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.
Every Reason to Fail
Summary
Every Reason to Fail is unlike anything you’ve ever read/listened to. It’s not a history book, but it’s full of old history - and new history - from cover to cover, and with historic people and airplanes to boot! It’s not a mystery book, but it’s full of genuine suspense and intrigue. It’s not an aviation book, but in it you will get a glimpse into the real world of aviation and aviators that few will ever be fortunate enough to experience. It’s not a geography book, but the crew will take you to places you’ve probably never heard of, and few will ever go. It’s not a self-help book, but in it you might find the inspiration to attempt something worthwhile that seems impossible. It’s not an adventure book, but the tale is about an adventure like few in modern history. It’s not a military book, but it’s full of military history, and its main characters are old warbirds. It’s not a book on project management, but you will learn many things about how not to run a major project...and why those things don’t matter if you get the main things right. It’s not a math book, but...it’s just not a math book. So, there’s that. The mission seemed simple enough. Completely restore a 75-year-old historic DC-3 and fly her from Montana to France for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Starting with no volunteers and no money. In under a year. With a crew that had only a few hours of experience flying one. Ride along with author and pilot Bryan Douglass, the rest of the flight crew, the volunteers, paratroopers, World War II veterans, and others on this inspirational story of an impossible dream that almost didn’t come true. The underdog of the D-Day Squadron faced insurmountable odds, constant delays, and a shortage of nearly everything except determination. The idea of crossing the North Atlantic in a 75-year-old, newly restored airplane only a few hours after her first flight would terrify most, but you’ll meet the people who believed it could be done. The transatlantic journey of the D-Day Squadron’s “Mighty Fifteen” was an incredible feat, but the story of Miss Montana is the best of them all! Laugh, cry, and be amazed as you get the entire inside story from a pilot who was there.
©2020 Bryan Douglass (P)2021 Bryan Douglass
The Explosion of the SS Sultana
Summary
There is a popular saying that declares "timing is everything", and in no other field of study is that truer than in history. For instance, under normal conditions, a ship that sank with more than 2,000 passengers aboard - most of whom died - would be big news, yet today the sinking of the SS Sultana is often overlooked if not entirely forgotten. While it might have generated the type of publicity and reaction of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 or the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 under normal circumstances, the explosion and sinking of the Sultana on April 27, 1865, has become something of a historical footnote. The irony is that the Sultana is a historical footnote because of the Civil War, but it was also intimately tied to the war. Although Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox was not technically the end of the Civil War, it took one of the last remaining Confederate armies out of the field. Furthermore, on the night of April 14, many of the Union's hopes for the future were dashed when President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D. C. The people of the nation quickly became a volatile mix of grief and outrage, uninterested in anything that did not relate to the death of their beloved president. In fact, just the day before the disaster, as the Sultana was sailing up the Mississippi River to her rendezvous with destiny, Union Army soldiers cornered and killed Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
The Spanish-American War
Summary
If you want to discover the captivating history of the Spanish-American War, then pay attention.... The Spanish-American War really only lasted about 10 weeks (the buildup and decision to go to war took longer than the war itself), but a peace treaty was not signed until December of 1898. This was an event that was the tipping point for the end of the Spanish Empire and the rise of the US as a formidable player on the world stage. Not all Americans were happy with the change, with famous Americans like Mark Twain speaking out about the US occupation of the lands that it was meant to save. In The Spanish-American War: A Captivating Guide to the Armed Conflict Between the United States of America and Spain That Took Place Ater the U.S. Intervened in the Cuban War of Independence, you will discover topics such as: Spain’s waning influence America – a country itching to break out of isolationism Building tensions America's sensationalized sympathy with Cuba Remember the Maine! – an excuse for war A brief war with huge implications Rough Riders – the beginning of the legend of Theodore Roosevelt How the Smoked Yankees ensured Roosevelt’s success The price of peace The anti-Imperialist league The Foraker Act of 1900 and new territories The tense relationship between Cuba and the US Half-way around the world – the Philippine-American relationship A changed world And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about the Spanish-American War, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
©2019 Captivating History (P)2020 Captivating History
Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW's Story
Summary
"If hell is here on earth, it is located on an oddly shaped city block in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam," writes Sam Johnson, who lived in that hell for seven years. Col. Samuel R. Johnson, U.S. Air Force, was shot down in April, 1966, while flying his twenty-fifth mission over North Vietnam. Shortly after his capture and imprisonment in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, Colonel Johnson was labeled a diehard by his enemies. His creative and innovative resistance of prison authority earned him banishment to the high-security prison unit where, unknown to U.S. military intelligence, Ho Chi Minh kept the eleven prisoners believed to be a serious threat to his war efforts. For two years Johnson and the other ten endured leg irons, malnutrition, and appallingly primitive conditions while imprisoned in tiny cubicles built in the earthen-walled facility dug out of the center courtyard of North Vietnam's Ministry of Defense in downtown Hanoi. Captive Warriors is the story of Alcatraz, where courage and humor thrived amid the madness. It is the story of Colonel Johnson's seven-year battle for his life, limbs, and sanity. It is the story of the hundreds of captured warriors--American POWs--whose lives lay in the hands of angry and vengeful North Vietnamese captors. More than a story, Captive Warriors is a tribute to all the American prisoners of war who, without benefit of the conventional weapons of war, waged daily battles against an insidious enemy disdainful of the requirements of the Geneva Conventions and who, in the end, became the final pawn in the peace settlement that ended the longest war in American history. The book is published by Texas A&M University Press.
©1992 Sam Johnson and Jan Winebrenner (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks
Der Tag von Hiroshima
Summary
Das Hörbuch schildert Eindrücke eines Besuchs in Hiroshima zehn Jahre nach dem Abwurf der Atombombe. Zitate und Erinnerungen von Zeitzeugen sowie Daten über die Wirkung und die Spätfolgen vermitteln ein eindringliches Bild von den verheerenden Auswirkungen auf die Stadt und seine Bewohner. Regie: Walter Knaus.
©1955 SWR (P)1955 SWR
Secret and Special
Summary
Soon after the declaration of war on Japan, a secret military reconnaissance unit was established, based on the British Special Operations Executive (known as SOE) and called the Inter-allied Services Department. The unit was tasked with the role to "obtain and report information of the enemy...weaken the enemy by sabotage and destruction of morale and to lend aid and assistance to local efforts to the same end in enemy occupied territories." In 1943 it became known under the cover name Special Reconnaissance Department (SRD) and included some British officers who had escaped from Singapore. After arriving in Australia, they assembled in Melbourne, forming the nucleus of ISD and, together with some Australians, established what became the Z Special Unit. Training began in a number of locations around Australia including on Fraser Island off the Queensland coast, In Broken Bay near Sydney, at Careening Bay in Western Australia, at the 'House on the Hill' in Cairns and at East Arm near Darwin. From these training areas and bases, Z Special undertook intelligence gathering and raiding missions throughout Southeast Asia including New Guinea, Singapore, Timor, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and the Dutch East Indies. The first operation was Jaywick in September 1943, led by a 28-year-old officer from the Gordon Highlanders, Captain Ivan Lyon. Using an old Japanese fishing boat renamed Krait this captured vessel was re-fitted and provisioned for a voyage from Australia to just south of Singapore, where it released six commandos in three folding kayaks to attack Japanese shipping in the harbour. They placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships, sinking 40,000 tons of shipping. After the successful attack, they paddled south, were picked up by the Krait and successfully returned to Australia. This was followed by Operation Rimau, again led by Lyon, but this time things went very wrong very early. Identified, they made a fighting withdrawal but all of the raiding party were shot or captured, with the last 10 being executed just before the end of the war. Important in Z Special operations were a number of vessels designated 'snake boats'. Four 66' modified trawlers were constructed as well as a range of Asian vessels that allowed their operation in South East Asian areas of operation. One Z Special, the last in PNG, set out on the night of the 11 April 1945. Eight operatives were landed on the Japanese held island of Muschu about five kilometres off the coast near Wewak to determine the status of two 140mm Japanese naval guns that had been placed there. These guns would prove dangerous to planned naval landings at Wewak, and allied command needed to know if these were operational. The operatives were launched in four double folding kayaks from a HTML fast crash boat, but the current carried them away from their landing position and the surf capsized their boats. The men swam ashore but both their radio and their signal torches had been destroyed, and the men had no way of connecting with the return crash boat. Soon their lost equipment was found by the Japanese and a massive search with 1,000 troops scoured the island. Quite soon seven of the eight men had been captured, killed or died trying to swim to the mainland and only one man, Sergeant 'Mick' Dennis remained. Over the next three days he continued a one man war, fighting off Japanese patrols and living off the land. Unable to do this for long, he took to the dangerous shark and crocodile infested waters, and with the aid of a log, paddled to the mainland. Landing on a Japanese controlled beach, he snuck ashore and after further firefights and a difficult journey travelling west, he finally was found by an Australian patrol. Mick Dennis was able to provide valuable information and for his service and bravery, he was awarded a Military Medal. During the course of the war, Z Special Unit carried out 81 covert operations in the Southwest Pacific theatre. While the unit was disbanded after the end of the war, many of its techniques would be modified and used by Australian Special Forces to this day. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Will Davies (P)2021 Penguin Random House Australia
At All Costs
Summary
From the jaws of defeat, incredible victories. At All Costs transports you to the battlefront for more than two centuries of astonishing military confrontations. From the Battle of Minden in 1795 to dramatic Second World War stories and the Battle for Goose Green in the Falklands, Bryan Perrett gives astoundingly vivid accounts of international forces in daring actions, achieving victory against the odds. These real-life military adventures are meticulously, accurately described, giving a true flavour of some of the most important moments in world history. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Bryan Perrett (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group
The Varangian Guard
Summary
The Byzantine Empire was the heir to two great cultures that cradled and nurtured European civilization: Greece and Rome. Constantinople, now called Istanbul, became a center of power, culture, trade, and technology poised on the edges of Europe and Asia, and its influence was felt not only throughout Europe but the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and the Far East. Coins dating from the reign of Emperor Justinian I (r.527-565) have been found in southern India, and Chinese records show that the “Fulin”, as the Chinese named the Byzantines, were received at court as early as 643 CE. For a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire protected Europe from the Islamic Arab Empire, allowing it to pursue its own destiny. Finally, Byzantium was a polyglot society in which a multitude of ethnic groups lived under the emperor prizing peace above war, an inspiration surely for the modern age when divisive nationalism threatens to dominate society once more. Despite all this, the Byzantine Empire is often treated as a medieval oddity, an absolute state stunted by a myopic religion, a corrupt, labyrinthine bureaucracy, and an inability to adapt to change. In truth, none of these judgments bear any serious scrutiny - Byzantium was a strong, organized, highly effective, and adaptable civilization for most of its long history. It owed its success in no small part to its military, which, in contrast to the feudal armies of Western Europe and the tribally based forces of the Middle East, operated with a high level of discipline, strategic prowess, efficiency, and organization. At the same time, the Byzantines relied heavily on mercenaries, and the Hetairoi or foreign soldiers formed an important and often vital component of the army. The ability to call upon warriors from many nations demonstrated the power and wealth of the emperor, so they were recruited as much for prestige as for military utility. The most famous of the foreign units was without question the Varangian Guard. The Varangians came from the land in Eastern Europe known in the Middle Ages as Rus, which is now part of modern Russia and Ukraine. They were descendants of Viking warriors from Sweden who came to rule the waterways and population of Russia. Varangian mercenaries were fighting for the Byzantines by the 10th century, and in 988 they formed a permanent elite guard for the emperor. They took an oath of allegiance to him and served directly under the Acolyte or Akolouthos, who was usually of Byzantine origin. They also assumed responsibilities for the security of Constantinople. They served in battles outside the capital, but usually only when necessity called for it. The Varangian Guard’s primary duty was always to protect the emperor, and inevitably, the Varangians became a political force, taking part in the numerous palace coups. They displayed a fierce devotion not necessarily to the emperor but to the throne itself - for example, when Emperor Nicephorus II was murdered by John I Tzimiskes in 969, the Varangian Guard immediately pledged its allegiance to the usurper. The Varangian Guard consisted of heavily armored infantry bearing shields, heavy swords, and Norse battle axes, either single-bladed or double-bladed. They were amongst the fiercest and most feared military units in Christendom, which made the unit an attractive station for many soldiers of fortune came to Constantinople hoping to pursue lucrative military careers in the service of the Byzantine emperors. Those from the West were called at various times Frankoi, (Franks), Latinoi (Latins, i.e. Latin Rite Christians), or Normans. Frankish knights were often hired to combat the Turks in the 11th century.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Hell Itself
Summary
From the award-winning Emerging Civil War series. Soldiers called it one of the “waste places of nature” and “a region of gloom” - the wilderness of Virginia, 70 square miles of dense second-growth forest known as “the dark, close wood”. “A more unpromising theater of war was never seen,” said another. Yet here, in the spring of 1864, the Civil War escalated to a new level of horror. Ulysses S. Grant, commanding all Federal armies, opened the campaign with a vow to never turn back. Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, moved into the wilderness to block Grant’s advance. Immovable object intercepted irresistible force - and the wilderness burst into flame. With the forest itself burning around them, men died by the thousands. The armies bloodied each other without mercy and, at times, without any semblance of order. The brush grew so dense, and the smoke hung so thick, men could not see who stood next to them - or in front of them. “This, viewed as a battleground, was simply infernal,” a Union soldier later said. It was, said another, “hell itself”. Driven by desperation, duty, confusion, and fire, soldiers on both sides marveled that anyone might make it out alive. For more than a decade, Chris Mackowski has guided visitors across the battlefields of the Overland Campaign. Now, in Hell Itself, he invites followers of the Emerging Civil War series to join him in the wilderness - one of the most storied battlefields of the entire Civil War.
©2016 Savs Beatie (P)2019 Savas Beatie
Cowboys, Lawmen, and Outlaws: The Myth of the American Psyche
Summary
Cowboys, Lawmen, and Outlaws: The Myth of The American Psyche Preface In the 1950s, westerns were the most popular form of television drama. Saturday mornings were filled with black and white images of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, and The Cisco Kid. In the evening you had the more adult westerns like Have Gun - Will Travel, Rawhide, and Wanted Dead or Alive. Sprinkled amongst these shows were programs purporting to be about real historic characters, people like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Annie Oakley, and Wild Bill Hickok. Although Gunsmoke's Marshal Matt Dillon wasn't real, the Long Branch Saloon was. Of course writer John Meston's Matt Dillon was much closer to a real cowboy lawman than what was represented by James Arness. William Conrad's radio version was somehow more real, more colorful, and more dramatic than the whitewashed television version even though the stories were similar. Perhaps it's just a malleable memory but somehow radio always felt more real, more vivid, and more present than television. Television turned everything into pabulum; even fascinating gritty historical characters were turned into cardboard-cutouts designed for the front of cereal boxes featuring the soft mushy historical mess that lay inside. The difference between cowboys, lawmen, and outlaws was merely a cheap metal badge: most often these designations were interchangeable with men easily moving from marshal to villain and back with the deal of a card. When we think of the Old West, it seems like ancient history, but historically it was yesterday. Many of the characters of the post Civil War Old West lived well into the 20th century: Bat Masterson died in 1921 and Wyatt Earp didn't die until 1929. Josie Bassett, one of the Wild Bunch girls, managed to hang on until 1963 and she only died then because she got kicked in the head by a horse. History doesn't end with an era - remnants, artifacts, and people overlap.
©2018 Jerry Bader (P)2018 Jerry Bader
Australia's Dambusters
Summary
A truly comprehensive account of 617 Squadron RAF, who carried out one of the most dangerous and audacious aerial bombing raids of World War II. It was the evening of 16 May 1943, as 19 modified Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron RAF, under the command of youthful Wing Commander Guy Gibson, roared into the night sky from their Lincolnshire base. They were on a top-secret Bomber Command mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, now regarded as one of the most dangerous and audacious bombing raids of World War II - an attack on the formidable, well-defended dams of Germany’s Ruhr Valley. Slung beneath the belly of each aircraft was one of the war’s greatest secrets - a bouncing bomb. Against the odds, and flying straight and level into the teeth of terrifying enemy fire, they succeeded in breaching the two principal dams. Many of the 133 airmen involved that fateful night hailed from Australia, and several would be counted among the 56 who would not return to base next morning. The Dams Raid led to the men of this gallant company - often referred to as a suicide squadron - taking on even more hazardous operations in the final two years of the war. Under valorous leadership, and now armed with massive Tallboy and Grand Slam "earthquake" bombs, they obliterated vital Nazi installations, destroying such defiant targets as the heavily-defended Kembs Barrage and the German battleship, Tirpitz, often at a terrible cost in lives. First published in 2003, this deeply researched, revised and updated edition of Australia’s Dambusters offers a truly comprehensive account of the most famous bombing raid of the war through the words and stories of the courageous Australian airmen and others who flew on this and later perilous missions, remembered and forever immortalized as The Dambusters.
©2021 Colin Burgess (P)2021 Simon & Schuster Audio
Spring 1865: The Closing Campaigns of the Civil War
Summary
When General Robert E. Lee fled from Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia in April 1865, many observers did not realize that the Civil War had reached its nadir. A large number of Confederates, from Jefferson Davis down to the rank-and-file, were determined to continue fighting. Though Union successes had nearly extinguished the Confederacy's hope for an outright victory, the South still believed it could force the Union to grant a negotiated peace that would salvage some of its war aims. As evidence of the Confederacy's determination, two major Union campaigns, along with a number of smaller engagements, were required to quell the continued organized Confederate military resistance. In Spring 1865, Perry D. Jamieson juxtaposes for the first time the major campaign against Lee that ended at Appomattox and General William T. Sherman's march north through the Carolinas, which culminated in General Joseph E. Johnston's surrender at Bennett Place. Jamieson also addresses the efforts required to put down armed resistance in the Deep South and the Trans-Mississippi. As both sides fought for political goals following Lee's surrender, these campaigns had significant consequences for the political-military context that shaped the end of the war, as well as Reconstruction. "A valuable addition to Civil War historiography." - Military Review "Readers looking for an authoritative single volume on the campaigns that ended the Civil War will want to consider Spring 1865." - Civil War Book Review "This book is highly recommended to any student of the Civil War." - Army History
©2015 Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks
D-Day in the Pacific
Summary
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. Until this battle, the Japanese continued to believe that success remained a possibility. While Japan had suffered serious setbacks as early as the Battle of Midway in 1942, Saipan was part of its inner defense line, and victory was essential. Thus, the American victory at Saipan forced Japan to begin considering the possibility of defeat. For the Americans, the capture of Saipan meant secure air bases for the new B-29s - now within striking distance of Japanese cities, including Tokyo.
©2007 Harold J. Goldberg (P)2013 Redwood Audiobooks
Flame of Desire
Summary
I wish my head could forget what my eyes have seen.... Dane Morrison has a decision to make. Does he face the terrible truth of his PTSD and stay on course with the love of his life, Cheryl, or does he honor his duty as a soldier? Facing his demons might be harder than he could ever imagine, and for him, there is only one decision. Cheryl McKinney never thought she'd have to suffer the loss of another man she loved, especially so soon. But with Dane's deployment looming just weeks ahead, will she be able to convince him to face his demons and stay with her, or will she learn to let him go? Flame of Desire is book two in A Burning Love series.
©2018 Wanita May (P)2020 Wanita May
South Pacific Destroyer
Summary
Russell Crenshaw's riveting account of the savage night battle for the Solomon Islands in early 1943 offers listeners a unique insider's perspective from the decks of one of the destroyers that bore the brunt of the struggle. Drawing on his experience as a gunnery officer in the USS Maury, Crenshaw's vivid, balanced, and detailed narrative includes the Battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942 and Vella Gulf in August 1943, actions that earned his warship a Presidential Unit Citation and sixteen battle stars. Crenshaw also discusses the impact of radar and voice radio, the shortcomings of U.S. torpedoes and gunfire, and the devastating effectiveness of Japan's super torpedo.
©1998 Russell Snydor Crenshaw, Jr. (P)2011 Tantor
Blaze of Ecstasy
Summary
I wish my head could forget what my eyes have seen.... For Dane Morrison, admitting he had PTSD is everything, so when he has to make a tough choice that might mean losing it all, he will have to come to grips with how his life will change completely with just one push of a button. Cheryl McKinney is struggling at the thought of losing Dane to his service, but when she learns of the sacrifice and its repercussions will it be enough to keep them together? Will the new baby bring them both the joy in life their after, or are they destined to lose it all? A Burning Love Series Book 1 – Spark of Passion Book 2 – Flame of Desire Book 3 – Blaze of Ecstasy
©2018 Wanita May (P)2021 Wanita May
Taken by the Seal
Summary
Cara is after one thing and one thing only: a job in a dirty, rough bar where she can pick up dirty, rough men. Her first rule is "no repeats", so even after she has a bout of hot, out-of-control sex with her ex-Navy SEAL boss, she refuses to fall into bed...or against the wall...or into the ropes with him again. The problem is, as they work more closely together, she can't help but fantasize about what Round Two would be like. He's determined to have her, and he's determined to keep her away from the rough bikers who frequent the bar. Just how determined is Cara to deny herself the pleasure of his arms?
©2016 Cara Sanibel (P)2016 Cara Sanibel
The Wilderness and Spotsylvania
Summary
Travel through a pivotal time in American history....Discover what happened, why it matters, and what to see. Jeff Shaara, America's premier Civil War novelist, gives a remarkable guided tour of one of the Civil War battlefields every American should visit. He captures the true meaning and magnitude of the conflict.
©2007 Jeff Shaara (P)2007 Random House, Inc.
The Somme
Summary
Between 1st July and 18th November 1916 Britain's new volunteer army took the leading role in a battle on the Western Front for the first time. The Somme offensive was intended to achieve a decisive victory for the British and French Allies over the Germans, yet the Allies failed to achieve all of their objectives and the war was to continue for another two years. More than a million men from both sides became casualties in the long and bitter struggle on the Somme in 1916. This audiobook tells this story through the unique collections of IWM. Using artefacts, medals, documents, interviews, film, art and photographs, it reconstructs not only the history of the famous battle, but provides an intimate insight into the experiences of those who were there.
©2016 The Trustees of the Imperial War Museum (P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited
SEALed Protection
Summary
Navy SEAL Tucker Hudson has made all the right choices the second time around: A retread, re-joining SEAL Team Three after 10 years of wandering, he has a new wife and now a new baby on the way. He struggles to hold on to his precious, hard-won happiness, living a life he barely thought possible beside a woman who is in many ways stronger than he is. Brandy has proven she has what it takes to be married to an elite warrior, including being left alone during his dangerous deployments. But as she welcomes their new addition, a dark cloud descends upon her family as evil shows up closer to home, making them all rethink their life plans. Is it going to take more than their strong love for each other to protect everything they hold dear?
©2019 Sharon Hamilton (P)2019 Sharon Hamilton