
Bloody Okinawa
The Last Great Battle of World War II
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Narrated by:
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George Newbern
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By:
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Joseph Wheelan
About this listen
A stirring narrative of World War II's final major battle—the Pacific war's largest, bloodiest, most savagely fought campaign—the last of its kind.
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. Waves of Japanese kamikaze and conventional warplanes sank 36 warships, damaged 368 others, and killed nearly 5,000 US seamen.
When the slugfest ended after 82 days, more than 125,000 enemy soldiers lay dead - along with 7,500 US ground troops. Tragically, more than 100,000 Okinawa civilians perished while trapped between the armies. The brutal campaign persuaded US leaders to drop the atomic bomb instead of invading Japan.
Utilizing accounts by US combatants and Japanese sources, author Joseph Wheelan endows this riveting story of the war's last great battle with a compelling human dimension.
©2020 Joseph Wheelan (P)2020 Hachette BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"In Bloody Okinawa Joseph Wheelan presents us with a rich narrative tapestry of the final great battle of World War II. To cite Wheelan himself, his book's 'scenes of nearly indescribable carnage' mixed with his insightful knowledge of military history are as breathtaking as they are unforgettable. This book belongs not only on the shelves of readers World War II non-fiction, but in the library of anyone interested in the horror, bravery, and compassion that total war brings out in American fighting men."—Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, bestselling authors of The Last Stand of Fox Company, Halsey's Typhoon, and The Heart of Everything That Is
"Bloody Okinawa puts the reader in the heart one of the war's largest battles through the eyes of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who experienced the fighting firsthand. Wheelan also captures the perspective of the civilians and Japanese. Storming Japanese pill boxes and relentless kamikaze attacks punctuate a narrative that places the reader in the vortex of this enormous struggle. Gripping and harrowing, the book brings to life the battle so savage that it influenced America's decision to drop the atomic bomb."—Patrick K. O'Donnell, award-winning and bestselling author of The Unknowns: The Untold Story of American's Unknown Soldier and WWI's Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home
"Wheelan mines a wealth of source material to present a 360-degree view of the battle, and maintains a brisk pace.... Exhaustive yet accessible"—Publishers Weekly
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Better read than listened to
- By B. In -t Veld on 03-25-17
By: Max Hastings
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The Farthest Valley
- Escaping the Chinese Trap at the Chosin Reservoir
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Without the Marines the entire United Nations core strength was at risk of collapse which would have changed the outcome of the Korean War. This is a compelling history of the Marines’ incredible tenacity and of woeful combat leadership as the Chinese gambled away their men’s lives and ultimately victory.
By: Joseph Wheelan
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Bitter Peleliu
- The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Mack Gordon
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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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.
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Narration.
- By Chad Howard on 01-27-25
By: Joseph Wheelan
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First Casualty
- The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11
- By: Toby Harnden
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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This dramatic true story reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11.
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Deeply researched
- By Jason G on 09-08-21
By: Toby Harnden
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The Wrong Stuff
- How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned
- By: John Strausbaugh
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories—starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America's material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power. But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story.
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An interesting book
- By M.Biblioswine on 05-27-25
By: John Strausbaugh
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A Concise History of the Middle East, 13th Edition
- By: Arthur Goldschmidt, Ibrahim Al-Marashi
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 21 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A Concise History of the Middle East provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of this region. Spanning from the pre-Islamic era to the present, it explores the evolution of Middle Eastern institutions and culture, the influence of European colonialism and Western imperialism, regional modernization efforts, the struggle of various peoples for political independence, the Arab–Israel conflict, the reassertion of Islamist values and power, the issues surrounding the Palestinian Question, and more.
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Narration is robotic
- By Rana R. on 01-04-25
By: Arthur Goldschmidt, and others
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After the Miracle
- The Political Crusades of Helen Keller
- By: Max Wallace
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In this powerful new history, New York Times bestselling author Max Wallace draws on groundbreaking research to reframe Helen Keller’s journey after the miracle at the water pump, vividly bringing to light her rarely discussed, lifelong fight for social justice across gender, class, race, and ability. Peeling back the curtain that obscured Keller’s political crusades in favor of her “inspirational” childhood, After the Miracle chronicles the complete legacy of one of the 20th century’s most extraordinary figures.
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Excellent book
- By steve on 05-31-23
By: Max Wallace
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Starborn
- How the Stars Made Us (and Who We Would Be Without Them)
- By: Roberto Trotta
- Narrated by: George Weightman
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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For as long as humans have lived, we have lived beneath the stars. But under the glow of today’s artificial lighting, we have lost the intimacy our ancestors once shared with the cosmos. In Starborn, cosmologist Roberto Trotta reveals how stargazing has shaped the course of human civilization. The stars have served as our timekeepers, our navigators, our muses—they were once even our gods. How radically different would we be, Trotta also asks, if our ancestors had looked up to the night sky and seen… nothing?
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Interesting but flawed.
- By Bryan Propp on 03-02-25
By: Roberto Trotta
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Black Ball
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA
- By: Theresa Runstedtler
- Narrated by: Xenia Willacey
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of pro basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed.
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Almost too emotionless
- By JIM HOWELL on 04-11-25
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Chasing the Bear
- How Bear Bryant and Nick Saban Made Alabama the Greatest College Football Program of All Time
- By: Lars Anderson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Both Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are undeniable kings of college football, two coaches at Alabama who have each won more national championships - six apiece - than anyone else in the history of the game. Chasing the Bear examines how they did it, revealing along the way their similarities in style, background, football philosophy, and recruiting methods, while providing listeners a rare inside look at two of the greatest leaders in the history of sports.
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Half great half fair
- By jonathan meharg on 09-26-19
By: Lars Anderson
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The Spy Who Knew Too Much
- An Ex-CIA Officer’s Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On a sunlit morning in September 1978, a sloop drifts aimlessly across the Chesapeake Bay. The cabin reveals signs of a struggle, and “classified” documents, live 9 mm cartridges, and a top-secret “burst” satellite communications transmitter are discovered aboard. But where is the boat’s owner, former CIA officer John Paisley? One man may hold the key to finding out. Tennent “Pete” Bagley was once a rising star in America’s spy aristocracy, and many expected he’d eventually become CIA director.
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The, too long, story of an obsession
- By Tony on 10-30-22
By: Howard Blum
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Homer and His Iliad
- By: Robin Lane Fox
- Narrated by: Steve John Shepherd
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Iliad is the world’s greatest epic poem—heroic battle and divine fate set against the Trojan War. Its beauty and profound bleakness are intensely moving, but great questions remain: Where, how, and when was it composed and why does it endure? Robin Lane Fox addresses these questions, drawing on a lifelong love and engagement with the poem. He argues for a place, a date, and a method for its composition—subjects of ongoing controversy—combining the detailed expertise of a historian with a poetic reader’s sensitivity.
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Masterful!
- By J. C. Weaver on 01-08-24
By: Robin Lane Fox
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The Inside Game
- Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves
- By: Keith Law
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this groundbreaking book, Keith Law, the ESPN baseball writer and author of the acclaimed Smart Baseball, offers an era-spanning dissection of some of the best and worst decisions in modern baseball, explaining what motivated them, what can be learned from them, and how their legacy has shaped the game....
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Narrator is negative value compared to replacement
- By Daniel W. Franzen on 11-28-20
By: Keith Law
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The Great Cat Massacre
- And Other Episodes in French Cultural History
- By: Robert Darnton
- Narrated by: Ken Kliban
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The landmark history of France and French culture in the 18th century, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
By: Robert Darnton
Gut wrenching
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Recomendado
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Well Done
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okinawa
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Very Technical
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The only detractor was the narrator with his glib, clipped presentation style.
Excellent Detailed History
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Review
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read it yourself
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Add to this struggling narrative a narrator who routinely fails to consistently pronounce key words the same way (Ugaki and Shuri are two particularly annoying victims) and a cadence filled with odd minor pauses…. And an annoying lack of common sense (for example, when describing casualties he refers to “Company One… Company K… and… in L.” The clown didn’t recognize that “I” (as in Item) wasn’t a Roman numeral despite the context clues!!).
In all, this read was more a toil than a pleasure. Will not buy the narrator or author again.
The reader makes a difficult narrative worse
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narrator mispronounced words many times.
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