The Lanny Budd Novels

World’s End

S1:1

26h 56m

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From the acclaimed author of The Jungle: the first in a Pulitzer Prize–winning historical saga about the son of an American arms dealer during WWI Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first thirteen years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy; and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious—but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him; his language skills and talent for decoding messages are in high demand. At his father’s side, he meets many important political and military figures, learns about the myriad causes of the conflict, and closely follows the First World War’s progress. When the bloody hostilities eventually conclude, Lanny joins the Paris Peace Conference as the assistant to a geographer asked by President Woodrow Wilson to redraw the map of Europe. Perfect for fans of The Winds of War, World’s End is the magnificent opening chapter of a monumental series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to vivid life. A thrilling mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Between Two Worlds

S1:2

31h 42m

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The second in the Pulitzer Prize–winning historical fiction series takes Lanny Budd through the 1920s, from the rise of fascism to the crash on Wall Street. The First World War brought an abrupt end to Lanny Budd’s idyllic youth. Now, in the wake of the Treaty of Versailles, he barely recognizes the beloved Europe of his boyhood. At the start of his career as an international art dealer, Lanny travels to Italy and witnesses the brutal charisma of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Meanwhile, in Germany, the failed Beer Hall Putsch led by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party strikes an ominous note foreshadowing the devastation to come. After two star-crossed love affairs, Lanny marries a wealthy heiress and chooses the United States with its booming economy as their home. But neither he nor those he loves can predict the financial disaster that will bring a decade of prosperity to an abrupt close. Between Two Worlds brings one of the most fascinating and tumultuous decades of the twentieth century to thrilling life. A spellbinding mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Dragon’s Teeth

S1:3

23h 46m

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An American in Germany fights against the rising tide of Nazi terror in this monumental saga of twentieth-century world history. In the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, Lanny Budd’s financial acumen and his marriage into great wealth enable him to continue the lifestyle he has always enjoyed. But the devastation the collapse has wrought on ordinary citizens has only strengthened Lanny’s socialist ideals—much to the chagrin of his heiress wife, Irma, a confirmed capitalist. In Germany to visit relatives, Lanny encounters a disturbing atmosphere of hatred and jingoism. His concern over the growing popularity of the Nazi Party escalates when he meets Adolf Hitler, the group’s fanatical leader, and the members of his inner circle. But Lanny’s gravest fear is the threat a national socialist government poses to the German Jewish family of Hansi, the musician husband of Lanny’s sister, Bess—a threat that will impel the international art dealer to risk his wealth, his future, even his life, in a courageous attempt to rescue his loved ones from a terrible fate. Winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Dragon’s Teeth brilliantly captures the nightmarish march toward the Second World War. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Wide Is the Gate

S1:4

28h 17m

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Wide Is the Gate, written in 1943, is the fourth of the epic eleven-part classic Lanny Budd series written by Upton Sinclair. Wide Is the Gate followed the 1943 Pulitzer Prize–winning Dragon’s Teeth and introduces Lanny as a secret double agent fighting the Nazis as a supporter of the resistance in Germany. Lanny is living in England with his wife of almost five years, Irma Barnes, the twenty-three-million-dollar heiress. But Lanny is conflicted continuously in his heart and soul for the workers and social justice. He attempts to commit to Irma, to “behave” himself and lead a normal aristocratic life. But foremost he is committed to ending Nazism, Fascism, and the overthrow of the democratically elected Spanish government. Lanny is awakened at the end of Dragon’s Teeth to the oncoming dangers of the Nazis, and involves himself in a double agent role by helping a new friend, Monck. Monck is a German socialist who is part of the underground and works with the resistance to alert people to the terrors of the Nazis. Many adventures and dangers present themselves as Lanny travels back into Germany as an art expert, eventually dealing directly with Hermann Göring. He uses the proceeds of the confiscated artwork stolen by Göring to help finance the resistance from inside the heart of Naziland.

Presidential Agent

S2:5

29h 24m

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On the eve of World War II, Lanny Budd reenters the deadly snake pit of Nazi Germany as Roosevelt’s spy—in the pulse-pounding, Pulitzer Prize–winning series. An American art expert raised in a world of European wealth and privilege, Lanny Budd is dedicated to his socialist ideals and to combatting the twin scourges of Nazism and Fascism. In 1937, a chance encounter in New York with Professor Charles Alston—his boss at the Paris Peace Conference and now one of President Roosevelt’s top advisors—provides Lanny with the opportunity to make a profound difference. Appointed Presidential Agent 103, the international art dealer embarks on a secret assignment that takes him back into the Third Reich as the Allied powers prepare to cede Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler in a futile attempt to avoid war. But Lanny’s motivations are not just political: The woman he loves has fallen into the brutal hands of the Gestapo, and Lanny will risk everything to save her. Presidential Agent is the action-packed fifth installment of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to dramatic life. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Dragon Harvest

S2:6

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Lanny Budd infiltrates the Nazi high command in the riveting sixth chapter of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning series of historical novels. Dashing and well-connected, Lanny Budd has earned the trust of the Nazi high command. To Adolf Hitler and his inner circle, the American art dealer is a “true believer” committed to their Fascist cause. But Lanny is actually a secret agent serving as President Franklin Roosevelt’s eyes and ears in Germany. When he learns of the Führer’s plans for conquest, Lanny’s dire warnings to Neville Chamberlain and other reluctant European leaders fall on deaf ears. The bitter seeds sown decades earlier with the Treaty of Versailles are now bearing fruit, and there will be no stopping the Nazi war machine as it rolls relentlessly on toward Paris. Dragon Harvest captures the dramatic moment when world leaders realized that in trying to appease Hitler, they made a grave mistake. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

A World to Win

S2:7

30h 14m

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Presidential Agent 103 is targeted by allies and enemies alike as the Nazis roll across Europe in this novel in the Pulitzer Prize–winning series. Europe, 1940. As war rages across the continent, America watches anxiously from the sidelines. And President Franklin Roosevelt has been keeping an even closer eye on developments in the Third Reich. At the president’s personal request, Lanny Budd gained the confidence of the Nazi high command and began transmitting valuable information back to the White House. Espionage is a dangerous game, however, and Presidential Agent 103 soon finds himself a target of the French Resistance fighters he is attempting to assist. On a trip to London, Lanny avoids death during a Luftwaffe bombing raid and takes part in the capture of Rudolf Hess. He gets stranded in Asia and is forced to make his way across war-torn China after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor finally brings the United States into the global melee. But Lanny’s most important mission still lies before him: he must enter the lion’s den alone and unprotected once more to unearth the Nazi Party’s most deeply buried secret—the progress of Hitler’s scientists in the race to build the atom bomb. A World to Win is the electrifying seventh chapter of the Pulitzer Prize–winning series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to vivid life. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Presidential Mission

S2:8

26h 46m

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The year 1942 marked the turning point of World War II. The Americans destroyed the Japanese Battle Fleet in the decisive engagements of Midway and the Coral Sea. General Montgomery defeated General Rommel at El Alamein. But for President Roosevelt, 1942 was the darkest hour of the war. He knew the Germans were developing the atomic bomb. Our victories would be meaningless if the Nazis perfected the “A” bomb first. There was only one man who could find out the biggest Nazi secret of the war: Lanny Budd. This is the eighth novel in Upton Sinclair’s monumental Lanny Budd series of eleven. Listening to the entire series is indispensable to a true understanding of the forces that have shaped our tragic century.

One Clear Call

B:9

26h 46m

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As D-Day approaches, an American spy is unmasked by Himmler’s Gestapo and must flee the Nazis, in this novel in the Pulitzer Prize–winning historical saga. In 1943, the once-unstoppable Nazi war machine is starting to falter. For a decade and a half, Lanny Budd’s cover as a fine-art dealer and Fascist sympathizer has held firm, earning him the confidence of Hermann Göring and other top officials, including Adolf Hitler himself. With the Allies preparing to retake Europe, Lanny must make certain that the location of the invasion remains hidden from the Nazi high command. But his mission is compromised and his life endangered when Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s feared Gestapo chief, uncovers Lanny’s true loyalties. Now FDR’s most trusted spy must run for his life, escaping into the European countryside with Hitler’s executioners on his trail. His survival will require great courage, endurance, and ingenuity, but Lanny Budd is determined to live long enough to witness what he has waited so many years to see: the final collapse of the Third Reich. One Clear Call is the thrilling ninth installment of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning dramatization of twentieth-century world history. An astonishing mix of adventure, romance, and political intrigue, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the author’s singular talents as a storyteller.

O Shepherd, Speak!

B:10

24h 3m

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As Presidential Agent 103, Lanny Budd witnesses the collapse of the Nazis, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the Nuremberg Trials, in this tenth novel in the Pulitzer Prize–winning saga. As a spy for President Franklin Roosevelt, Lanny Budd was able to infiltrate the inner circle of the Nazi high command and glean essential information on behalf of the Allied cause. Now, as the terrible global conflict approaches its long-awaited conclusion, the newly commissioned Captain Budd of the US Army is on hand to witness the final collapse of the Third Reich in the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge. The nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brings World War II to an end, but not even the death of Franklin Roosevelt can release Budd from his obligations as Presidential Agent 103. A devastated Europe needs to be rebuilt, and there is a necessary reckoning still to come in the heart of defeated Germany, where the fanatics who murdered countless millions will stand trial for their crimes. O Shepherd, Speak! is the penultimate volume of Upton Sinclair’s dramatization of twentieth-century world history. An astonishing mix of adventure, romance, and political intrigue, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.