Bitter Peleliu
The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield
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Bitter Peleliu
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Narrated by:
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Mack Gordon
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By:
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Joseph Wheelan
About this listen
Bloomsbury presents Bitter Peleliu by Joseph Wheelan, read by Mack Gordon.
The hard-hitting history of the Pacific War's 'forgotten battle' of Peleliu – a story of intelligence failings and impossible bravery.
In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military analysts decided to seize the small island of Peleliu to ensure that the Japanese airfield there could not threaten the invasion forces. This important new book explores the dramatic story of this ‘forgotten’ battle and the campaign’s strategic failings. Bitter Peleliu reveals how U.S. intelligence officers failed to detect the complex network of caves, tunnels, and pillboxes hidden inside the island’s coral ridges. More importantly, they did not discern – nor could they before it happened – that the defense of Peleliu would represent a tectonic shift in Japanese strategy. No more contested enemy landings at the water’s edge, no more wild banzai attacks. Now, invaders would be raked on the beaches by mortar and artillery fire. Then, as the enemy penetrated deeper into the Japanese defensive systems, he would find himself on ground carefully prepared for the purpose of killing as many Americans as possible.
For the battle-hardened 1st Marine Division Peleliu was a hornets’ nest like no other. Yet thanks to pre-invasion over-confidence on the part of commanders, 30 of the 36 news correspondents accredited for the campaign had left prior to D-Day. Bitter Peleliu reveals the full horror of this 74-day battle, a battle that thanks to the reduced media presence has never garnered the type of attention it deserves.
Pacific War historian Joseph Wheelan dissects the American intelligence and strategic failings, analyses the shift in Japanese tactics, and recreates the Marines’ horrific experiences on the worst of the Pacific battlegrounds. This book is a brilliant, compelling listen on a forgotten battle.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Joseph Wheelan (P)2022 Bloomsbury PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, more than 184,000 US troops began landing on the only Japanese home soil invaded during the Pacific war. Just 350 miles from mainland Japan, Okinawa was to serve as a forward base for Japan's invasion in the fall of 1945. Nearly 140,000 Japanese and auxiliary soldiers fought with suicidal tenacity from hollowed-out, fortified hills and ridges. Under constant fire and in the rain and mud, the Americans battered the defenders with artillery, aerial bombing, naval gunfire, and every infantry tool.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Saipan
- The Battle that Doomed Japan in World War II
- By: James H. Hallas
- Narrated by: Tim Dixon
- Length: 22 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 364
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 320
The story of the Battle of Saipan has it all. Marines at war: on Pacific beaches, in hellish volcanic landscapes in places like Purple Heart Ridge, Death Valley, and Hell's Pocket, under a commander known as "Howlin' Mad." Naval combat: carriers battling carriers from afar, fighters downing Japanese aircraft, submarines sinking carriers. Marine-army rivalry. Fanatical Japanese defense and resistance. A turning point of the Pacific War. James Hallas reconstructs the full panorama of Saipan in a way that no recent chronicler of the battle has done.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding!
- By Patrick on 03-08-20
By: James H. Hallas
-
Guadalcanal Marine
- By: Kerry L. Lane
- Narrated by: Kenneth Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
In Guadalcanal Marine, Lt. Col. Kerry L. Lane recounts the dark reality of combat experienced by the men of the 1st Marine Division fighting on Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester. With 80 gripping photographs and his text, he brings to life the struggles of his companions as they achieve these two astonishing victories.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I want to give a very honest review.
- By Jfm on 07-12-15
By: Kerry L. Lane
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The Last Hill
- The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle That Defined WWII
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 144
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Story5 out of 5 stars 142
They were known as “Rudder’s Rangers,” the most elite and experienced attack unit the Army had. In December 1944, they would be the spearhead into Germany, taking the war into Hitler’s homeland at last. Their colonel was given this objective: Take Hill 400. After two days, when they were finally relieved, only 16 Rangers remained to stagger down from the top of Hill 400. The Last Hill is filled with unforgettable action and characters—a gripping, finely detailed saga of what the survivors of the battalion would call “our longest day.”
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5 out of 5 stars
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more a history of the rangers in ww2
- By M. Johannes on 10-12-23
By: Bob Drury, and others
-
Sand and Steel
- The D-Day Invasion and the Liberation of France
- By: Peter Caddick-Adams
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 37 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 76
Sand and Steel gives us D-Day, arguably the greatest and most consequential military operation of modern times, beginning with the years of painstaking and costly preparation, through to the pitched battles fought along France's northern coast, from Omaha Beach to the Falaise and the push east to Strasbourg.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Details, details, details
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-11-21
-
Okinawa
- The Last Battle
- By: Roy E. Appleman, James MacGregor Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, and others
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
On 1 April, 1945, the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific Theater began. The battle for the island of Okinawa would last for the next 82 days. Through the course of this dramatic battle, over 20,000 Americans would lose their lives, and over 75,000 Japanese were killed in one of the bloodiest clashes of World War II. Okinawa: The Last Battle is a remarkably detailed account of this monumental event by four soldiers who witnessed the action first-hand.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good Okinawa History
- By Derail on 03-10-20
By: Roy E. Appleman, and others
-
Normandy '44
- D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 543
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 484
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 479
D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the 76 days of bitter fighting in Normandy that followed the Allied landing, have become the defining episode of World War II in the west - the object of books, films, television series, and documentaries. Yet as familiar as it is, as James Holland makes clear in his definitive history, many parts of the OVERLORD campaign, as it was known, are still shrouded in myth and assumed knowledge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent account of Normandy but be weary...
- By S. H. Moore on 02-22-20
By: James Holland
-
D-Day in the Pacific
- The Battle of Saipan
- By: Harold J. Goldberg
- Narrated by: Gary D. MacFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In June 1944, the attention of the nation was riveted on the events unfolding in France. But in the Pacific, the Battle of Saipan was of extreme strategic importance. D-Day in the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan is a gripping account of one of the most dramatic engagements of World War II. The conquest of Saipan and the neighboring island of Tinian was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, making the American victory against Japan inevitable.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Written like an amateur's account of his battle
- By jack on 12-18-13
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Days of Valor
- An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War
- By: Robert Tonsetic
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
During the War, Vietnam's coast had to be protected against Viet Cong ambushes and smuggling. The U.S. forces had destroyers, cruisers and gargantuan aircraft carriers, none suited for inshore patrol. This is the story of the Brown Water Navy, the garage-band flotilla assembled to do the job. Douglas Branson has been to Vietnam several times, including trips in 1966, 1995 and 2011. The first time, he was a 22-year-old, Brown Water Navy lieutenant JG. Subsequent visits were as a consultant/tourist.
By: Robert Tonsetic
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The Lions of Iwo Jima
- The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History
- By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), James A. Warren
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 133
It was the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, claiming a third of all marines killed in World War II. The relentless fighting on Iwo Jima lasted for 36 days, but most of us only know the iconic photo of five soldiers raising the American flag on Mount Surabachi. For Fred Haynes, a young captain in Combat Team 28, Surabachi was one marker in a ferocious blood-letting against an enemy of 22,000 warriors who were dug into caves and tunnels.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Account of the Battle
- By Jesse on 11-25-11
By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), and others
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Leyte 1944
- The Soldiers' Battle
- By: Nathan N. Prefer
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 340
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 307
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942, having successfully left the Philippines to organize a new American army, he vowed, "I shall return!" More than two years later he did return, at the head of a large U.S. army to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. The place of his re-invasion was the central Philippine Island of Leyte. Much has been written about the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf that his return provoked, but almost nothing has been written about the three-month long battle to seize Leyte itself.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very well Researched..
- By jbnimble on 04-19-14
By: Nathan N. Prefer
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Sicily '43
- The First Assault on Fortress Europe
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
On July 10, 1943, the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted took place, larger even than the Normandy invasion 11 months later: 160,000 American, British, and Canadian troops came ashore or were parachuted onto Sicily, signaling the start of the campaign to defeat Nazi Germany on European soil. Operation HUSKY, as it was known, was enormously complex, involving dramatic battles on land, in the air, and at sea. Yet, despite its paramount importance to ultimate Allied victory, and its drama, very little has been written about the 38-day Battle for Sicily.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
- By ItalCali on 08-02-21
By: James Holland
-
The First Wave
- The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 799
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 699
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 700
Beginning in the predawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave follows the remarkable men who carried out D-Day’s most perilous missions. The charismatic, unforgettable cast includes the first American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the glider pilot who braved antiaircraft fire to crash-land mere yards from the vital Pegasus Bridge; the brothers who led their troops onto Juno Beach under withering fire; as well as a French commando, returning to his native land, who fought to destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach and beyond.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Thoughtful and Sobering
- By Anonymous User on 10-07-19
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Utmost Savagery
- The Three Days of Tarawa
- By: Colonel Joseph H. Alexander United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 784
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 691
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 685
On November 20, 1943, in the first trial by fire of America’s fledgling amphibious assault doctrine, 5,000 men stormed the beaches of Tarawa, a seemingly invincible Japanese island fortress barely the size of the 300-acre Pentagon parking lots. Before the first day ended, one-third of the marines who had crossed Tarawa’s deadly reef under murderous fire were killed, wounded, or missing. In three days of fighting, four Americans would win the Medal of Honor and six thousand combatants would die.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Definitive Battle History of Tarawa
- By Iain on 02-23-11
By: Colonel Joseph H. Alexander United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
-
Midnight in the Pacific
- Guadalcanal -- The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 525
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 471
Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with marine corps and army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
By Water Beneath the Walls
- The Rise of the Navy SEALs
- By: Benjamin H. Milligan
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 22 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 428
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 384
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 383
How did the US Navy - the branch of the US military tasked with patrolling the oceans - ever manage to produce a unit of raiders trained to operate on land? And how, against all odds, did that unit become one of the world’s most elite commando forces, routinely striking thousands of miles from the water on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, even Central Africa?
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Extra. Ordinary.
- By Anonymous User on 12-15-21
-
Four Hours of Fury
- The Untold Story of World War II's Largest Airborne Operation and the Final Push into Nazi Germany
- By: James M. Fenelon
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
On the morning of March 24, 1945, more than 2,000 Allied aircraft droned through a cloudless sky toward Germany. Escorted by swarms of darting fighters, the armada of transport planes carried 17,000 troops to be dropped, via parachute and glider, on the far banks of the Rhine River. Four hours later, after what was the war’s largest airdrop, all major objectives had been seized....
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5 out of 5 stars
-
personal and powerful.
- By TXcustomer on 07-09-19
By: James M. Fenelon
-
Normandiefront
- D-Day to Saint-Lô Through German Eyes
- By: Vince Milano, Bruce Conner
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
In the cold morning of June 6, 1944, thousands of German soldiers were in position from Port en Bessin eastward past Colleville on the Normandy coast, aware that a massive invasion force was heading straight for them, although according to Allied Intelligence, they shouldn't have been there. The presence of 352 Division meant that the number of defenders was literally double the number expected - and on the best fortified of all the invasion beaches. What makes this account of the bloody struggle unique is that it is told from the German standpoint, using firsthand testimony....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
- By David Little on 11-05-24
By: Vince Milano, and others
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Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, more than 184,000 US troops began landing on the only Japanese home soil invaded during the Pacific war. Just 350 miles from mainland Japan, Okinawa was to serve as a forward base for Japan's invasion in the fall of 1945. Nearly 140,000 Japanese and auxiliary soldiers fought with suicidal tenacity from hollowed-out, fortified hills and ridges. Under constant fire and in the rain and mud, the Americans battered the defenders with artillery, aerial bombing, naval gunfire, and every infantry tool.
-
4 out of 5 stars
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Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
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Saipan
- The Battle that Doomed Japan in World War II
- By: James H. Hallas
- Narrated by: Tim Dixon
- Length: 22 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 364
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 322
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Story5 out of 5 stars 320
The story of the Battle of Saipan has it all. Marines at war: on Pacific beaches, in hellish volcanic landscapes in places like Purple Heart Ridge, Death Valley, and Hell's Pocket, under a commander known as "Howlin' Mad." Naval combat: carriers battling carriers from afar, fighters downing Japanese aircraft, submarines sinking carriers. Marine-army rivalry. Fanatical Japanese defense and resistance. A turning point of the Pacific War. James Hallas reconstructs the full panorama of Saipan in a way that no recent chronicler of the battle has done.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding!
- By Patrick on 03-08-20
By: James H. Hallas
-
Leyte Gulf
- A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle
- By: Mark E. Stille
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 44
Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, 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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too deep
- By RJP on 07-15-24
By: Mark E. Stille
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Midnight in the Pacific
- Guadalcanal -- The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 525
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 471
Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with marine corps and army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
The Cactus Air Force
- Air War Over Guadalcanal
- By: Eric Hammel, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Adam Henderson
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 124
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
In The Cactus Air Force, Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver worked closely with Eric to build on his collection of diary entries, interviews and first-hand accounts to create a vivid narrative of the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Book!
- By Eric Peterson on 09-16-22
By: Eric Hammel, and others
-
Crucible of Hell
- The Heroism and Tragedy of Okinawa, 1945
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Saul David, William Roberts
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
With Allied forces sweeping across Europe and into Germany in the spring of 1945, one enormous challenge threatened to derail America's audacious drive to win the world back from the Nazis: Japan, the empire that had extended its reach southward across the Pacific and was renowned for the fanaticism and brutality of its fighters, who refused to surrender, even when faced with insurmountable odds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best on Okinawa
- By J.Brock on 11-12-22
By: Saul David
-
Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, more than 184,000 US troops began landing on the only Japanese home soil invaded during the Pacific war. Just 350 miles from mainland Japan, Okinawa was to serve as a forward base for Japan's invasion in the fall of 1945. Nearly 140,000 Japanese and auxiliary soldiers fought with suicidal tenacity from hollowed-out, fortified hills and ridges. Under constant fire and in the rain and mud, the Americans battered the defenders with artillery, aerial bombing, naval gunfire, and every infantry tool.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Saipan
- The Battle that Doomed Japan in World War II
- By: James H. Hallas
- Narrated by: Tim Dixon
- Length: 22 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 364
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 320
The story of the Battle of Saipan has it all. Marines at war: on Pacific beaches, in hellish volcanic landscapes in places like Purple Heart Ridge, Death Valley, and Hell's Pocket, under a commander known as "Howlin' Mad." Naval combat: carriers battling carriers from afar, fighters downing Japanese aircraft, submarines sinking carriers. Marine-army rivalry. Fanatical Japanese defense and resistance. A turning point of the Pacific War. James Hallas reconstructs the full panorama of Saipan in a way that no recent chronicler of the battle has done.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding!
- By Patrick on 03-08-20
By: James H. Hallas
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Leyte Gulf
- A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle
- By: Mark E. Stille
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 44
Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, 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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too deep
- By RJP on 07-15-24
By: Mark E. Stille
-
Midnight in the Pacific
- Guadalcanal -- The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 525
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 471
Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with marine corps and army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
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The Cactus Air Force
- Air War Over Guadalcanal
- By: Eric Hammel, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Adam Henderson
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 143
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
In The Cactus Air Force, Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver worked closely with Eric to build on his collection of diary entries, interviews and first-hand accounts to create a vivid narrative of the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Book!
- By Eric Peterson on 09-16-22
By: Eric Hammel, and others
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Crucible of Hell
- The Heroism and Tragedy of Okinawa, 1945
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Saul David, William Roberts
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
With Allied forces sweeping across Europe and into Germany in the spring of 1945, one enormous challenge threatened to derail America's audacious drive to win the world back from the Nazis: Japan, the empire that had extended its reach southward across the Pacific and was renowned for the fanaticism and brutality of its fighters, who refused to surrender, even when faced with insurmountable odds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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One of the best on Okinawa
- By J.Brock on 11-12-22
By: Saul David
-
Neptune's Inferno
- The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,359
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,034
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,031
With The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, James D. Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal. Neptune’s Inferno is at once the most epic and the most intimate account ever written of the contest for control of the seaways of the Solomon Islands.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
The WWII Pacific Theater Explodes In My Lazy Chair
- By Rum Runner on 03-01-11
-
Bloody Spring
- Forty Days That Sealed the Confederacy's Fate
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 303
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 302
In the spring of 1864, Robert E. Lee faced a new adversary: Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. Named commander of all Union armies in March, Grant quickly went on the offensive against Lee in Virginia. On May 4th, Grant's army struck hard across the Rapidan River into north central Virginia, with Lee's army contesting every mile. They fought for 40 days until, finally, the Union army crossed the James River and began the siege of Petersburg. The campaign cost 90,000 men - the largest loss the war had seen.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Skip this! Get Catton's Stillness at Appomattox
- By BVerité on 10-19-14
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Burma '44
- The Battle That Turned World War II in the East
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 29
In February 1944, in one of the most astonishing battles of World War II, a ragtag collection of British clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers, and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews, managed to defeat a much larger and sophisticated contingent of some of the finest infantry in the Japanese army on their march toward India.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Standard Holland read
- By Thomas Brian Raines on 10-18-24
By: James Holland
-
82 Days on Okinawa
- One American’s Unforgettable Firsthand Account of the Pacific War’s Greatest Battle
- By: Art Shaw, Robert L. Wise
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
In celebration of the 75th anniversary, a riveting first-hand account of the Battle of Okinawa from the first officer ashore, who served at the front for the battle’s entire 82-day duration, heroism that earned him a Bronze Star. On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, 1,500 Allied ships and 1.5 million men gathered off the coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa and launched the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific War. The first American officer ashore was Major Art Shaw, a unit commander in the US Army’s 361 Artillery Battalion of the 96th Division, often called the Deadeyes.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Questionable work by the ghost writer
- By Jeff on 04-19-20
By: Art Shaw, and others
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Okinawa
- A Decorated Marine’s Account of the Last Battle of World War II
- By: Robert Leckie
- Narrated by: Preston Geer
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 13
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
Former Marine and Pacific War veteran Robert Leckie tells the story of the invasion of Okinawa, the closing battle of World War II. Leckie is a skilled military historian, mixing battle strategy and analysis with portraits of the men who fought on both sides to give the listener a complete account of the invasion. Lasting eighty-three days and surpassing D-Day in both troops and material used, the Battle of Okinawa was a decisive victory for the Allies, and a huge blow to Japan. In this stirring account, Leckie provides a complete picture of the battle and its context in the larger war.
By: Robert Leckie
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One Square Mile of Hell
- The Battle for Tarawa
- By: John Wukovits
- Narrated by: Gregory Jones
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 22
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story5 out of 5 stars 20
In November 1943, the men of the 2d Marine Division were instructed to clear out Japanese resistance on the Pacific island of Betio, a speck at the end of the Tarawa Atoll. When the Marines landed, the Japanese poured out of their underground bunkers — and launched one of the most brutal and bloody battles of World War II.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant
- By Chandler on 02-17-22
By: John Wukovits
What listeners say about Bitter Peleliu
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 08-19-24
Heroic Story Told Well
Did anybody review this presentation before Audible made it available? I say that because the narrator miss pronounced nearly every place name repeatedly. Very annoying!
The story is very well done with lots of important detail that you won't find in other books on the same subject.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Texican Scotty
- 11-12-24
Well written, with narration flaws
I would have really enjoyed this but atrocious pronunciation by the narrator irritated me. Example - gauntlet pounced gantlet. I closed this with a diminished opinion of Marine leaders like Puller and Rupertus. The Army had a more sophisticated way of fighting using firepower instead of men to achieve their objectives. Amazing tale of sacrifice on both sides.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- steve
- 03-17-24
Novice Narration
A good narrator can take a great book to a sublime level. unfortunately bad narrator can ruin an otherwise serviceable book.
aside from voice, this narrator seems to have no familiarity with the people,places and military terms used in the book
I listened to Whelans book on Guadalcanal and it was very good but couldn't get too far into this one due to butchered narration
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