Leyte Gulf

A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle

By: Mark E. Stille

Narrated by: John Chancer

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

A fascinating re-examination of the battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, and one that saw the Imperial Japanese Navy eliminated as an effective fighting force and forced to resort to suicide tactics.

Leyte was a huge and complex action, actually consisting of four major battles, each of which are broken down in detail in this book, using original sources. The plans of both sides, and how they dictated the events that followed, are also examined critically.

So much of the accepted wisdom of the battle has developed from the many myths that surround it, myths that have become more firmly established over time. In this new study, Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of this complex battle with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the “lost victory” of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened.

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

©2023 Mark Stille (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Good history

A good review of the event and what lead to them. I learned something new and valuable

Exceedingly detailed account of what happened

I have read and listen to other books about this battle, and this one gives significant more perspective in detail,

the scale of the battle

I loved the concise explanation of each encounter of this battle from both sides of the gulf

Lost or Visionary???

Is Hasley brilliantly aggressive or is he distracted by ego?
Is Kurita wise for his pre-mature withdrawal or an abject failure for failing to destroy the 2 Taffy taskforces?
The author rides both sides of the horse.
Halsey damaged both forces, but destroyed neither.
Kurita's lost opportunity would have made major changes.
The author rides the middle of every major argument.
He also diminishes the importance of Guadalcanal.

Excellent yet

If you are new to the battle and wish for an entertaining story of the battle in the style of Hornfischer, this is not a book for you; this one is more suited for enthusiasts already familiar with the subject. The detail is absolutely excellent, but the writing is on the whole convoluted, meandering and repetitive. Don't get me wrong, the book is excellent, but it does not make for an enjoyable reading experience.

Honest, critical review of the largest naval battle ever fought can be had here.

The author pulls no punches at assigning responsibility as well as credit for the American victory in the greatest naval battle ever fought.

Richly-Told History of the Battle of Leyte Gulf

This was an excellent, detailed, well-referenced and richly-told history of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October, 1944. Global and local strategic factors that demanded Japan block the US invasion of Leyte were described in detail. Inadequate supplies of petroleum, inferior numbers of ships and trained pilots as well as poor intelligence and dated/inadequate technology in radar and fire control that predestined Japan to defeat were enumerated. Major leaders, orders of battle and command structures were described that helped and hindered US and Japanese forces.
Other historical and historical fiction accounts present colorful accounts of the major events of the battle. Those accounts offer repeated and simplified views about the indecisiveness and hypo-aggressiveness of Admiral Kurita and blunders made by Admiral Halsey in leaving San Bernardino Strait open to Kurita’s forces. This history presents a more nuanced view of the events, naval doctrines, standing orders and limited availability of accurate intelligence on each side that drove decisions in the moment.
Of granular and more particular interest to me were the detailed descriptions of US naval aircraft during anti-ship battles. I have read/listen to few more detailed and interesting descriptions of Helldiver (Curtiss SB2C) and TBM/TBF attacks on major Japanese ships. The description of the number of attacks on the Japanese battleship Musashi gave a view of how hard those ships were to sink with available US bombs and low-power torpedoes. The stunningly poor performance of naval dive bombers and torpedo bombers was impressive at the end of the battle against the Japenese Mobile Force of aircraft carriers. Exhaustion during sustained battles over several days took its toll upon leaders and combatants on both sides.