind all of this an intellectual war was also being fought between engineers, chemists, code-breakers, physicists, doctors, mathematicians, and intelligence gatherers. This hidden war was to make a positive and lasting contribution to how war was conducted on land, at sea, and in the air and, most importantly, to life at home.

Secret Warriors provides an invaluable and fresh history of World War I, profiling a number of the key incidents and figures that led to great leaps forward for the twentieth century. Told in a lively and colorful narrative style, Secret Warriors reveals the unknown side of this tragic conflict.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“An ingenious history that sets aside WWI’s immense slaughter in order to concentrate on those who labored behind the scenes…Downing’s fine history of the war’s most notable weapons—machine guns, tanks, poison gas—precedes chapters giving even finer histories of vast advances in surgery (90% of wounded soldiers in WWI survived, versus 60% during the American Civil War) and sanitation (10% of deaths stemmed from disease in WWI, versus 70% in the Civil War). He also outlines how Hitler and Goebbels admired and emulated Britain’s surprisingly effective journalism and propaganda operations during WWI, which have been adopted by countries at war ever since. For better or worse, these military developments remain with us, and Downing delivers a riveting account of how they happened.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Recounts the complete transformation of warfare during World War I, the first industrialized war…Gone was the idea of a gentleman’s war; spying and even chemical warfare were fair game. Those who felt things were ‘just not done’ were overruled by the endless stalemate of trench warfare and brutality of chemical attacks. England’s scientific community successfully overcame pure science’s prejudice against applied science…A meticulously detailed, welcome addition to the literature of World War I, the ‘first “total” war in which all the resources of the state were involved.’” Kirkus Reviews
“Derek Perkins is one of the great audiobook narrators. His clear and well-paced performance makes Downing’s sometimes technical explanations easy to follow, and his deep tone and cultured British accent enhance the experience. Pronouncing names, Perkins seems as at home in French and German as he is in English.” AudioFile

Reviews

Reviews

Author

Author Bio: Taylor Downing

Author Bio: Taylor Downing

Taylor Downing is an award-winning television producer and the author of several acclaimed books of history, including The Cold War and Churchill’s War Lab. He has also written for the Observer, London Sunday Times, LondonDaily Telegraph, History Today, and Military History Monthly.

Titles by Author

Details

Details

Available Formats : CD, Library CD, MP3 CD
Category: Nonfiction/History
Runtime: 13.13
Audience: Adult
Language: English