The Military category has 1,612 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 5,283 ratings. The most-rated is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
Always Faithful, Always Forward
Summary
The Marine Special Operations Command ("MARSOC") is the newest component of the military's shift toward a fully integrated Special Operations Command structure. At first, the Marines were strongly against any Marines serving under anyone other than another Marine. Then 9/11 happened. In the years following, Marine forces found themselves growing more agreeable to inter-branch operational command, finally forming the Marine Special Operations Command in 2006. Always Faithful, Always Forward follows the journey of a class of Marine candidates from their recruitment, through assessment and selection, to their qualification as Marines Special Operators. The assessment, selection, and training regimes are a combination of psychological testing and intense military training as well as being a physical and professional rite of passage. MARSOC Marines must be efficient, agile, independent, and prepared to live hard in the field. They are warriors trained in the full range of military skills, as well as teachers who can train locals to defend their communities and lead them in battle. But above all, they are Marines. Their ability to leverage their numbers by embedding with the locals and to live in remote locations has, in their short history, made them a valuable force and one with great utility in remote reaches of the world. Retired Navy Captain Dick Couch has been given unprecedented access to this new command and to the individual Marines of this exceptional special-operations unit, allowing him to chronicle the history and development of the Marine Special Operations Command and how they find, recruit, and train their special operators.
©2014 Dick Couch (P)2014 Tantor
The Gettysburg Address
Summary
The Gettysburg Address, delivered by Lincoln on November 19, 1863, in the aftermath of a narrow, bloody Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, is considered one of the greatest speeches in American history.
Public Domain (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC
The Irregulars
Summary
Prior to the U.S. entering WWII, a small coterie of British spies in Washington, D.C., was formed. They called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars after the band of street urchins who were the eyes and ears of Sherlock Holmes in some Arthur Conan Doyle stories. This group constituted the very beginning of what would become M16, the British version of the CIA, and they helped support the fledgling American intelligence service, known at the time as the OSS. Among them were writers Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, and the flamboyant Canadian industrialist turned professional saboteur William Stephenson, known by the code name "Intrepid", upon whom Fleming would later base his fictional M16 agent James Bond. Richly detailed and carefully researched, Conant's narrative uses never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries and interviews to create a fascinating, lively account of deceit, double dealing and moral ambiguity - all in the name of victory.
©2008 Jennet Conant (P)2008 HighBridge Company.
Pearl Harbor Christmas
Summary
Christmas 1941 came little more than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The shock - in some cases overseas, elation - was worldwide. While Americans attempted to go about celebrating as usual, the reality of the just-declared war was on everybody’s mind. United States troops on Wake Island were battling a Japanese landing force and, in the Philippines, losing the fight to save Luzon. In Japan, the Pearl Harbor strike force returned to Hiroshima Bay and toasted its sweeping success. Across the Atlantic, much of Europe was frozen under grim Nazi occupation. Just three days before Christmas, Churchill surprised Roosevelt with an unprecedented trip to Washington, where they jointly lit the White House Christmas tree. As the two Allied leaders met to map out a winning wartime strategy, the most remarkable Christmas of the century played out across the globe. Pearl Harbor Christmas is a deeply moving and inspiring story about what it was like to live through a holiday season few would ever forget. Stanley Weintraub is a National Book Award finalist, professor emeritus of arts and humanities at Penn State University, and the author of numerous histories and biographies, including Silent Night, and 11 Days in December. Editor of a ten-volume edition on the works of George Bernard Shaw, he lives in Newark, Delaware.
©2011 Stanley Weintraub (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Britain's War
Summary
Part two of Daniel Todman's epic history of the Second World War opens with one of the greatest disasters in British military history - the fall of Singapore in February 1942. Unlike the aftermath of Dunkirk, there was no redeeming narrative available here - Britain had been defeated by a far smaller Japanese force in her grandly proclaimed, invincible Asian 'fortress'. The unique skill of Daniel Todman's history lies in its never losing sight of the interconnectedness of the British experience. The agony of Singapore, for example, is seen through the eyes of its inhabitants, of its defenders, of Churchill's cabinet, and of ordinary people at home. Each stage of the war, from the nadir of early 1942 to the great series of victories in 1944-5, and on to Indian independence, is described both as it was understood at the time and in the light of the very latest historical research. Britain's War is a triumph of narrative, empathy and research, as gripping in its handling of individual witnesses to the war - those doomed to struggle with bombing, rationing, exhausting work and above all the absence of millions of family members - as of the gigantic military, social, technological and economic forces that swept the conflict along. It is the definitive account of a drama which reshaped our country.
©2020 Daniel Todman (P)2019 Audible, Ltd
Storm over Leyte
Summary
The story of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II - the greatest naval battle in history. As Allied ships prepared for the invasion of the Philippine island of Leyte, every available warship, submarine, and airplane was placed on alert while Japanese admiral Kurita Takeo stalked Admiral William F. Halsey's unwitting American armada. It was the beginning of the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf - the greatest naval battle in history. In Storm over Leyte, acclaimed historian John Prados gives listeners an unprecedented look at both sides of this titanic naval clash, demonstrating that despite the Americans' overwhelming superiority in firepower and supplies, the Japanese achieved their goal, inflicting grave damage on US forces. And for the first time, listeners will have access to the naval intelligence reports that influenced key strategic decisions on both sides. Drawing upon a wealth of untapped sources - US and Japanese military records, diaries, declassified intelligence reports, and postwar interrogation transcripts - Prados offers up a masterful narrative of naval conflict on an epic scale.
©2016 John Prados (P)2016 Recorded Books
Lawrence of Arabia
Summary
He was recognized by many as a curious scholar and archaeologist, brilliant linguist, British soldier, extraordinary adventurer, and avid writer, though he called himself an "ordinary man". He was a gifted translator, a shrewd diplomat, a brilliant tactician, and an instinctive leader. T.E. Lawrence, more popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, was a seminal figure in the shaping and reshaping of the politics of Arabia in the early 20th century, serving as an expert in Arab affairs in the British military and playing a key role in the Great Arab Revolt of 1916-1918. World War I, also known as the Great War of 1914-1918, was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history, leading to the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians, and it was a war that produced too many casualties and too few heroes. However, after the war was over, the world was told of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed British officer named Thomas Edward Lawrence, and his experiences in Arabia during the fighting. Pictures of Lawrence in a flowing white robe of Arabia's Bedouin tribes were distributed, and Lawrence's autobiography, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, further catapulted his fame and sensationalized his public image. Lawrence's story served to boost the spirits of many who were struggling to recover after the tragedy of the war. It is telling of just how remarkable the tale is that the world’s fascination with Lawrence of Arabia has endured today. Articles, books, films, and documentaries about Lawrence and his exploits are continuously released on an annual basis. Historian Phillip Knightley once commented, "Along with Winston Churchill, [T.E. Lawrence] remains perhaps the best-known Englishman in the world." Decades since the end of the war, and with a completely changed Middle Eastern geopolitical landscape, Lawrence of Arabia and his legacy are still remembered and referenced as politically, militarily, and socially pertinent. However, Lawrence was by no means everything he claimed to be. Like many great men touched by fame and celebrity, he exaggerated some details, underplayed others, and strove to maintain an image of himself that he had created in his own mind. Thus, Lawrence was and still is a very controversial figure. He was the first in the 900 year history of the British monarchy to refuse a knighthood, and the film Lawrence of Arabia, starting Peter O’Toole as Lawrence and widely lauded as a masterpiece, was banned in many Arab and Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan and Turkey. Turkey especially has long vilified Lawrence, questioning the veracity of many of his accounts. Just recently, in October 2014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan went so far as to declare T.E. Lawrence a greater enemy than the radical terrorist organization that is operating in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State (IS). In a furious anti-Western diatribe, Erdogan described Lawrence as an "English spy disguised as an Arab", and he warned of the threat posed by modern-day Lawrences in Turkey "disguised as journalists, religious men, writers, and terrorists" who are allegedly aiming to destabilize the country and region.
©2016 Charles River Editors (P)2016 Charles River Editors
Vietnam: No Regrets
Summary
This ranks as one of the best books available about the Vietnam War from an ordinary soldier's point of view. A must read book. Here, the author has captured the essence of that experience and unique time in our history.
©2012 Joel R. Watkins (P)2013 Joel R. Watkins
Hallowed Ground
Summary
Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War historian James McPherson provides a historic tour through Gettysburg, one of our nation's most visited cities, and the site of the bloodiest and perhaps most consequential battle ever fought by Americans. Listeners will be transported by McPherson's meaningful reflection, historical description, and his intimate stories from his own experiences at Gettysburg.
©2003 James McPherson (P)2003 Books On Tape, Inc.
Blitzkrieg
Summary
In the spring of 1940, the Germans launched a military offensive in France and the Low Countries that married superb intelligence, the latest military thinking, and new technology. It was a stunning victory, altering the balance of power in Europe in one stroke, and convincing the entire world that the Nazi war machine was unstoppable. But as Lloyd Clark, a leading British military historian and academic, argues, much of our understanding of this victory, and blitzkrieg itself, is based on myth. Far from being a foregone conclusion, Hitler's plan could easily have failed had the Allies been even slightly less inept or the Germans less fortunate. The Germans recognized that success depended not only on surprise, but on avoiding being drawn into a protracted struggle for which they were not prepared. And while speed was essential, 90% of Germany's ground forces were still reliant on horses, bicycles, and their own feet for transportation. There was a real fear of defeat. Their surprise victory proved the apex of their achievement; far from being undefeatable, the France 1940 campaign revealed Germany and its armed forces to be highly vulnerable.
©2016 Lloyd Clark (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Tomcat Fury
Summary
From the Gulf of Sidra to the skies over Afghanistan, Tomcat Fury is the complete combat history of the F-14 Tomcat, as told by the pilots who flew it. For more than three decades, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy’s premier carrier-based, multirole fighter jet. From its harrowing combat missions over Libya to its appearance on the silver screen in movies like Top Gun and Executive Decision, the F-14 has become an icon of American air power. Now, for the first time in a single volume, Tomcat Fury explores the illustrious combat history of the F-14, from the Gulf of Sidra to the Iran-Iraq War to the skies over Afghanistan in the Global War on Terror.
©2020 Mike Guardia and Johnny Heller (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing
Badger
Summary
When Badger Horley, a SEAL, and the rest of his eight-man unit hit an antitank landmine on a routine reconnaissance mission, all were badly injured, but one of his men died. Having only joined a year before, he'd been the youngest member of the squad. Mouse left behind unanswered questions about his life...along with seven team members who aim to see that his tragic death is brought home to those responsible. Badger's path back to health is a long and difficult one, but revenge drives him out of bed every single day of his life. Someone modified orders the morning of the incident, sending his unit straight over that landmine. At the time the altered route had been given to him, he'd been curious but not unduly concerned. What happened to his squad has brought unwavering clarity: Those last-minute changes and the explosion that shattered his team were deliberate - and he means to catch the perpetrator if it's the last thing he ever does. Kat Greenwald watches the man she's falling in love with fester a little more each time they're together. Refusing to give himself time to heal, not surprisingly he hasn't taken to his prosthetic well. As a prosthetic designer, she's dealt with men and women in endless physical and emotional states. Badger is different. He's driven, determined and deadly, but she can't help her feelings despite the negatives. She's hooked on a man whose sole concern seems to be in getting retribution for the incident that left his team in shards...while all she wants is a future happily-ever-after with him. But when her life explodes, and she's kidnapped, it's Badger who steps in to save her.... Still, Kat has a long road ahead of her to convince Badger a life filled with love is always preferable to answers that can only be gained at the risk of dying to get them. Author note: For your listening pleasure, this series must be listened to in order.
©2018 Beverly Dale Mayer (P)2019 Beverly Dale Mayer
Whirlwind
Summary
Whirlwind is the only book to examine in depth the human drama behind the most important bombing campaign in history. While the air war against Nazi Germany has been covered in-depth by many books, Barrett Tillman, a renowned authority on military aircraft and the air war in the Pacific, is the first to tackle the air war against Japan. For decades, historians and politicians have debated whether or not Japan was on the verge of surrender in August 1945 - before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tillman argues that for all the widespread death and suffering, the bombing of Japan remains a great example of air power's ability to end a long, bitter, and bloody war without invasion. Writing from the perspective of the aircrews and the generals and admirals who commanded them, Tillman examines all aspects of the human drama of the war, combining historical analyses with the words of survivors from both sides of the bomb.
©2009 Barrett Tillman (P)2010 Tantor
Hawk
Summary
Hawk Red Cloud lives by his own set of rules: Don't let them share the saddle, don't bring them home, and never spend the night. So far he's managed to avoid commitment like the plague. Tildy Fletcher's parents set rules for her. She would never think of breaking them; she knows all too well what would happen if she did. Hawk and Tildy are from two different worlds, but there's no denying the attraction between them. The rules are designed to keep them apart. Will they be willing to break them for a chance at true love? Contains mature themes.
©2015 Dahlia West (P)2016 Tantor
Chancellorsville
Summary
A former editor of American Heritage, Stephen W. Sears has collected a wealth of new sources for this definitive portrait of one of the most dramatic battles of the Civil War. Using scores of letters and diaries written by soldiers from both Union and Confederate armies, Sears’ narrative history seeks to strip away the gloss of later commentary and restore the battle of Chancellorsville to its original voices. Chancellorsville is often touted as Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory. Prompted by a campaign that maneuvered brigades on both sides into complex positions, it culminated in the most intense hours of fighting in the entire Civil War. But when the battle was over, the price of victory had been high. Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded. Lee was committed to press north into more threatening odds. In Chancellorsville, Stephen Sears carefully traces the movements of both armies and offers fascinating vignettes of daily life within the ranks. Looking at issues from horse fodder to critical military strategy, he examines the personal and military cost of this historic clash of armies.
©1996 Stephen W. Sears (P)1997 Recorded Books
Brighter Shades of Light
Summary
I never meant to fall for my college professor. He has a reputation for being cold. So, why do I see that soft look in his eyes when he’s talking to me? Why does my heart feel like it’s beating out of my chest? I want his lips on mine. I want to see what’s beneath that icy exterior. And in class, I imagine him shoving me onto his desk and taking me right there. Nothing can happen between us. Even if he wasn’t off-limits, I won’t be staying here after graduation. In exchange for paying for my college, I have a five-year commitment to the Marine Corps, starting the day I get my degree. Whatever I feel for Dr. Sebastian Vale...it just can’t happen. Or, can it? Note: Brighter Shades of Light is a contemporary gay romance.
©2019 Jaclyn Osborn (P)2020 Jaclyn Osborn
The Peshtigo Fire of 1871
Summary
"Why is this story not known? You see endless stories about Johnstown. What happened at Peshtigo makes Johnstown look like a birdbath.... The air burned hotter than a crematorium and the fire traveled at 90 mph. I read an account of a Civil War veteran who had been through some of the worst battles of the war. He described the sound - the roar - during the fire as 100 times greater than any artillery bombardment." - Bill Lutz, co-author of Firestorm at Peshtigo In arguably the most famous fire in American history, a blaze in the southwestern section of Chicago began to burn out of control on the night of October 8, 1871. It had taken about 40 years for Chicago to grow from a small settlement of about 300 people into a thriving metropolis with a population of 300,000. But in just two days in 1871, much of that progress was burned to the ground. Due to the publicity generated by a fire that reduced most of a major American city to ash, the Peshtigo Fire of 1871 might fairly be called America's forgotten disaster. Overshadowed by the much better-covered and publicized Great Chicago Fire that occurred on the same evening, the fire that started in the Wisconsin logging town of Peshtigo generated a firestorm unlike anything in American history. In addition to destroying a wide swath of land, it killed at least 1,500 people and possibly as many as 2,500 - several times more than the number of casualties in Chicago. While people marveled at the fact that the Great Chicago Fire managed to jump a river, the Peshtigo fire was so intense that it was able to jump several miles across Green Bay. While wondering aloud about the way in which the Peshtigo fire has been overlooked, Bill Lutz noted, "Fires are normally very fascinating to people, but people seem resistant to Peshtigo."
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
Eagle Against the Sun
Summary
Historian Ronald H. Spector, drawing on declassified intelligence files, an abundance of British and American archival material, Japanese scholarship and documents, and the research and memoirs of scholars, politicians, and the military men, presents a thrilling narrative of American war in the Pacific. Spector reassesses US and Japanese strategy and offers some provocative interpretations. He shows that the dual advance across the Pacific by MacArthur and Nimitz was less a product of strategic calculation and more a pragmatic solution to bureaucratic, doctrinal, and public relations problems facing the Army and Navy. He also argues that Japan made its fatal error not in the Midway campaign but in abandoning its offensive strategy after that defeat and allowing itself to be drawn into a war of attrition. Combining impeccable research with electrifying detail, Spector vividly recreates the major battles, little-known campaigns, and unfamiliar events of this brutal 44-month struggle.
©1985 Ronald H. Spector (P)2019 Tantor
Gray Fox
Summary
Robert E. Lee, a Christian and a gentleman, was the most remarkable man to emerge from the Civil War and is one of the greatest tragic figures of American history. Reserved and unflappable, savvy and fearless, shrewd and tenacious, fatherly and kind; these are but a few of the adjectives commonly used to describe this noble hero. By using a dramatic form of narrative and relying on numerous eyewitness accounts, Burke Davis brings Lee to life. Listening to this powerful work gives you the feeling you are there, with Lee, Jackson, and the rest. It is a rare blend of history and emotion, a book that speaks to both the mind and the heart.
©1956 by Burke Davis (P)1990 by Blackstone Audiobooks
No Banners, No Bugles
Summary
The unheralded story of how salvage helped the Allies win back North Africa. By the time America joined World War II, Edward Ellsberg had already earned his place as one of the world’s great marine salvage engineers, and his best-selling accounts of raising doomed submarines and histories of classic diving operations had made him a literary star. With America’s entry into the war, Ellsberg returned to active duty with no easy assignment: clearing the vital port at Massawa, Eritrea, with no men, no equipment, and no budget. No Banners, No Bugles picks up with Ellsberg stationed at Oran, Algeria, an important Mediterranean harbor as the Allies prepare for Operation Torch, the fight to reclaim North Africa from the Axis powers. Following his success at Massawa, Ellsberg must sort out the disorganized mess left by the Vichy French and find a way to open the port, though his flagging health proves to be a dangerous obstacle. As General Eisenhower’s chief of salvage in the Mediterranean, Ellsberg needs to clear harbors all across North Africa. No Banners, No Bugles is the riveting story of how Ellsberg the miracle worker tackled his greatest mission yet.
©1949 Edward Ellsberg and Lucy Buck Ellsberg (P)2014 Audible Inc.