Their Backs Against the Sea

The Battle of Saipan and the Greatest Banzai Attack of World War II

By: Bill Sloan

Narrated by: Dan Woren

In the midst of the largest banzai attack of the war, US Army Lt. Col. William O'Brien, grievously wounded and out of ammunition, grabbed a sabre from a fallen Japanese soldier and flailed away at a small army of assailants, screaming to his men, "Don't give them a damn inch"! When his body was recovered the next day, 30 dead enemies were piled around him.

The Battle of Saipan lasted 25 hellish days in the summer of 1944, and the stakes couldn't have been higher. If Japan lost possession of the island, all hope for victory would be lost. For the Americans, its capture would result in secure air bases for the new B-29s that would put them within striking distance of the Japanese homeland.

The outcome of the war in the Pacific lay in the balance. In this gritty, vivid narrative, award-winning author Bill Sloan fuses fresh interviews, oral and unit histories, and unpublished accounts to describe one of the war's bloodiest and most overlooked battles of the Pacific theater. Combining grunt's-view grit with big picture panorama (and one of the ugliest inter-service controversies of the war), Their Backs Against the Sea is the definitive dramatic story of this epic battle - and an inspiring chronicle of some of the greatest acts of valor in American military history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Bill Sloan (P)2017 Hachette Audio

avid reader

not as well written as his others but still full of good stories of the service men who fought the battles.

Thank you!

My father was a member of the second Marine division and fought at the battles of Saipan and Tinian. He talked very little about the battles, but the stories that he told match what is written in this book. Thank you Mr. Sloan for explaining to me what my father endured.

Poorly written

The narration is amateurish in that the accents are affected and caricatured.

The poorly written battle descriptions are harrowing, especially the descriptions of civilian casualties.

It was fine

It was not the best account I have read about a Pacific battle. It seemed a little disjointed at times and is almost strictly accounts that are not always woven together well. But some of the accounts were interesting.

Poorly written. I wish I could return it.

The timeline jumps around from person to person with no clear linear path, and sounds like little more than a collection of baseless claims.
The dialogue is pure nonsense.