-
Tears in the Darkness
- The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $20.20
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Audie Award, History, 2010
For the first four months of 1942, U.S., Filipino, and Japanese soldiers fought what was America's first major land battle of World War II, the battle for the tiny Philippine peninsula of Bataan. It ended with the surrender of 76,000 Filipinos and Americans, the single largest defeat in American military history. The defeat, though, was only the beginning, as Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman make dramatically clear in this powerfully original book.
From then until the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, the prisoners of war suffered an ordeal of unparalleled cruelty and savagery: 41 months of captivity, starvation rations, dehydration, hard labor, deadly disease, and torture---far from the machinations of General Douglas MacArthur. The Normans bring to the story remarkable feats of reportage and literary empathy.
Their protagonist, Ben Steele, is a figure out of Hemingway: a young cowboy turned sketch artist from Montana who joined the army to see the world. Juxtaposed against Steele's story and the sobering tale of the Death March and its aftermath is the story of a number of Japanese soldiers. The result is an altogether new and original World War II book: it exposes the myths of military heroism as shallow and inadequate; and it makes clear, with great literary and human power, that war causes suffering for people on all sides.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Bataan Death March
- Life and Death in the Philippines During World War II
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Japanese had to deal with large numbers of Filipino and American soldiers who had surrendered after a lengthy defense in the Bataan peninsula, but they were not prepared for so many prisoners of war because their own military philosophy emphasized rigid discipline and fighting until the end. They could not imagine a situation in which Japanese soldiers would willingly surrender, so they assumed that no other combatants would do so either.
-
-
Very brief review of Japanese inhumanity
- By Subway on 04-09-24
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
We Band of Angels
- The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan
- By: Elizabeth M. Norman
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We Band of Angelsis the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them the Philippines. That raid led to the first major land battle for America in World War II and, in the end, to the largest defeat and surrender of American forces.
-
-
A very moving tribute!
- By mark nelsen on 05-17-17
-
Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
-
-
Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
The Reckoning
- A Novel
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pete Banning was Clanton's favorite son, a returning war hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, a father, a neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning in 1946, he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed the Reverend Dexter Bell.
-
-
Time I Won’t Get Back
- By Roma on 10-24-18
By: John Grisham
-
The Bataan Death March
- Life and Death in the Philippines During World War II
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Japanese had to deal with large numbers of Filipino and American soldiers who had surrendered after a lengthy defense in the Bataan peninsula, but they were not prepared for so many prisoners of war because their own military philosophy emphasized rigid discipline and fighting until the end. They could not imagine a situation in which Japanese soldiers would willingly surrender, so they assumed that no other combatants would do so either.
-
-
Very brief review of Japanese inhumanity
- By Subway on 04-09-24
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
We Band of Angels
- The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan
- By: Elizabeth M. Norman
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We Band of Angelsis the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them the Philippines. That raid led to the first major land battle for America in World War II and, in the end, to the largest defeat and surrender of American forces.
-
-
A very moving tribute!
- By mark nelsen on 05-17-17
-
Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
-
-
Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
The Reckoning
- A Novel
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pete Banning was Clanton's favorite son, a returning war hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, a father, a neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning in 1946, he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed the Reverend Dexter Bell.
-
-
Time I Won’t Get Back
- By Roma on 10-24-18
By: John Grisham
-
Nothing to Envy
- Ordinary Lives in North Korea
- By: Barbara Demick
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years - a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung and the unchallenged rise to power of his son, Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Taking us into a landscape never before seen, Demick brings to life what it means to be an average Korean citizen, living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today.
-
-
The man who wants to be GOD
- By Gohar on 05-08-10
By: Barbara Demick
-
The Liberator
- One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
-
-
Now I Know What a Hero Really Is
- By Steven on 11-27-12
By: Alex Kershaw
-
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young
- Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
- By: Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 1965, some 450 men of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. How these men persevered makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating.
-
-
The truth
- By Bobbyg on 10-08-19
By: Harold G. Moore, and others
-
Unbroken
- A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
- By: Laura Hillenbrand
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: Seabiscuit was a runaway success, and Hillenbrand’s done it again with another true-life account about beating unbelievable odds. On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared....
-
-
Indescribable
- By Janice on 12-01-10
-
The Forgotten Soldier
- By: Guy Sajer
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 21 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Guy Sajer joins the infantry full of ideals in the summer of 1942, the German army is enjoying unparalleled success in Russia. However, he quickly finds that for the foot soldier the glory of military success hides a much harsher reality of hunger, fatigue, and constant deprivation. Posted to the elite Grosse Deutschland division, he enters a violent and remorseless world where all youthful hope is gradually ground down, and all that matters is the brute will to survive.
-
-
A Beautifully Written Heartrending Tragedy
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Guy Sajer
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
The Long March Home
- A World War II Novel of the Pacific
- By: Tosca Lee, Marcus Brotherton
- Narrated by: Nick Walther
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire. Life in the Philippines seems like paradise—until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as Japanese warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history.
-
-
Touching
- By Jen A on 07-14-23
By: Tosca Lee, and others
-
The Auschwitz Escape
- By: Joel C. Rosenberg
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A terrible darkness has fallen upon Jacob Weisz’s beloved Germany. The Nazi regime, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, has surged to power and now hold Germany by the throat. All non-Aryans - especially Jews like Jacob and his family - are treated like dogs. When tragedy strikes during one terrible night of violence, Jacob flees and joins rebel forces working to undermine the regime. But after a raid goes horribly wrong, Jacob finds himself in a living nightmare - trapped in a crowded, stinking car on the train to the Auschwitz death camp.
-
-
Amazing, horrifying, and heartwarming!
- By DebaDeb on 04-01-14
-
Night
- By: Elie Wiesel
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the Congressional Gold Medal, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel offers an unforgettable account of Hitler's horrific reign of terror in Night. This definitive edition features a new translation from the original French by Wiesel's wife and frequent translator, Marion Wiesel.
-
-
This book consumed me
- By Ella on 01-24-06
By: Elie Wiesel
-
Flyboys
- A True Story of Courage
- By: James Bradley
- Narrated by: Author
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flyboys is the true story of young American airmen who were shot down over Chichi Jima. Eight of these young men were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. Another was rescued by an American submarine and went on to become president. The reality of what happened to the eight prisoners has remained a secret for almost 60 years.
-
-
Not as advertised
- By M. Mccann on 07-10-17
By: James Bradley
-
Matterhorn
- A Novel of the Vietnam War
- By: Karl Marlantes
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: A performance so poignant, we gave Bronson Pinchot (yes, Balki from Perfect Strangers) our inaugural Narrator of the Year award.... In the monsoon season of 1968-69 at a fire support base called Matterhorn, located in the remote mountains of Vietnam, a young and ambitious Marine lieutenant wants to command a company to further his civilian political ambitions. But two people stand in his way.
-
-
A First For Me . . . And The Last
- By Glen on 05-24-10
By: Karl Marlantes
-
Tap Code
- The Epic Survival Tale of a Vietnam POW and the Secret Code That Changed Everything
- By: Carlyle S. Harris, Sara W. Berry, Col. Lee Ellis - Ret. - foreword
- Narrated by: Henry O. Arnold, Ginny Welsch
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Air Force pilot Captain Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was shot down over Vietnam on April 4, 1965 and taken to the infamous Hoa Lo prison—nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton." For the next eight years, Smitty and hundreds of other American POWs—including John McCain and George "Bud" Day—suffered torture, solitary confinement, and unimaginable abuse. It was there Smitty covertly taught the Tap Code—an old, long-unused World War II method of communication—to many POWs. In turn, they taught others, and it quickly became a way for POWs to communicate without their captors' knowledge.
-
-
so informative
- By Mrs Yogi 1005 on 03-21-20
By: Carlyle S. Harris, and others
Editorial reviews
On April 9, 1942, more than 76,000 American and Filipino soldiers on the island of Batan surrendered to the Japanese, who set them walking 66 miles to prison camp, a notorious walk that came to be known as "The Bataan Death March". Their surrender meant defeat in the first major land battle for America in World War II. Tears in the Darkness, the result of 10 years' research and interviews, weaves a strikingly vivid tapestry of voices from all sides to bring this crucial episode to life. Its central narrative traces new Army Air Corp recruit Ben Steele from his cowboy upbringing in Montana to his shattering experience as a prisoner of war. From this quintessential American tale, other individual stories including those of Filipinos and the Japanese hang together, fleshing out the narrative and providing a remarkably rounded account. This balance is an important part of the book; although there are many detailed descriptions of the inhuman acts committed against prisoners, the authors treat the Japanese with sympathy and respect.
Michael Pritchard's delivery encompasses the campfire setting of Steele's Montana youth equally as well as the General Masaharu Homma's addresses to his Japanese troops, or the harrowing descriptions of the execution of surrendered captives. Pritchard's audiobook credits include titles by Zane Grey, Tom Clancy, and numerous works on American history, and it's not hard to see why: his dust-dry voice has a no-nonsense authority, an unforced sturdiness that honors the book's military milieu without ever being starchy or dull.
Tears in the Darkness stands apart from many military histories through the pungency of its writing: the steaming jungle, agonising thirsts, and overwhelming desperation are conveyed with a color that is more common to novels than history texts. However, the main achievement of the book is the cohesion of its myriad fragments: we get an appraisal of US military strategy in the Southwest Pacific, Filipino children running through Japanese soldiers' legs to get banana-leaves and handfuls of rice to their starving fathers, one survivor's agonisingly slow crawl to safety from under the corpses of executed captives. And throughout, the book's hold never flags, due as much to Pritchard's powerful yet restrained narration as to the sense of unflinching truth. -Dafydd Phillips
Related to this topic
-
Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
-
-
Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
-
The Ghost Mountain Boys
- Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea
- By: James Campbell
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Guinea became the site of one of the World War II's most savage campaigns. Despite their lack of jungle training, the 32nd Division's Ghost Mountain Boys were assigned the most grueling mission of the entire Pacific campaign: to march 130 miles over rugged mountains and to protect the right flank of the Australian army as they fought to push the Japanese back to the village of Buna.
-
-
painful reading
- By richard on 10-29-09
By: James Campbell
-
Undefeated
- America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abandoned by their government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever. Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most previous books about the Philippines campaign have done- Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
-
-
Mesmerizing
- By Amazon Customer on 03-30-17
By: Bill Sloan
-
We Band of Angels
- The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan
- By: Elizabeth M. Norman
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We Band of Angelsis the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them the Philippines. That raid led to the first major land battle for America in World War II and, in the end, to the largest defeat and surrender of American forces.
-
-
A very moving tribute!
- By mark nelsen on 05-17-17
-
First into Nagasaki
- By: George Weller
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On September 6, 1945, less than a month after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, George Weller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, became the first free Westerner to enter the devastated city. Going into the hospitals and consulting the doctors of the bomb's victims, Weller was the first to document its unprecedented long-range medical effects. He also became the first to enter the nearby Allied POW camps, which rivaled those of the Nazis for cruelty and bested them for death count.
-
-
First Into Nagasaki
- By Harold on 02-15-07
By: George Weller
-
The Liberator
- One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
-
-
Now I Know What a Hero Really Is
- By Steven on 11-27-12
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
-
-
Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
-
The Ghost Mountain Boys
- Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea
- By: James Campbell
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Guinea became the site of one of the World War II's most savage campaigns. Despite their lack of jungle training, the 32nd Division's Ghost Mountain Boys were assigned the most grueling mission of the entire Pacific campaign: to march 130 miles over rugged mountains and to protect the right flank of the Australian army as they fought to push the Japanese back to the village of Buna.
-
-
painful reading
- By richard on 10-29-09
By: James Campbell
-
Undefeated
- America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abandoned by their government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever. Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most previous books about the Philippines campaign have done- Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
-
-
Mesmerizing
- By Amazon Customer on 03-30-17
By: Bill Sloan
-
We Band of Angels
- The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan
- By: Elizabeth M. Norman
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We Band of Angelsis the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them the Philippines. That raid led to the first major land battle for America in World War II and, in the end, to the largest defeat and surrender of American forces.
-
-
A very moving tribute!
- By mark nelsen on 05-17-17
-
First into Nagasaki
- By: George Weller
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On September 6, 1945, less than a month after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, George Weller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, became the first free Westerner to enter the devastated city. Going into the hospitals and consulting the doctors of the bomb's victims, Weller was the first to document its unprecedented long-range medical effects. He also became the first to enter the nearby Allied POW camps, which rivaled those of the Nazis for cruelty and bested them for death count.
-
-
First Into Nagasaki
- By Harold on 02-15-07
By: George Weller
-
The Liberator
- One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
-
-
Now I Know What a Hero Really Is
- By Steven on 11-27-12
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Rescue at Los Banos
- The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II
- By: Bruce Henderson
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In February 1945, as the US victory in the Pacific drew nearer, the Japanese army grew desperate, and its soldiers guarding U.S. and Allied POWs more sadistic. Starved, shot and beaten, many of the 2,146 prisoners of the Los Baños prison camp in the Philippines - most of them American men, women and children - would not survive much longer unless rescued soon.
-
-
Edge of your seat story. Great narration
- By Stuart Bruce on 04-16-15
By: Bruce Henderson
-
The Deserters
- A Hidden History of World War II
- By: Charles Glass
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tale that redefines the ordinary soldier in the Second World War, The Deserters is a breathtaking work of historical reportage, weaving together the lives of forgotten servicemen even as it overturns the assumptions and prejudices of an era. The Deserters reveals that ordinary soldiers viewed "desertion" as a natural part of conflict, as unexpected and inexplicable as bravery. The Deserters moves beyond the false extremes of courage and cowardice to reveal the true experience of the Allied soldier.
-
-
war is hell
- By Stevon on 10-08-13
By: Charles Glass
-
My Hitch in Hell, New Edition
- The Bataan Death March
- By: Lester I. Tenney, Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale USN - Ret.
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captured by the Japanese after the fall of Bataan, Lester I. Tenney was one of the very few who would survive the legendary Death March and three and a half years in Japanese prison camps. With an understanding of human nature, a sense of humor, sharp thinking, and fierce determination, Tenney endured the rest of the war as a slave laborer in Japanese prison camps. My Hitch in Hell is an inspiring survivor's epic about the triumph of human will despite unimaginable suffering. This edition features a new introduction and epilogue by the author.e by the author.
-
-
Best Story I have ever listened to
- By Amazon Customer on 09-03-20
By: Lester I. Tenney, and others
-
Rampage
- MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila
- By: James M. Scott
- Narrated by: Jesse Einstein
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 29-day battle to liberate Manila resulted in the catastrophic destruction of the city and a rampage by Japanese forces that brutalized the civilian population. Landmarks were demolished, houses were torched, suspected resistance fighters were tortured and killed, countless women were raped, and their husbands and children were murdered. American troops had no choice but to battle the enemy, floor by floor and even room by room, through schools, hospitals, and even sports stadiums. In the end, an estimated 100,000 civilians lost their lives in the massacre.
-
-
TRUE CRIME OF PURE HELL
- By Steve on 12-18-18
By: James M. Scott
-
The Great Raid on Cabanatuan
- Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor
- By: William B. Breuer
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before General MacArthur could fulfill his stirring promise of "I shall return" and retake the Philippines from Japanese control, a remarkable rescue mission would have to take place. Captured American soldiers, emaciated and ill from brutal mistreatment, were still being held at the notorious Cabanatuan prison camp. A small band of Army Rangers set out on a daring rescue effort: to penetrate thirty miles into Japanese-controlled territory, storm the camp, and escape with the POWs...
-
-
A Great Story
- By PCB on 11-08-05
-
As Good as Dead
- The Daring Escape of American POWs from a Japanese Death Camp
- By: Stephen L. Moore
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late 1944 the Allies invaded the Japanese-held Philippines, and soon the end of the Pacific War was within reach. But for the last 150 American prisoners of war still held on the island of Palawan, there would be no salvation. As soldiers, sailors, and marines were herded into shallow air raid shelters, Japanese soldiers doused them with gasoline and set them on fire. By the next morning, only 11 men were left alive - but their desperate journey to freedom had just begun.
-
-
A question of compassion.
- By Art Baskel on 04-07-17
By: Stephen L. Moore
-
Islands of the Damned
- A Marine at War in the Pacific
- By: R. V. Burgin, Bill Marvel
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is an eyewitness - and eye-opening - account of some of the most savage and brutal fighting in the war against Japan, told from the perspective of a young Texan who volunteered for the Marine Corps to escape a life as a traveling salesman. R. V. Burgin enlisted at the age of twenty and, with his sharp intelligence and earnest work ethic, climbed the ranks from a green private to a seasoned sergeant.
-
-
Jerry
- By Anonymous User on 05-12-10
By: R. V. Burgin, and others
-
Goodbye, Darkness
- A Memoir of the Pacific War
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This memoir offers an unrivaled firsthand account of World War II in the Pacific - what it looked like, sounded like, smelled like, and most of all, what it felt like to one who underwent all but the ultimate of its experiences.
-
-
The best war memoir ever
- By Doug on 05-31-07
-
I Will Hold
- The Story of USMC Legend Clifton B. Cates from Belleau Wood to Victory in the Great War
- By: James Carl Nelson
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The incredible true story of Clifton B. "Lucky" Cates, whose service in World War I and beyond made him a legend in the annals of the Marine Corps. Cates knew that he and his small band of marines were in a desperate spot. Before handing the note over to a runner, he added three words that would resound through Marine Corps history: I WILL HOLD.
-
-
I Cannot Hold!
- By Matthew on 10-22-16
-
The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz
- A True Story of World War II
- By: Denis Avey, Rob Broomby
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz is the extraordinary true story of a British soldier who marched willingly into the notorious concentration camp, Buna-Monowitz, known as Auschwitz III. In the summer of 1944, Denis Avey was being held in a British POW labor camp, E715, near the site of Auschwitz III. He had heard of the brutality meted out to the prisoners there and he was determined to witness what he could.
-
-
Great, great story
- By Anonymous User on 08-12-11
By: Denis Avey, and others
-
The Long Way Home
- An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War
- By: David Laskin
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States has always been a nation of immigrants---never more so than in 1917 when the nation entered the First World War. Of the 2.5 million soldiers who fought with U.S. armed forces in the trenches of France and Belgium, some half a million---nearly one out of every five men---were immigrants. In The Long Way Home, David Laskin, author of the prizewinning history The Children's Blizzard, tells the stories of 12 of these immigrant heroes.
-
-
Incredible story of immigration and war
- By Daryl on 01-06-14
By: David Laskin
-
Red Blood, Black Sand
- Fighting Alongside John Basilone from Boot Camp to Iwo Jima
- By: Chuck Tatum
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps - Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.
-
-
not as good as helmet or old breed
- By C. Kenny on 01-21-17
By: Chuck Tatum
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Undefeated
- America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abandoned by their government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever. Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most previous books about the Philippines campaign have done- Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
-
-
Mesmerizing
- By Amazon Customer on 03-30-17
By: Bill Sloan
-
My Hitch in Hell, New Edition
- The Bataan Death March
- By: Lester I. Tenney, Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale USN - Ret.
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captured by the Japanese after the fall of Bataan, Lester I. Tenney was one of the very few who would survive the legendary Death March and three and a half years in Japanese prison camps. With an understanding of human nature, a sense of humor, sharp thinking, and fierce determination, Tenney endured the rest of the war as a slave laborer in Japanese prison camps. My Hitch in Hell is an inspiring survivor's epic about the triumph of human will despite unimaginable suffering. This edition features a new introduction and epilogue by the author.e by the author.
-
-
Best Story I have ever listened to
- By Amazon Customer on 09-03-20
By: Lester I. Tenney, and others
-
Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
-
-
Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
-
The Rape of Nanking
- By: Iris Chang
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December 1937, in the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity- one of the worst in world history- continues to be denied by the Japanese government.
-
-
Powerful
- By Douglas on 09-05-09
By: Iris Chang
-
The Forgotten Soldier
- By: Guy Sajer
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 21 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Guy Sajer joins the infantry full of ideals in the summer of 1942, the German army is enjoying unparalleled success in Russia. However, he quickly finds that for the foot soldier the glory of military success hides a much harsher reality of hunger, fatigue, and constant deprivation. Posted to the elite Grosse Deutschland division, he enters a violent and remorseless world where all youthful hope is gradually ground down, and all that matters is the brute will to survive.
-
-
A Beautifully Written Heartrending Tragedy
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Guy Sajer
-
Challenge for the Pacific
- Guadalcanal: The Turning Point of the War
- By: Robert Leckie
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Japanese soldiers' carefully calculated - and ultimately foiled - attempt to build a series of impregnable island forts on the ground to the tireless efforts of the Americans who struggled against a tenacious adversary and the temperature and terrain of the island itself, Robert Leckie captures the loneliness, the agony, and the heat of 24-hour-a-day fighting on Guadalcanal.
-
-
Too much like a text book
- By Randall on 01-03-18
By: Robert Leckie
-
Undefeated
- America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abandoned by their government, the men and women of the American garrison struggled against impossible military odds, rampant disease, and slow starvation to delay inevitable surrender by the largest American military force ever. Rather than picturing these defenders as little more than helpless victims of an overwhelmingly powerful and sadistic enemy-as most previous books about the Philippines campaign have done- Undefeated credits American troops with the unexcelled heroism and indomitable spirit they displayed under the worst imaginable conditions.
-
-
Mesmerizing
- By Amazon Customer on 03-30-17
By: Bill Sloan
-
My Hitch in Hell, New Edition
- The Bataan Death March
- By: Lester I. Tenney, Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale USN - Ret.
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captured by the Japanese after the fall of Bataan, Lester I. Tenney was one of the very few who would survive the legendary Death March and three and a half years in Japanese prison camps. With an understanding of human nature, a sense of humor, sharp thinking, and fierce determination, Tenney endured the rest of the war as a slave laborer in Japanese prison camps. My Hitch in Hell is an inspiring survivor's epic about the triumph of human will despite unimaginable suffering. This edition features a new introduction and epilogue by the author.e by the author.
-
-
Best Story I have ever listened to
- By Amazon Customer on 09-03-20
By: Lester I. Tenney, and others
-
Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
-
-
Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
-
The Rape of Nanking
- By: Iris Chang
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December 1937, in the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity- one of the worst in world history- continues to be denied by the Japanese government.
-
-
Powerful
- By Douglas on 09-05-09
By: Iris Chang
-
The Forgotten Soldier
- By: Guy Sajer
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 21 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Guy Sajer joins the infantry full of ideals in the summer of 1942, the German army is enjoying unparalleled success in Russia. However, he quickly finds that for the foot soldier the glory of military success hides a much harsher reality of hunger, fatigue, and constant deprivation. Posted to the elite Grosse Deutschland division, he enters a violent and remorseless world where all youthful hope is gradually ground down, and all that matters is the brute will to survive.
-
-
A Beautifully Written Heartrending Tragedy
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Guy Sajer
-
Challenge for the Pacific
- Guadalcanal: The Turning Point of the War
- By: Robert Leckie
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Japanese soldiers' carefully calculated - and ultimately foiled - attempt to build a series of impregnable island forts on the ground to the tireless efforts of the Americans who struggled against a tenacious adversary and the temperature and terrain of the island itself, Robert Leckie captures the loneliness, the agony, and the heat of 24-hour-a-day fighting on Guadalcanal.
-
-
Too much like a text book
- By Randall on 01-03-18
By: Robert Leckie
What listeners say about Tears in the Darkness
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Drew Csldwell
- 09-04-09
Tears in the Darkness is awesome!
The writing style and narrator take a little getting used to after ten minutes i got used to it, and the book took off an amazing read for anyone who likes history and war novels
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joseph
- 12-30-12
Not "Unbroken" but not bad
I listened to this book after listening to "Unbroken". Much of what I 've learned about how and why the Japanese treated their prisoners of war was attributed to the book Unbroken. This book lacked the raw power that Unbroken did, but it managed to tell the horrible story of the Battan Death March. I would recommend the book Unbroken first, then this listen next. You will get the whole story of WWII POW's in Japan.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bobby Dietzel
- 05-12-18
A Very Moving Story Of The Resiliency Of Humanity
This work carried me through 26.2 miles of high desert this past March in New Mexico.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- V. Shoaf
- 09-22-15
An amazing story with contemporary application.
It made me think, why are we not helping ISIS captives? We must do more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PJ
- 09-17-12
Powerful, a must for anyone interested in WWII
Highly recommend this for it's excellent story-telling and vivid accounting of the Bataan Death March and after-effects. I appreciated the authors weaving in flashbacks to "previous life" as it gave a break from the accounting and provided a stark contrast to the POW experience. I thought the book was well-performed (although we did speed it up just a little). My husband and I read, watch and listen to many books and documentaries about WWII and think this one is just terrific. It is horrifying, yet inspiring as you listen to the stories of the triumph of humans and the human spirit in the face of an horrific experience.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daryl
- 10-25-15
Haunting and unforgetable
I read this book in hardcover several years ago, and the descriptions of humanity and inhumanity, of hope and despair, of life and death never really left me. When this audiobook went on sale, I snapped it up quickly. I'm so glad I did.
This book has several (maybe even many) passages describing brutal forms of beatings, torture, sickness and death; it is not for the faint of heart. And yet none of it felt like it was inserted for shock value. The human spirit of those who survived the march, the camps, the mines - and those who did not - will not soon leave me.
Michael Prichard's narration takes some getting used to. At first I didn't like it very much, and then - I don't know what changed - it felt like a grandfather was sitting across a living room from me, unveiling secrets he'd long since buried.
Well worth your time, money, credit, and inevitable tears.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jessica
- 07-01-15
Very moving
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I was moved to tears a number of times. At one point, I was listening in my car and I happened to look up at the rear-view mirror and saw a huge furrow in my brow. My entire face was contorted in pain. I was completely invested in the main protagonist, Ben Steele - it was like he was my father or grandfather, and I had to see him through. I was surprised by the scenes that affected me the most. Some of the more violent moments didn't stir up the same emotional response that less conventional methods of torture sometimes produced.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Richard
- 08-27-13
A Must-Read: Respect, Appreciation for Veterans
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Greatly recommend this book. This book brings history to life! I have often wondered why we needed to drop the bombs on Japan. After listening to this book I truly began to understand the cruelty inflicted by the Japanese war machine on our troops. Japan did not consider our captured servicemen as Prisoners of War. They did not follow the guidelines of the Geneva Convention for POWs. Although I wouldn't want us to ever have to use this type of weapon ever again, I now realize it was the most efficient and probably the only way to end that war. This book gives a greater understanding of what our troops endured as "captives." THANK YOU TO EVERY SERVICEMAN AND WOMAN FOR YOUR GREAT SACRIFICE TO KEEP US FREE!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen Bullock
- 10-01-19
Great story
Having a central character in this historical and tragic event made this a wonderful book. I highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Charlotte A. Hu
- 05-19-13
Compelling, emotional, deeply engaging
This book is so powerful. It turns so many classic ideas around - like the difference between defeat and victory. It opens with a discussion about the surrender of Japan, then works its way through the near defeat of Japanese forces on Bataan, the ultimate surrender of US forces on Bataan and ultimately back to the final surrender of Japan.
Like an amazing and painful sports game, this book kept me deeply engaged by detailing not only battles and dates, but snippets of people's diaries - from enlisted and officer, from Japanese and Americans and not only their battle lives, but also the memories of lives they left behind. The authors have humanized and illustrated with powerful clarity the people involved in this painful, seemingly distant struggle.
I had always suspected, but this book makes it clear, that the Japanese government of World War II didn't only oppress foreign lands, but also its own people. Through detailed descriptions of the lives of common Japanese soldiers, the authors bring to life a myriad of miseries they had to endure.
This book doesn't demonize anyone. It shows war for how stark and bitter it was for all and it brings history to vivid clarity. I love the way the authors hold out the detail of the American officer who surrenders, showing him from the eyes of a Japanese lieutenant, so that it is only at the end of that page that we learn he was the general in charge, not just a subordinate filling orders. The author details how pained the defeated Americans felt about the idea of giving up. How frustrating it was for them from senior to most junior to do the unthinkable. And yet to continue fighting under the conditions was pure suicide.
I love the rhythm and the literary feel of the writing. The author includes short, declarative sentences that add a marvelous staccato beat to an otherwise complex, entwined sequence of words.
I love the small details of Japanese and Tagalog language, like the gatakoto, gatakoto sound of a train in Japanese language. The cultural detail, like the observation that people believed Filipinos to be a mostly passive people and they would "just go along with everything," until someone's honor was threatened and then they were just as likely to turn a machete from harvesting crops to harvesting someone's head.
I love the details about the lack of training and equipment for the American and Philippine forces combined with a deep will to win and the details that despite a rage against the Army, Japanese men felt an obligation to protect their families.
I just LOVE this book.
I'm listening to it on my commute, a download from Amazon's audible and the narrator's voice is fantastic. This book makes the commute fly by. I get so wrapped up in the story, I don't mind the traffic.
The narration in this book is great. Is well-read and well-produced.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful