The Conquering Tide

War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944

De: Ian W. Toll

Narrado por: P. J. Ochlan

The devastation of Pearl Harbor and the American victory at Midway were prelude to a greater challenge: rolling back the vast Japanese Pacific empire island by island.

This masterful history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War - the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944 - when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a "conquering tide", concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in the Marianas. It was the largest, bloodiest, most costly, most technically innovative and logistically complicated amphibious war in history, and it fostered bitter interservice rivalries, leaving wounds that even victory could not heal.

Often overlooked, these are the years and fights that decided the Pacific War. Ian W. Toll's battle scenes - in the air, at sea, and in the jungles - are simply riveting. He also takes the listener into the wartime councils in Washington and Tokyo, where politics and strategy often collided, and into the struggle to mobilize wartime production, which was the secret of Allied victory. Brilliantly researched, the narrative is propelled and colored by firsthand accounts - letters, diaries, debriefings, and memoirs - that are the raw material of the telling details, shrewd judgment, and penetrating insight of this magisterial history.

©2015 Ian W. Toll (P)2015 Recorded Books

Well Researched and Perfectly Detailed History!

General - This is the first Ian W. Toll book I’ve listened to, but I will definitely listen to his others. I decided to skip over Pacific Crucible for this book simply because the content of the audio sample was more intriguing to me. Upon its completion I was so impressed with the writing that I’m listening to Pacific Crucible. Though a minor detail I do want to mention that the chapters on the device actually match the narration all the way through with only a minor glitch at one spot that corrected itself.

Content - The Conquering Tide has a wealth of information and Toll somehow managed to tie it all together in a cohesive manner. This made the listening very easy. I already knew a tremendous amount about WW II, but I was astonished by some of the information I learned from this book. While the book failed to evoke much emotion it nonetheless captivated me and, at times, it held my interest to a point where I didn’t want to stop listening until I heard the outcome of the story being told. This was despite my already knowing what the outcome would be. Knowing the outcome of a battle or event is not necessarily the same as knowing how the outcome was decided through action and I would find myself not wanting to stop listening until the particular story was concluded. I found Toll’s ability in this regard very impressive. Toll provided thorough biographies of the major players and even some minor ones. He gave very good histories within the history in order to lay out settings, or locations, or cities including civilian life and how it interacted with the history. Toll managed to weave incongruent foundational information together to explain the overall history of the islands’ campaign and the naval; sea, air, and land battles that occurred.

Length – I didn’t find the book too long. Actually, I was impressed by the amount of information provided in a mere 27-hours. I finished the book in 9-days, which is one of my fastest listens. Thinking about the entire book I would say it could only be shortened by four or five hours and still deliver the proper impact. In my opinion there wasn’t enough “fill” in this book to make reducing it worth the effort so I would suggest skipping any abridged version, if one is ever released. I feel the few hours you may save will not be outweighed by the content that could be lost.

Caveat(s) – If you’re not familiar with the Pacific War I don’t recommend listening to this book out of series order because that will likely confuse you. Further, whether you’re a newcomer to the history of the Pacific War or know a lot about it I recommend adding bookmark notes about the precise island or battle being discussed at the time you stop listening. There’s so much here that you can easily get lost. The book covers two-years worth of information so managing that mentally can be tricky. There were times that I needed to repeat parts because I got lost and couldn’t remember which event was being described. My only criticism of the book is that it would have benefited from more frequent repeats of the island name or location that was being discussed, but I admit that would only be necessary for the audio version of the book.

Narration – It goes without saying that narration is a huge part of any audio book and P.J. Ochlan’s performance was decent; it neither enhanced nor detracted from the story. By the second chapter I grew accustomed to his somewhat monotone style. I’m fairly neutral about the narration and the narrator. That is to say, I won’t go out looking for books he’s narrated like I do for some narrators, but I wouldn’t avoid him either. The only real annoyance I endured was his pronunciation of the islands of Tarawa, in particular that of Betio. It was particularly annoying because he says “Baht-ee-o”. I found myself talking back to my device saying “Bay-She-o”, but I’ve done the same thing for some of the best narrators too. The point being, I wouldn’t let the narration stop you from getting this book because you’ll be missing out on a great one. Don’t decline the book just because of the audio sample either, but if you absolutely hate mispronunciations (perceived or actual) or you dislike a slight monotone narration style you should get the text version.

Summation - If you enjoy historical books and really enjoy useful details and background information then this book should be in your library. Toll was able to strike the proper balance of getting down from thirty thousand feet to just below treetop level without getting into the weeds. Not an easy thing to do most of the time.

Fantastic book

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Toll does a great job mixing the big picture with the individual view, and it flows well. It's a worthy sequel and second part of the trilogy. My one critique is that the narrator isn't as good as the guy who did the first book. He's not bad, but just not as good.

Great book; audiobook needed Grover Gardner

Ian Toll is a solid historian and a fantastic writer. This history of the pacific war is quite engaging and impressively diverse in its subject matter. Toll covers many different aspects that all played a part in how the war took shape over time, including important developments on land, at sea, in the air, in the Pacific, in Washington, and in Japan. I appreciated that we got to see pure, first-hand glances at all of the major figures of the war, with all their respective strengths and imperfections intact.

The audiobook, unfortunately, wasn't nearly as good as Pacific Crucible. Not only did the narrator not fit (he sounded more like he was narrating a History Channel documentary or a newsreel), but there seemed to be choppy editing, discernable by the narrator's frequent change in tone, volume, and speed. In all, PJ Ochlan wasn't a great choice for narrator. Not sure why Grover Gardner didn't narrate this one as he did the first volume of the series, but it wasn't as nearly enjoyable without him.

Great book will listen to again!

Great story for any WW2 history nut only thing was the changed the Narrator he seemed a little dry at times but still a great story and added a lot more knowledge about WW2 and the pacific for me.

Also as a Marine my self great to hear stories about the fighting Marines of WW2 and our corps History during some of the greats battles of the War.

Will recommend to my fellow Marines!

great book very educational.

Easy to listen while driving or even running. Not sure I agree with all of the conclusions but over great book and I'm looking forward to the last book in the 3 book arc

Book 1 narrator > book 2

Disliked the narrator vs. book one, felt that he had a more animated and intense style that made this book more of a slog. Still, finished up and looked fwd to twilight of the gods

Great overall history of the pacific

Enjoyed this book very much. Most of my interest in world war 2 history has lied in the European conflict. Only recently has this broadened to include the other great struggle on the far side of the world. I was looking for a good overall history of the war in the pacific. One that would entertain and hold my attention without delving into too much detail on any one battle or aspect. I chose correctly because this book does exactly that and does it well. At no point did I have to stop what I was doing and force myself to pay attention so as not to miss anything. Plenty of background on key characters and political situations at the time of the great battles not just the fighting itself. Also I’m happy to say that the author covers both belligerents side with much depth. Before listening to this book I listened to the first of the soon to be trilogy by the same author and it was just as good. Highly recommend this book and the previous one to anyone looking for a good overall history of the pacific war

Fantastic

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The last eight minutes describes the social manipulation of Japan but many of the same problems are facing the United States today.

interestign and detailed

this is a really good book about a very interesting topic and time in history. i didn't know this was a trilogy until i was well into this one but it is a great well read and researched book on it's own. extremly informitive and detailed and talks about events and people i had never heard of in other sources i've seen, read and listened to as well as more detailed info on famous figures in history and events. a great listen but one long and detailed enough that you might want to take notes to keep up between listens as it will take many peopl, as it did with me, several sittings to get all the way through it. a great book that is well worth the time and credit.

Very interesting information

It seems long, but definitely worth listening too! Would recommend for mor back ground information on the war in the pacific.