-
Crucible of Hell
- The Heroism and Tragedy of Okinawa, 1945
- Narrated by: Saul David, William Roberts
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII's Pacific Theater - and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them.
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. Taking down Japan would require an unrelenting attack to break its national spirit, and launching such an attack on the island empire meant building an operations base just off its shores on the island of Okinawa.
The amphibious operation to capture Okinawa was the largest of the Pacific War and the greatest air-land-sea battle in history, mobilizing 183,000 troops from Seattle, Leyte in the Philippines, and ports around the world. The campaign lasted for 83 blood-soaked days, as the fighting plumbed depths of savagery. One veteran, struggling to make sense of what he had witnessed, referred to the fighting as the "crucible of Hell". Okinawan civilians died in the tens of thousands: some were mistaken for soldiers by American troops; but as the US Marines spearheading the invasion drove further onto the island and Japanese defeat seemed inevitable, many more civilians took their own lives, some even murdering their own families. In just under three months, the world had changed irrevocably: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died; the war in Europe ended; America's appetite for an invasion of Japan had waned, spurring President Truman to use other means - ultimately atomic bombs - to end the war; and more than 250,000 servicemen and civilians on or near the island of Okinawa had lost their lives.
Drawing on archival research in the US, Japan, and the UK, and the original accounts of those who survived, Crucible of Hell tells the vivid, heart-rending story of the battle that changed not just the course of WWII, but the course of war, forever.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Devil Dogs
- From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Adam James
- Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The "Devil Dogs" of King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines—part of the legendary 1st Marine Division—were among the first American soldiers to take the offensive in World World II—and also the last. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942—the first US ground offensive of the war—and were present when Okinawa, Japan's, most southerly prefecture finally fell to American troops in June 1945. Ordinary men, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army—and defeat it.
-
-
100% Respect for Our Veterans
- By lisadesign314 on 10-22-24
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Operation Thunderbolt
- Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda - ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality.
-
-
A story of true courage and political resolve
- By Gabe Schwartz on 01-28-16
By: Saul David
-
Bitter Peleliu
- The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Mack Gordon
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Heroic Story Told Well
- By Kindle Customer on 08-19-24
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
The Force
- The Legendary Special Ops Unit and WWII's Mission Impossible
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained US and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America's most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth.
-
-
well Done
- By Barbara on 11-18-19
By: Saul David
-
Inferno
- The World at War, 1939-1945
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 31 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of our finest military historians, a monumental work that shows us at once the truly global reach of World War II and its deeply personal consequences.
-
-
Superb
- By David on 04-05-21
By: Max Hastings
-
Devil Dogs
- From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Adam James
- Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The "Devil Dogs" of King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines—part of the legendary 1st Marine Division—were among the first American soldiers to take the offensive in World World II—and also the last. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942—the first US ground offensive of the war—and were present when Okinawa, Japan's, most southerly prefecture finally fell to American troops in June 1945. Ordinary men, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army—and defeat it.
-
-
100% Respect for Our Veterans
- By lisadesign314 on 10-22-24
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Operation Thunderbolt
- Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda - ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality.
-
-
A story of true courage and political resolve
- By Gabe Schwartz on 01-28-16
By: Saul David
-
Bitter Peleliu
- The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Mack Gordon
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Heroic Story Told Well
- By Kindle Customer on 08-19-24
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
The Force
- The Legendary Special Ops Unit and WWII's Mission Impossible
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained US and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America's most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth.
-
-
well Done
- By Barbara on 11-18-19
By: Saul David
-
Inferno
- The World at War, 1939-1945
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 31 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of our finest military historians, a monumental work that shows us at once the truly global reach of World War II and its deeply personal consequences.
-
-
Superb
- By David on 04-05-21
By: Max Hastings
-
Island Infernos
- The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After some two years at war, the Army in the Pacific held ground across nearly a third of the globe, from Alaska’s Aleutians to Burma and New Guinea. The challenges ahead were enormous: supplying a vast number of troops over thousands of miles of ocean; surviving in jungles ripe with dysentery, malaria, and other tropical diseases; fighting an enemy prone to ever-more desperate and dangerous assaults. Yet the Army had proven they could fight. Now, they had to prove they could win a war.
-
-
Wonderful book, but incomplete and poorly narrated.
- By Linda S. on 02-24-22
By: John C. McManus
-
Brothers in Arms
- One Legendary Tank Regiment’s Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the last cavalry units to ride horses into battle, the Sherwood Rangers were transformed into a “mechanized cavalry” of tanks in 1942. After winning acclaim in the North African campaign, they spearheaded one of the D-Day landings in Normandy and became the first British troops to cross into Germany. Their courage, skill, and tenacity contributed mightily to the surrender of Germany in 1945.
-
-
All the details
- By GY on 01-03-22
By: James Holland
-
40 Thieves on Saipan
- The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles
- By: Joseph Tachovsky, Cynthia Kraack
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan - where firing a gun could mean instant discovery and death - the 40 Thieves killed in silence during the grueling battle for Saipan, the D-Day of the Pacific.
-
-
Incredibly written, incredibly told!
- By licensedtorock on 09-05-20
By: Joseph Tachovsky, and others
-
Sign Here for Sacrifice
- The Untold Story of the Third Battalion, 506th Airborne, Vietnam 1968
- By: Ian Gardner
- Narrated by: Ian Porter
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on interviews with veterans, many of whom have never gone on the record before, Ian Gardner follows up his epic trilogy about the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II with the story of the unit's reactivation at the height of the Vietnam War. This is the dramatic history of a band of brothers who served together in Vietnam and who against the odds lived up to the reputation of their World War II forefathers.
-
-
Great story
- By E Clapp on 02-28-23
By: Ian Gardner
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Thoughtful and Sobering
- By Anonymous User on 10-07-19
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Vietnam
- An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, Peter Noble
- Length: 33 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the US in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed two million people.
-
-
A more nuanced view than Ken Burns' companion book
- By Vu on 10-21-18
By: Max Hastings
-
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
-
D-Day
- June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jesse Boggs
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
What an epic story what great men
- By Michael on 02-12-14
-
Nimitz at War
- Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz transformed the devastated and dispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history. Facing demands from Washington to mount an early offensive, he had first to revive the depressed morale of the thousands of sailors, soldiers, and Marines who served under him. And of course, he also confronted a formidable and implacable enemy in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
-
-
Great
- By Jean on 12-14-22
By: Craig L. Symonds
-
To the End of the Earth
- The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dawn of 1945 finds a US Army at its peak in the Pacific. Allied victory over Japan is all but assured. The only question is how many more months—or years—of fight does the enemy have left. John C. McManus’s magisterial series, described by the Wall Street Journal as being “as vast and splendid as Rick Atkinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation Trilogy,” returns with this brilliant final volume.
-
-
More repetition and more gore than necessary
- By Perry Smith on 10-05-24
By: John C. McManus
-
In Mortal Combat
- Korea, 1950-1953
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 27 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliant narrative of America's first limited war, Toland lets both the events and the participants speak for themselves, employing scrupulous archival research and interviews as the bases for the drama and accuracy of his writing. In Mortal Combat reveals Mao's prediction of the date and place of MacArthur's Inchon landing, Russia's indifference to the war, Mao's secret leadership of the North Korean military, and the true nature of both sides' treatment and repatriation of POWs.
-
-
Slightly disappointed
- By Patrick on 09-02-19
By: John Toland
-
Kabul
- The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End
- By: Jerry Dunleavy, James Hasson
- Narrated by: Maxwell Hamilton
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America’s chaotic retreat from Afghanistan in 2021 was nothing short of a horror show. Women and children were trampled to death outside the gates of the Kabul airfield. Desperate Afghans fell from the landing gear of departing planes. Taliban fighters mercilessly whipped and humiliated U.S. civilians. Countless Afghan interpreters were abandoned to the mercy of the Taliban after risking their lives alongside American troops for years. And thirteen U.S. service members were murdered in an ISIS suicide bombing. Still, the full story is worse than anyone imagined.
-
-
A rare exposition of the truth
- By VStamper on 10-27-23
By: Jerry Dunleavy, and others
Critic reviews
"The First Special Service Force created in 1942 was a unique elite unit.... As Saul David makes clear in this stirring account of their heroics, they did much more than their share and established precedents for the US and Canadian Special Forces of today." (James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Battle-Cry of Freedom)
Related to this topic
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Outstanding!
- By Patrick on 03-08-20
By: James H. Hallas
-
Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Details, details, details
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-11-21
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Excellent account of Normandy but be weary...
- By S. H. Moore on 02-22-20
By: James Holland
-
The Force
- The Legendary Special Ops Unit and WWII's Mission Impossible
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained US and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America's most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth.
-
-
well Done
- By Barbara on 11-18-19
By: Saul David
-
Guadalcanal Marine
- By: Kerry L. Lane
- Narrated by: Kenneth Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
I want to give a very honest review.
- By Jfm on 07-12-15
By: Kerry L. Lane
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Outstanding!
- By Patrick on 03-08-20
By: James H. Hallas
-
Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Details, details, details
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-11-21
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Excellent account of Normandy but be weary...
- By S. H. Moore on 02-22-20
By: James Holland
-
The Force
- The Legendary Special Ops Unit and WWII's Mission Impossible
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained US and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America's most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth.
-
-
well Done
- By Barbara on 11-18-19
By: Saul David
-
Guadalcanal Marine
- By: Kerry L. Lane
- Narrated by: Kenneth Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
I want to give a very honest review.
- By Jfm on 07-12-15
By: Kerry L. Lane
-
Sicily '43
- The First Assault on Fortress Europe
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
- By ItalCali on 08-02-21
By: James Holland
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Excellent Account of the Battle
- By Jesse on 11-25-11
By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), and others
-
But Not in Shame
- The Six Months After Pearl Harbor
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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?
-
-
Great story
- By dexter on 03-03-20
By: John Toland
-
Given Up for Dead
- America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: David Cochran Heath
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On December 8, 1941, just five hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes attacked a remote US outpost in the westernmost reaches of the Pacific. It was the beginning of an incredible 16-day fight for Wake Island, a tiny but strategically valuable dot in the ocean. Unprepared for the stunning assault, the small battalion was dangerously outnumbered and outgunned. But they compensated with a surplus of bravery and perseverance, waging an extraordinary battle against all odds.
-
-
For want of a nail...
- By Kindle Customer on 07-21-21
By: Bill Sloan
-
In Mortal Combat
- Korea, 1950-1953
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 27 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliant narrative of America's first limited war, Toland lets both the events and the participants speak for themselves, employing scrupulous archival research and interviews as the bases for the drama and accuracy of his writing. In Mortal Combat reveals Mao's prediction of the date and place of MacArthur's Inchon landing, Russia's indifference to the war, Mao's secret leadership of the North Korean military, and the true nature of both sides' treatment and repatriation of POWs.
-
-
Slightly disappointed
- By Patrick on 09-02-19
By: John Toland
-
The Ultimate Battle
- Okinawa 1945: The Last Epic Struggle of World War II
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ultimate Battle is the full story of the largest land-sea-air battle ever waged by the United States, a battle whose staggering casualties and take-no-prisoners ferocity led Truman to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. From April through June 1945, more than 250,000 American and Japanese lives were lost, including those of nearly 150,000 civilians who either committed suicide or were caught in the crossfire. This book tells a gripping story of heroism, sacrifice, and death.
-
-
Takes you into the mud and death
- By Ron on 02-02-08
By: Bill Sloan
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Thoughtful and Sobering
- By Anonymous User on 10-07-19
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Patriots from the Barrio
- The Story of Company E, 141st Infantry: The Only All Mexican American Army Unit in World War II
- By: Dave Gutierrez
- Narrated by: Manuel Lara
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on extensive archival research and veteran and family accounts, Patriots from the Barrio brings to life the soldiers whose service should never have gone unrecognized for so long. With its memorable personalities, stories of hope and immigration, and riveting battle scenes, this beautifully written book is a testament to the shared beliefs of all who have fought for the ideals of the American flag.
-
-
Great history!
- By Good quality for decent price on 06-10-24
By: Dave Gutierrez
-
Flamethrower
- Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan's Holocaust and the Pacific War
- By: Bryan Mark Rigg
- Narrated by: Bryan Mark Rigg
- Length: 30 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Late in the Pacific War, as Americans were fighting their way to the home islands of the Japanese Empire, one of the fiercest battles of World War II was raging. The Japanese had created, perhaps, the best defended area anywhere on an island called Iwo Jima. Days into the bloody battle, casualties were high on both sides. United States Marines were taking an awful pounding out in the open from enemy-fortified positions.
-
-
Fantastic book
- By Mike & Tammy V on 07-06-20
By: Bryan Mark Rigg
-
Marine!
- The Life of Chesty Puller
- By: Burke Davis
- Narrated by: Bill Thatcher
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the glorious chronicles of the US Marine Corps, no name is more revered than that of Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller. The only fighting man to receive the Navy Cross five separate times - a military honor second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor - he was the epitome of a professional warrior.
-
-
good book, God awful reading.
- By Amazon Customer on 12-28-21
By: Burke Davis
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.”
-
-
more a history of the rangers in ww2
- By M. Johannes on 10-12-23
By: Bob Drury, and others
-
By Tank into Normandy
- By: Stuart Hills, Lord Deedes - foreword
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stuart Hills embarked his Sherman DD tank on to an LCT at 6:45 a.m., Sunday, June 4th, 1944. He was 20 years old, un-blooded, fresh from a public-school background, and officer cadet training. He was going to war. Two days later, his tank sunk; he and his crew landed from a rubber dinghy with just the clothes they stood in. After that, the struggles through the Normandy bocage in a replacement tank, engaging the enemy in a constant round of close encounters, led to a swift mastering of the art of tank warfare and remarkable survival in the midst of carnage and destruction.
-
-
First “The Big Show” now this?!
- By S. H. Moore on 05-19-21
By: Stuart Hills, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Invention of Science
- A New History of the Scientific Revolution
- By: David Wootton
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.
-
-
A Good Read Spoiled
- By David A. Donnelly on 12-23-16
By: David Wootton
-
Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Music for Prime Time
- A History of American Television Themes and Scoring
- By: Jon Burlingame
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Music composed for television had, until recently, never been taken seriously by scholars or critics. Catchy TV themes, often for popular weekly series, were fondly remembered but not considered much more culturally significant than commercial jingles. Yet noted composers like John Williams, Henry Mancini, and Jerry Goldsmith learned and/or honed their craft in television before going on to major success in feature films.
By: Jon Burlingame
-
The Fall of the FBI
- How a Once Great Agency Became a Threat to Democracy
- By: Thomas J. Baker
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans have lost faith in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an institution they once regarded as the world’s greatest law-enforcement agency. Thomas Baker spent many years with the FBI and is deeply troubled by this loss of faith. Specific lapses have come to light and each is thoroughly discussed in this book: Why did they happen? What changed? The answer begins days after the 9/11 attacks when the FBI underwent a significant change in culture.
-
-
We have to stop them
- By E B. on 07-01-23
By: Thomas J. Baker
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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
-
When Nietzsche Wept
- By: Irvin D. Yalom
- Narrated by: Richard Powers
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him. When he agrees to treat Nietzsche with his experimental "talking cure", Breuer never expects that he, too, will find solace in their sessions. Only through facing his own inner demons can the gifted healer begin to help his patient.
-
-
Become who you are!
- By Philip on 09-14-16
By: Irvin D. Yalom
-
The Invention of Science
- A New History of the Scientific Revolution
- By: David Wootton
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.
-
-
A Good Read Spoiled
- By David A. Donnelly on 12-23-16
By: David Wootton
-
Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Music for Prime Time
- A History of American Television Themes and Scoring
- By: Jon Burlingame
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Music composed for television had, until recently, never been taken seriously by scholars or critics. Catchy TV themes, often for popular weekly series, were fondly remembered but not considered much more culturally significant than commercial jingles. Yet noted composers like John Williams, Henry Mancini, and Jerry Goldsmith learned and/or honed their craft in television before going on to major success in feature films.
By: Jon Burlingame
-
The Fall of the FBI
- How a Once Great Agency Became a Threat to Democracy
- By: Thomas J. Baker
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans have lost faith in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an institution they once regarded as the world’s greatest law-enforcement agency. Thomas Baker spent many years with the FBI and is deeply troubled by this loss of faith. Specific lapses have come to light and each is thoroughly discussed in this book: Why did they happen? What changed? The answer begins days after the 9/11 attacks when the FBI underwent a significant change in culture.
-
-
We have to stop them
- By E B. on 07-01-23
By: Thomas J. Baker
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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
-
When Nietzsche Wept
- By: Irvin D. Yalom
- Narrated by: Richard Powers
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him. When he agrees to treat Nietzsche with his experimental "talking cure", Breuer never expects that he, too, will find solace in their sessions. Only through facing his own inner demons can the gifted healer begin to help his patient.
-
-
Become who you are!
- By Philip on 09-14-16
By: Irvin D. Yalom
What listeners say about Crucible of Hell
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clonetrooper
- 08-26-24
Fascinating and gripping
A very detailed book about a very brutal battle that sheds light on soldiers of both sides, civilians caught in the crossfire and convinced bye evil propaganda to kill themselves and military and political leaders of that time. It grounds you when you worry about stuff when you hear what all those people went through. Sad but very inspiring, yet something that will not happen again…not because people are smarter but they are more selfish and personal responsibility is not an issue nowadays! Thanks for this great book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J.Brock
- 11-12-22
One of the best on Okinawa
Saul David never disappoints. “Crucible of Hell” covers all sides of the battle for Okinawa, and the brutality of the battle. It was the bloodiest battle of the entire Pacific campaign. David uses personal accounts from US marines and the Japanese. Nobody was spared in this one. The only issue with the book is the narrator at times. He still gets a five rating because the book is exceptionally good, but he can be a bit shrill and theatrical when it’s not warranted. But any inconsistency can easily be overlooked. There’s no reason getting irritated over minor issues. This is the best of the best!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful