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Sicily '43
- The First Assault on Fortress Europe
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
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Publisher's 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.
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- By: Peter Caddick-Adams
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer, Tim Reynolds
- Length: 31 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Between December 16, 1944 and January 15, 1945, American forces found themselves entrenched in the heavily forested Ardennes region of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg defending against an advancing German army amid freezing temperatures, deep snow, and dense fog. Operation Herbstnebel - Autumn Mist - was a massive German counter-offensive that stunned the Allies in its scope and intensity.
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fascinating and thorough, painful narration
- By richard on 01-05-15
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De Gaulle
- By: Julian Jackson
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 41 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In a definitive biography of the mythic general who refused to accept Nazi domination of France, Julian Jackson captures this titanic figure as never before. Drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, and resources of the recently opened de Gaulle archive, he reveals how this volatile visionary put a broken France back at the center of world affairs.
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Extremely British approach to de Gaulle
- By Keith on 05-31-19
By: Julian Jackson
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A Time for Trumpets
- The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge
- By: Charles B. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 28 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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On December 16, 1944, the vanguard of three German armies, totaling half a million men, attacked US forces in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg, achieving what had been considered impossible - total surprise. In the most abysmal failure of battlefield intelligence in the history of the US Army, 600,000 American soldiers found themselves facing Hitler's last desperate effort of the war. The brutal confrontation that ensued became known as the Battle of the Bulge, the greatest battle ever fought by the US Army - a triumph of American ingenuity and dedication.
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Outstanding history
- By J. Norman Reid on 11-22-16
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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
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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.
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Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
- By Hollywood Dave on 01-08-17
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Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941-1942
- Schwerpunkt
- By: Robert A. Forczyk
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Forczyk's incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of WWII developed their tactics and weaponry during the early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian, and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives.
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A Great work on tank warfare
- By Anonymous User on 03-22-24
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Neptune's Inferno
- The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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With The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, James D. Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal. Neptune’s Inferno is at once the most epic and the most intimate account ever written of the contest for control of the seaways of the Solomon Islands.
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The WWII Pacific Theater Explodes In My Lazy Chair
- By Rum Runner on 03-01-11
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Eagle Against the Sun
- The American War With Japan
- By: Ronald H. Spector
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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OK as an overview, but too little detail
- By Mike From Mesa on 03-21-22
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An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943)
- The Liberation Trilogy, Volume 1
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern learner can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power.
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Fascinating book, great performance
- By Ted on 05-30-16
By: Rick Atkinson
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The Supreme Commander
- The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 32 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In this classic portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower the soldier, best-selling historian Stephen E. Ambrose examines the Allied commander's leadership during World War II. Ambrose brings Eisenhower's experience of the Second World War to life, showing in vivid detail how the general's skill as a diplomat and a military strategist contributed to Allied successes in North Africa and in Europe and established him as one of the greatest military leaders in the world.
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Very Interesting of the politics of war
- By Timothy on 06-28-17
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Meat Grinder
- The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.
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Zzzzzzzzz
- By Kindle Customer on 11-27-22
By: Prit Buttar
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The Reckoning
- The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavour to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.
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Exceptional
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-21
By: Prit Buttar
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Air Apaches
- The True Story of the 345th Bomb Group and Its Low, Fast, and Deadly Missions in World War II
- By: Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The American 345th Bomb Group - the Air Apaches - was legendary in the war against Japan. The first fully trained and fully equipped group sent to the South Pacific, the 345th racked up a devastating score against the enemy. Armed to the teeth with machine guns and fragmentation bombs, and flying their B-25s at impossibly low altitudes - often below 50 feet - the pilots and air crews strafed and bombed enemy installations and shipping with a fury that helped cripple Japan.
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Boring and unorganized unit history
- By R. Denton on 04-25-19
By: Jay A. Stout
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What listeners say about Sicily '43
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-18-23
Great writing style, Love Al
I wish Al Murray could narrate all of James's books, he brings life to the history and stories with passion and knowledge as well as a keen understanding of humanity that you don't always get in ww2 history.
James Holland always seems to strike the right balance between telling a story and telling the history.
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- Clayton
- 12-01-20
Generally very good
The author has a great ability to breathe life into history. I wish, however, that he hadn't been so relentlessly negative regarding Patton. He gives the sense that that the US success on Sicily was despite Patton, which is categorically absurd.
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- J.Brock
- 10-01-22
Exceptional and exhaustive Research
James Holland always writes for the reader who is interested in the complete, all-around history of a campaign. He never skimps in detail . This is definitely on of his best. Operation Husky is one that few historians gave tackled this exhaustively. It was the first allied invasion of fortress Europe and unique in every facet. It was also brutal and unparalleled in its difficulty. That part is noted over and over again to great appreciation. To understand the difficulty of the terrain and overall campaign cannot be overstated.
There is only one issue with this audio book. I love Al Murray in his and Holland’s podcast “We have ways of making you talk.” It’s a sheer brilliant military history podcast. The only problem is translating this to reading a book. As another reviewer mentioned, Murrays’s cadence is too fast all the time. I found myself having to slow it down and listen over again, sometimes 3-4 times, depending on what was going on around me. It’s hard to hear what he says even at a slower cadence. But this is minor and doesn’t deserve a point demotion. He’s got a good narrating voice overall. This will definitely require another listen though for the sheer volume of information. Exceptional as always.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-22-22
Excellent , well told, extraordinary content
Depth is way beyond I expected. the taking of Sicily was difficult, messy and the 1st battle of WWII where the USA showed our professionalism. Another book that demonstrates the Canandians fortitude & fighting ability l
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- Maxwell Edison
- 12-14-20
One of Holland’s best
Outstanding story of the first post-North Africa Allied effort in the Med. Tremendous look at all aspects of the campaign. Impressive narration by Al Murray. I’m a charter member of the Independent Company.
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1 person found this helpful
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- rodger spahr
- 10-07-21
Sicily
A truly wonderful story and the reader was outstanding!
This is a battle that I really didn’t know much about.
It’s a wonderful story and well written.
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- J. Acosta
- 02-26-21
Great study of an under-appreciated campaign
In-depth study of a key campaign in the ETO, assessing both Allied and Axis performance. Highly recommended reading.
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1 person found this helpful
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- S. Ainsworth
- 06-21-21
Holland is my favorite WWII historian.
Holland provides in depth information with stories and quotes from those who were there, awesome. My only gripe is the sound editor repeatedly let the volume drop to near zero as the reader ran out of breath or finished a sentence. Very frustrating for my old ears, especially when listening in the car over the car speakers.
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- ItalCali
- 08-02-21
Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
Well-researched book about the invasion of Sicily.
Enough context to understand the campaign but not too much to lose focus.
Loved how the author used diaries and personal communications to add depth and human drama to the story.
More sympathetic to Montgomery than other accounts I read, The author also shows a lot of empathy to combatants of both sides, highlighting the challenges they were facing, and that is a useful reminder to all of us armchair strategists.
Loved the performance, the narrator was great.
HOWEVER, as a native Italian speaker, I cringed each time he mispronounced Italian names, which was almost always. By now I got used to this treatment of my Italiano, but disappointing to see in a book which is specifically about a campaign fought in Italy. Can't the producers simply ask a native speaker to consult with the narrator? I'd happily do that for free!
Still, 5 stars because I loved the performance.
Highly recommend to anyone interested in WW2.
Finally, I loved that they included with the purchase of the audiobook also the pdf of the pictures contained in the book. I think all publishers should do this, kudos.
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3 people found this helpful
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- PG Scott
- 01-22-22
Great Read
Loved the story with just the right amount of detail. Did not like the reader whose voice trails off as he nears the end of each sentence.
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