Great Battles for Boys (Audiobook)
Summary
Great Battles for Boys (Audiobook), written by Joe and Sibella Giorello and narrated by Daniel Giorello, is a series of nonfiction books detailing some of the greatest battles in history. With five audiobooks spanning Thermopylae to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, this series focuses on the wartime leaders of each conflict, describing both their good and bad decisions. It presents the nobility, honor, and courage found within the context of conflict as good and something to strive for without glorifying the violence and moral depravity that caused the wars in the first place. It is a riveting, easy-to-listen-to (or read) middle grade of young YA book for any history-loving kid, but for young boys in particular.
Assessment
Great Battles for Boys (Audiobook) is an excellent and engaging series for boys, presenting some of the greatest battles in history, highlighting good and bad strategies, tactics, and leaders. Pulling in historical records and anecdotes from soldiers and witnesses to the conflicts, each chapter focuses on a specific battle or aspect of a battle, interspersed with stories from the front lines or an in-depth look at a specific leader, soldier, or army.
There is not much in the way of overt theology in this series, but it does highlight the real world struggle of good and evil. Many of the anecdotes include Christian testimonies and there is an emphasis on Biblical qualities such as good leadership, self-sacrifice, defense of the weak, and courage in the face of impossible odds. The books are designed to specifically highlight these qualities and encourage them in their readers.
The books were written with the specific mission of giving young boys something they would enjoy reading. This is not to the exclusion of girl readers, of course, but it is a series that is supposed to — and would likely — appeal more to boys.
Light-o-Meter
Writing Style: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Organization/Formatting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Performance: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Fulfillment of Purpose: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 5 out of 6 Little Lights
Talk
As someone who grew up surrounded by a lot of history (my dad is a WWII buff and I had both medieval and Roman Empire phases throughout my childhood), I definitely enjoy a good historical series and this is among the best I’ve found for kids in a long time. It shies away from nothing, presenting the good of war (courage, bravery, self-sacrifice) with the horrors and cost of these good things (famine, pestilence, injury, death) in ways that are age-appropriate.
Of course, I’m not a historian, so I wasn’t able to go through and analyze every single factoid and historical event, but from my basic knowledge of humanity’s greatest conflicts, I would say that this series is accurate enough for the purpose it is serving. There was nothing that sounded utterly wrong and the series as a whole is not supposed to be a accurate-to-the-minute type production, but more of a general overview.
I really appreciated how unbiased the series was. While it obviously took a very conservative or even Christian view of both the conflicts and their participants, it didn’t try to sensationalize or traumatize. It painted war as more of a necessary evil than an opportunity for glory and fame, balancing both the good behaviors that come out of conflict, such as self-sacrifice and bravery, as well as not shying away from what war truly is: hell on earth.
Honestly, the single problem that I had was with some of the pronunciation in the audiobooks. Some may have been due to a difference in dialect — the whole “to-may-to” versus “to-mah-to” debate — but a few of the foreign place and ship names were definitely pronounced incorrectly. This is, of course, not a major problem when it comes to the educational value of these series, but it was something that made my eye twitch a little.
Overall this is a great and engaging series for those trying to get their boys to read. Full of true courage, real hope, intellectually stimulating strategies, and important cautions against the kind of behaviors that lead to war. It balances perfectly presenting the good, Godly traits that such conflicts produce without glorifying the horrible situations that allow these traits to be front and center. Definitely a great addition to any young boy’s bookshelf!
Where to Enjoy
I listened to this series via the Sherwood streaming app, where you can find Books 1-5 available, along with a host of other awesome and wholesome stories for kids!
Apple Store: Sherwood Entertainment on the App Store
Google Play Store: Sherwood Kids - Apps on Google Play
Facebook: Sherwood Kids | Facebook
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