
The War for the Seas
A Maritime History of World War II
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Narrated by:
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James Cameron Stewart
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By:
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Evan Mawdsley
About this listen
A bold and authoritative maritime history of World War II which takes a fully international perspective and challenges our existing understanding
Command of the oceans was crucial to winning World War II. By the start of 1942 Nazi Germany had conquered mainland Europe, and Imperial Japan had overrun Southeast Asia and much of the Pacific. How could Britain and distant America prevail in what had become a "war of continents"?
In this definitive account, Evan Mawdsley traces events at sea from the first U-boat operations in 1939 to the surrender of Japan. He argues that the Allied counterattack involved not just decisive sea battles, but a long struggle to control shipping arteries and move armies across the sea.
Covering all the major actions in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as those in the narrow seas, this book interweaves for the first time the endeavors of the maritime forces of the British Empire, the United States, Germany, and Japan, as well as those of France, Italy, and Russia.
©2019 Evan Mawdsley (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Sink ‘Em All
- Submarine Warfare in the Pacific
- By: Charles A. Lockwood
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Sink 'Em All was originally published in 1951 by Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, the US Navy commander of the Pacific submarine fleet during World War II. Lockwood, in his leadership role, knew the skippers and crews of the submarines and retells their wartime successes and tragedies with an intimacy and realism often missing in second-hand accounts.
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Best of the best
- By Robert on 08-29-18
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The Rising Sun
- The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
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A political as well as military history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-30-15
By: John Toland
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War Beneath the Sea
- Submarine Conflict During World War II
- By: Peter Padfield
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 25 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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This riveting chronicle of submarine warfare is the first to cover all the major submarine campaigns of the war, describing, in detail, the operations of the British, American, Japanese, Italian, and German submarine and anti-submarine forces. Beginning with a vivid re-creation of the sinking of the passenger liner Athenia by a German U-boat in September 1939, critically acclaimed military historian Peter Padfield's compelling narrative casts an unflinching eye on the devastating consequences of maritime warfare.
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Fills in the gaps of other submarine books
- By Ben on 05-19-21
By: Peter Padfield
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Dark Waters, Starry Skies
- The Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, March–October 1943
- By: Jeffrey Cox
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Thousands of miles from friendly ports, the US Navy had finally managed to complete the capture of Guadalcanal from the Japanese in early 1943. Now the Allies sought to keep the offensive momentum won at such a high cost. This is the central plotline running through this page-turning history beginning with the Japanese Operation I-Go and the American ambush of Admiral Yamamoto and continuing on to the Allied invasion of New Georgia, northwest of Guadalcanal in the middle of the Solomon Islands and the location of a major Japanese base.
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great but way too much alliteration...
- By Greg on 06-16-23
By: Jeffrey Cox
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Retribution
- The Battle for Japan, 1944 - 45
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In his critically acclaimed Armageddon, Hastings detailed the last twelve months of the struggle for Germany. Here, in what can be considered a companion volume, he covers the horrific story of the war against Japan. By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan’s defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained to be seen. The ensuing drama–that ended in Japan’s utter devastation–was acted out across the vast stage of Asia.
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A superb study by one of the world's finest histor
- By Easton Reader on 12-22-16
By: Max Hastings
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Neptune's Inferno
- The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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With The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, James D. Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal. Neptune’s Inferno is at once the most epic and the most intimate account ever written of the contest for control of the seaways of the Solomon Islands.
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The WWII Pacific Theater Explodes In My Lazy Chair
- By Rum Runner on 03-01-11
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Tower of Skulls
- A History of the Asia-Pacific War, Vol. 1 (July 1937 - May 1942)
- By: Richard B. Frank
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This story casts penetrating light on how struggles in Europe and Asia merged into a tightly entwined global war. It features not just battles, but also the sweeping political, economic, and social effects of the war, and are graced with a rich tapestry of individual characters from top-tier political and military figures down to ordinary servicemen, as well as the accounts of civilians of all races and ages.
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Outstanding
- By Patrick on 03-16-20
By: Richard B. Frank
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The U.S. Navy
- A Concise History
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This fast-paced narrative traces the emergence of the United States Navy as a global power from its birth during the American Revolution through to its current superpower status. The story highlights iconic moments of great drama pivotal to the nation's fortunes: John Paul Jones' attacks on the British in the Revolution, the Barbary Wars, and the arduous conquest of Iwo Jima.
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Great History Novel of Navy
- By Danelle Hites on 11-02-16
By: Craig L. Symonds
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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
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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.
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Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
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Midnight in the Pacific
- Guadalcanal -- The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with marine corps and army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
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Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
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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
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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.
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Amazing history
- By sammy on 02-26-24
By: John C. McManus
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The Quiet Warrior
- A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
- By: Thomas B. Buell
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Regarded as the standard biography of World War II naval hero Adm. Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make "good copy" for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure.
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This was a reasonably good account of Adm. Spruance's life and career.
- By Graphic Eagle on 03-21-25
By: Thomas B. Buell
wow easy to fall asleep to
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especially the complete analysis of the closing of the war.
Great way to finish a 3 part history of WWII Pacif
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Good general content, boring narrator
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Excellent
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A lot of information
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Significant Detail Presented Effectively
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There is no real insight and relatively little analysis. He takes a few shots at specific other historians, and that is as exciting as it gets. I don't need heroic narrative, but it reads like the naval equivalent of a book report.
A Real Slog
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Good story
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Outstanding narrative
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Worth a listen for all history buffs
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