Audiobooks by John C. McManus

To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945

From the liberation of the Philippines to the Japanese surrender, the final volume of John C. McManus's trilogy on the US Army in the Pacific War The dawn of 1945 finds a US Army at its peak in the Pacific. Allied victory over Japan is all but assured. The only question is how many more months-or years-of fight does the enemy have left. John C. McManus's magisterial series, described by the Wall Street Journal as being "as vast and splendid as Rick Atkinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation Trilogy," returns with this brilliant final volume. On the island of Luzon, a months-long stand-off between US and Japanese troops finally breaks open, as American soldiers push into Manila, while paratroopers and amphibious invaders capture nearby Corregidor. The Philippines are soon liberated, and Allied strategists turn their eyes to China, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Japanese home islands themselves. Readers will walk in the boots of American soldiers and officers, braving intense heat, rampant disease, and a by-now suicidal enemy, determined to kill as many opponents as possible before defeat, and they will encounter Japanese soldiers faced with the terrible choice between capitulation or doom. At the same time, this outstanding narrative lays bare the titanic ego and ambition of the Pacific War's most prominent general, Douglas MacArthur, and the complex challenges he faced in Japan's unconditional surrender and America's lengthy occupation. Photo courtesy of the National World War II Museum, accession number 2013.495.1300.

John C. McManus (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

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Island Infernos: The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944

In Fire and Fortitude-winner of the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History-John C. McManus presented a riveting account of the US Army's fledgling fight in the Pacific following Pearl Harbor. Now, in Island Infernos, he explores the Army's dogged pursuit of Japanese forces, island by island, throughout 1944, a year that would bring America ever closer to victory or defeat. "A feat of prodigious scholarship."-The Wall Street Journal • "Wonderful."-St. Louis Post-Dispatch • "Outstanding."-Publishers Weekly • "Rich and absorbing."-Richard Overy, author of Blood and Ruins • "A considerable achievement, and one that, importantly, adds much to our understanding of the Pacific War."-James Holland, author of Normandy '44 After some two years at war, the Army in the Pacific held ground across nearly a third of the globe, from Alaska's Aleutians to Burma and New Guinea. The challenges ahead were enormous: supplying a vast number of troops over thousands of miles of ocean; surviving in jungles ripe with dysentery, malaria, and other tropical diseases; fighting an enemy prone to ever-more desperate and dangerous assaults. Yet the Army had proven they could fight. Now, they had to prove they could win a war. Brilliantly researched and written, Island Infernos moves seamlessly from the highest generals to the lowest foot soldiers and in between, capturing the true essence of this horrible conflict. A sprawling yet page-turning narrative, the story spans the battles for Saipan and Guam, the appalling carnage of Peleliu, General MacArthur's dramatic return to the Philippines, and the grinding jungle combat to capture the island of Leyte. This masterful history is the second volume of John C. McManus's trilogy on the US Army in the Pacific War, proving McManus to be one of our finest historians of World War II.

John C. McManus (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

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Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943

An engrossing, epic history of the US Army in the Pacific War, from the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die "This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be."-James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian 'Out here, mention is seldom seen of the achievements of the Army ground troops,' wrote one officer in the fall of 1943, 'whereas the Marines are blown up to the skies.' Even today, the Marines are celebrated as the victors of the Pacific, a reflection of a well-deserved reputation for valor. Yet the majority of fighting and dying in the war against Japan was done not by Marines but by unsung Army soldiers. John C. McManus, one of our most highly acclaimed historians of World War II, takes readers from Pearl Harbor-a rude awakening for a military woefully unprepared for war-to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly desperate Japanese. In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower. At the pinnacle of this richly told story are the generals: Douglas MacArthur, a military autocrat driven by his dysfunctional lust for fame and power; Robert Eichelberger, perhaps the greatest commander in the theater yet consigned to obscurity by MacArthur's jealousy; 'Vinegar Joe' Stillwell, a prickly soldier miscast in a diplomat's role; and Walter Krueger, a German-born officer who came to lead the largest American ground force in the Pacific. Enriching the narrative are the voices of men otherwise lost to history: the uncelebrated Army grunts who endured stifling temperatures, apocalyptic tropical storms, rampant malaria and other diseases, as well as a fanatical enemy bent on total destruction. This is an essential, ambitious book, the first of two volumes, a compellingly written and boldly revisionist account of a war that reshaped the American military and the globe and continues to resonate today.

John C. McManus, John C. Mcmanus (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

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Hell Before Their Very Eyes: American Soldiers Liberate Concentration Camps in Germany, April 1945

On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the Eighty-Ninth Infantry Division and the Fourth Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler's Germany.These men discovered the very depths of human-imposed cruelty and depravity: railroad cars stacked with emaciated, lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains; warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and dead bodies; and?perhaps most disturbing of all?the half-dead survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly civilized societies were capable of such crimes.Military historian John C. McManus sheds new light on this often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and thousands of firsthand accounts?including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections?Hell before Their Very Eyes focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.

John C. McManus (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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Grunts: Inside the American Infantry Combat Experience, World War II Through Iraq

From the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die comes a sweeping narrative of six decades of combat, and an eye-opening account of the evolution of the American infantry. From the beaches of Normandy and the South Pacific Islands to the deserts of the Middle East, the American soldier has been the most indispensable-and most overlooked-factor in wartime victory. In Grunts, renowned historian John C. McManus examines ten critical battles-from Hitler's massive assault on US soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge to counterinsurgency combat in Iraq-where the skills and courage of American troops proved the crucial difference between victory and defeat. Based on years of research and interviews with veterans, this powerful history reveals the ugly face of war in a way few books have and demonstrates the fundamental, and too often forgotten, importance of the human element in serving and protecting the nation.

John C. McManus (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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The Americans at D-Day: The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion

June 6, 1944, was a pivotal moment in the history of World War II. On that day the climactic and decisive phase of the war in Europe began. Those who survived the intense fighting on the Normandy beaches found their lives irreversibly changed. That day ushered in a great change for the United States as well, because on D-day America began its march to the forefront of the Western world.By the end of the Battle of Normandy, almost one out of every two soldiers involved was an American, and without American weapons, supplies, and leadership, the outcome of the invasion and ensuing battle could have been very different.In the first of two volumes on the American contribution to the Allied victory at Normandy, John C. McManus examines, with great intensity and thoroughness, the American experience in the weeks leading up to D-day and on the great day itself. From the buildup in England to the night drops of airborne forces behind German lines and the landings on the beaches at dawn, from the famed figures of Eisenhower, Bradley, and "Lighting Joe" Collins to the courageous, but little-known privates who fought so bravely and under terrifying conditions, this is the story of the American experience at D-day. What were the battles really like for the Americans at Utah and Omaha? What drove them to fight despite all adversity? How and why did they triumph? Thanks to extensive archival research, and the use of hundreds of firsthand accounts, McManus answers these questions and many more.Impressively researched, engrossing, lightning quick, and filled with human sorrow and elation, The Americans at D-Day honors those Americans who lost their lives on D-day, as well as those who were fortunate enough to survive.

John C. McManus (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Po

At last, here is a book that tells the full story of the turning point in World War II's Battle of the Bulge-the story of five crucial days in which small groups of American soldiers, some outnumbered ten to one, slowed the German advance and allowed the Belgian town of Bastogne to be reinforced. Alamo in the Ardennes provides a compelling, day-by-day account of this pivotal moment in America's greatest war.

John C. McManus (Author), John Glouchevitch (Narrator)

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Deadly Sky (2016 Re-issue): The American Combat Airman in World War II

John C. McManus (Author), Jonathan Davis (Narrator)

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The Dead and Those About to Die

A white-knuckle account of the 1st Infantry Division's harrowing D-Day assault on the eastern sector of Omaha Beach-acclaimed historian John C. McManus has written a gripping history that will stand as the last word on this titanic battle. Nicknamed the Big Red One, 1st Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these jaded combat veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever. As the men hit the beach, their equipment destroyed or washed away, soldiers cut down by the dozens, courageous heroes emerged: men such as Sergeant Raymond Strojny, who grabbed a bazooka and engaged in a death duel with a fortified German antitank gun; T/5 Joe Pinder, a former minor-league pitcher who braved enemy fire to save a vital radio; Lieutenant John Spalding, a former sportswriter, and Sergeant Phil Streczyk, a truck driver, who together demolished a German strong point overlooking Easy Red, where hundreds of Americans had landed. Along the way, McManus explores the Gap Assault Team engineers who dealt with the extensive mines and obstacles, suffering nearly a fifty percent casualty rate; highlights officers such as Brigadier General Willard Wyman and Colonel George Taylor, who led the way to victory; and punctures scores of myths surrounding this long-misunderstood battle. The Dead and Those About to Die draws on a rich array of new or recently unearthed sources, including interviews with veterans. The result is history at its finest, the unforgettable story of the Big Red One's nineteen hours of hell-and their ultimate triumph-on June 6, 1944.

John C. McManus (Author), Don Hagen (Narrator)

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September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far

In September Hope, acclaimed historian John C. McManus explores World War II's most ambitious invasion, an immense, daring offensive to defeat Nazi Germany before the end of 1944. Operation Market-Garden is one of the war's most famous, but least understood, battles, and McManus tells the story of the American contribution to this crucial phase of the war in Europe. August 1944 saw the Allies achieve more significant victories than in any other month over the course of the war. Soviet armies annihilated more than twenty German divisions and pushed the hated enemy from Russia to deep inside Poland. General Eisenhower's D-Day Invasion led to the liberation of France. Encouraged by these triumphs, British, Canadian and American armored columns plunged into Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. The Germans were in disarray, overwhelmed on all fronts, losing soldiers by the thousands as Allied bombers pulverized their cities. For the Third Reich it seemed the end was near. Rumors swirled that the war would soon be over and that everyone would be home for Christmas. Then came September, and Holland. On September 17, the largest airborne drop in military history commenced-including two entire American divisions, the 101st and the 82nd. Their mission was to secure key bridges at such places as Son, Eindhoven, Grave and Nijmegen until British armored forces could relieve them. The armor would slash northeast, breech the Rhine and go wild on the north German plains. However, the Germans were much stronger than the Allies anticipated. In eight days of ferocious combat, they mauled the airborne, stymied the tanks and prevented the Allies from crossing the Rhine. For the first time, using never-before-seen sources and countless personal interviews, September Hope reveals the American perspective on one of the most famous and decisive battles of World War II.

John C. McManus (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

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