Leyte Gulf

A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle

De: Mark E. Stille

Narrado por: John Chancer

Bloomsbury presents Leyte Gulf by Mark Stille, read by John Chancer.

A fascinating re-examination of the battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, and one that saw the Imperial Japanese Navy eliminated as an effective fighting force and forced to resort to suicide tactics.

Leyte was a huge and complex action, actually consisting of four major battles, each of which are broken down in detail in this book, using original sources. The plans of both sides, and how they dictated the events that followed, are also examined critically.

So much of the accepted wisdom of the battle has developed from the many myths that surround it, myths that have become more firmly established over time. In this new study, Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of this complex battle with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the “lost victory” of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Mark Stille (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Unconvincing

This book doesn’t seem to offer any new, relevant insights into resolving the debates over Kurita’s and Halsey’s decisions. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but the narrative remains unconvincing, and Kurita’s choices still feel perplexing. Additionally, the book’s analysis of related aspects appears inconsistent at times, further weakening its argument. Overall, it falls short of expectations.

Good history

A good review of the event and what lead to them. I learned something new and valuable

Excellent and precise telling of the story of the battle of Leyte Gulf

Very well written that follows a thematic line, which made it much easier to understand the different sub battles that comprise the entire battle. The author also takes time to technically and accurately refute many of the mythological statements and conclusions that arose after the battle and through the decades that followed. Special credit goes to the reader, John Chaucer, for his astute pronunciation of Japanese names and terms.

Exactly the details I wanted to hear.

Very informative report. Detailed account of a complex battle,

Didn’t go too deep into the personalities and backgrounds of the participants. I was five with that tack, as I knew the information from other sources .

Too deep

The book was more than detailed to the point of being boring. Far too many detail specific times and casualties. Sounded more like what would expect in a doctoral dissertation. Very boring to listen to the recitation which was compounded by the constantmispronunciation of names of locales.
Research was quite in-depth and detailed but took away from hearing the book read.

Exceedingly detailed account of what happened

I have read and listen to other books about this battle, and this one gives significant more perspective in detail,

the scale of the battle

I loved the concise explanation of each encounter of this battle from both sides of the gulf

Disappointing and Disjointed

This review of the Battle of Leyte Gulf is disappointing and very hard to follow.

A great listen.

An good review of the actions and the commanders decision and choices. Also the handy PDFs.

Perhaps a little scholarly

I listened to this expecting a tale of daring do, brought to life through the dramatic actions of the participants. It didn't quite live up to this and was instead a review of the fleet sizes, high level tactics etc. Extremely interesting but certainly not a casual listen as other WW2 Pacific books are. I enjoyed it and would listen again but if you are thinking of buying this it is worth being aware of what it is.