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Decent, not my favorite

Revisado: 11-04-24

Author was sometimes inconsistent with exactitude on claims, contradicting some claims of aircraft downed in exhausting detail — and in other cases, demonstrates an exasperating laissez faire, such as the proclamation around 5:19:45 of a Japanese cruiser bombed and sunk in the Sound. I have found no record to support this claim, and it’s a little of an odd narrative style to dismiss some claims as incorrect and other times simply reporting vague “facts” that are difficult or impossible to corroborate. It’s a hallmark of the book: parts of it are exhaustingly, painfully detailed and others are just quick once overs.
Additionally… the title is a little misleading. The “Battle for Guadalcanal” might be better, because while the narrative does keep the air battle in decent focus, many of the naval actions are described practically salvo by salvo, torpedo by torpedo.

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Absolutely phenomenal

Revisado: 09-30-24

I wasn’t planning on this being an interview style , but the narrator who voiced Judi Dench did a fantastic job. The story is fascinating, and the commentary on the plays, actors, and the theater is absolutely fantastic. I loved every minute of this book.

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A truly outstanding history

Revisado: 06-10-24

Fans of Antony Beevor may enjoy this outstanding history of the Italian campaign of 1943, covering some of the lesser known campaigns in riveting detail.

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Can’t finish it. It’s awful.

Revisado: 05-10-24

I don’t quit on books, but I’m done with this one. The author is redundant and repetitive to the point of turning a story into a meaningless churn that is impossible to fight through. The author’s attacks on Washington are made with a repetitive and haughty attitude, seemingly oblivious that Washington’s lack of tactical prowess is, in fact, well known. The author’s repeated and detailed descriptions of Marblehead men as some sort of para-marine supermen that not only won this battle but all the others as well… gets old. The descriptions of the moonlight (on a 30% illum night? Interesting…) and Glover’s uniform (because he was the best dressed American officer and so on and on and on).

I’d want to finish this book, because the Battle of New York is a fascinating, and the battlefields are essentially lost to urban sprawl. I want this to be a good book, or at worst, not so awful that I can fight my way through it. I can’t. It’s that bad. I feel bad for the narrator.

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The reader makes a difficult narrative worse

Revisado: 04-23-24

The authors narrative ranges from passable to poor, sometimes burying the lead and occasionally making unforced errors (e.g. referring to Sailors as Soldiers). The author consistently borrows from primary sources but fails to add necessary and appropriate context (for example, he borrows from Robert Bush’ Medal of Honor narrative that concludes “collapsing only after attempting to walk to the battle aid station.” - but the author never notes that Bush survived!).

Add to this struggling narrative a narrator who routinely fails to consistently pronounce key words the same way (Ugaki and Shuri are two particularly annoying victims) and a cadence filled with odd minor pauses…. And an annoying lack of common sense (for example, when describing casualties he refers to “Company One… Company K… and… in L.” The clown didn’t recognize that “I” (as in Item) wasn’t a Roman numeral despite the context clues!!).

In all, this read was more a toil than a pleasure. Will not buy the narrator or author again.

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Pretty good, but needs an editor

Revisado: 04-12-23

Thrilled to read the biography of Willis Lee, and the information about him is fascinating. But this book lacks the polish the polish of something like a Hornfischer or Beevor, with a number of small errors and gripes that mar an otherwise good work. For example, in describing the consequences of Typhoon Cobra, the author says something like “less than a thousand men died” as a consequence of Halsey’s poor judgement — the trouble with the statement is that it was intended to convey the enormity of the error, not minimize it.
It just wasn’t as well done as it could and should have been.

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When you’re the only game in town…

Revisado: 09-02-22

… I recommend this book, but there are a few problems with it. First, it’s long and an absolute slog to get through, with the author frequently taking pages to detail that which could be adequately addressed in a few paragraphs — only to return to the same subject later, as if the first iteration wasn’t enough. Second, the repeated use of a censor is difficult to forgive, first for the readers who are using headphones and subjected to a sudden sharp and loud “BLEEP,” and second because this is history: it is what it is, and censorship has no place.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Inspired by actual events…

Revisado: 08-08-22

Not the most accurate history ever written, and the narrator’s mangled pronunciations don’t help. Would not buy again.

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Sharpe, but weak sauce

Revisado: 05-06-22

The weakest of the Sharpe novels IMO. More retracing of previous stories than other novels of the same type, and seemed like the author was struggling for an objective and villain. The narrator is unfortunate to be compared to Frederick Davidson and Patrick Tull, but did himself no favors by mangling pronunciation several times over (voltigeurs, ugh!). All in all an okay read, but don’t expect anything spectacular.

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If you’re going to read this…

Revisado: 05-03-22

… read it for Wes Bryant’s account of being a JTAC. His account is generally accurate, and provides a valuable insight into the fight against ISIS-K.
MG Pittard’s accounts, however, might best be described as inspired by actual events, with a strong bias toward chest-thumping self-aggrandizement.
Would not buy again.

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