Return to Victory
MacArthur's Epic Liberation of the Philippines
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Return to Victory
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Narrated by:
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Aaron Abano
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By:
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James P. Duffy
About this listen
General Douglas MacArthur's bloody campaign to defeat die-hard Japanese forces and liberate the Philippines
“I shall return”, General Douglas MacArthur promised the Filipino people following the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Philippines in spring 1942. The people there believed MacArthur’s vow - and even Americans were stirred by his dramatic pledge. Now, two and half years later, MacArthur was ready to fulfill his promise - the liberation of the Philippines was about to begin.
It would not be an easy campaign. The more than 7,000 islands of the Philippine archipelago were the key to taking down the Japanese Empire - and the Imperial forces were prepared to sacrifice every man and every ship to prevent MacArthur from regaining control of them.
Covering both the strategic and tactical aspects of the campaign through the participation of its soldiers, sailors, and airmen, as well as its commanders, James P. Duffy leads readers through a vivid account of the nearly year-long, bloody campaign to defeat over a quarter million die-hard Japanese defenders in the Pacific theater. Return to Victory is a wide-ranging, dramatic and stirring account of MacArthur’s epic liberation of the Philippines.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 James P. Duffy (P)2021 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,515
On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
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War at the End of the World
- Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea 1942-1945
- By: James P. Duffy
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
One American soldier called it "a green hell on Earth". Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps - New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the empire's strategy to knock Australia out of the war.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The WW2 New Guinea Campaign
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 09-26-18
By: James P. Duffy
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I Will Run Wild
- The Pacific War from Pearl Harbor to Midway
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Lance C Fuller
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
In many popular histories of the Pacific War, the period from the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor to the US victory at Midway is often passed over because it is seen as a period of darkness. Indeed, it is easy to see the period as one of unmitigated disaster for the Allies, with the fall of the Philippines, Malaya, Burma and the Dutch East Indies and the wholesale retreat and humiliation at the hands of Japan throughout Southeast Asia.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very informative
- By dexter on 09-20-20
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Rising Sun Victorious
- Alternate Histories of the Pacific War
- By: Peter G. Tsouras
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4 out of 5 stars 35
In war, victory can be held hostage to seemingly insignificant incidents - chance events, opportunities seized or cast aside - that can derail the most brilliant military strategies and change the course of history. What if the Japanese had conquered India and driven out the British? What if the strategic link between the United States and Australia had been severed? What if Vice Admiral Nagumo had launched a third attack on Pearl Harbor? What if the US Navy's gamble at Midway had backfired?
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3 out of 5 stars
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victorious
- By Amazon Customer on 05-17-16
By: Peter G. Tsouras
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World War II at Sea
- A Global History
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 25 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,386
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,235
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,228
World War II at Sea offers a global perspective, focusing on the major engagements and personalities and revealing both their scale and their interconnection: the U-boat attack on Scapa Flow and the Battle of the Atlantic; the "miracle" evacuation from Dunkirk and the pitched battles for control of Norway fjords; Mussolini's Regia Marina - at the start of the war the fourth-largest navy in the world - and the dominance of the Kidö Butai and Japanese naval power in the Pacific; Pearl Harbor then Midway; and much more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding
- By Patrick on 02-14-19
By: Craig L. Symonds
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Rising Sun, Falling Skies
- The Disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World War II
- By: Jeffrey Cox
- Narrated by: Theodore O'Brien
- Length: 22 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Story5 out of 5 stars 98
Few events have ever shaken a country in the way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected the United States. After the devastating attack, Japanese forces continued to overwhelm the Allies, attacking Malaya with its fortress of Singapore, and taking resource-rich islands in the Pacific - Borneo, Sumatra, and Java - in their own blitzkrieg offensive. Allied losses in these early months after America's entry into the war were great, and among the most devastating were those suffered during the Java Sea Campaign.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The first months of the war were frightening.
- By michael s on 10-07-22
By: Jeffrey Cox
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The War for the Seas
- A Maritime History of World War II
- By: Evan Mawdsley
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 28 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 145
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
Command of the oceans was crucial to winning World War II. By the start of 1942 Nazi Germany had conquered mainland Europe, and Imperial Japan had overrun Southeast Asia and much of the Pacific. How could Britain and distant America prevail in what had become a "war of continents"? In this definitive account, Evan Mawdsley traces events at sea from the first U-boat operations in 1939 to the surrender of Japan. He argues that the Allied counterattack involved not just decisive sea battles, but a long struggle to control shipping arteries and move armies across the sea.
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2 out of 5 stars
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An Unengaging Survey that Disappoints
- By Scott Eckert on 08-06-20
By: Evan Mawdsley
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Islands of Destiny
- By: John Prados
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
Acclaimed WWII historian and military intelligence expert John Prados offers a provocative reassessment of the Allies’ battle for the Solomon Islands - a turbulent, dramatic campaign that, he argues, was the true turning point of the Pacific conflict.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Way too much detail
- By Eric on 01-15-17
By: John Prados
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Under the Southern Cross
- The South Pacific Air Campaign Against Rabaul
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Lance C Fuller
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
From August 7th 1942 until February 24th 1944, the US Navy fought the most difficult campaign in its history. Between the landing of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal and the final withdrawal of the Imperial Japanese Navy from its main South Pacific base at Rabaul, the US Navy suffered such high personnel losses that for years it refused to publicly release total casualty figures.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another first class work by Thomas Cleaver.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-21
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Blazing Star, Setting Sun
- The Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign November 1942-March 1943
- By: Jeffrey Cox
- Narrated by: Lance C Fuller
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 222
By the end of February 1944, thanks to hard-fought and costly American victories in the first and second naval battles of Guadalcanal, the battle of Empress Augusta Bay and the battle of Cape St George, the Japanese would no longer hold the materiel or skilled manpower advantage. From this point on, although the war was still a long way from being won, the American star was unquestionably on the ascendant, slowly, but surely, edging Japanese imperialism towards its sunset.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator Ruined the Book
- By Duncan on 08-20-20
By: Jeffrey Cox
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South Pacific Cauldron
- World War II's Great Forgotten Battlegrounds
- By: Alan Rems
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Unlike most other World War II accounts, this work covers the South Pacific operations in detail. The audiobook includes many now-forgotten operations that deserve to be well remembered. Significantly, the official Australian history of World War II correctly observed that Australia's part in the Pacific war is barely mentioned in American histories. This volume finally brings the major Australian contribution to the fore.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A little dry but informative
- By Damien on 02-20-15
By: Alan Rems
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War Stories II
- Heroism in the Pacific
- By: Oliver North, Joe Musser
- Narrated by: Joel Leffert
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
New York Times best-selling author Oliver North, popular host of FOX News Channel's top-rated War Stories program, provided an insightful look at Operation Iraqi Freedom in the first hard-hitting book based on his show. Now in this second book, North shares the accomplishments of the heroic men who fought in the Pacific theater of World War II.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another winner
- By Kindle Customer on 04-20-05
By: Oliver North, and others
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Storm over Leyte
- The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy
- By: John Prados
- Narrated by: Ricard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
As Allied ships prepared for the invasion of the Philippine island of Leyte, every available warship, submarine, and airplane was placed on alert while Japanese admiral Kurita Takeo stalked Admiral William F. Halsey's unwitting American armada. It was the beginning of the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf - the greatest naval battle in history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Startling revelations to a 72 year battle!
- By Chiefkent on 07-31-16
By: John Prados
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But Not in Shame
- The Six Months After Pearl Harbor
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
What were the events which determined the Pearl Harbor catastrophe? What were the last few days on Wake Island like? What really occurred on the infamous Bataan Death March, and why did it happen? How did MacArthur make his dramatic escape from Corregidor? And what is the story behind the greatest capitulation in American history, General Wainwright’s forced surrender of the Philippines?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great story
- By dexter on 03-03-20
By: John Toland
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Engineers of Victory
- The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
- By: Paul Kennedy
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 138
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Story4 out of 5 stars 140
Paul Kennedy, award-winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers and one of today’s most renowned historians, now provides a new and unique look at how World War II was won. Engineers of Victory is a fascinating nuts-and-bolts account of the strategic factors that led to Allied victory. Kennedy reveals how the leaders’ grand strategy was carried out by the ordinary soldiers, scientists, engineers, and businessmen responsible for realizing their commanders’ visions of success.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Misleading title
- By Thomas on 04-10-14
By: Paul Kennedy
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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
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
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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
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War Beneath the Sea
- Submarine Conflict During World War II
- By: Peter Padfield
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 25 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
This riveting chronicle of submarine warfare is the first to cover all the major submarine campaigns of the war, describing, in detail, the operations of the British, American, Japanese, Italian, and German submarine and anti-submarine forces. Beginning with a vivid re-creation of the sinking of the passenger liner Athenia by a German U-boat in September 1939, critically acclaimed military historian Peter Padfield's compelling narrative casts an unflinching eye on the devastating consequences of maritime warfare.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fills in the gaps of other submarine books
- By Ben on 05-19-21
By: Peter Padfield