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.
From the Realm of a Dying Sun, Volume 1
Summary
The histories of the first three SS corps are well known - the actions of I, II, and III (Germanic) SS-Panzerkorps and their subordinate divisions, including the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Das Reich, Hitlerjugend, Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg, and Nordland divisions, have been thoroughly documented and publicized. Overlooked in this pantheon is another SS corps that never fought in the west or in Berlin but one that participated in many of the key battles fought on the Eastern Front during the last year of the war - the IV SS-Panzerkorps. Activated during the initial stages of the defense of Warsaw in late July 1944, the corps, consisting of both the 3. and 5. SS-Panzer Divisions (Totenkopf and Wiking, respectively) was born in battle and spent the last 10 months of the war in combat, figuring prominently in the battles of Warsaw, the attempted Relief of Budapest, Operation Spring Awakening, the defense of Vienna, and the withdrawal into Austria where it finally surrendered to US forces in May 1945. Herbert Otto Gille's IV SS-Panzerkorps was renowned for its tenacity, high morale and, above all, its lethality, whether conducting a hard-hitting counterattack or a stubborn defense in situations where its divisions were hopelessly outnumbered.
©2019 Douglas E. Nash, Sr. (P)2020 Tantor
Britain at Bay
Summary
A sweeping, groundbreaking epic that combines military with social history, to illuminate the ways in which Great Britain and its people were permanently transformed by the Second World War. Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely the military and political dimensions of the conflict's first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles questions such as: Could the war have been avoided? Could it have been lost? Were the strategic decisions the rights ones? How well did the British organize and fight? How well did the British live up to their own values? What difference did the war make in the end to the fate of the nation? In answering these and other essential questions he focuses on the human contingencies of the war, weighing directly at the roles of individuals and the outcomes determined by luck or chance. Moreover, he looks intimately at the changes in wartime British society and culture. Britain at Bay draws on a large cast of characters - from the leading statesmen and military commanders who made the decisions, to the ordinary men, women, and children who carried them out and lived through their consequences - in a comprehensible and compelling single history of 46 million people. For better or worse, much of Britain today is ultimately the product of the experiences of 1938-1941.
©2020 Alan Allport (P)2020 Random House Audio
Last Mission to Tokyo
Summary
“Superb...[Paradis] writes history with ease and authority.” (The Wall Street Journal) “[An] engrossing procedural...Richly researched.” (The New York Times Book Review) A thrilling narrative that introduces a key but underreported moment in World War II: The Doolitte Raids and the international war crimes trial in 1945 that defined Japanese-American relations and changed legal history. In 1942, freshly humiliated from the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was in search of a plan. President Roosevelt, determined to show the world that our nation would not be intimidated or defeated by enemy powers, demanded recommendations for a show of strength. Jimmy Doolittle, a stunt pilot with a doctorate from MIT, came forward and led 80 young men, gathered together from the far-flung corners of Depression-era America, on a seemingly impossible mission across the Pacific. Sixteen planes in all, they only had enough fuel for a one-way trip. Together, the Raiders, as they were called, did what no one had successfully done for more than a thousand years. They struck the mainland of Japan and permanently turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. Almost immediately, the Doolittle Raid captured the public imagination and has remained a seminal moment in World War II history, but the heroism and bravery of the mission is only half the story. In Last Mission to Tokyo, Michel Paradis reveals the dramatic aftermath of the mission, which involved two lost crews captured, tried, and tortured at the hands of the Japanese, a dramatic rescue of the survivors in the last weeks of World War II, and an international manhunt and trial led by two dynamic and opposing young lawyers - in which both the United States and Japan accused the other of war crimes - that would change the face of our legal and military history. Perfect for fans of Lucky 666 and Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial, Last Mission to Tokyo is a thrilling war story-meets-courtroom-drama that explores a key moment in World War II.
©2020 Michel Paradis (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Blazing Star, Setting Sun
Summary
Bloomsbury presents Blazing Star, Setting Sun by Jeffrey Cox, read by Lance C Fuller. From popular Pacific Theatre expert Jeffrey Cox comes this insightful new history of the critical Guadalcanal and Solomons campaign at the height of World War II. His previous book, Morning Star, Rising Sun, had found the US Navy at its absolute nadir and the fate of the Enterprise, the last operational US aircraft carrier at this point in the war, unknown. This new volume completes the history of this crucial campaign, combining detailed research with a novelist’s flair for the dramatic to reveal exactly how, despite missteps and misfortunes, the tide of war finally turned. By the end of February 1944, thanks to hard-fought and costly American victories in the first and second naval battles of Guadalcanal, the battle of Empress Augusta Bay and the battle of Cape St George, the Japanese would no longer hold the materiel or skilled manpower advantage. From this point on, although the war was still a long way from being won, the American star was unquestionably on the ascendant, slowly, but surely, edging Japanese imperialism towards its sunset. Jeffrey Cox’s analysis and attention to detail of even the smallest events are second to none. But what truly sets this work apart is how he combines this microscopic attention to detail, often unearthing new facts along the way, with an engaging style that transports the listener to the heart of the story, bringing the events on the deep blue of the Pacific vividly to life.
©2020 Jeffrey Cox (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
The Fall of Japan
Summary
Told from both Japanese and American perspectives, this thrilling account of the final weeks of World War II in the Pacific has been heralded by the New York Times Book Review as "virtually faultless". By midsummer 1945, Japan had long since lost the war in the Pacific. The people were not told the truth, and neither was the emperor. Japanese generals, admirals, and statesmen knew, but only a handful of leaders were willing to accept defeat. Most were bent on fighting the Allies until the last Japanese soldier died and the last city burned to the ground. Exhaustively researched and vividly told, The Fall of Japan masterfully chronicles the dramatic events that brought an end to the Pacific War and forced a once-mighty military nation to surrender unconditionally. From the ferocious fighting on Okinawa to the all-but-impossible mission to drop the second atom bomb, and from Franklin D. Roosevelt's White House to the Tokyo bunker where tearful Japanese leaders first told the emperor the truth, William Craig captures the pivotal events of the war with spellbinding authority. The Fall of Japan brings to life both celebrated and lesser-known historical figures, including Admiral Takijiro Onishi, the brash commander who drew up the Yamamoto plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor and inspired the death cult of kamikaze pilots. This astonishing account ranks alongside Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and John Toland's The Rising Sun as a masterpiece of World War II history.
©1967 William Craig; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Churchill's Hellraisers
Summary
From award-winning war reporter Damien Lewis, the untold story of the heroic hellraisers who stormed a Nazi fortress-in one of the most daring raids of World War II.... It is the winter of 1944. Allied forces have succeeded in liberating most of Axis-occupied Italy - with one crucial exception: the Nazi headquarters north of the Gothic Line. Heavily guarded and surrounded by rugged terrain, the mountain fortress is nearly impenetrable. But British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is determined to drive a dagger into the "soft underbelly of Europe." The Allied's plan: drop two paratroopers into the mountains-and take the fortress by storm.... The two brave men knew the risks involved, so they recruited an equally fearless team: Italian resistance fighters, escaped POWs, downed US airmen, even a bagpipe-playing Scotsman known as "The Mad Piper." Some had little military training, but all were willing to fight to the death to defeat the Nazi enemy. Ultimately, the mission that began in broad daylight, in the enemy's line of fire, would end one of the darkest chapters in history - through the courage and conviction of the unsung heroes who dared the impossible....
©2018 Omega Ventures (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Sicily '43
Summary
On July 10, 1943, the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted took place, larger even than the Normandy invasion 11 months later: 160,000 American, British, and Canadian troops came ashore or were parachuted onto Sicily, signaling the start of the campaign to defeat Nazi Germany on European soil. Operation HUSKY, as it was known, was enormously complex, involving dramatic battles on land, in the air, and at sea. Yet, despite its paramount importance to ultimate Allied victory, and its drama, very little has been written about the 38-day Battle for Sicily. Based on his own battlefield studies in Sicily and on much new research, James Holland’s Sicily ’43 offers a vital new perspective on a major turning point in World War II and a chronicle of a multi-pronged campaign in a uniquely diverse and contained geographical location. The characters involved - Generals George Patton and Bernard Montgomery among many - were as colorful as the air and naval battles and the fighting on the ground across the scorching plains and mountaintop of Sicily were brutal. But among Holland’s great skills is incorporating the experience of on-the-ground participants on all sides - from American privates Tom and Dee Bowles and Tuskegee fighter pilot Charlie Dryden to British major Hedley Verity and Canadian lieutenant Farley Mowat (later a celebrated author), to German and Italian participants such as Wilhelm Schmalz, brigade commander in the Hermann Göring Division, or Luftwaffe fighter pilot major Johannes “Macky” Steinhoff and to Italian combatants, civilians and mafiosi alike - which gives listeners an intimate sense of what occurred in July and August 1943. Emphasizing the significance of Allied air superiority, Holland overturns conventional narratives that have criticized the Sicily campaign for the vacillations over the plan, the slowness of the Allied advance and that so many German and Italian soldiers escaped to the mainland; rather, he shows that clearing the island in 38 days against geographical challenges and fierce resistance was an impressive achievement. A powerful and dramatic account by a master military historian, Sicily ’43 fills a major gap in the narrative history of World War II. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 by Griffon Merlin Ltd. Recorded by arrangement with Atlantic Monthly Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
On Broken Wings
Summary
It’s been a year since Dani Peterson lost her husband, Joker, the squadron commander of the Wild Aces. When she gets an offer from his best friend, Alex “Easy” Rogers, to help fix up her house, Dani accepts, and their friendship grows - along with an undeniable attraction. Racked by guilt for loving his best friend’s widow, Easy’s caught between what he wants and can’t have. Until one night everything changes, and the woman who’s always held his heart ends up in his arms. Yet as Easy leaves for his next deployment, he and Dani are torn between their feelings and their loyalty to Joker’s memory. But when Dani discovers something that sends them both into a spin, the conflicted lovers must overcome the past to navigate a future together....
©2016 by Chanel Cleeton (P)2020 by Blackstone Publishing
Le Pianiste
Summary
Septembre 1939. Alors que Varsovie est écrasée sous les bombes allemandes, les accords du "Nocturne en ut dièse mineur" de Chopin s'élèvent à la radio nationale. L'interprète s'appelle Wladyslaw Szpilman. Il est juif. Pour lui, c'est une longue nuit qui commence... Une longue nuit dont l'issue aurait pu être la mort, sans un officier allemand, Wilm Hosenfeld - le plus improbable des sauveteurs. Hanté par l'atrocité des crimes nazis, il va protéger et sauver le pianiste. Mort en 2000 à Varsovie, Wladyslaw Szpilman a eu une carrière internationale de compositeur et de pianiste. Il aura fallu plus de cinquante ans pour que l'on redécouvre enfin ce texte, sobre et émouvant. Suivi d'extraits du journal de Wilm Hosenfeld ; Présentation d'Andrzej Szpilman ; Postface de Wolf Biermann.
©1998 / 2001 Wladyslaw Szpilman / Traduction française : Éditions Robert Laffont, S.A, Paris. Traduit par Bernard Cohen (P)2020 Lizzie, un département d’Univers Poche, Paris
The Sleepwalkers
Summary
One of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History) The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself, but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict. Clark traces the paths to war in a minute-by-minute, action-packed narrative that cuts between the key decision centers in Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Paris, London, and Belgrade, and examines the decades of history that informed the events of 1914 and details the mutual misunderstandings and unintended signals that drove the crisis forward in a few short weeks. Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers is a dramatic and authoritative chronicle of Europe's descent into a war that tore the world apart.
©2013 Christopher Clark (P)2019 HarperAudio
Robert E. Lee and Me
Summary
This program is read by the author. In a forceful but humane narrative, former soldier and head of the West Point history department Ty Seidule's Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the myths and lies of the Confederate legacy - and explores why some of this country’s oldest wounds have never healed. Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service in the U.S. Army, every part of his life reinforced the Lost Cause myth: that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived, and that the Confederates were underdogs who lost the Civil War with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier general and Professor Emeritus of History at West Point, his view has radically changed. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, Ty Seidule believes that American history demands a reckoning. In a unique blend of history and reflection, Seidule deconstructs the truth about the Confederacy - that its undisputed primary goal was the subjugation and enslavement of Black Americans - and directly challenges the idea of honoring those who labored to preserve that system and committed treason in their failed attempt to achieve it. Through the arc of Seidule’s own life, as well as the culture that formed him, he seeks a path to understanding why the facts of the Civil War have remained buried beneath layers of myth and even outright lies - and how they embody a cultural gulf that separates millions of Americans to this day. Part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the deeply-held legends and myths of the Confederacy - and provides a surprising interpretation of essential truths that our country still has a difficult time articulating and accepting. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press "Perhaps the best attribute of this fine book is the author’s honesty. It’s difficult to imagine a more timely book than Robert E. Lee and Me. At this pivotal moment, when we are debating some of the most painful aspects of our history, Seidule’s unsparing assessment of the Lost Cause provides an indispensable contribution to the discussion.” (Washington Post) “A timely, powerful, compelling - and courageous - book. In Robert E. Lee and Me, Brigadier General Ty Seidule takes readers on a fascinating intellectual journey...This is a book of enormous importance and tremendous insight, a book that only a true southerner - and a true historian - could have written.” (General David Petraeus) “A beautiful, often searing meditation on race, history, and the American narrative. Evocative and provocative, Robert E. Lee and Me is honest, wry, and utterly engaging.” (Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The British are Coming)
©2021 Ty Seidule (P)2021 Macmillan Audio
Navy Seal: Self Discipline
Summary
Suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regrets! It sucks. It sucks to be ill-discipline and live a stagnant life, a repetitive life. A Navy SEAL is one who has mastered the art of self-discipline. They are the elites who are courageous under fire and honorable no matter the adversities. Walk through the lessons that we can learn from the best of the best. You are going to learn the most important lessons of self-discipline and many other principles from the best of the best. Take this book your shortcut towards understanding self-discipline. Learn how to discipline yourself and discipline yourself right! Inside this book, you'll discover: What is takes to be a Navy SEAL Trainings as well as obstacles that all Navy SEALs went through Leadership lessons from a Navy SEAL that you will learn from it The innate power of self-motivation that we can learn from a Navy SEAL to feel driven and filled with energy How to keep your motivation and discipline on-going with this 1 principle And so much more! This book will open your eyes to the greatest lessons that we can all learn from the bravest and most remarkable soldiers. What are you waiting for? Activate your inner self-discipline now! If you really want to become more self-disciplined and improve yourself, this book is definitely for you.
©2016 Antonius Houston (P)2017 Antonius Houston
Black Thursday
Summary
On Thursday, October 14, 1943, 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses set out for a strategic bombing raid on the factories in Schweinfurt. Sixty of those planes never returned and 650 men were lost during the course of that mission. It was the greatest failure that the United States Air Force had ever suffered and became known as "Black Thursday". Martin Caidin's Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid is a brilliant account of that day that should never be forgotten. This audiobook uncovers in thrilling detail the build-up to that fateful raid as the ground crew prepare the aircraft and the aviators are briefed on their mission ahead. By consulting with first-hand accounts and interviewing survivors Caidin's audiobook takes the listener to the heart of the action as the planes burst into battle in the skies above Western Europe.
©1960 Martin Caidin (P)2018 Tantor
Combat Veterans' Stories of the Vietnam War
Summary
This volume, Combat Veterans’ Stories of the Vietnam War, contains 11 autobiographical stories. The first begins in October 1966, and is told by a Marine infantry forward observer who was in 13 operations. The final story in this volume is told by a Marine machine gunner that was in multiple skirmishes and ambushes, in I Corps, including the battle for Hue. Other stories in Volume 2 include those told by a marine infantry officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism and leadership in fighting at villages named Dai Do and Dinh To and a US naval aviator who was shot down and held prisoner by the North Vietnamese.
Volumes 1-4 of this series contain combat experiences told by 57 Vietnam War veterans. Volume 4 also contains information about the armed forces of nations allied with the US that fought against North Vietnam. Volume 5 contains 22 reports, including the US government’s explanation for the war, a review of the war and US armed forces in it, POW treatment, MIAs, the CIA and the drug trade, war crimes, PTSD, moral injury, and history lessons not learned.
©2018 Norman Black (P)2018 Norman Black
The Death of the USS Thresher
Summary
When she first went to sea in April of 1961, the US nuclear submarine Thresher was the most advanced submarine at sea, built specifically to hunt and kill Soviet submarines. In The Death of the USS Thresher, renowned naval and intelligence consultant Norman Polmar recounts the dramatic circumstances surrounding her implosion, which killed all 129 men onboard in history's first loss of a nuclear submarine. This revised edition of Polmar's 1964 classic is based on interviews with the Thresher's first command officer, other submarine officers, and the designers of the submarine. Polmar provides recently declassified information about the submarine and relates the loss to subsequent US and Soviet nuclear submarine sinkings as well as to the escape and rescue systems developed by the navy in the aftermath of the disaster. The Death of the USS Thresher is a must-listen for the legions of fans who enjoyed the late Peter Maas' New York Times best seller The Terrible Hours.
©2004 Norman Polmar (P)2017 Tantor
At All Costs
Summary
In this astonishing, untold account of heroism and history, two American Merchant Mariners board a burning and sinking ship in the Mediterranean change the course of World War II. In 1942, the small Mediterranean island of Malta was the most heavily bombed place on earth. Its submarine and air attacks on Axis supply convoys were all that kept Rommel from marching across North Africa to take the oil in Iran and Iraq for Hitler. But Malta was out of fuel, down to its final days. Operation Pedestal was Malta's last hope, a giant convoy with more that 50 warships escorting 13 freighters and one life-or-death tanker, the SS Ohio, carrying 103,000 barrels of oil from Texas. It was bombed, torpedoed, and abandoned. Two American Merchant Mariners, Frederick Larsen and Francis Dales, whose own freighters had sunk in towering flames along with eight others, boarded the Ohio. They repaired the guns and fought the Axis dive-bombers for two days as the sinking tanker was towed by destroyers. Malta was saved, Rommel was turned back, and the Allies started to turn the tide of war. At All Costs is a gripping story reported in grand historic fashion. It is a tale of unimaginable personal courage and indomitable determination.
©2006 Sam Moses (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.
Breve historia de la Primera Guerra Mundial
Summary
Una nueva visión de la guerra que asoló el mundo en los albores del S. XX basada en una combinación de historia bélica e historia humana. La mayoría de los libros que tratan el tema de la Primera Guerra Mundial, lo hacen incidiendo en los avatares bélicos de la llamada Gran Guerra, una contienda de la que se dijo que acabaría con todas las guerras. La novedad de este audio libro que nos trae Álvaro Lozano es que presenta la guerra desde una perspectiva total, remontándose a los factores previos a 1914 que facilitaron el enfrentamiento, y llegando a los cambios en las estructuras políticas y económicas que resultaron de la Primera Guerra Mundial y que fueron determinantes a lo largo de todo el S. XX e incluso en el naciente S. XXI. Breve Historia de la Primera Guerra Mundial es un audio libro imprescindible porque al abordar una óptica total de la guerra, nos permite ver el flujo de ideas que se esconde detrás de la contienda, la confrontación entre unas formas de gobierno obsoletas y unas masas, que hasta entonces habían permanecido pasivas, que demandaban una política más popular, una democracia más efectiva. Además de la confrontación de ideas, Álvaro Lozano nos recrea la vida en las trincheras, los distintos sistemas de abastecimiento de los ejércitos e incluso los motines que se produjeron en el seno de cada uno. Todas las novedades, en suma, que se dieron en una guerra en la que, por vez primera, los flujos productivos y los avances tecnológicos que resultaron de la Revolución Industrial se ponen al servicio de la masacre de hombres y de la destrucción de infraestructuras.Un libro que ayudará a comprender, a cualquier oyente que se acerque a él, por qué una Europa que estaba en pleno progreso moral y material se enfrascó en una guerra en la que acabó arrastrando a la mayoría de las naciones y que produjo una transformación radical del panorama político, artístico, económico y existencial. Please Note: This audiobook is in Spanish.
©2011 Ediciones Nowtilus S.L. (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Men-of-War
Summary
Out of print for many years, this is a brand new edition of the definitive companion to the acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of novels, written by the author himself. What was daily life in Nelson's navy really like, for everyone from the captain down to the rawest recruit? What did they eat? What songs did they sing? What was the schedule of watches? How were the officers and crew paid, and what was the division of prize-money? These questions and many more are answered in Patrick O'Brian's elegant narrative, which includes wonderful anecdotal material on the battles and commanders that established Britain's naval supremacy. The meticulously researched text provides an unparalleled insight into life during wartime in the Napoleonic era, and offers a wonderfully evocative companion to the world of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.
©2019 Patrick O’Brian (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
The Spartans
Summary
The Spartans. The famous warrior society of ancient Greece. Renowned for their ferocity in battle, rigid self-discipline, and their legendary wit and terseness. These rugged, crimson-clad soldiers knew a lifestyle that few of us today could imagine or endure. Both Spartan men and woman, from the day they were born, to their often early deaths, constantly trained their bodies and minds to be as hard and immovable as stone.
©2016 Mick Kremling (P)2016 Mick Kremling
Beast
Summary
Love isn't always pretty - especially not when you fall for a Beast. I ran like hell from the tragedy in my past. I didn't slow down, and I didn't look back. But I couldn't outrun the memories...or escape the nightmares. I came to North Carolina to be alone. Hayden Graham attracts problems like a magnet. She's a complication I don't need. This time, the mess she's in has put her life in danger. What she needs is a hero to rescue her. But I'm no knight in shining armor. I'm a wounded animal - a Beast. She tastes like Heaven. She only adds to my Hell. She makes me want things that I can't have, things I'll never deserve. Love isn't always pretty. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's rough. And sometimes...it's f--king dirty.
©2017 Jordan Marie (P)2018 Insatiable Press