Chris N

Not as Good as Other Hastings Audiobooks

Revisado: 04-08-21

As with his later works, Hastings included a wide range of personal accounts, military and civilian, from vantage points on all sides. I was especially intrigued by his account of the communist-led POW revolts. I learned a lot about this Forgotten War, but was often not as engaged as with "Inferno" or "Vietnam." A major distraction was the narrator's tone, which evokes the image of a dapper English colonial officer straight out of the Raj or Egypt, complete with brown hat and uniform, moustache, and cigar. As Hastings included much criticism of the U.S. Army from Commonwealth soldiers, their opinions sound especially arrogant. It's also difficult not to perceive the imitations of oriental voices as racist. While I fault the audio publisher more than the narratoer personally, his voice and repertoire are perhaps better suited for other subjects.

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Sets the Record Straight With Riveting Detail

Revisado: 02-18-21

With a deep voice fit for Neptune himself, Dean is the perfect narrator to convey both the comradeship between fighting men of the sea, and the carnage and trauma that can't be romanticized. Apart from explaining how the Navy "abandoned" yet helped save the Marines, I also appreciated Hornfischer's brief look at the interactions of the Navy and the press, as well as the frankness about battle stress as seen through the eyes of even Halsey and Nimitz. So often is Midway seen as the turning point, as if we could only coast to inevitable victory from there, but this was as close a run thing as England in 1940, a complex mix of unenviable choices, some cowardice, much courage, and fear. It refreshed my respect for what today's sailors are trained for. With modern weapons, there is so much less room for learning as we go, or being too rooted in either old or new ways. May our Navy never see another campaign like this.

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Extremely Informative but Too Opinionated

Revisado: 10-10-20

More bluntly put, the author came across as arrogant as most conservative talk show hosts. I've enjoyed listening to him as a guest in various media forums, but for a book, he could have suppressed some feelings and let the abundance of facts speak for themselves. The reader also sounded snarky to me, at least given this material. Nonetheless, this is a very informative book, and before Covid and Bob Woodward's book, it was the type of work that could convince some doubters or undecideds. Many of us don't care for what Dem politics have devolved to either. But yes, there's a lot of Russian connections for Trump and friends, and things are worse than many of us realized that we need be very concerned.

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Let Audible Know of Any Audio Issues

Revisado: 09-13-20

Much of the first half of the book was tinny and garbled, as if the stereo channels were slightly out of sync. It made many Vietnamese names impossible to make out. I switched to least compression and re-downloaded to no avail. I thought it was the headset or that this Droid phone had finally had it or was overheating, but the issue disappeared with no changes on my part. (Sep 2020)

Sir Hastings once again solicits so many viewpoints on all sides. He has helped me understand those U.S. veterans who insist we could have "won," without blaming it all on Democrats, the press, or Jane Fonda. If Tet was a turning point for the U.S. public, the ordinary NVA and VC troops were also growing weary and not only because of our airpower. Nor, despite the all Southern desertions and suicides in 1975, was the taking of Saigon a cakewalk. Unfortunately, other things necessary to have strategically won were missing in the South. Hastings defends neither My Lai, Phoenix, nor Americans who believed Ho Chi Minh a kind-hearted folk hero. By and large, he respects those U.S. soldiers who believed they were fighting for a good, achievable cause, as many did early on before U.S. society erupted--well, like it is now, weakening troop resolve from within. (Food for thought.) He's done an excellent job laying out a very complex story, and some final insights were worth the wait.

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Much Like Inferno

Revisado: 07-05-20

Like Hastings' book on the entire war, the value is in hearing from so many viewpoints--all ranks and roles. You share in the personal experience of the soldier, surface sailor, submariner, airman, and POW, as well as civilians, under attack and not, from the highest government offices to the everyday citizens of the imperial colonies. As expected, the politics and execution of the U.S. island-hopping campaigns are covered in great detail, but the China-Burma theater, Royal Navy and Australian contributions, and voices from the Russian invasion of Manchuria are included as well. There is fair analysis and admiration where due without hero worship. To that I'll just add that Hastings is no MacArthur fan, so his parting words on how the general played his best role during the postwar occupation almost invite an extra subchapter. This audiobook has a different reader than Inferno, also with a British accent, but here with a repertoire of American voices that comes in useful. Very well worth the time invested.

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Robotic Reading

Revisado: 10-19-19

Sounds like I was being read at, not to. Didn't get more than a couple of chapters into it.

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Excellent despite technical difficulites

Revisado: 07-06-19

"Inferno" covers nearly all theaters on air, land, and sea, with several chapters on the Eastern front and shorter dives into places that get less attention on Western bookshelves, such as Yugoslavia and the retaking of Burma. Hastings fairly assesses key figures, strategies, and their importance to the final outcomes. He does not shy from admiration and harsh criticism, often of the same people.

Cleverly interwoven throughout, however, is an impressive collection of personal accounts, from battle and home fronts, survivors and not. It is this story by "the little people," of bravado, fear, persecution, and societal changes, that make the war come alive, reveal true emotions and attitudes of the time, and show the scale and scope of suffering.

At some 31 hours, there are sections that had to be re-recorded, where I heard mildly distracting variance in the reader's voice. My Android also stopped play mid-way through many chapters, and I had to press Back and Play to continue. At one point I could play nothing and was forced to reload Audible, if not the book as well.

Also, a speed setting of .85x successfully put me to sleep. I was glad to re-listen to the chapters, though--what I learned overshadowed any hiccups.

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Fast Listen, Well-Balanced for Target Audience

Revisado: 08-29-18

Author drones on in some segments but her humorous voiceovers make up for that. Account of romantic life a bit too personal. But appreciate her attempt at an in-depth, unbiased appraisal of her avoidance experience and the patient community, especially the "moldies." There's enough self-critique, skepticism, and emphasis that what helped her was not a total cure (unfortunately), may not work for everyone, and isn't a viable choice for most ME/CFS patients. She also tries her best to put some science behind the mold and sick-building correlation, but finds few experts willing to follow, likely fearing reputational and legal assault from the construction and insurance industries.

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