The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet Action

Twentieth-Century Battles

By: H. P. Willmott

Narrated by: Jim Seitz

The Battle of Leyte Gulf - October 22-28, 1944 - was the greatest naval engagement in history. In fact the battle was four separate actions, none of which were fought in the Gulf itself, and the result was the destruction of Japanese naval power in the Pacific. This book is a detailed and comprehensive account of the fighting from both sides. It provides the context of the battle, most obviously in terms of Japanese calculations and the search for "a fitting place to die" and "the chance to bloom as flowers of death." Using Japanese material never previously noted in western accounts, H.P. Willmott provides new perspectives on the unfolding of the battle and very deliberately seeks to give readers a proper understanding of the importance of this battle for American naval operations in the following month. This careful interrogation of the accounts of "the last fleet action" is a significant contribution to military history.

Winner, Society for Military history Distinguished Book Award.

©2005 H. P. Willmott (P)2015 Redwood Audiobooks

If you love Military History, you'll love this!

What did you love best about The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet Action?

The Battle of Leyte Gulf is a fact filled volume detailing not only this particular battle, but Naval and WW2 history as well.

Any additional comments?

I believe the narrator did a fine job sorting out the many facts and figures that fill the beginning of the account. His delivery of the story was similar to that of a college professor dispensing his knowledge and passion about events that shaped this world.

Analytical history, told with gravitas

Would you consider the audio edition of The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet Action to be better than the print version?

Absolutely, Jim Seitz' voice lends pacing and gravity to the necessarily analytic account of an immensely complex battle.

What does Jim Seitz bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pacing, interest, and gravity. Willmott paints his picture with facts, showing the mechanics and inevitability of a large, diverse and complex set of actions. The consistent, accurate and never tiring narrative voice of Jim Seitz gives a welcome path through this densely argued account.He takes it out of the academy and brings it home.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, and the deep firm storytelling voice of Jim Seitz provides a stable re-entry point at each listening.

Helpful narration of a difficult book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If I had a friend who was a serious student of WWII naval history, and who was eager for the most minute detail, I would recommend this book. If a person wants a good story about this episode of the war, they would have to look elsewhere.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I don't think the intent of the book was to be enjoyable. This is a heavily detailed book that tries to give a definitive account of the various aspects of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. If I wanted an enjoyable account of this history, I would have to choose a book with a different intent.

Which scene was your favorite?

N.A.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

N.A.

Any additional comments?

The narrator seems to be very attuned to the gravity of the book and the detail of the story. He adds life, personality, maturity, and a great story teller's voice to the project.

Excellent book!

Excellent reading.

Narrator should have learned the proper pronunciation of Japanese.

Am fluent in Japanese.

Narrator needs to research pronunciations.

As a student of the Pacific war, I noticed a total lack of attention by the narrator to the proper pronunciations of location names and, in particular, the names of ships of the Imperial Navy that were involved in the various asoects of this battle .

Be weary, interesting, but unexpected format

I think the narrator did as well as he could have considering the material.

This book is full of information, but it doesn't appear to have been proof read by anyone with a thesaurus. The author uses the phrases "obviously", "one would", and "en passant" often enough to be distracting. It feels as though he wrote this for himself, not for the reader.

It is not a blow-by-blow telling of the battle, and self proclaims not to be. It is a large picture overview of the battle, the contributing forces, and mindsets of the countries involved.

Love Naval History

Good listening Naval History. Even though some of the names were mispronounced. I knew what the Narrator was talking about.

Bad narrator

good book bad narrator. He speaks in a dull monotone voice and has trouble pronouncing the most of the names of the Japanese ships.

Slow and boring

The writer or narrator makes it seem as more of a report instead of a book. Great info just boring to listen to if your not wanting to fall asleep.

Boring Boring Boring

This is absolutely the most Boring excuse of bad narration ever. The narrator is a monotoned bore. Absolute wast of time.