Bitter Peleliu

The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield

By: Joseph Wheelan

Narrated by: Mack Gordon

Bloomsbury presents Bitter Peleliu by Joseph Wheelan, read by Mack Gordon.

The hard-hitting history of the Pacific War's 'forgotten battle' of Peleliu – a story of intelligence failings and impossible bravery.

In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military analysts decided to seize the small island of Peleliu to ensure that the Japanese airfield there could not threaten the invasion forces. This important new book explores the dramatic story of this ‘forgotten’ battle and the campaign’s strategic failings. Bitter Peleliu reveals how U.S. intelligence officers failed to detect the complex network of caves, tunnels, and pillboxes hidden inside the island’s coral ridges. More importantly, they did not discern – nor could they before it happened – that the defense of Peleliu would represent a tectonic shift in Japanese strategy. No more contested enemy landings at the water’s edge, no more wild banzai attacks. Now, invaders would be raked on the beaches by mortar and artillery fire. Then, as the enemy penetrated deeper into the Japanese defensive systems, he would find himself on ground carefully prepared for the purpose of killing as many Americans as possible.

For the battle-hardened 1st Marine Division Peleliu was a hornets’ nest like no other. Yet thanks to pre-invasion over-confidence on the part of commanders, 30 of the 36 news correspondents accredited for the campaign had left prior to D-Day. Bitter Peleliu reveals the full horror of this 74-day battle, a battle that thanks to the reduced media presence has never garnered the type of attention it deserves.

Pacific War historian Joseph Wheelan dissects the American intelligence and strategic failings, analyses the shift in Japanese tactics, and recreates the Marines’ horrific experiences on the worst of the Pacific battlegrounds. This book is a brilliant, compelling listen on a forgotten battle.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Joseph Wheelan (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing

The detailed history.

The detailed history was typical of Wheelan’s other books and superb. Unfortunately, the narration was not impressive.

Heroic Story Told Well

Did anybody review this presentation before Audible made it available? I say that because the narrator miss pronounced nearly every place name repeatedly. Very annoying!
The story is very well done with lots of important detail that you won't find in other books on the same subject.

Narration Flaws

As other reviewers have stated, the narration on this book is sub-par. The narrator’s voice was irritating, and he managed to mispronounce too many words.

I feel that the narration on this type of book should match the author’s material.

This one certainly did not.

Detailed review of a great American tragedy

Superb narration and finely researched information of this little known tragedy. I particularly appreciated the afterward and epilogue as I found myself horrified at the insensitivity of young men’s lives by our leadership.

Well written, with narration flaws

I would have really enjoyed this but atrocious pronunciation by the narrator irritated me. Example - gauntlet pounced gantlet. I closed this with a diminished opinion of Marine leaders like Puller and Rupertus. The Army had a more sophisticated way of fighting using firepower instead of men to achieve their objectives. Amazing tale of sacrifice on both sides.