The Last Battle
When US and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
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By:
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Stephen Harding
About this listen
May 1945. Hitler is dead, and the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble. No GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. But for cigar-chewing, rough-talking, hard-drinking, hard-charging Captain Jack Lee and his men, there is one more mission: rescue 14 prominent French prisoners held in an SS-guarded castle high in the Austrian Alps. It's a dangerous mission, but Lee has help from a decorated German Wehrmacht officer and his men, who voluntarily join the fight.
Based on personal memoirs, author interviews, and official American, German, and French histories, The Last Battle is the nearly unbelievable story of the most improbable battle of World War II—a tale of unlikely allies, bravery, cowardice, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.
©2013 Stephen Harding (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer, Tim Reynolds
- Length: 31 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Between December 16, 1944 and January 15, 1945, American forces found themselves entrenched in the heavily forested Ardennes region of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg defending against an advancing German army amid freezing temperatures, deep snow, and dense fog. Operation Herbstnebel - Autumn Mist - was a massive German counter-offensive that stunned the Allies in its scope and intensity.
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fascinating and thorough, painful narration
- By richard on 01-05-15
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Brothers in Arms
- The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes
- By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anthony Walton
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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A powerful wartime saga in the best-selling tradition of Flags of Our Fathers, Brothers in Arms recounts the extraordinary story of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first all-Black armored unit to see combat in World War II.
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MAKES ME PROUD TO BE A (BLACK) AMERICAN!!!
- By The Louligan on 04-20-14
By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others
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Shadow Commander
- The Epic Story of Donald D. Blackburn - Guerrilla Leader and Special Forces Hero
- By: Mike Guardia
- Narrated by: Jason Huggins
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The fires on Bataan burned on the evening of April 9, 1942 - illuminating the white flags of surrender against the nighttime sky. Woefully outnumbered, outgunned, and ill-equipped, battered remnants of the American-Philippine army surrendered to the forces of the Rising Sun. Yet amongst the chaos and devastation of the American defeat, Army Captain Donald D. Blackburn refused to lay down his arms.
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A great tale of an unsung American hero and Special Forces legend.
- By Thomas Le Min on 08-21-16
By: Mike Guardia
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Rogue Heroes
- The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Britain's Special Air Service - or SAS - was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young, gadabout aristocrat whose aimlessness in early life belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a battlefield map of World War II's African theater and saw a protracted struggle with Rommel's desert forces, Stirling saw an opportunity: Given a small number of elite, well-trained men, he could parachute behind enemy lines and sabotage their airplanes and war matériel.
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Those Who Dared, Won!
- By Matthew on 10-07-16
By: Ben Macintyre
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No Mission Is Impossible
- The Death-Defying Missions of the Israeli Special Forces
- By: Michael Bar-Zohar, Nissim Mishal
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In No Mission Is Impossible, Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal return with the intensely absorbing, fast-paced story of 30 of the boldest missions of the Israeli special forces. Bar-Zohar and Mishal depict in electrifying detail major battles, raids in enemy territory, and death-defying commando missions while also sharing the personal stories of both soldiers and top commanders, revealing their hopes and fears. The stories are often of victories, but sometimes they're of immense failures.
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Kept me somewhat entertained. Forgettable though
- By Oliver Nielsen on 05-06-16
By: Michael Bar-Zohar, and others
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Airborne
- The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company
- By: Ian Gardner
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Some men are born to be warriors, and Ed Shames is one of these men. His incredible combat record includes service at D-Day, Operation Market Garden, and Bastogne and finally in Germany itself.
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Let down
- By Craig W. Mcsorley on 06-30-15
By: Ian Gardner
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American Guerrilla
- The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann
- By: Mike Guardia
- Narrated by: Jason Huggins
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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With his parting words "I shall return," General Douglas MacArthur sealed the fate of the last American forces on Bataan. Yet one young Army Captain, named Russell Volckmann, refused to surrender. He disappeared into the jungles of north Luzon where he raised a Filipino army of over 22,000 men. For the next three years he led a guerrilla war against the Japanese, killing over 50,000 enemy soldiers. At the same time he established radio contact with MacArthur's HQ in Australia and directed Allied forces to key enemy positions.
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Malaria
- By Amazon Customer on 06-06-24
By: Mike Guardia
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Desert Fox
- The Storied Military Career of Erwin Rommel
- By: Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the strange and fascinating life of Erwin Rommel, from his days as a youth in Imperial Germany - when he had a child out of wedlock with an early girlfriend - through his lauded military exploits during World War I to his death by suicide during World War II, after he attempted a failed coup against Hitler. Rommel was a man of contradictions: a soldier who wrote a best-selling book about World War I, a commander who went from commanding Hitler's bodyguard to trying to kill him, and a serious military mind who was known for participating in practical jokes.
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Amazing Detail, Amazing Story!
- By Al888 on 05-19-19
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The Great Gamble
- The Soviet War in Afghanistan
- By: Gregory Feifer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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During the last years of the Cold War, the Soviet Union sent some of its most elite troops to unfamiliar lands in Central Asia to fight a vaguely defined enemy, which eventually defeated their superior number with unconventional tactics. Although the Soviet leadership initially saw the invasion as a victory, many Russian soldiers came to view the war as a demoralizing and devastating defeat, the consequences of which had a substantial impact on the Soviet Union and its collapse.
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Correction
- By Alyssa B. Goss on 11-22-09
By: Gregory Feifer
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The Last Battle
- By: Cornelius Ryan
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The Battle for Berlin was the culminating struggle of World War II in the European theater. The last offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich, it devastated one of Europe’s historic capitals and marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany. It was also one of the war’s bloodiest and most pivotal battles, whose outcome would shape international politics for decades to come.
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Thanks to Dan Carlin of Hardcore History podcasts.
- By GB on 06-30-12
By: Cornelius Ryan
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Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs
- The Unknown Story of World War II's OSS
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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"A revealing look into the intrigue and extraordinary courage of our intelligence gatherers of World War II. A rare combination of suspense thriller and true heroism by a great American writer." (Clive Cussler, New York Times best-selling author)
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Great book...
- By Nicholas G. on 05-11-05
What listeners say about The Last Battle
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- groove_e1
- 10-24-15
Great story, but the names make it hard to follow
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Any time we get to learn about those that triumphed during WWII, and their remarkable stories is time well spent.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
It was tough to discern all the foreign names. Because of this, it was hard to track the various characters throughout the book. I hate to say this, but perhaps use nicknames, or abbreviations of the names, to make it easier to track. Also, I enjoyed learning about the various backgrounds of each of the characters...but I would have preferred to hear more about the defense of the castle.
What about Joe Barrett’s performance did you like?
Well spoken. Easy to understand, even at various speeds.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Yes
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- Joseph
- 10-31-16
Long on details, short on story
Is there anything you would change about this book?
I would have spent less time retelling the entire life stories of every single prisoner. So much detail is provided, it almost felt like the author was padding the book's length. The actual battle, and the events surrounding it, were well told. It just took hours and hours to get to it.
Would you be willing to try another book from Stephen Harding? Why or why not?
Yes, I would. He's a competent storyteller, and maybe this book just suffered from a lack of editing.
Which character – as performed by Joe Barrett – was your favorite?
Definitely Captain Jack Lee, the American tank commander who led the defense of the castle.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Yes, I would. It's a good story, and one that few know about. A film version would refocus the book away from historical minutia, and towards the actual events.
Any additional comments?
There are so many prisoners, and the book spends so long on each one, I had trouble keeping track of who was who. Making a few quick notes on each one might help.
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- 5017077050
- 03-13-18
Great story - weird performance.
The work by Harding is top notch--a thoroughly researched, well-written story. However, I have never heard an audiobook where the narrator takes on a foreign accent. He feigned a French accent (while speaking English, mind you) when reading direct quotes from French characters, a German accent for German characters, etc. That was an odd stylistic choice.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 06-24-16
pronunciations were amazing and great research
good book what the title above said..I .would definitely recoment to ppl who have already read a lot about ww2 but r looking for a story that hasn't already been told a 100 times
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- brian j
- 07-18-23
I found it very slow to the actual story
didn't grab my attention until the last few chapters was wondering when does the last battle start
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- N. Bettes
- 01-17-23
Great history lesson
Great listen, love the reader. Story moves very quickly so brush up on your WW2 history and Austrian locations.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John K. Marsh
- 03-20-20
Great book, narrator needs to speak better German
Great story, very interesting.
the end seemed to be a bit anti climatic
the narrator had lots of trouble pronouncing the large amount of German throughout the book.
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- Edward Thomas
- 03-26-18
if it's not a movie, it should be.
a little bit of a hard start but it was well-read and a very good story. If it's not a movie yet it should be I'd go see it.
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- Anonymous User
- 06-22-22
Good read
It was a really good listen. Saw some people give it 4 stars but I think the author set it up well; I have listened to several books read by Joe Barrett… I think he is really good especially in the war genre.
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1 person found this helpful
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- tory
- 04-26-20
One hell of a story!
Enjoyed this quick read of an impressive historical event. I'd never heard of this battle and it really was a bizarre, important and inspiring story. The educational/informative style of the writing, though rather dry, gave ample information and background on all the players and events in the story. The Last Battle is plenty exciting and drew me in despite the detached perspective. Loved it!
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