Military Audiobooks | History

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission

"A tense, powerful, grand account of one of the most daring exploits of World War II. On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected troops from the elite U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty miles in an attempt to rescue 513 American and British POWs who had spent three years in a surreally hellish camp near the city of Cabanatuan. The prisoners included the last survivors of the Bataan Death March left in the camp, and their extraordinary will to live might soon count for nothing—elsewhere in the Philippines, the Japanese Army had already executed American prisoners as it retreated from the advancing U.S. Army. As the Rangers stealthily moved through enemy-occupied territory, they learned that Cabanatuan had become a major transshipment point for the Japanese retreat, and instead of facing the few dozen prison guards, they could possibly confront as many as 8,000 battle-hardened enemy troops. Hampton Sides's vivid minute-by-minute narration of the raid and his chronicle of the prisoners' wrenching experiences are masterful. But Ghost Soldiers is far more than a thrilling battle saga. Hampton Sides explores the mystery of human behavior under extreme duress—the resilience of the prisoners, who defied the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and unspeakable tortures; the violent cultural clashes with Japanese guards and soldiers steeped in the warrior ethic of Bushido; the remarkable heroism of the Rangers and Filipino guerrillas; the complex motivations of the U.S. high command, some of whom could justly be charged with abandoning the men of Bataan in 1942; and the nearly suicidal bravado of several spies, including priests and a cabaret owner, who risked their lives to help the prisoners during their long ordeal. At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark books as Flags of Our Fathers, The Greatest Generation, The Rape of Nanking, and D-Day in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations."

Hampton Sides (Author), James Naughton (Narrator)

Audiobook

Diary of an Airborne Ranger: A LRRP's Year in the Combat Zone

"Perhaps the most accurate story of LRRPs at war ever to appear in print! When Frank Johnson arrived in Vietnam in 1969, he was nineteen, a young soldier untested in combat like thousands of others--but with two important differences: Johnson volunteered for the elite L Company Rangers of the 101st Airborne Division, a long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) unit, and he kept a secret diary, a practice forbidden by the military to protect the security of LRRP operations. Now, more than three decades later, those hastily written pages offer a rare look at the daily operations of one of the most courageous units that waged war in Vietnam. Johnson served in I Corps, in northern Vietnam, where combat was furious and the events he recounts emerge, stark and compelling: walking point in the A Shau Valley, braving enemy fire to rescue a downed comrade, surviving days and nights of relentless tension that suddenly exploded in the blinding fury of an NVA attack. Undimmed and unmuddied by the passing of years, Johnson's account is unique in the annals of Vietnam literature. Moreover, it is a timeless testimony to the sacrifice and heroism of the LRRPs who dared to risk it all."

Frank Johnson (Author), Don Leslie (Narrator)

Audiobook

LRRP Company Command: The Cav's LRP / Rangers in Vietnam, 1968 - 1969

"A gripping account of ordinary men with extraordinary courage and heroism who had one last chance to make good-and one helluva war zone to do it in. The new commander of the Company E, 52d Infantry LRRPs, Capt. George Paccerelli, was tough, but the men's new AO was brutal. It was bad enough that the provinces of Binh Long, Phuoc Long, and Tay Ninh bordered enemy-friendly Cambodia, but their vast stretches of double- and triple-canopy jungle were also home to four crack enemy divisions, including the Viet Cong's notorious 95C Regiment. Only the long-range patrols could deliver the critical strategic intelligence that the 1st Cav so desperately needed. Outmanned, outgunned, far from safety, these LRRPs stalked the enemy to his lair, staging bold prisoner snatches and tracking down hidden jungle bases. Hiding in ambush, surrounded by NVA, these teams either pulled off spectacular escape-and-evasion maneuvers in running firefights-or died trying."

Kregg P. Jorgenson (Author), Don Leslie (Narrator)

Audiobook

Death in the Jungle: Diary of a Navy Seal

"Read by Eric Conger 2 Cassettes/ 2 hrs. With 257 combat missions in Vietnam under his belt, Gary Smith is a living witness to the realities of Naval Special Warfare. He worked with some of the toughest and most highly motivated men in the world, executing missions in the murderous terrain of the Rung Sat Special Zone and Dung Island. The key to their success: go where no ordinary soldier would go and no VC would expect them. Through death reigned as king in the jungles as king in the jungles of Vietnam, Gary Smith considered it a privelege and an honor to serve under the officers and with the men of Underwater Demolition Team 12 and SEAL Team 1. Because he and his teammates, trained to the max, gave each other the courage at attain the unattainable..."

Alan Maki, Gary R. Smith (Author), Eric Conger (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Pearl Harbor Collection: At Dawn We Slept; Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History; Dec. 7, 1941

Gordon W. Prange (Author), Tony Roberts (Narrator)

Audiobook

An Album of Memories: Personal Histories From the Greatest Generation

"“I cannot go anywhere in America without people wanting to share their wartime experiences....The stories and the lessons have emerged from long-forgotten letters home, from reunions of old buddies and outfits, from unpublished diaries and home-published memoirs....As the stories in this album of memories remind us, it truly was an American experience, from the centers of power to the most humble corners of the land.” —Tom Brokaw In this beautiful American family album of stories from the Greatest Generation, the history of life as it was lived during the Depression and World War II comes alive and is preserved in people’s own words. Photographs and time lines also commemorate important dates and events. An Army Air Corps veteran who enlisted in 1941 at age seventeen writes to describe the Bataan Death March. A black nurse tells of her encounter with wartime segregation. Other members of the Greatest Generation describe their war—in such historic episodes as Guadalcanal, the D-Day invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and Midway—as well as their lives on the home front. Starting with the Depression and Pearl Harbor, moving on through the war years in Europe, in the Pacific, and at home, this unique book preserves a people’s rich historical heritage and the legacy of a nation’s heroism in war and its courage in peace—in the shaping of their lives and of the world we have today."

Tom Brokaw (Author), Tom Brokaw (Narrator)

Audiobook

Papa Bravo Romeo: U.S. Navy Patrol Beats in Vietnam

""Our mission was independent, no-holds-barred combat against a stubborn enemy in the enemy's backyard." In Vietnam, river warfare was often conducted in the dark. It was always dangerous, sometimes fatal--especially in the eastern end of the Cong-plagued Mekong Delta. In 1967, U.S. Navy Lt. Wynn Goldsmith was the "river rat" who led the first MK II PBR patrol boats in brutal combat. It was a deadly business. These sailors, famous for their courage and combat effectiveness, faced sniper bullets, machine guns, and mines while searching sampans, patrolling treacherous enemy-controlled waterways like Ambush Alley, and rescuing crews from burning boats in the middle of firefights. During the Tet Offensive, Goldsmith's area saw some of the most hotly contested fighting in the entire Mekong Delta. This gripping account is a tribute to these brave men and their agony, sacrifice, and heroism."

Wynn Goldsmith (Author), Eric Conger (Narrator)

Audiobook

Vietnam: A History

"In this comprehensive history, Stanley Karnow demystifies the tragic ordeal of America's war in Vietnam. The book's central theme is that America's leaders, prompted as much by domestic politics as by global ambitions, carried the United States into Southeast Asia with little regard for the realities of the region. Karnow elucidates the decision-making process in Washington and Asia and recounts the political and military events that occurred after the Americans arrived in Vietnam. Throughout, he focuses on people, those who shaped strategy and those who suffered, died, or survived as a result. Panoramic in scope and filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interviews with hundreds of participants on both sides, Vietnam: A History transcends the past with lessons relevant to the present and the future."

Stanley Karnow (Author), Edward Holland (Narrator)

Audiobook

American Heritage's Great Minds of American History

"In a series of fascinating interviews, today's best and brightest historians weigh in on the crucial moments in American history. American Heritage's Great Minds of American History takes you to critical moments in American history, imbuing the past with an immediacy that goes well beyond the scope of formal histories. Roger Mudd's highly knowledgable questions illuminate five truly first-rate minds: In World War II and the Post-War Era, Stephen Ambrose—the biographer of Eisenhower and Nixon, bestselling author of Citizen Soldiers and Undaunted Courage, and adviser to Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan—offers his expert insight into war and its aftermath. In The American Revolution, Gordon Wood, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution and renowned expert on the colonial era, brings to life the birth of the first modern democracy. In America's Forgotten Era: 1865-1914, David McCullough—acclaimed historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Truman—offers his stunning perspective on the dawn of The American Century. In The American West, Richard White, MacArthur Genius Award winner and author of groundbreaking books on the American West, offers his challenging views on the winning and the losing of the West. In The Civil War, James McPherson—Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry Of Freedom, and one of the foremost experts on the Civil War—offers his compelling insight into our nation's darkest and bloodiest hour."

American Heritage (Author), David McCullough, Stephen E. Ambrose (Narrator)

Audiobook

Against All Enemies: Gulf War Syndrome: The War between America's Ailing Veterans and Their Governme

"While the Gulf War lasted barely six months— from August 1990 until February 1991— many of the veterans who engaged in the conflict suffered long-lasting physical and psychological effects. And yet, those in power who had the ability to address such issues, neglected to do so— at least not in any effective or sustainable ways. But why did the system fail the Gulf War veterans? Did political leaders have an obligation to speak out on behalf of the veterans and demand that America's military hospitals stop turning them away? In Against All Enemies, Seymour M. Hersh— who first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War— poses the difficult questions and offers opinions on why and how our nation let down so many of the men and women who engaged in the Gulf War."

Seymour M Hersh (Author), James Sutorius (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hazardous Duty: America's Most Decorated Living Soldier Reports from the Front and Tells It the Way

"Colonel David H. Hackworth— one of America's most decorated soldiers— served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. After retiring from the military in 1971, he completed a second tour of battlefield duty as a war correspondent. Accompanying our nation's fighting men and women to the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Somalia, Korea, and Haiti, what he learned was shocking: high-level military incompetence, futility, and corruption. Hazardous Duty is a necessary wake-up call for military reform— a no-holds-barred, no-punches-pulled exposé that calls America's top political and military leaders to account for selling out duty, honor, and country. A riveting, real-life adventure, this works also tells of courageous warriors on the world's new battlefields— and offers solutions to problems that must be addressed if our nation is to remain the foremost military power in a volatile and ever-changing world."

David H. Hackworth (Author), David H. Hackworth (Narrator)

Audiobook

Psychic Warrior: Inside the CIA's Stargate Program: The True Story of a Soldier's Espionage and Awak

"For nearly two decades, the United States military intelligence community delved into the dark world of psychic espionage, recruiting a team of individuals who used their paranormal gifts to transcend time and space and uncover the highly guarded military secrets of other nations. After David Morehouse— a highly decorated Army officer who was wounded on a mission— began to have inexplicable experiences, those troubling events redirected his military career. When Morehouse walked through the doors of the CIA's Stargate Program, he had little idea what awaited him: a paranormal hell that would bring him to the front lines of some of the most horrific disasters in recent history and nearly destroy him. At first unable to tell the shocking truth for fear of death, Morehouse eventually produced this shocking expose. Read by the author, Psychic Warrior recounts Morehouse's secret espionage work in chilling detail and reveals the spiritual transformation that led to his work for peace."

David Morehouse (Author), David Morehouse (Narrator)

Audiobook

Military Audiobooks in History