The Alps

A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond

By: Stephen O'Shea

Narrated by: Robert Fass

For centuries the Alps have seen the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers, and the dreams of engineers - and some 14 million people live among their peaks today. In The Alps, Stephen O'Shea takes listeners up and down these majestic mountains, journeying through their 500-mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia. Along the way he explores the reality behind Hannibal and his elephants' famous crossing in 218 BCE; he reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture, from Frankenstein to Heidi to The Sound of Music; and he visits the spot where Arthur Conan Doyle staged Sherlock Holmes' death scene, the bloody site of the Italians' retreat in World War I, and Hitler's notorious vacation house, the Eagle's Nest. Throughout, O'Shea records his adventures with the watchmakers, salt miners, cable-car operators, and yodelers who define the Alps today.

©2017 Stephen O’Shea (P)2017 HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books

A travel buddy you didn’t know you needed

Fasten your seatbelts! The acrophobic, yet opinionated author Stephen o’Shea has taken the drivers seat, and is about to speed you through the alps, giving you insight into all the local stories and anecdotes, as well as his piece of mind on every nationality unfortunate to cross his alpine path. I loved all the curious stories he had to tell, following the route on google maps - for much needed visuals of the trip! Would highly recommend this as an easy read to get you in the mood for a European roadtrip.

An enjoyable and easy to listen to Travelogue

The Alps is a travelagoue created Stephen O’Shea filled with history tidbits and personal interactions. These sort of books are often not my favorite, even the classics like The Innocents Abroad and Roughing It by Mark Twain took some effort for me to get through. However, O’Shea does a really good job at keeping it engaging and exploring many aspects of Alpine culture and the people you meet there. While his historical blurbs are sometimes light on details they were often fascinating. If this is your kind of book, I would not hesitate recommending it.

Alps history and geography

Places I haven’t learned about and areas I will bucket list and others not so much. Flowing and interesting. Narrator is one of the best!

Wanderlust? Fernweh?

Every place in this book his enormous appeal after Mr. O'Shea describes it. and there's still thousands of other places to explore in your own.

Nice journey through the alps.

Not much to happens. But nice to tag along for the ride through the alps.