Utmost Savagery
The Three Days of Tarawa
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 $13.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tom Weiner
About this listen
On November 20, 1943, in the first trial by fire of America’s fledgling amphibious assault doctrine, 5,000 men stormed the beaches of Tarawa, a seemingly invincible Japanese island fortress barely the size of the 300-acre Pentagon parking lots. Before the first day ended, one-third of the marines who had crossed Tarawa’s deadly reef under murderous fire were killed, wounded, or missing. In three days of fighting, four Americans would win the Medal of Honor and six thousand combatants would die.
Now, Colonel Joseph Alexander, a combat marine himself, presents the full story of Tarawa in all its horror and glory: the extreme risks, the horrific combat, and the heroic breakthroughs. Based on exhaustive research, never-before-published accounts from marine survivors, and new evidence from Japanese sources, Colonel Alexander captures the grit, guts, and relentless courage of United States Marines overcoming outrageous odds to deliver victory for their country.
Colonel Joseph H. Alexander (Ret.), a combat veteran who served in the Marine Corps for 28 years, is the author of six books and has helped produce 25 military documentaries. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
©1995 Joseph H. Alexander, 2009 by Findaway World, LLC (P)2009 Findaway World, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Fleet at Flood Tide
- America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender—and that forever changed the art of modern war.
-
-
Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
- By Hollywood Dave on 01-08-17
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
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
-
Marine Raiders
- The True Story of the Legendary WWII Battalions
- By: Carole Engle Avriett
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States' first Special Forces unit in World War II was known as the Marine Raiders. As one Raider explained, Raiders learned a deadly proficiency with the bayonet, they learned to use knives in hand-to-hand combat, and they learned to throw them with the infallible accuracy of vaudeville experts. Marine Raiders gives a gripping account of what it took to become a member of the elite battalions known as Raiders and how they survived their desperate fight in the South Pacific.
-
-
Unreal heroes!
- By Stacey Clark on 12-31-21
-
Band of Brothers
- E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Tim Jerome
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company, which kept getting the tough assignments. Easy Company was responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Band of Brothers is the account of the men of this remarkable unit.
-
-
High Expectations Met
- By Audrey on 02-12-13
-
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
-
The Fleet at Flood Tide
- America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender—and that forever changed the art of modern war.
-
-
Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
- By Hollywood Dave on 01-08-17
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
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
-
Marine Raiders
- The True Story of the Legendary WWII Battalions
- By: Carole Engle Avriett
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States' first Special Forces unit in World War II was known as the Marine Raiders. As one Raider explained, Raiders learned a deadly proficiency with the bayonet, they learned to use knives in hand-to-hand combat, and they learned to throw them with the infallible accuracy of vaudeville experts. Marine Raiders gives a gripping account of what it took to become a member of the elite battalions known as Raiders and how they survived their desperate fight in the South Pacific.
-
-
Unreal heroes!
- By Stacey Clark on 12-31-21
-
Band of Brothers
- E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Tim Jerome
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company, which kept getting the tough assignments. Easy Company was responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Band of Brothers is the account of the men of this remarkable unit.
-
-
High Expectations Met
- By Audrey on 02-12-13
-
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
-
Fire and Fortitude
- The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John C. McManus, one of our most highly acclaimed historians of World War II, takes listeners from Pearl Harbor - a rude awakening for a military woefully unprepared for war - to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly desperate Japanese. In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower.
-
-
Excellent Work In Spite of A Woke Author
- By J.Brock on 07-09-20
By: John C. McManus
-
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
-
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.
-
-
Amazing history
- By sammy on 02-26-24
By: John C. McManus
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
great but way too much alliteration...
- By Greg on 06-16-23
By: Jeffrey Cox
-
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
-
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
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Patton at the Battle of the Bulge
- How the General's Tanks Turned the Tide at Bastogne
- By: Leo Barron
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hitler's forces had pressed in on the small Belgian town in a desperate offensive designed to push back the Allies, starting the Battle of the Bulge. So far, the US soldiers had managed to repel waves of attackers and even a panzer onslaught, but as their ammunition dwindled, the weary paratroopers of the 101st Airborne could only hope for a miracle - a miracle in the form of General George S. Patton and his Third Army.
-
-
No Way
- By Amazon Customer on 04-23-15
By: Leo Barron
-
Neptune's Inferno
- The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
The WWII Pacific Theater Explodes In My Lazy Chair
- By Rum Runner on 03-01-11
-
The Dead and Those About to Die
- D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A white-knuckle account of the First Infantry Division’s harrowing D-Day assault on the eastern sector of Omaha Beach - acclaimed historian John C. McManus has written a gripping history that will stand as the last word on this titanic battle. Nicknamed the Big Red One, First Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these jaded combat veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever.
-
-
Detailed Account of D-Day
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 07-04-14
By: John C. McManus
-
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
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
D-Day in the Pacific
- The Battle of Saipan
- By: Harold J. Goldberg
- Narrated by: Gary D. MacFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 1944, the attention of the nation was riveted on the events unfolding in France. But in the Pacific, the Battle of Saipan was of extreme strategic importance. D-Day in the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan is a gripping account of one of the most dramatic engagements of World War II. The conquest of Saipan and the neighboring island of Tinian was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, making the American victory against Japan inevitable.
-
-
Written like an amateur's account of his battle
- By jack on 12-18-13
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Tragedy at Dieppe
- Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
- By: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: John Wray
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's 10th Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo", Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944.
-
-
When To Throw The Book At Someone
- By Nicholas Robinson on 05-12-23
By: Mark Zuehlke
-
The Fleet at Flood Tide
- America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender—and that forever changed the art of modern war.
-
-
Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
- By Hollywood Dave on 01-08-17
-
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
-
Tanks in Hell
- A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa
- By: Oscar E. Gilbert, Romain Cansiere
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 20, 1943, the 2nd Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the teeth of powerful Japanese defenses on Tarawa. A single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory. In this unique study, Oscar Gilbert and Romain Cansiere use official documents, memoirs, and interviews with veterans to follow Charlie Company from its formation, and trace the movement, action - and loss - of individual tanks in this horrific four-day struggle.
-
-
This is a great book but read this review.
- By S. H. Moore on 05-25-19
By: Oscar E. Gilbert, and others
-
D-Day in the Pacific
- The Battle of Saipan
- By: Harold J. Goldberg
- Narrated by: Gary D. MacFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 1944, the attention of the nation was riveted on the events unfolding in France. But in the Pacific, the Battle of Saipan was of extreme strategic importance. D-Day in the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan is a gripping account of one of the most dramatic engagements of World War II. The conquest of Saipan and the neighboring island of Tinian was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, making the American victory against Japan inevitable.
-
-
Written like an amateur's account of his battle
- By jack on 12-18-13
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Tragedy at Dieppe
- Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
- By: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: John Wray
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's 10th Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo", Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944.
-
-
When To Throw The Book At Someone
- By Nicholas Robinson on 05-12-23
By: Mark Zuehlke
-
The Fleet at Flood Tide
- America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender—and that forever changed the art of modern war.
-
-
Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
- By Hollywood Dave on 01-08-17
-
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
-
Tanks in Hell
- A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa
- By: Oscar E. Gilbert, Romain Cansiere
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 20, 1943, the 2nd Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the teeth of powerful Japanese defenses on Tarawa. A single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory. In this unique study, Oscar Gilbert and Romain Cansiere use official documents, memoirs, and interviews with veterans to follow Charlie Company from its formation, and trace the movement, action - and loss - of individual tanks in this horrific four-day struggle.
-
-
This is a great book but read this review.
- By S. H. Moore on 05-25-19
By: Oscar E. Gilbert, and others
-
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
-
War at the End of the World
- Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea 1942-1945
- By: James P. Duffy
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One American soldier called it "a green hell on Earth". Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps - New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the empire's strategy to knock Australia out of the war.
-
-
The WW2 New Guinea Campaign
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 09-26-18
By: James P. Duffy
-
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
-
War Stories II
- Heroism in the Pacific
- By: Oliver North, Joe Musser
- Narrated by: Joel Leffert
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author Oliver North, popular host of FOX News Channel's top-rated War Stories program, provided an insightful look at Operation Iraqi Freedom in the first hard-hitting book based on his show. Now in this second book, North shares the accomplishments of the heroic men who fought in the Pacific theater of World War II.
-
-
Another winner
- By Kindle Customer on 04-20-05
By: Oliver North, and others
-
The Darkest Summer
- Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles That Saved South Korea---and the Marines---from Extinction
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The outcome of the Korean War was decided in the first three months. The Darkest Summer is the hour-by-hour, casualty-by-casualty story of those months---a period that saw American and UN forces almost driven into the sea by the North Korean invaders, then stage an incredible turn-around that reversed the entire course of the war.
-
-
Great intro to Korea
- By I Ate Your Pug For Lunch and It was Tasty on 01-14-11
By: Bill Sloan
-
The Dead and Those About to Die
- D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A white-knuckle account of the First Infantry Division’s harrowing D-Day assault on the eastern sector of Omaha Beach - acclaimed historian John C. McManus has written a gripping history that will stand as the last word on this titanic battle. Nicknamed the Big Red One, First Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these jaded combat veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever.
-
-
Detailed Account of D-Day
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 07-04-14
By: John C. McManus
-
Leyte 1944
- The Soldiers' Battle
- By: Nathan N. Prefer
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942, having successfully left the Philippines to organize a new American army, he vowed, "I shall return!" More than two years later he did return, at the head of a large U.S. army to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. The place of his re-invasion was the central Philippine Island of Leyte. Much has been written about the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf that his return provoked, but almost nothing has been written about the three-month long battle to seize Leyte itself.
-
-
Very well Researched..
- By jbnimble on 04-19-14
By: Nathan N. Prefer
-
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
-
Landing on the Edge of Eternity
- Twenty-Four Hours at Omaha Beach
- By: Robert Kershaw
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Company A of the US 116th Regiment landed on Omaha Beach in D-Day's first wave on June 6, 1944, it lost 96 percent of its effective strength. Sixteen teams of US engineers arriving in the second wave were unable to blow the beach obstacles, as first wave survivors were still sheltering behind them. This was the beginning of the historic day that Landing on the Edge of Eternity narrates hour by hour.
-
-
Good introduction to first hours of D-Day.
- By Barry Davis on 10-19-24
By: Robert Kershaw
-
South Pacific Cauldron
- World War II's Great Forgotten Battlegrounds
- By: Alan Rems
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unlike most other World War II accounts, this work covers the South Pacific operations in detail. The audiobook includes many now-forgotten operations that deserve to be well remembered. Significantly, the official Australian history of World War II correctly observed that Australia's part in the Pacific war is barely mentioned in American histories. This volume finally brings the major Australian contribution to the fore.
-
-
A little dry but informative
- By Damien on 02-20-15
By: Alan Rems
-
Victory Fever on Guadalcanal
- Japan's First Land Defeat of World War II
- By: William H. Bartsch
- Narrated by: Bill Nevitt
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following their rampage through Southeast Asia and the Pacific in the five months after Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces moved into the Solomon Islands, intending to cut off the critical American supply line to Australia. But when they began to construct an airfield on Guadalcanal in July 1942, the Americans captured the almost completed airfield for their own strategic use. The Japanese Army countered by sending to Guadalcanal a reinforced battalion under the command of Col. Kiyonao Ichiki.
-
-
This a great Guadalcanal book, with caveats.
- By S. H. Moore on 11-19-19
-
The Tank Killers
- A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force
- By: Harry Yeide
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Tank Killers follows the men who fought in the tank destroyers from the formation of the force in 1941 through the victory over the Third Reich in 1945. It is a story of the American Tank Destroyer Force in North Africa, Italy, and the European Theater during World War II, and of American flexibility and pragmatism in military affairs.
-
-
Dry and without detail
- By Vernon D. Burt on 08-06-18
By: Harry Yeide
What listeners say about Utmost Savagery
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan
- 07-05-21
Excellent combination of detail & personal stories
I thought it was very good. I liked the exact detail of the battle plan on a large scale while not forgetting instances of personal bravery. I also found the "what if" portions interesting. What if the tide was high? what if they by-passed the island?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- pdr
- 09-08-20
De facto book about tarawa atoll and the campaign
Great book, enjoyed it and definitely learned some stuff that I didn't know before. Goes into great detail and should provide even people who consider themselves savvy on the subject new information.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Subway
- 09-18-22
Utmost Bravery
Extensive research of both American and Japanese records is evidenced by copious detail throughout the book. First few chapters are lengthy inventories of equipment, people, and organizations on both sides. Once the action and chaos starts, it continues nonstop.
The author attempts the impossible task of describing the immeasurable heroism displayed by Marines assaulting Tarawa. It’s amazing only four Medals of Honor were awarded for this action. Likely there would’ve been more had more witnesses survived. The book mentions multiple times both sides considered the deciding factor to be the courage of individual Marines. Never forget what these men sacrificed to save the world from tyranny.
Many thanks to Audible for making this title available free of charge.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris Hummel
- 06-21-21
Detailed Intelligent Assessment of Key Battle
Solid, if sometimes too detailed (for the general reader) assessment of the first true test of Marine amphibious warfare of the type the would dominate the remainder of the Pacific War. While including welcome personal detail of the men (on both sides, where available) who fought it, this is mainly an assessment of what made for success or failure and the long term contribution of the battle to future strategy, rather than a dramatic, "you are there" style discussion. Well-written, reasoned, and balanced, this is the sort of work one would expect from Naval Institute Press improved further by a look at newly available Japanese sources. Definitely worth reading for students of the Pacific War.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- dan
- 06-27-21
awesome history lesson
like the details of pre and post battle. lots of personal accounts during battle and some japanese perspective
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jonathan Davenport
- 04-11-23
Everything you could want to know about the Battle
Great book that shows everything that you could want to know about the Battle of Tarawa and more I read this in preparation for interviewing a Tarawa veteran Seabee who served back in the war and I can now fully go into the interview understanding more of what he experienced and what he'll talk about.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Max M
- 06-12-11
Read Like a Military Operation
First off, any book about the island campaigns during WW II should be read. Having said this, I am bit hesitant on one like this, for my tastes. The first several chapters contain a lot of detail about the TO lines of both the US and Japanese forces. For some readers who want to know all the pre-battle unit organizational details this is a must. I prefer to read about the battle itself and the conflicts and struggles of individual Marines during the taking of an objective.
Still a good story and narration by Tom Weiner.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James P. Allen Johns
- 06-08-21
Some skips in the file, but excellent information
The download file had some odd skips, but that didn’t detract from the excellent information provided. This is history of logistics and tactics as much as a recounting of the valor and pathos of men in battle.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kaity B
- 02-07-22
great for grand scheme of the battle
reads like a play by play of the history of the battle for the Atoll with excerpts from veterans versus being a story of one individual or unit's experience of the battle
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- shelby larch
- 03-25-21
Outstanding
This a great story of why beforehand, the grueling ballet and after action and analysis. Having read numerous biographies and books on this theater I found this to be out...standing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful