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The Fleet at Flood Tide
- America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Military & War
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Publisher's Summary
The extraordinary story of the World War II air, land, and sea campaign that brought the US Navy to the apex of its strength and marked the rise of the United States as a global superpower.
One of America's preeminent military historians, James D. Hornfischer has written his most expansive and ambitious book to date. Drawing on new primary sources and personal accounts of Americans and Japanese alike, here is a thrilling narrative of the climactic end stage of the Pacific War, focusing on the US invasion of the Mariana Islands in June 1944 and the momentous events that it triggered.
With its thunderous assault into Japan's inner defensive perimeter, America crossed the threshold of total war. From the seaborne invasion of Saipan to the stunning aerial battles of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, to the largest banzai attack of the war and the strategic bombing effort that led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Marianas became the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender - with consequences that forever changed modern war.
These unprecedented operations saw the first large-scale use of Navy underwater demolition teams; a revolution in the fleet's ability to sustain cross-hemispheric expeditionary warfare; the struggle of American troops facing not only a suicidal enemy garrison but desperate Japanese civilians; and the rise of the US Navy as the greatest of grand fleets. From the Marianas, B-29 Superfortresses would finally unleash nuclear fire on an enemy resolved to fight to the end.
Hornfischer casts this clash of nations and cultures with cinematic scope and penetrating insight, focusing closely on the people who rose to the challenge under fire: Raymond Spruance, the brilliant, coolly calculating commander of the Fifth Fleet; Kelly Turner, whose amphibious forces delivered Marine General Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith's troops to the beaches of Saipan and Tinian; Draper Kauffman, founder of the navy unit that predated today's SEALs; Paul Tibbets, the creator of history's first atomic striking force, who flew the Enola Gay to Hiroshima; and Japanese warriors and civilians who saw the specter of defeat as the ultimate test of the spirit.
From the seas of the Central Pacific to the shores of Japan itself, The Fleet at Flood Tide is a stirring and deeply humane account of World War II's world-changing finale.
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What listeners say about The Fleet at Flood Tide
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JLAR
- 2018-08-01
Captivating Page Turner (Even for an audio book)
Excellent book that details the end game of the pacific war. It does gloss over some of the later battles like Iwo Jima but in my opinion it does a great job of summarizing 1944-45. The bulk of part 1 really goes into detail about the battle of Saipan and gives an overview of how Paul Tibbets came to be the pilot of the "Enola Gay". Very good narrator in Pete Larkin. The material by the author with superb narration really puts the book over the top.
2 people found this helpful
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- Binky
- 2021-11-11
Decent history of the end and aftermath of WWII
This book was a detailed and competent history of the end of the war in the Pacific. Content is quite well-researched and comprehensive. It does, however, read like a book of an earlier era. Neither a good thing or a bad thing. :-)
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- adam
- 2016-11-27
Outstanding history
An excellent and comprehensive history of some of the most brutal conflict this country has ever know. A marvelous biography of two well known figures (Spruance and Tibbets) and two lesser known Naval heroes (Kaufman and Turner). I highly recommend.
15 people found this helpful
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- R. Denton
- 2016-11-08
Good at filling in all those other details
What did you love best about The Fleet at Flood Tide?
Getting a lot of the details from both USN and IJN about the final year of the war. I was disappointed that so little time was spent on the Battle of Samar, 25 Oct. The author has written a whole book about this and it is excellent.
Any additional comments?
Very good for those interested in WWII naval history that already know the overall picture.
14 people found this helpful
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- Hollywood Dave
- 2017-01-08
Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
I have never written a review for Kindle/Audible Books, but I was compelled to take advantage with this method to applaud the author's work. My reading preference has been history, predominantly military accounts, ancient and modern. My father was an Army Veteran of the Pacific campaigns of WW-2, and his stories of the war aroused my interest in this part of history that resulted in great sacrifices for a righteous victory and the introduction of the Atomic Age. This book revealed the actions, reasoning and personalities of key players of the conflict from both cultural and philosophical standpoints that gave me a greater understanding and deeper contemplation of the story. I am a Navy Veteran that served during Vietnam and the Gulf War. It is important to study these terrible events of history to understand how precious and costly our American freedom is.
21 people found this helpful
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- david
- 2017-01-06
Excellent, as usual...
Hornfischer's telling of the Pacific theater is thorough and far-reaching. I have enjoyed all of his Pacific series. The narrator was very talented. Kept up a lively pace in his story-telling. Highly recommended.
7 people found this helpful
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- Knox
- 2016-12-09
It's Hornfischer. As always, he doesn't Disappoint.
Pete Larkin, one of my favorite readers, does an excellent job with this book. It's long, but well well worth it.
I have read or (and in many cases "and") listened to all of Mr. Hornfischer's non-fiction on the Pacific theatre of WWII, and have always been impressed. An excellent gatherer of primary and secondary source material. He weaves this and other historical documents into a history that is as much personal story as recitation of document.
Just get it. Then get the rest.
12 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer nnn
- 2016-12-21
Great detail
Anxious to read more from this author. My father served in some of these battles.
4 people found this helpful
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- Matthew
- 2017-03-02
A Unique Telling About the War in the Pacific
General – ‘The Fleet at Flood Tide' was a very unique look at the war in the Pacific and I really enjoyed the tactic of telling it from the perspective of these three uniquely individual commanders who contributed so much to the effort to defeat Imperial Japan and to exact revenge for Pearl Harbor.
Content – I bought this book on its release date without any Audible reviews to go by because I knew, from his other works, that James D. Hornfischer would do a decent job and not let me down. I was correct in my assumption. That said, I got so busy working and tied up with listening to multiple books simultaneously that I neglected to write a review and I didn’t make any notes aside from the six bookmarks I made in the book. As a result my memory has lapsed somewhat on details so I’ll just get to the bottom line in a broad manner. This book got to the point without mincing any words and was done very well. I learned more about the war in the Pacific due to the unique perspective of the telling. I do recall that some parts were slightly confusing due to the timeline of events and the manner of the writing. If you multi-task while listening, like I do, you may find yourself having to listen to certain sections for a second time just to be sure you heard what was being said correctly. The book was well done and I didn’t feel the need to listen again upon completion, but I know that I will listen again at some point. While the author does jump around I didn’t find that to be distracting. He laid out good background information on the three commanders in a concise fashion without going too far into miniscule or unnecessary detail. Finally, he explained certain items that made me bookmark them so I could refer back later; the “Sinister Ratio” in regard to the planned invasion of Japan, the events surrounding the U.S.S. Indianapolis and also the development and the use of napalm to name a few.
Length – Based on when I bought the book and my last bookmark I can say that I finished the book in about 30-days time, which is average for me for a ‘good’ book of this length when I enjoy it, but I don’t feel that urge to listen at every available moment. Looking back while writing this review I was surprised to see this book is 23-plus hours in length. I don’t recall it feeling like it was that long.
Narration – While somewhat stoic in his tone I think Pete Larkin had the perfect narration for this subject matter and this book. While I wouldn’t say his narration added to the book it certainly didn’t detract from it either.
Summation – Yes, taking all things into consideration this may not be Hornfischer’s best work, but I doubt that even he could top ‘Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors’. So, if you’re in any way a WW II aficionado you need to have this book in your library. It will add to your level of knowledge.
8 people found this helpful
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- J.Brock
- 2021-08-12
RIP James D. Hornfischer
James D. Hornfischer was one of the very best naval historians. Sadly he passed away in June of this year. But his work will stand the test of time. There isn't a book of his that isn't a stand alone classic. This is a magnum opus in its conclusion of the WW2 Pacific campaign. His writing, from the intimate to the broad in scope weaves together seamlessly. This is a must for any military history buff. Thank you James for your work and you will not be forgotten. And Pete Larkin's narration is also ideal.
2 people found this helpful
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- Bitti
- 2018-01-29
Outstanding book to conclude WWII.
This book provided insight to the complexities, decisions and mistakes made in the final years of the war. It helped me appreciate the sacrafices of our mothers and fathers to support the effort. It made me proud of our nation that overcame so much to achieve victory.
2 people found this helpful
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- jennifer
- 2017-05-03
great audio book. captivating and informative
This is an awesome audio book for anyone who enjoys ww2 history, aviation history, naval history, and the history of the atom bomb.
2 people found this helpful