Dead Reckoning

The Story of How Johnny Mitchell and His Fighter Pilots Took on Admiral Yamamoto and Avenged Pearl Harbor

By: Dick Lehr

Narrated by: Will Damron

Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive and dramatic account of what became known as "Operation Vengeance" - the targeted kill by US fighter pilots of Japan's larger-than-life military icon, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the naval genius who had devised the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor.

“AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NO DRILL.” At 7:58 a.m. on December 7, 1941, an officer at the Ford Island Command Center typed what would become one of the most famous radio dispatches in history, as the Japanese navy launched a surprise aerial assault on US bases on Hawaii. In a little more than two hours, more than 2,400 Americans were dead, propelling the US’s entry into World War II.

Dead Reckoning is the epic true story of the high-stakes operation undertaken 16 months later to avenge that deadly strike - a long-shot mission hatched hastily at the US base on Guadalcanal. Expertly crafting this "hunt for Bin Laden"-style WWII story, New York Times best-selling author Dick Lehr recreates the tension-filled events leading up to the climactic clash in the South Pacific skies - frontline moments loaded with xenophobia, spycraft, sacrifice, and broken hearts.

Lehr goes behind the scenes at Station Hypo on Hawaii, where US Navy codebreakers first discovered exactly where and when to find Admiral Yamamoto, on April 18, 1943, and then chronicles in dramatic detail the nerve-racking mission to kill him. He focuses on Army Air Force Major John W. Mitchell, the ace fighter pilot from the tiny hamlet of Enid, Mississippi, who was tasked with conceiving a flight route, literally to the second, for the only US fighter plane on Guadalcanal capable of reaching Yamamoto hundreds of miles away - the new twin-engine P-38 Lightning with its fabled “cone of fire”.

Given unprecedented access to Mitchell’s personal papers and hundreds of private letters, Lehr reveals for the first time the full story of Mitchell’s wartime exploits up to the face-off with Yamamoto, along with those of key American pilots Mitchell chose for the momentous mission: Rex Barber, Thomas Lanphier, Jr., Besby Holmes, and Ray Hine. The spotlight also shines on their enemy target - Admiral Yamamoto, the enigmatic, charismatic commander in chief of Japan’s Combined Fleet, whose complicated feelings about the US - he studied at Harvard - add rich complexity. In this way Dead Reckoning offers at once a fast-paced recounting of a crucial turning point in the Pacific war and keenly drawn portraits of its two main protagonists: Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Pearl Harbor, and John Mitchell, the architect of the Yamamoto’s demise.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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

©2020 Dick Lehr (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

World War II History

This is an excellent book about the history of aviation in the Pacific during the Second World War. As the daughter of a B-17 pilot from that era, it is interesting and educational to learn specific details about that part of the war. It is written with particular attention to detail. Having heard stories about Guadalcanal and Muroc Air Base, I found this accurate and expansive. As a student of history, I found the details about the politics and the withholding of the Medal of Honor accurate as well.

Recommend

Well written and voice acting was very good. Recommend to WW2 students/scholars. I could not put it down.

Recognition denied

In this age where GPS navigation is taken for granted, MAJ Mitchell’s navigation & timing to the intercept location is nothing less than astounding! He really should have gotten the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Riveting

Story telling at its best. The weaving of the stories until it's climax in the skies over Bougainville Island is absolutely riveting. More of this please!

History at it’s finest

This is a great book, that brings our Heroes to life. John Mitchell deserves the MOH.

Excellent book, gripping story

Excellent book, the author does a great job giving credit to those responsible for their actions in avenging the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Excellent perspective.

An excellent and well told story of the mind of one of the largely unsung hero’s of our nation. This story shows that when a man who has honed his craft is pressed into service, he can literally change the world for the better. We all truly owe a debt to the people in this story, and countless others like them, in the freedoms we enjoy and take for granted, not just in the USA, but in the peace that has ensued since WW2 in every part of the world. This was an audiobook that I planned my evenings around listening to. Well told and helped put me in a productive mindset.

Good book about the people involved

It was a good book and told the story well. I enjoyed and would listen to it again.

Great book

In my top 5 all-time WWII books. Dramatic, entertaining, good modern look at a very famous incident.

My only criticism is that the book is too short

Loved every minute of the work. Thank you for writing it. Especially loved the after-the-fact historical context.