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Review of "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" by Herman Wouk(unabridged audio book version)



After signing up up for a trial account to Audible, we, myself and my fiancee, downloaded a few sample books, including "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" by Herman Wouk. She actually picked those two books based on their high ratings. This is a review of the unabridged audio versions of these two books.

"The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" are works of historical fiction, starting in the 1930s and ending in the 1940s. Covering the period that led up to and including WWII, the books explore a time of conflict that was to decide who would rule much of the world.

I had apprehensions about historical fiction when starting this book. Some historical fiction can deviate from history or generalize events and I was concerned about learning historically inaccurate information. I consider misinformation to be almost worse than not knowing the history at all.

Wouk has taken great care to be historically accurate. In his epilogue he takes time to explain that while all characters are fictional, all of the major events and timelines are accurate. He also speaks about the dialog of important historical features and fitting with the historical record. Independently, I've researched some events and individuals on Wikipedia and found Wouk to be honest in his characterizations and history.

The Audible versions of "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" were both read by Kevin Pariseau. Each book was split into several 8 hour sections that took a couple of months of daily commutes to get through.

The story and reading of these books was captivating. Each time I got into the car I was looking forward to continuing the story and when it was over I felt myself reminiscing about the most entertaining parts of the story.

The reading by Kevin Pariseau was excellent. This was the first audio book I've listened to in a few years and I wasn't sure what to expect. His reading was dynamic and he did each character in a unique voice. I hadn't expected his voice work and it was surprisingly natural. His accents sounded spot on and the voices made it easy to follow who was speaking. I've listened to two other audio books since these two and Mr. Pariseau's reading was by far the best and most captivating. Mr. Pariseau's reading was so engrossing that I'll consider looking for books he read when selecting future audio books.

Having the history presented as a story provided the kind of context that has given me mental anchors for events and the timeline throughout that period of time. The amount of information I've been able to retain from these books is amazing and no doubt due to combining a rich presentation of historically accurate details and a captivating story. I'd highly recommend these books to anyone interested in learning about WWII. It's a long listen but I think you'll find it fascinating.
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