Above the French Lines by Stuart Walcott ~ Full Audiobook [history]

Classic Audiobook Collection

08/19/23

•

100m

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Above the French Lines by Stuart Walcott audiobook.

Genre: history

Above the French Lines presents World War I through the intimate, immediate voice of Stuart Walcott, a young American who crosses the Atlantic in 1917 to learn to fly and serve with the French aviation forces. Told as a sequence of letters written between July 4 and December 8, 1917, the book traces his transformation from eager trainee to combat-ready pilot, capturing the routines and hazards of early airfields: punishing instruction, mechanical troubles, weather that can turn lethal in minutes, and the constant pressure to prove yourself in a brand-new kind of warfare. Walcott writes to friends and family with a mix of humor, longing, and hard-earned seriousness, painting vivid scenes of barracks life, friendships among fellow fliers, and the tightening suspense as he nears the front. As patrols begin to carry him above the trenches and into enemy-held skies, the letters become a record of courage under uncertainty, where ideals of service collide with the stark realities of combat. Part personal testimony and part wartime document, this is a moving portrait of youth, duty, and the cost of taking flight when the world is at war.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 00

(00:07:30) Chapter 01

(00:14:48) Chapter 02

(00:51:52) Chapter 03

(01:30:05) Chapter 04

(01:31:22) Chapter 05

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Previous Episode

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane ~ Full Audiobook [history]

August 18, 2023

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297m

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane audiobook.

Genre: history

In Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, a young farm boy named Henry Fleming leaves home to enlist in the Union Army, convinced that battle will reveal the heroic version of himself he has always imagined. But when his regiment is suddenly thrown into combat, Henry discovers that courage is not a simple, shining certainty - it is a shifting struggle of fear, pride, shame, and survival. As smoke, noise, and confusion swallow the battlefield, Henry measures himself against the reactions of other soldiers: the steady veterans, the frightened newcomers, and the blunt, relentless officers who drive men forward. Haunted by the question of whether he will stand firm or break, he becomes obsessed with earning proof of bravery - a 'red badge' that would silence doubt. Crane's stark, immersive style turns war into an intense psychological landscape, capturing how rumor, panic, and fleeting moments of resolve can reshape a person in an instant. More than a battle story, it is a coming-of-age journey under fire, tracing one soldier's fight to define honor and identity when nothing feels certain and the cost of self-deception can be as dangerous as the enemy.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:22:33) Chapter 02

(00:40:09) Chapter 03

(00:58:16) Chapter 04

(01:05:12) Chapter 05

(01:18:43) Chapter 06

(01:32:17) Chapter 07

(01:40:46) Chapter 08

(01:51:56) Chapter 09

(02:03:24) Chapter 10

(02:12:46) Chapter 11

(02:26:36) Chapter 12

(02:39:47) Chapter 13

(02:51:34) Chapter 14

(03:02:27) Chapter 15

(03:09:36) Chapter 16

(03:21:10) Chapter 17

(03:30:50) Chapter 18

(03:40:05) Chapter 19

(03:51:29) Chapter 20

(04:02:51) Chapter 21

(04:14:51) Chapter 22

(04:25:23) Chapter 23

(04:36:05) Chapter 24

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Next Episode

The Actress in High Life - An Episode in Winter Quarters by Susan Petigru King-Bowen ~ Full Audiobook [romance]

August 21, 2023

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576m

The Actress in High Life - An Episode in Winter Quarters by Susan Petigru King-Bowen audiobook.

Genre: romance

Portugal, 1812: while the Peninsular War grinds on, a British brigade settles into winter quarters at Elvas, where officers and their families try to turn boredom, uncertainty, and old-world etiquette into something like a season. Into this charged half-peacetime steps Lady Mabel Stewart, newly arrived from Scotland at her father Lord Strathern's summons. Young, observant, and suddenly surrounded by uniforms, rank, and rumor, Mabel must learn the unwritten rules of camp society - and decide which ones are worth obeying. The arrival of the captivating Spaniard Colonel l'Isle brings glamour and danger in equal measure, stirring talk of allegiance, reputation, and forbidden attachment. But romance here is never private: every glance is witnessed, every kindness interpreted, and jealousies flare as quickly as flirtations. As theatricals, dinners, and petty rivalries play out against a landscape marked by marching armies, Mabel finds herself caught between duty and desire, family expectations and personal judgment. Part courtship tale, part social portrait, this episode asks what love can mean when war is only a few miles away.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:17:48) Chapter 02

(00:43:16) Chapter 03

(01:09:28) Chapter 04

(01:33:12) Chapter 05

(01:54:38) Chapter 06

(02:19:17) Chapter 07

(02:56:13) Chapter 08

(03:07:59) Chapter 09

(03:30:23) Chapter 10