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Behind the Lines (Abridged): Powerful and Revealing American and Foreign War Letters and One Man’s Search to Find Them Audiobook
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(3.21) - 68 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
For three years Andrew Carroll traveled throughout the United States and around the world to seek out the most powerful and unforgettable letters ever written during US wars.
Behind the Lines is the result of that extraordinary trip and represents the first audiobook of its kind: a dramatic, intimate, and revealing look at warfare as seen through the personal correspondence of US and foreign troops and civilians who have experienced major conflicts firsthand. From handwritten missives penned during the American Revolution to e-mails from Afghanistan and Iraq, Behind the Lines captures the full spectrum of emotions expressed in times of war.
Like Carroll's phenomenal national bestseller War Letters, Behind the Lines is part of a larger effort to preserve correspondence that is riveting, insightful, and historically significant. This audiobook is also about Carroll's journey across the globe to visit the fields of battle where so many of these letters were written, meet with veterans and active duty troops who generously agreed to share their private correspondence, and speak with the family members who have lost their loved ones to combat.
Behind the Lines is a tribute to those who have fought for freedom, as well as a lasting reminder to present and future generations of the true nature of warfare and the sacrifices it demands of individuals, families, and entire nations.
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"This is a must read. No matter what your political persuasion, or what your opinions are on the war(s) in Iraq and Afghanistan, this book does a great job of illustrating the human toll the war has had on our military men and women and their families. "
— John (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Extraordinary...Achieve[s] an evocative power rare even in the best war literature.”
— Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942–1943 -
“Andrew Carroll studies the human side of war in this stirring, moving, and sometimes hilarious collection.”
— Mark Bowden, New York Times bestselling author of Black Hawk Down -
“Each letter is extraordinary in its own right, but together they illuminate war as it is rarely seen...This is a book born of great passion. This is a book with tremendous heart and soul.”
— James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys -
“Carroll has made the very wise editorial decision of printing [the letters] as they were written, with misspellings, odd line breaks, and regional references intact; letters in translation reproduce idioms and distinctive grammatical turns word for word. The letters are, almost without exception, arresting in their earnestness, sincerity and passion, and diverse in their sentiments—brave, fearful, amorous, angry, resigned, conniving, unbalanced, stoical. The result is captivating in its immediacy.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“This is a wonderful book that should remind us of the grinding pain endured by both those who serve and those who wait for them.”
— Booklist
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
Behind the Lines Listener Reviews
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" I had the audio book and it was awesome. I laughed so hard at some parts and had to fight to keep the tears away on others. Wonderful book! "
— Tiffany, 4/17/2013 -
" a really wonderful collection of letters and emails from soldiers and civilians in wars all over the world. this book was really touching and interesting. "
— Shay, 8/7/2012 -
" Interesting and unique (more for my husband than for me) If your into war history--this book is for you "
— Kandis, 6/8/2011 -
" The experiences of servicemen in OIF and OEF, told in their own words. Some of it is quite humorous and some of it is heart breaking, but it's enlightening to get a glimpse into what life is like for them. "
— Jamie, 5/27/2011 -
" Simply brilliant. I couldn't find the words to explain my experiences in Iraq - but these others have. And I'm thankful to them. "
— Wiley, 1/4/2010 -
" Mindblowing in its honesty and depth. A must read for every American. "
— Casie, 11/18/2008 -
" Love the fact that this book is written by ordinary people...soldiers and their families. "
— Krista, 7/2/2008 -
" I really enjoyed this book. Watch out it has some language, but it really gave me some great insight into the war and what soldiers and their families go through. "
— Elizabeth, 2/9/2008 -
" I liked this book because it is written in the words of lots of different people involved in the wars. I am actually listening to this one--an audiobook 17(?) CDs long. "
— Pat, 1/8/2008
About Andrew Carroll
Andrew Carroll’s books, War Letters and Letters of a Nation, were New York Times bestsellers. In 1998, he founded the Legacy Project, a national, all-volunteer effort to honor and remember our nation’s veterans by seeking out and saving their letters. He is editing this book on a pro bono basis. Carroll lives in Washington, DC.
About the Narrators
Campbell Scott has, in addition to his numerous stage and film credits, narrated more than forty audiobooks, including This Boy’s Life and Into Thin Air, and won seven AudioFile Earphones Awards.
Mandy Siegfried has worked at theaters in New York, on and off Broadway, and around the country. Her film work includes School of Rock, Two Weeks Notice, Winter Passing, Liberty Maine, The Out-of-Towners, and St. Andrew’s Girls.
Campbell Scott has, in addition to his numerous stage and film credits, narrated more than forty audiobooks, including This Boy’s Life and Into Thin Air, and won seven AudioFile Earphones Awards.
Martha Plimpton, in addition to audio narration, is a film, television, and stage actress. Her first major film roles include The River Rat, The Goonies, and The Mosquito Coast. On stage she made her Chicago debut with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company Ensemble, during which time she received a National Medal of Arts Award. She won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance in Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia and has received numerous Tony Award nominations for supporting or featured actress. Her television roles included Grey’s Anatomy and Raising Hope, among others. In narration, she won an AudioFile Earphones Award for her reading of Alice McDermott’s After This, which also was a finalist in 2007 for the prestigious Audie Award.
Oliver Platt is an acclaimed television, film, and stage actor. He earned a BA degree in drama from Tufts University and then trained at Shakespeare & Co. His debut on Broadway in Shining City in 2006 earned him a Tony Award nomination for best actor, and along with numerous nominations for the Gold Globe Award, he won the New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Casanova. His narration credits include the voice of Wiser the Owl in the animated film Dorothy of Oz.
Brian F. O’Byrne is a narrator and award-winning actor who trained at the Samuel Beckett Center and Trinity College in Dublin. After several Tony Award nominations for best actor, he won the 2004 Tony Award as Best Actor in a Featured Role—Play for his performance as Ralph in Frozen. He won the 2004-2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor for his role in John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. Before he made his name on Broadway, he performed in plays for a theater company he formed with writer Tony Kavanagh. Born in Ireland, he has lived in New York for nearly 20 years and is a devoted follower of the New York Mets.
Keith Nobbs is a stage, television, and film actor who is best known for his portrayal of Joey Ice Cream in the television series The Black Donnellys. He has acted on Broadway with the Roundabout Theatre Company and appeared in such television shows as The Sopranos, Law & Order, and New York Undercover.
Kate Nelligan has had a successful acting career in her native Canada, in Britain and in the United States. Nelligan studied at Toronto’s Glendon College, but left to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She quickly established herself in the UK on stage and on television. As a member of the National Theatre, she gave a much lauded performance in Tales from the Vienna Woods and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for David Hare’s Plenty. She moved to Manhattan in the early ‘80s, dropped the English accent, and won stardom on the Broadway boards, racking up four Tony Award nominations for best actress. On the screen, both big and small, she established herself as a top-notch and in-demand supporting player and character actress. Nelligan was Oscar-nominated as Best Supporting Actress for The Prince of Tides, and her performances in movies and television in her native Canada have brought her five Gemini Award nominations.
George Grizzard (1928–2007) was an American actor who appeared in more than forty films, dozens of television programs, and a number of Broadway plays. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2002.
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.
Stanley Tucci is an actor, writer, director, and producer. He has directed five films and appeared in over seventy films, countless television shows, and a dozen plays on and off Broadway. He has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a spoken word Grammy; is a winner of two Golden Globes and two Emmys; and has received numerous other critical and professional awards and accolades. He is also author of two cookbooks, The Tucci Table and The Tucci Cookbook.
Richard Thomas, a film and television actor, is best known for his role as John-Boy Walton on the CBS television series, The Waltons. His performance earned him a Primetime Emmy, as well as two Golden Globe nominations. Also an audiobook narrator, he has read numerous books, including John Grisham’s Theodore Boone series.
B.D. Wong was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly. He is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award for the same performance. He starred in the television series All-American Girl, and has made guest appearances on Sesame Street and The X-Files.
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) was a master of contemporary American literature. His black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” with Cat’s Cradle in 1963.
Boyd Gaines is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actor whose many film credits include Second Best, I’m Not Rappaport, Heartbreak Ridge, Fame, and Porky’s. He’s won two Tony Awards for performances in the The Heidi Chronicles and the musical She Loves Me. On television he has appeared in A Woman Called Jackie, A Son’s Promise, and in the popular series One Day at a Time.