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  • The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)

  • By: Craig L. Symonds
  • Narrated by: James Lurie
  • Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (323 ratings)
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The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)

By: Craig L. Symonds
Narrated by: James Lurie
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Summary

There are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and so dramatically as at the Battle of Midway. At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted carrier force (the Kido Butai) had been sunk, and their grip on the Pacific had been loosened forever.

In this absolutely riveting account of a key moment in the history of World War II, one of America's leading naval historians, Craig L. Symonds, paints an unforgettable portrait of ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice. Symonds begins with the arrival of Admiral Chester A. Nimitz at Pearl Harbor after the devastating Japanese attack and describes the key events leading to the climactic battle, including both Coral Sea - the first battle in history against opposing carrier forces - and Jimmy Doolittle's daring raid of Tokyo. He focuses throughout on the people involved, offering telling portraits of Admirals Nimitz, Halsey, Spruance, and numerous other Americans, as well as the leading Japanese figures, including the poker-loving Admiral Yamamoto. Indeed, Symonds sheds much light on the aspects of Japanese culture - such as their single-minded devotion to combat, which led to poorly armored planes and inadequate fire-safety measures on their ships - that contributed to their defeat.

The author's account of the battle itself is masterful, weaving together the many disparate threads of attack - attacks which failed in the early going - that ultimately created a five-minute window in which three of the four Japanese carriers were mortally wounded, changing the course of the Pacific war in an eye-blink.

Symonds is the first historian to argue that the victory at Midway was not simply a matter of luck, pointing out that Nimitz had equal forces, superior intelligence, and the element of surprise. Nimitz had a strong hand, Symonds concludes, and he rightly expected to win.

©2011 Craig L. Symonds (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

acknowledgement of facts..?

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

yes because it has a lot of info

What did you like best about this story?

A lot of extra info surrounding the Battle.

What didn’t you like about James Lurie’s performance?

Nil.

Did The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History) inspire you to do anything?

Yes.. It inspired me to write the following comments.

Any additional comments?

I bought this due to my interest in the navel battle of midway, however I didn't want or care for the life stories of the few high ranked officers involved. But what made me write this review was the frustration in Craig Symonds lack of knowledge on the other Allied forces involved int the pacific war, mainly the Australians who defended Port Morsby. He states that the protection of Port Morsby relied only the carriers of the US Navy..? hahaha Well in actual fact they did nothing!! It was the Australians who defended Port Morsby an most of the rest of the far south Pacific.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Terrific

An excellent account of the Battle of Midway. Craig Symonds uses a timeline narrative but avoids the trap of lapsing into a dry chronological account of events. The narrative is leavened with well-written descriptions of the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the men who featured in the battle. The courage of the aviators was particularly astonishing. These men flew their rickety planes across miles of shark-infested waters to bomb or torpedo enemy ships while under relentless assault from flak and fighter-planes.

One quibble I have about the book is the absence of maps for the audio version. Fortunately the image section of any internet search engine will provide you with any maps that you need. Midway is one of the most intensively studied battles of WW2 and lots of research resources are available online.

James Lurie's narration is excellent.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A very accurate and exciting position of the facts

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If WW11 in the Pacific is of interest to you, then this will hit the spot.

Who was your favorite character and why?

They all were, as without them working as a team together the complicated tactics deployed would of failed. Nimitz is the guy that stuck by the intelligence he was given and this proved the right thing to do.

What about James Lurie’s performance did you like?

Very punchy and convincing portrayal of the characters that made the Midway island so strategic to the success in the Pacific during WW11

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The USA's fight back to victory start's here.

Any additional comments?

Really entertaining, worth the purchase.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding quality

It sounds a bit 'Hollywood' but in fact this narrator's delivery is superb. The telling of this battle is thoughtfully broken down and is as sad as it is entertaining and enlightening. Honestly, this exceeded expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed every audible page. But by Jove it's kinda sad!

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fine history of one of the greatest sea battles ever

Such an important battle in the Pacific which saw the beginning of the end of The Japanese dominance in this region. It took another 3 years before the wars end and from Midway on the Americans industrial power really came to the fore and the end result was never again in doubt. The bravery of the Service personnel on both sides was astonishing and luck played a significant part in the outcome of this battle. The author has given, to me anyway, a very balanced account with no triumphalism. Glad I was not involved, the self sacrifice of mostly young men was astonishing.

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1 person found this helpful

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Brilliant in-depth and insightful account

Well researched with excellent analysis and insights into the events and personalities involved. The use of individual accounts of incidents adds so much to help the reader get a better understanding of how the battle unfolded. Excellent on both a strategic and tactical level as well. Well written and narrated. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the period of history.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

the audio file is corrupt, the rest is brilliant

the book is brilliant. the narration is exceptional. the audio file is poor beyond words. I get an audio error every half hour or so and have to remove the file and download it again. all the other books on my device work fine, so it's got to be something with this file.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very detailed story of the Battle

Really well researched from both sides allowing the story to come together seamlessly. All the great names of WWII US Navy and US Army Air Force coming together in this book.

I’ve always been interested in The War of the Pacific and now I am far better informed. A great book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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background information

After seeing the films I have always been interested in this epic battle of minds and machinery, it was never boring, such great detail of the men involved and the roles they played, I will definitely look out for more of Craig's books.

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What a story

This should be a must for any school children to listen to and be aware of what happened

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