Audiobook Review: In Harm’s Way by Doug Stanton

In Harms Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton
Unabridged, 8 hr. 12 min.
Audible Studios
Mark Boyett (Narrator)
September 27, 2016
★★★★★

Genre: Non-Fiction, Military History

Source: Personal collection from Audible

On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated three hundred men were killed upon impact; close to nine hundred sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they struggled to stay alive, battered by a savage sea and fighting off sharks, hypothermia, and dementia. By the time help arrived—nearly four days and nights later—all but 317 men had died. How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? Why was the cruiser traveling unescorted in enemy waters? And how did these 317 men manage to survive? Interweaving the stories of three survivors—the captain, the ship’s doctor, and a young marine—journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless.

The definitive account of this harrowing chapter of World War II history—already a bestseller in its hardcover and mass market editions—In Harm’s Way is a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.

I am not someone who is a huge military history buff, so the tragedy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis was not something that had ever been on my radar before. And unlike apparently every reviewer on Goodreads, I have never seen the movie Jaws and therefore not heard the story of the Indianapolis in that film. So for me, a passing mention about it in the Pearl Harbor book I had read some months back piqued my interest to look into it a bit further and then I stumbled across In Harm’s Way. I am always drawn to stories of people in incredible situations because their bravery and ability to stare death in the face and survive absolutely inspire me and at the same time you often see some of society at its worst. These things keep me riveted time and again.

While this is a solid work of non-fiction it reads so quickly and will not for one moment lose your attention. Stanton interviewed survivors extensively and that is clear in how he brings life into the accounts of the different men in this book. While there are 3 main men whose circumstances are followed throughout the ordeal, we encounter many other men during their stories and are witnesses to how wildly different people handle traumatic events. Stanton seats you right there with the survivors, whether it is clinging to a raft while sharks circle or struggling to stave of dehydration and the draw to drink the salt water. There are LOTS of details, but they never feel overwhelming.

One thing that was clear to me while reading this book and so incredibly striking was just how many lives could have been spared horrible death at sea if a small handful of people had done their jobs to note if the U.S.S. Indianapolis had arrived in the port as expected or passed on the SOS message they had received from the ship. Instead, no one knew where they were or where they were even expected to be for DAYS until a pilot just happened to pass over their location. Then to put the whole thing on the Captain, the only one to have EVER been court martialed for their ship sinking during wartime was just unforgivable. These men survived a trying ordeal and their service let them down. This is a story that will stick with me for quite some time to come and I am very glad to have had the chance to read it.

★★★★★

There is good reason why this audiobook one a 2017 Audie Award for best history/biography audiobook. Mark Boyett competently handled the gravity of the situation as well as the human drama of it. He has an excellent cadence to his narration that gives the listener a perfect understanding of when a new thought is being brought forward, or just a pause in the moment. Boyett seems to typically narrate sci-fi/fantasy novels which probably helps him bring some of the figures from In Harm’s Way to life and pull at the heart-strings during the most dramatic of moments.

You can listen to a sample from the audiobook below:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• In the Wake
• Caroline Bookbinder

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Doug Stanton:

Horse Soldiers

Odyssey

Find Doug Stanton: Website | Facebook

Copyright © 2018 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: The Jersey Brothers by Sally Mott Freeman

The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family’s Quest to Bring Him Home by Sally Mott Freeman
Unabridged, 18 hr. 41 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)
May 9, 2017
★★★★★

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: Received download from the publisher for review

The extraordinary, real-life adventure of three brothers at the center of the most dramatic turning points of World War II and their mad race to change history—and save one of their own.

They are three brothers, all Navy men, who end up coincidentally and extraordinarily at the epicenter of three of the war’s most crucial moments. Bill is picked by Roosevelt to run his first Map Room in Washington. Benny is the gunnery and anti-aircraft officer on the USS Enterprise, one of the only carriers to escape Pearl Harbor and by the end of 1942 the last one left in the Pacific to defend against the Japanese. Barton, the youngest and least distinguished of the three, is shuffled off to the Navy Supply Corps because his mother wants him out of harm’s way. But this protection plan backfires when Barton is sent to the Philippines and listed as missing-in-action after a Japanese attack. Now it is up to Bill and Benny to find and rescue him.

Based on ten years of research drawn from archives around the world, interviews with fellow shipmates and POWs, and primary sources including diaries, unpublished memoirs, and letters half-forgotten in basements, The Jersey Brothers is a remarkable story of agony and triumph—from the home front to Roosevelt’s White House, and Pearl Harbor to Midway and Bataan. It is the story, written with intimate, novelistic detail, of an ordinary young man who shows extraordinary courage as the Japanese do everything short of killing him. And it is, above all, a story of brotherly love: of three men finding their loyalty to each other tested under the tortures of war—and knowing that their success or failure to save their youngest brother will shape their family forever.

The war in the Pacific during WWII is something of a new area for me in non-fiction (or fiction for that matter); I have read more widely on the European front of this war. To be honest, I found it harder to connect to because I didn’t know anything about the locations and pretty much only knew about Pearl Harbor. However, when I saw this book, I knew I had to dive into this one. Not only is the cover hauntingly fabulous, but the story of these three brothers encapsulates so many elements of the war that I felt it would give me a thorough indoctrination into the Pacific side of the war. At the same time it is memoir-like in my mind as it was written by the daughter of one of the three brothers from the book. Oh and I forgot to mention that it is narrated by one fabulous narrator who I LOVE – but more on that later!

Throughout The Jersey Brothers we follow Benny, Bill, and Barton through their WWII travails. Bill begins his war time as an aid to President Roosevelt in his Map Room while brings us into the political machination of the war and then later he serves aboard several ships in the Pacific and physically searches for Barton in the Philippines. Benny serves primarily aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, which was involved in MANY major battles in the Pacific arena, and his story brings us right into the heart of an ocean battlefield. Then we have the story of Barton, who was captured as a Prisoner of War when the Philippines fell to the Japanese early in the war. Benny and Bill try everything they can think of to try to find and rescue Barton and their quest gives a physical face to the quest of the many families who sought information about their sons/husbands/relatives that were taken captive in the Pacific field of war.

It is very clear from the earliest pages of the book that either something terrible happens to Barton or that he doesn’t come home; the author discusses how her quest to write this book spun from an overheard family dispute about her uncle Barton. Although I knew that this book would not result in a positive outcome, I kept hoping and hoping that the result would somehow be different. The author made me feel so much for these three brothers and their families. Although this is a story personal to the author it was also able to keep enough distance from the subjects to feel impartial, but still imbue it with heart and passion in every word.

I couldn’t get enough of this book and thoroughly absorbed every word of it.

★★★★★

Cassandra Campbell is a narrator that you should look for when perusing the lists for new audiobooks. I have had the opportunity to listen to her read both fiction and non-fiction titles and she has done it brilliantly each time, although very different. In this circumstance, her voice lends a soothing and respectful tone to the severity of the events transpiring. Another thing that blew me away was her pronunciation of the foreign words and names that are fast and furious in this book; while I may not know if they are correct, they sounded well practiced and added to my impressions of the book. Stellar narration.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Let’s Take a Shelfie

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

You can preview a sample of this audiobook below:

Find Sally Mott Freeman: Publisher’s Website | Facebook

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: Pearl Harbor by Craig Nelson

Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson
Unabridged, 18 hr. 55 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
George Guidall (Narrator)
September 20, 2016
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: Received download from publisher for review

The America we live in today was born not on July 4, 1776, but on December 7, 1941, when almost 400 Japanese planes attacked the US Pacific Fleet, killing 2,400 men and sinking or damaging 16 ships. In Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness, Craig Nelson follows, moment by moment, the sailors, soldiers, pilots, admirals, generals, emperors, and presidents, all starting with a pre-polio assistant secretary of the navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, attending the laying of the keel of the USS Arizona at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, against the backdrop of the imperial, military, and civilian leaders of Japan lurching into ultranationalist fascism, all culminating in an insanely daring scheme to shock the Allies with a technologically revolutionary mission in one of the boldest military stories ever told - one with consequences that continue to echo in our lives today.

Besides the little-understood history of how and why Japan attacked America, we can hear the abandoned record player endlessly repeating "Sunrise Serenade" as the Japanese bombs hit the deck of the California; we feel terror as navy wives, helped by their Japanese maids, upturn couches for cover and hide with their children in caves from a rumored invasion; and we understand the mix of frustration and triumph as a lone American teenager shoots down a Japanese bomber. Backed by a research team's five years of efforts with archives and interviews, producing nearly a million pages of documents, as well as a thorough reexamination of the original evidence produced by federal investigators, this definitive history provides a blow-by-blow account from both the Japanese and American perspectives and is a historical drama on the greatest scale. Nelson delivers all the terror, chaos, violence, tragedy, and heroism of the attack in stunning detail and offers surprising conclusions about the tragedy's unforeseen and resonant consequences.

My experience with WWII in both personal reading and in education has primarily focused on the war in Europe or even the war in the Pacific, but those events occur after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which somehow I never really read/learned about. Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness changed all of that entirely and I now feel that I am well-versed in the many different aspects of the attack and its role on the rest of the war. These are a couple of the interesting details that I came away with:

• “Remember Pearl Harbor” is written in Morse code in Tojo’s dentures
• The only people who may have their cremains laid to rest at the USS Arizona memorial are those who served aboard the ship that day, otherwise if they served at other times they may be scattered on the water
• The most Japanese city outside Japan is Honolulu

In this book, I felt that I got a sense of the complex lead up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The diplomacy the occurred, failed, and the opportunities that were missed were staggering and wound themselves in and around so many other aspects than just simply the war that was raging in Europe. I say that I walked away with a sense of the events because I think it is really hard to have a solid grasp on issues like this when simply listening; it is too easy to get distracted and at least I am less likely to stop listening to ruminate on a section than I am if I was reading. This was a very worthwhile read.

★★★★☆

George Guidall has narrated many of the top-tier novels and non-fiction books on the market: books from Nathaniel Philbrick, Alex Berenson, and Eric Flint. For me, that tells me right off the bat that he is going to be a strong narrator, and I wasn’t disappointed. Guidall handled the plethora of Japanese names and translations effectively. His reading pace had alternately great energy or solemnness, depending on the needs of the section being narrated. He was engaging to listen to and kept me coming back to listen to more.

I did encounter what I believe to have been more of a production issue. I feel like I was able to notice some of the places where edits were made and sections maybe re-recorded. The sound of the narrator’s voice sounded slightly off from time to time. At first I thought that it was an indication of a footnote based on a subtle change, however, I noticed that these were otherwise indicated by the word “footnote” being stated before them, leading me to believe it is an editing issue.

You can check out a sample of the audiobook below:

 

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Tim Larison
• Restoring our Foundations

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Craig Nelson:

Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon

Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations

The Age of Radiance: The Epic Rise and Dramatic Fall of the Atomic Era

The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid

Find Craig Nelson: Website | Twitter

 

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Zimmermann Telegram by Barbara W. Tuchman

The Zimmermann Telegram by Barbara Tuchman
Paperback, 256 pages
Random House
March 12, 1985
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-fiction

Source: Purchased for assigned reading for WWI class

“In January 1917, the war in Europe was, at best, a tragic standoff. Britain knew that all was lost unless the United States joined the war, but President Wilson was unshakable in his neutrality. At just this moment, a crack team of British decoders in a quiet office known as Room 40 intercepted a document that would change history. The Zimmermann telegram was a top-secret message to the president of Mexico, inviting him to join Germany and Japan in an invasion of the United States. How Britain managed to inform the American government without revealing that the German codes had been broken makes for an incredible story of espionage and intrigue as only Barbara W. Tuchman could tell it.”

Author Barbara W. Tuchman does an excellent job of bringing to light all of the detailed little events that transpired in the lead up to the decision for the United States to enter the war on the side of the Allies. The Zimmerman Telegram was one of the last attempts, of many made by Germany, to tie up the United States in its wartime belligerency with events on its own side of the Atlantic, thus allowing Germany to execute their submarine plan to bring Britain to its knees in a matter of months. Within a very short amount of pages, Tuchman clearly and concisely elucidates the leading actions as well as the immediate aftermath of the telegram’s revelation. Despite being published in the 1950s, her work is still relevant today, albeit with some criticisms.

One of the great strengths of this work is that it is written as narrative non-fiction. The events covered by this book effortlessly lend themselves to this style of writing. Each act of espionage and the inner machinations of Britain’s ubiquitous Room 40 read like the events of a James Bond novel. Tuchman equally infuses the narrative with fact as well with a writing style that oozes modern day action thriller. With no trouble I could envision this facet of history of the First World War playing out on screen today.

By focusing the scope of her work tightly on this signature event in the entrance of the United States into the war, Tuchman is able to bring forward the real importance of the proposed German/Mexican/Japanese alliance. The Zimmermann Telegram is often covered in works on the First World War, however in all of the books I have read on the subject I never felt the importance or believable reality of this alliance. Tuchman spends chapters explaining how during this time period the United States was concerned with the very real threat that Mexico, with the aid of the Germans or the Japanese, could bring to them at home.

One of the things that should be noted is that this book was originally published in 1958. This brings up the issue that some facts surrounding this event have had to be inferred because a lot of the information was still concealed at the time of publication (and even after the revision in 1966). Tuchman speaks to this point to some extent in her author’s note. I have not read anything else this in-depth on this event, but it does make me wonder if in the last sixty years any additional information has been released from various archives that changes the perception of these events. Maybe an exploration of a more recently published book on this subject would be beneficial to my understanding of these events to serve as a comparison to Tuchman’s work.

My one real critique of The Zimmermann Telegram is that Tuchman does occasionally allow for her bias and opinions to bleed into her writing. I know that it can be a very difficult exercise to refrain from including bias in non-fiction writing, but that is a general expectation in non-fiction. One example (of many) in the text of the author’s visible bias is as follows, “Field Marshal von Hindenburg, despite a vague uneasiness stirring the heavy processes of his mind, had allowed himself to be persuaded by his demonic colleague, General Ludendorff” (Tuchman 126). Even just this little slip in the use of the word “demonic” to describe General Ludendorff can show the reader the author’s bias toward the man, certainly, but they could further infer (correctly or not) her views on Germany and Germans in general. It certainly made me wonder if I should believe her account entirely or question it to some extent.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• WWII Diaries
• Resolute Reader

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Barbara Tuchman:

The Guns of August

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam

Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45

The First Salute

Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour

 

Find Barbara Tuchman: Random House Website

 

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Rebel Yell by S. C. Gwynne

Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S.C. Gwynne
Unabridged CD, 24 hr. 57 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio
Cotter Smith (Narrator)
September 30, 2014
★★★★★

Genre: Biography, Non-Fiction
Source: Received from publisher for review

“From the author of the prizewinning New York Times bestseller Empire of the Summer Moon comes a thrilling account of how Civil War general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson became a great and tragic American hero. 

Stonewall Jackson has long been a figure of legend and romance. As much as any person in the Confederate pantheon, even Robert E. Lee, he embodies the romantic Southern notion of the virtuous lost cause. Jackson is also considered, without argument, one of our country’s greatest military figures. His brilliance at the art of war tied Abraham Lincoln and the Union high command in knots and threatened the ultimate success of the Union armies. Jackson’s strategic innovations shattered the conventional wisdom of how war was waged; he was so far ahead of his time that his techniques would be studied generations into the future.

In April 1862 Jackson was merely another Confederate general in an army fighting what seemed to be a losing cause. By June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western world. He had, moreover, given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked—hope—and struck fear into the hearts of the Union. 

Rebel Yell is written with the swiftly vivid narrative that is Gwynne’s hallmark and is rich with battle lore, biographical detail, and intense conflict between historical figures. Gwynne delves deep into Jackson’s private life, including the loss of his young beloved first wife and his regimented personal habits. It traces Jackson’s brilliant twenty-four-month career in the Civil War, the period that encompasses his rise from obscurity to fame and legend; his stunning effect on the course of the war itself; and his tragic death, which caused both North and South to grieve the loss of a remarkable American hero.”

The Civil War has never been my strong point in history – but knowing that, I decided that it would be a good thing for me to make an effort to better understand this part of US history, especially from the side of the Confederacy. Stonewall Jackson is the only other Confederate General I could have named besides General Lee, and all I could have told you was his name. Well, now having read Rebel Yell I have come to admire this man in such a way that he has become one of my favorite figures is American history. It feel weird to make that previous remark – I have been born and raised in New England with all of the northern states history that comes with that. While I may not agree with the defense of slavery, I find him admirable for his passion, commitment to his cause, and the defense of his homeland and way of life. And while I think he might have been just a tiny bit crazy, there is no doubt that he was an amazing military commander.

It is clear that S.C. Gwynne has done his fair share of research on Jackson. The man comes to life from the pages and I felt like this was someone that I actually knew. I will admit to actually shedding a tear or two when I found out that he had actually died during the war and didn’t get to live out a long life. Gwynne does a fantastic job of getting into this man’s head. I have been expounding facts about Stonewall Jackson to pretty much anyone that would listen for the several months it took me to finish reading it. However, at no point did the book feel like I was being overwhelmed by facts put there for purely the purpose of the fact.

I learned so much about the actual battlefield war of the Civil War, whereas previously I knew mostly about the political battlefield. Sometimes reading about battles can get bogged down in technicalities, which is not so here. In Rebel Yell, Gwynne adequately describes battles enough for a layperson to understand, without simplifying it too much.

This was a great read that I can’t recommend enough.

★★★★★

I had an interesting experience reading/listening to this book. Apparently the tracks got jumbled on my i-pod and for a good 8 hours I was listening to chapters out of order. So then I re-started the book all over again, this time on the actual CDs that I had received. The narration was very well done and I could feel the narrator’s passion while reading the text. His pace and tone were well matched to the text. The only thing that I would have liked would be for the narrator to actually sing the song, Stonewall Jackson’s Way, instead of just reading the lyrics.

You can also watch this book talk segment from the LBJ Library:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Faye’s Reading/Writing/Reviewing Basket

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

  Also by S.C. Gwynne:

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

Find S.C. Gwynne: Website | Twitter | Facebook


Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin

The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
Unabridged, 6 hr. 51 min.
Listening Library
Mark Bramhall (Narrator)
July 12, 2012
★★★★☆

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography, YA

Source: Downloaded the audio from my local library

“Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America’s first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. This accessible biography introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale.”

Like most people, I grew up knowing pretty much only one thing about Benedict Arnold – that he was a traitor to the Americans during the Revolution. I didn’t even know that he was from Connecticut (about 2 towns away from where I grew up)! However, in most cases, there is typically a deeper story there – and that is what Sheinkin gives us in The Notorious Benedict Arnold. By the time I reached the end of the book I had an entirely new viewpoint on the man. Yes, he is still a traitor, but he was an amazing soldier for the Americans before his turn and a confluence of events led him to change sides. I can admire the man for the things that he did before become a traitor (and although I knew it was coming, I was disappointed when he switched alliegances).

This was one of those non-fictions that really felt more like a novel. The pages carried you from event to event and it felt like you were right there within the action while still giving you enough background information. Sheinkin turns the paper cut-out traitor into a real man of flesh and blood. I also learned quite a bit about British spy-master, John Andre. I always knew that he was ultimately executed by the Americans for spying, but I couldn’t believe how dumb he was about it – he violated all of the basic tenants of espionage at war and that cost him his life.

I didn’t know until putting this review together that this book is a non-fiction book for young adults. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that by just reading the book. I imagine that the fast-paced, storytelling nature of the book would really entice a young reader who picked it up, but it is quite a valuable book for adults as well. I would recommend this to any student who is taking a US history class, high school or adult, as it really gives you a side of the story you don’t hear about elsewhere.

There was a strong afterword/author’s note at the end of the book which I very much appreciated. I also found his theory for the boot monument intriguing – more about that later.

★★★★☆

The narrator did an excellent job of keeping the story moving and was quite entertaining to listen to.

Steve Sheinkin also has written several other books including:
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon and Lincoln’s Grave Robbers which would appeal to adults as well as Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War, King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution, and Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion which would appeal to children (illustrated). You can visit the author’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, try listening to the author reading an excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Non-Traditional Librarian
• CrossCountryReading

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court