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Fire and Fortitude
- The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins
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Publisher's Summary
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 listeners 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.
Critic Reviews
"A very fine account of war in the Pacific founded on wide research and excellent judgement." (Antony Beevor, New York Times best-selling author of D-Day: The Battle for Normandy and Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge)
"This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be. John C. McManus has seamlessly blended the strategic and tactical story with deep analysis of the political context and social composition of armies that embodied the cultures of the nations from which they were formed. During the two years covered by this book, American forces in the Pacific theater transitioned from fighting on a shoestring defensive to the beginning of mighty offensives that would prove irreversible." (James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom)
“An expert, opinionated World War II history with some unsettling conclusions.... Entirely engrossing.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
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What listeners say about Fire and Fortitude
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J.Brock
- 07-09-20
Excellent Work In Spite of A Woke Author
What I can't fathom is why it's necessary to constantly preface political correctness and make sure the reader understands that the author is officially woke, but must use reference the things "acceptable" during WWII. Please stop. History is history, and what the reader wants is a detailed WWII history, not what the author wishes it was. That aside, this book makes up for those moments of unnecessary clarification. The Pacific War was brutal, unyielding, and absolutely heart-wrenching. There is no downplaying this, and McManus does an excellent job in parlaying these facts. Sticking with the facts always works, because history is glory, great falls, death, life, and all the things in between. It's bloody, brutal, and unrelenting .
Walter Dixon does a wonderful job narrating this work. Often the Pacific War is overshadowed by the Normandy invasion, and other campaigns on the European continent. But this work and other volumes on the Pacific war have helped bring it to the forefront. Well done.
8 people found this helpful
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- Patrick
- 08-04-19
Disappointed
This book was ok. Best in its discussion of the Aleutian campaigns. Overall not as solid as other books I have read on this subject area.
4 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 09-16-19
Very good,
Had many details that are not usually in found in pacific war books. I did think that the author made so many excuses for the Jap cruelty and the horrific treatment of the POWs.
3 people found this helpful
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- Carol Domme
- 07-27-20
well searched, but impersonal, judgemental
disturbingly revisionist, story is nonetheless well researched. modern authors tend to not realize contemporary mores were not applicable
2 people found this helpful
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- Asarchus
- 10-25-19
Sharpens Focus on Army’s Role in Pacific War
After three generations have passed, the Pacific War comes sharply in focus from the US Army’s point of view. Excellently written, Joh Mc Manus’s first volume concentrates on Generals Douglas MacArthur, Joseph Stilwell, and their staffs and subordinates. Yet much of the story is told from the diaries and memoirs of everyday soldiers, both American and Japanese. Truly global in literary scale, this book is an indispensable addition to any military Historian’s library.
2 people found this helpful
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SUPERLATIVE
THE NARRATION IS FLAWLESS…perfect pronunciation, engaging rhythm and inflection, pace is just right.
CONTENT…even better than the quality of narrative is the author’s thorough, evidence based argument that it was the army—not the marines—that did most of the fighting the Pacific.
Briefly describing a few chapters may be instructive.
Chapter 6: HELL
Anyone who has even slightly knowledgeable of Japanese POW camps know of the the systemic,
unspeakable cruelty of Japanese prison guards. In this chapter, the author describes treatment of hospitalized American POWS so sickening that listeners with queasy stomachs should fast forward to the next chapter. McManus describes conditions and treatment that are graphic in the extreme.
Chapter 7: BUNA
At the same time the Marines fought Guadalcanal the Army fought equally ferociously at BUNA, about 100 miles west of New Guinea’s eastern most point. McManus describes in some detail this battle.
Overall, I highly recommend this audio. McManus gets it right, and his readers and listeners will too.
1 person found this helpful
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- Eric Evans
- 06-10-21
Doesn’t really cover new ground
The author rails against McArthur and then focuses the first couple of hours of the book on him. This is maybe a 12 hour audible book that was stretch way to far with familiar facts and characters.
1 person found this helpful
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- Dennis Jameson
- 07-05-20
Excellent study as far as it went
A lot of new material on an under studied and under appreciated contribution of the US Army in the Pacific. Two things detracted from an otherwise Stirling effort: 1) Technical inaccuracies that would have surely been eliminated had a knowlwdgible combat veteran proof read the manuscript and the collarary that some or most technical data would have benefitted from some elaboration, and 2) as problems presented themselves in this truly unique trifecta of technology, terrain and long distance logistics no discussion of solutions or in some cases any acknowledgement that there was a problem. Hopefully this will solved in a follow-up volume; book only went through 1943. The narration was excrllant, and the pronunciation of Pacif Island names used was the same as commonly used by US forces without attempting to change emphasis or split syllables. Having grown up an Army brat with a father that fought under MacArthur and later served in the USMC and lived in base housing where every street was a Pacific Island, battle or campaign its disconcerting to hear an extra syllable added to Tarawa, or mangling Entiwetok to be unrecognizable. I appreciate the use of common American pronunciations.
1 person found this helpful
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- Paul M. Frazee
- 08-26-22
Brilliant book on the War in the Pacific
I thoroughly enjoyed this book on the war in the Pacific. Although I am quite knowledgeable about the war itself, this author really dove into it thoroughly and gave you the perspective of what happened during the war from soldiers and sailors and nurses on ratings. Having known a man who spent some time at Cabanatuan During the war, this book gave me an opportunity to understand more thoroughly what he went through. He does a very thorough examination of Douglas MacArthur, whom I always knew to be a vainglorious, self-righteous, narcissistic commander, the author goes into great detail about how spurious his command really was. That’s not to say that he wasn’t brilliant, he was just a diva in uniform just like another brilliant General George S Patton. I really like this book.
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- Mike
- 12-27-21
Army Strong
Great book. I am a student of history since my dad was in thePacific Theater in WW 2. And I learned so much about the war. The author is correct. The Marine Corps stories overshadow the US Army involvment. But the Army's in the Pacific matched every bit of the Army in Europe. The US had some amazing leadership.
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- A J Priestley
- 06-01-21
Fantastic read
Really good read can't wait for the next installment well researched well written and well read
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-
Story
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.
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A great trilogy
- By Heidi K. Moffitt on 05-24-23
By: John C. McManus
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The Dead and Those About to Die
- D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
A white-knuckle account of the First 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, First 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.
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Detailed Account of D-Day
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 07-04-14
By: John C. McManus
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Deadly Sky
- The American Combat Airman in World War II
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
This insightful chronicle takes listeners inside the experiences of America's fighter pilots and bomber crews, an incredible assortment of men who, in nearly four years of warfare all over the globe, suffered over 120,000 casualties, with over 40,000 killed. Their stories span the Earth, into every corner of the combat theaters in both Europe and the Pacific. And the aircraft explored are as varied, tough, and legendary as the men who flew them.
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Twelve O'Clock High Unabridged
- By Chiefkent on 05-23-17
By: John C. McManus
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Alamo in the Ardennes
- The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: John Glouchevitch
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
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 10 to 1, 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.
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hard to listen to this great story
- By Justine Reis on 07-20-18
By: John C. McManus
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Hell Before Their Very Eyes
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April Fourth, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th 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.
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loved it
- By A. Adams on 10-11-20
By: John C. McManus
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Island Infernos
- The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
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-
Wonderful book, but incomplete and poorly narrated.
- By Linda S. on 02-24-22
By: John C. McManus
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To the End of the Earth
- The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A great trilogy
- By Heidi K. Moffitt on 05-24-23
By: John C. McManus
-
The Dead and Those About to Die
- D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A white-knuckle account of the First 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, First 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.
-
-
Detailed Account of D-Day
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 07-04-14
By: John C. McManus
-
Deadly Sky
- The American Combat Airman in World War II
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This insightful chronicle takes listeners inside the experiences of America's fighter pilots and bomber crews, an incredible assortment of men who, in nearly four years of warfare all over the globe, suffered over 120,000 casualties, with over 40,000 killed. Their stories span the Earth, into every corner of the combat theaters in both Europe and the Pacific. And the aircraft explored are as varied, tough, and legendary as the men who flew them.
-
-
Twelve O'Clock High Unabridged
- By Chiefkent on 05-23-17
By: John C. McManus
-
Alamo in the Ardennes
- The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: John Glouchevitch
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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 10 to 1, 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.
-
-
hard to listen to this great story
- By Justine Reis on 07-20-18
By: John C. McManus
-
Hell Before Their Very Eyes
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April Fourth, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th 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.
-
-
loved it
- By A. Adams on 10-11-20
By: John C. McManus
-
September Hope
- The American Side of a Bridge Too Far
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
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.
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Go yanks go !
- By Alan on 03-06-13
By: John C. McManus
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The Americans at D-Day
- The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
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.
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Great Book
- By Byron Sarchet on 01-15-21
By: John C. McManus
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Black Snow
- Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atomic Bomb
- By: James M. Scott
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: "If we lose the war, we'll be tried as war criminals."
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Exceptional Book
- By Dr. Stevens C. Havard, Sr. on 09-16-22
By: James M. Scott
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A War of Empires
- Japan, India, Burma & Britain: 1941-45
- By: Robert Lyman
- Narrated by: Roger May
- Length: 25 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1941 and 1942, the British and Indian armies were brutally defeated and Japan reigned supreme in its newly conquered territories throughout Asia. But change was coming. New commanders were appointed, significant training together with restructuring took place and new tactics were developed. A War of Empires by acclaimed historian Robert Lyman expertly retells these coordinated efforts and describes how a new volunteer Indian Army, rising from the ashes of defeat, would ferociously fight to turn the tide of war.
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Fills In a Great Gap
- By Jeff G on 05-30-22
By: Robert Lyman