The Story of Wake Island
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The Story of Wake Island
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Narrated by:
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Joel Schrank
About this listen
On December 8th, 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 36 Japanese bombers attacked Wake Island and destroyed eight of its 12 aircraft. Two more raids shortly followed, further reducing the defensive possibilities for the men who were left to defend this small area of American soil in the center of the Pacific Ocean.
Major James P. S. Devereux was the Commanding Officer of the first Marine Defense Battalion who faced Japanese onslaught. The first Japanese landing attempt on the morning of December 11th was repelled by a ferocious defense put forward by Devereux and his men. Yet, although the Japanese had withdrawn without landing, they continued to bombard the island by air and sea, and there was little hope of resupply for the Americans.
For 15 days the American troops suffered endless bombardments until the second major Japanese offensive was launched on December 23rd. Against overwhelming forces the Marines and other troops that were stationed on the island fought valiantly, but after 49 men had lost their lives in the fight, the remaining American men and civilians were captured by the Japanese.
James P. S. Deveraux’s remarkable book The Story of Wake Island takes the listener to the heart of the action from the point of view of the commanding officer. It is a brilliant account of this tragic event that demonstrated the fighting spirit of the American soldier even in the face of unbeatable odds.
James P. S. Devereaux was a United States Marine Corps general, Navy Cross recipient, and Republican congressman. After the ferocious 15-day battle of Wake Island Devereux was interned for nearly four years in Japanese prison camps. His book The Story of Wake Island was first published in 1947 and he passed away in 1988.
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- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jesse Boggs
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,425
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,066
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Story5 out of 5 stars 3,053
Stephen E. Ambrose draws from hundreds of interviews with US Army veterans and the brave Allied soldiers who fought alongside them to create this exceptional account of the day that shaped the twentieth century. D-Day is above all the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their existence, when the horrors, complexities and triumphs of life are laid bare and courage and heroism come to the fore.
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5 out of 5 stars
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What an epic story what great men
- By Michael on 02-12-14
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Undefeated
- America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story5 out of 5 stars 73
Abandoned by their government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever. Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most previous books about the Philippines campaign have done- Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mesmerizing
- By Amazon Customer on 03-30-17
By: Bill Sloan
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The Americans at D-Day
- The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 631
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 566
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Story5 out of 5 stars 558
June 6, 1944, was a pivotal moment in the history of World War II. On that day the climactic and decisive phase of the war in Europe began. Those who survived the intense fighting on the Normandy beaches found their lives irreversibly changed. That day ushered in a great change for the United States as well, because on D-day America began its march to the forefront of the Western world. By the end of the Battle of Normandy, almost one out of every two soldiers involved was an American.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Book
- By Byron Sarchet on 01-15-21
By: John C. McManus
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Their Backs Against the Sea
- The Battle of Saipan and the Greatest Banzai Attack of World War II
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
In the midst of the largest banzai attack of the war, US Army Lt. Col. William O'Brien, grievously wounded and out of ammunition, grabbed a sabre from a fallen Japanese soldier and flailed away at a small army of assailants, screaming to his men, "Don't give them a damn inch"! When his body was recovered the next day, 30 dead enemies were piled around him. The Battle of Saipan lasted 25 hellish days in the summer of 1944, and the stakes couldn't have been higher. If Japan lost possession of the island, all hope for victory would be lost.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thank you!
- By Robert on 01-29-19
By: Bill Sloan
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The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,844
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,469
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Story5 out of 5 stars 3,454
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
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5 out of 5 stars
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INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
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Pegasus Bridge
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 313
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 279
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 278
In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a small detachment of British airborne troops stormed the German defense forces and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Europe. Pegasus Bridge was the first engagement of D-day, the turning point of World War II. This gripping account of it by acclaimed author Stephen Ambrose brings to life a daring mission so crucial that, had it been unsuccessful, the entire Normandy invasion might have failed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great story told in greater detal
- By Amazon Customer on 08-16-17
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The Miracle of Dunkirk
- By: Walter Lord
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 830
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 729
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 721
On May 24, 1940, Hitler's armies were on the brink of a shattering military victory. Only 10 miles away, 400,000 Allied troops were pinned against the coast of Dunkirk. But just 11 days later, 338,000 men had been successfully evacuated to England. How did it happen? Walter Lord's remarkable account of how "the miracle of Dunkirk" came about is based on hundreds of interviews.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sold On The Miracle Of Dunkirk
- By Eve Grissom on 05-08-17
By: Walter Lord
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The Greatest U.S. Marine Corps Stories Ever Told
- Unforgettable Stories of Courage, Honor, and Sacrifice
- By: Iain Martin, Colonel Joseph H. Alexander - introduction
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
On Friday, November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress approved a resolution for the organization of the Corps, creating what would become the hallowed few, the proud - the Marines. Since then, the men and women of the United States Marine Corps have created the finest traditions of service and honor, and supplied a pantheon of heroes who have upheld them.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Marines Will Hate This Narrator.
- By Blaine E. Moyer on 04-18-17
By: Iain Martin, and others
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Bloody Ridge and Beyond
- A World War II Marine's Memoir of Edson's Raiders inthe Pacific
- By: Marlin Groft, Larry Alexander
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,317
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,203
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,193
On the killing ground that was the island of Guadalcanal, a 2,000-yard-long ridge rose from the jungle canopy. Behind it lay the all-important air base of Henderson Field. And if Henderson Field fell, it would mean the almost certain death or capture of all 12,500 marines on the island. But the marines positioned on the ridge were no normal fighters - they were the hard-fighting men of Edson's Raiders, an elite fighting unit within an already elite Marine Corps.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Masterful Account
- By Arthur on 01-25-18
By: Marlin Groft, and others
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Red Blood, Black Sand
- Fighting Alongside John Basilone from Boot Camp to Iwo Jima
- By: Chuck Tatum
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 462
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 420
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 421
When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps - Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.
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2 out of 5 stars
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not as good as helmet or old breed
- By C. Kenny on 01-21-17
By: Chuck Tatum
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D-Days in the Pacific
- By: Donald L. Miller
- Narrated by: Gary Dikeos
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 82
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
Although most people associate the term D-day with the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, it is military code for the beginning of any offensive operation. In the Pacific theater during World War II there were more than one hundred D-days. The largest - and last - was the invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, which brought together the biggest invasion fleet ever assembled, far larger than that engaged in the Normandy invasion. D-Days in the Pacific tells the epic story of the campaign waged by American forces to win back the Pacific islands from Japan.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Terrific one volume history of the Pacific war.
- By Bill on 12-01-12
By: Donald L. Miller
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Eye of the Storm
- Twenty-Five Years in Action with the SAS
- By: Peter Ratcliffe, Noel Botham, Brian Hitchen
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
Peter Ratcliffe served in the SAS for 25 years. Blooded in Oman in the 1970s, he also saw action in Northern Ireland, in the Falklands War, and in the Gulf campaign. From his early days in the Paras to his time as Regimental Sergeant-Major in the Gulf, he has lived and fought by the motto 'who dares wins'. Eye of the Storm is his insider's account of that exceptional career.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Peter is the real deal
- By LARRY on 10-19-19
By: Peter Ratcliffe, and others
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A Foot Soldier for Patton
- The Story of a "Red Diamond" Infantryman with the US Third Army
- By: Michael C. Bilder, James Bilder
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 154
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 145
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Story5 out of 5 stars 146
A rarely frank account of the US infantry experience in northern Europe, A Foot Soldier for Patton takes the listener from the beaches of Normandy through the giddy drive across France to the brutal battles on the Westwall, in the Ardennes, and finally to the conquest of Germany itself. Patton's army is best known for dashing armored attacks; its commander combining the firepower of tanks with their historic lineage as cavalry. But when the Germans stood firm, the greatest fighting was done by Patton's long undersung infantry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful book
- By Dr. Z on 09-16-21
By: Michael C. Bilder, and others
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Swift Boats at War in Vietnam
- By: Guy Gugliotta, John Yeoman, Neva Sullaway
- Narrated by: David Colacci, Susan Ericksen
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 276
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 254
Developed specifically for the Vietnam War, Swift Boats were versatile craft "big enough to outrun anything they couldn't outfight" but too small to handle even a moderate ocean chop, too loud to sneak up on anyone, and too flimsy to withstand the mildest of rocket attacks. This made more difficult an already tough mission: navigating coastal waters for ships and sampans smuggling contraband to the Viet Cong, disrupting enemy supply lines on the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta, and inserting SEALs behind enemy lines.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Ride with the Swift Boats
- By Robert Lion on 05-01-18
By: Guy Gugliotta, and others
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Ship of Ghosts
- The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of of Her Survivors
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Mark Cashman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 369
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 260
Renowned as FDR's favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. But the men of the Houston fought back with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, willpower, and the undying faith that their country would prevail.
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4 out of 5 stars
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interesting read
- By Laurie on 05-11-07
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The Bloody Battle for Suribachi
- The Amazing Story of Iwo Jima that Inspired Flags of Our Fathers
- By: Richard Wheeler
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 225
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 210
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Story5 out of 5 stars 207
The classic first-hand WWII narrative that chronicles the Marines’ savage five-day struggle to wrest Mount Suribachi from its tenacious Japanese defenders during their 35-day battle for Iwo Jima in 1945. Revised with a new introduction by the author and recently discovered photos, this book served as invaluable source material both for James Bradley’s best-seller Flags of Our Fathers as well as Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed film of the same name.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible
- By Ed Hart on 06-09-22
By: Richard Wheeler
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Hell in the Pacific
- A Marine Rifleman's Journey from Guadalcanal to Peleliu
- By: Jim McEnery, Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 248
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 222
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Story5 out of 5 stars 221
In what may be the last memoir to be published by a living veteran of the pivotal invasion of Guadalcanal, which occurred almost 70 years ago, Marine Jim McEnery has teamed up with author Bill Sloan to create an unforgettably immersive chronicle of horror and heroism.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Badass
- By Rebecca Bennett on 11-06-15
By: Jim McEnery, and others