
The Mosquito Bowl
A Game of Life and Death in World War II
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
George Newbern
-
By:
-
Buzz Bissinger
About this listen
“Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights is an American classic. With The Mosquito Bowl, he is back with a true story even more colorful and profound. This book too is destined to become a classic. I devoured it.” — John Grisham
An extraordinary, untold story of the Second World War in the vein of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat, from the author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for total war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve of 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war – the invasion of Okinawa—their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: Former All Americans, captains from Wisconsin and Brown and Notre Dame, and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL.
When the trash-talking between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided: The two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal. The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as “The Mosquito Bowl.”
Within a matter of months, 15 of the 65 players in “The Mosquito Bowl” would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. The Mosquito Bowl is the story of these brave and beautiful young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country, and of the loss of that innocence.
Writing with the style and rigor that won him a Pulitzer Prize and have made several of his books modern classics, Buzz Bissinger takes us from the playing fields of America’s campuses where boys played at being Marines, to the final time they were allowed to still be boys on that field of dirt and coral, to the darkest and deadliest days that followed at Okinawa.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Buzz Bissinger (P)2022 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Every Man a Hero
- A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach, and a World at War
- By: Ray Lambert, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventy-five years ago, he hit Omaha Beach with the first wave. Now, Ray Lambert, 98 years old, delivers one of the most remarkable memoirs of our time, a tour de force of remembrance evoking his role as a decorated World War II medic who risked his life to save the heroes of D-Day.
-
-
A must read for fans of you are there WWII war memoirs
- By Mary A. on 09-18-19
By: Ray Lambert, and others
-
Whatever It Took
- An American Paratrooper’s Extraordinary Memoir of Escape, Survival, and Heroism in the Last Days of World War II
- By: Henry Langrehr, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Mike Ortego
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, an unforgettable never-before-told first-person account of World War II: the true story of an American paratrooper who survived D-Day, was captured and imprisoned in a Nazi work camp, and made a daring escape to freedom. Now at 95, one of the few living members of the Greatest Generation shares his experiences at last in one of the most remarkable World War II stories ever told.
-
-
Inspirational book
- By David S. on 02-11-21
By: Henry Langrehr, and others
-
Friday Night Lights
- A Town, a Team, and a Dream
- By: H. G. Bissinger
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 25th anniversary edition of the number-one New York Times best seller and Sports Illustrated's best football book of all time, with a new afterword by the author. Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa - the winningest high school football team in Texas history.
-
-
Keep This In Mind When You Listen
- By K. on 09-21-18
By: H. G. Bissinger
-
Operation Vengeance
- The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1943, the United States military began to plan one of the most dramatic secret missions of World War II. Its code name was Operation Vengeance. Naval Intelligence had intercepted the itinerary of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander in chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, whose stealth attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated America’s entry into the war. Harvard-educated, Yamamoto was a close confidant of Emperor Hirohito and a brilliant tactician who epitomized Japanese military might.
-
-
I want 1/2 my money back
- By DPM on 08-11-20
By: Dan Hampton
-
The Volunteer
- One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
- By: Jack Fairweather
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To uncover the fate of the thousands being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp on the border of the Reich, a young Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: intentionally get captured and transported to the new camp to report back on what was going on there. But gathering information was not his only task: he was to execute an attack from inside - where the Germans would least expect it. The name of the camp was Auschwitz.
-
-
It is impossible to hear of the atrocities of Auschwitz without being. Forced to consider man’s infinite cruelty
- By Marge Greenwald on 07-15-19
By: Jack Fairweather
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
Every Man a Hero
- A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach, and a World at War
- By: Ray Lambert, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventy-five years ago, he hit Omaha Beach with the first wave. Now, Ray Lambert, 98 years old, delivers one of the most remarkable memoirs of our time, a tour de force of remembrance evoking his role as a decorated World War II medic who risked his life to save the heroes of D-Day.
-
-
A must read for fans of you are there WWII war memoirs
- By Mary A. on 09-18-19
By: Ray Lambert, and others
-
Whatever It Took
- An American Paratrooper’s Extraordinary Memoir of Escape, Survival, and Heroism in the Last Days of World War II
- By: Henry Langrehr, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Mike Ortego
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, an unforgettable never-before-told first-person account of World War II: the true story of an American paratrooper who survived D-Day, was captured and imprisoned in a Nazi work camp, and made a daring escape to freedom. Now at 95, one of the few living members of the Greatest Generation shares his experiences at last in one of the most remarkable World War II stories ever told.
-
-
Inspirational book
- By David S. on 02-11-21
By: Henry Langrehr, and others
-
Friday Night Lights
- A Town, a Team, and a Dream
- By: H. G. Bissinger
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 25th anniversary edition of the number-one New York Times best seller and Sports Illustrated's best football book of all time, with a new afterword by the author. Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa - the winningest high school football team in Texas history.
-
-
Keep This In Mind When You Listen
- By K. on 09-21-18
By: H. G. Bissinger
-
Operation Vengeance
- The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1943, the United States military began to plan one of the most dramatic secret missions of World War II. Its code name was Operation Vengeance. Naval Intelligence had intercepted the itinerary of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander in chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, whose stealth attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated America’s entry into the war. Harvard-educated, Yamamoto was a close confidant of Emperor Hirohito and a brilliant tactician who epitomized Japanese military might.
-
-
I want 1/2 my money back
- By DPM on 08-11-20
By: Dan Hampton
-
The Volunteer
- One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
- By: Jack Fairweather
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To uncover the fate of the thousands being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp on the border of the Reich, a young Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: intentionally get captured and transported to the new camp to report back on what was going on there. But gathering information was not his only task: he was to execute an attack from inside - where the Germans would least expect it. The name of the camp was Auschwitz.
-
-
It is impossible to hear of the atrocities of Auschwitz without being. Forced to consider man’s infinite cruelty
- By Marge Greenwald on 07-15-19
By: Jack Fairweather
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
The Long Gray Line
- The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: Adam Barr, Rick Atkinson
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic of its kind, The Long Gray Line is the 25-year saga of the West Point class of 1966. With a novelist's eye for detail, Rick Atkinson illuminates this powerful story through the lives of three classmates and the women they loved - from the boisterous cadet years, to the fires of Vietnam, to the hard peace and internal struggles that followed the war.
-
-
His First Book-It Stands With All the Others
- By Richard Bretzing on 07-22-21
By: Rick Atkinson
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Valor
- The Astonishing World War II Saga of One Man's Defiance and Indomitable Spirit
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lieutenant William Frederick “Bill” Harris was 25 years old when captured by Japanese forces during the Battle of Corregidor in May 1942. This son of a decorated Marine general escaped from hell on earth by swimming eight hours through a shark-infested bay; but his harrowing ordeal had just begun. Shipwrecked on the southern coast of the Philippines, he was sheltered by a Filipino aristocrat, engaged in guerilla fighting, and eventually set off through hostile waters to China.
-
-
Epic story of survival, and sacrifice
- By Michael V McKenney on 02-03-23
By: Dan Hampton
-
Rock Force
- The American Paratroopers Who Took Back Corregidor and Exacted MacArthur's Revenge on Japan
- By: Kevin Maurer
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the number-one New York Times best-selling coauthor of No Easy Day comes a thrilling World War II story of the American airborne soldiers who captured a Japanese-held island fortress.
-
-
The Rock
- By Richard Cassens on 09-15-21
By: Kevin Maurer
-
A Fever in the Heartland
- The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
- By: Timothy Egan
- Narrated by: Timothy Egan
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Roaring Twenties—the Jazz Age—has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.
-
-
This is a must read!
- By V. Richmond on 04-14-23
By: Timothy Egan
-
Grant
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 48 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow reveals in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.
-
-
Excellent Book (BUT WHERE IS THE PDF FILES)????
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-17
By: Ron Chernow
-
The Last Hill
- The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle That Defined WWII
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were known as “Rudder’s Rangers,” the most elite and experienced attack unit the Army had. In December 1944, they would be the spearhead into Germany, taking the war into Hitler’s homeland at last. Their colonel was given this objective: Take Hill 400. After two days, when they were finally relieved, only 16 Rangers remained to stagger down from the top of Hill 400. The Last Hill is filled with unforgettable action and characters—a gripping, finely detailed saga of what the survivors of the battalion would call “our longest day.”
-
-
more a history of the rangers in ww2
- By M. Johannes on 10-12-23
By: Bob Drury, and others
-
Band of Brothers
- E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Tim Jerome
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company, which kept getting the tough assignments. Easy Company was responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Band of Brothers is the account of the men of this remarkable unit.
-
-
High Expectations Met
- By Audrey on 02-12-13
-
The Things They Carried
- By: Tim O'Brien
- Narrated by: Bryan Cranston
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by The New York Times as "a marvel of storytelling", The Things They Carried’s portrayal of the boots-on-the-ground experience of soldiers in the Vietnam War is a landmark in war writing. Now, three-time Emmy Award winner-Bryan Cranston, star of the hit TV series Breaking Bad, delivers an electrifying performance that walks the book’s hallucinatory line between reality and fiction and highlights the emotional power of the spoken word.
-
-
Heavy Load
- By Mel on 10-28-13
By: Tim O'Brien
-
Beyond Band of Brothers
- The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
- By: Dick Winters, Cole C. Kingseed
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were called Easy Company, but their mission was never easy. Immortalized as the Band of Brothers, they suffered huge casualties while liberating Europe in an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Dick Winters led them through the Battle of the Bulge, the attack on Foy, where Easy Company reached its breaking point, and finally into Germany, by which time each member had been wounded. Outside Munich, they liberated an S.S. death camp and captured Berchtesgaden, Hitler's alpine retreat.
-
-
I listen to this over and over
- By David Ewing on 08-10-07
By: Dick Winters, and others
-
Clean Sweep
- VIII Fighter Command Against the Luftwaffe, 1942–45
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, BrigGen Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson USAF (Ret.) - foreword
- Narrated by: Lance C. Fuller
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 7, 1942, two events of major military importance occurred on separate sides of the planet. In the South Pacific, the United States went on the offensive, landing the First Marine Division at Guadalcanal. In England, 12 B-17 bombers of the new Eighth Air Force’s 97th Bombardment Group bombed the Rouen–Sotteville railroad marshalling yards in France. While the mission was small, the aerial struggle that began that day would ultimately cost the United States more men killed and wounded by the end of the war in Europe than the Marines would lose in the Pacific War.
-
-
may be factual but poorly written
- By Bill Mackey on 01-08-24
By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, and others
What listeners say about The Mosquito Bowl
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PennaJim
- 09-18-22
Too much background info on characters
About 2 hours in...I don't need laborious page-filling background on grandparents living in Europe for every character. Hope he soon gets around to the title story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brian Bizik
- 11-06-22
“Glad you read it?” Hmmmm good question
I was asked if I was glad that I read it. And I guess the answer is yes. I’m glad. But not normally glad. Glad in the same way I was that I saw Schindler’s List. A very well written book that should be required reading. Give this book a shot and you won’t regret it. Even if you’re not overly “glad”.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 02-23-23
Reece Witherspoon buy the rights please
This is begging to be a movie. Was an interesting but somber story. An excellent reminder of what sacrifices have been made to be where we are and who we are.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jim Berg
- 11-29-23
Detailed account of Marines on Okinawa
Some will criticize the author for too much detail, but I will not because this account of these marines and teenage or 20 something football players it’s just too gripping to trivialize into short story.
If I have one complaint about the very excellent narrator, George Newburn, it would be that I want him in future books about military in war time to correctly pronounce corpsman as COREMAN - no plural.
As a Marine from the Vietnam era, I unfortunately heard the cry for Corp(s)man all too many times - so it is soldered into my brain stem.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 11-29-22
Great read.
Great new perspective on WW2. What a great read about a subject where there are so many books and stories.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maureen E Trotter
- 12-04-22
The mosquito bowl
Moving account of the battle of OkinawaI- I stand in awe of the greatest generation and ordinary American young men.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve&theGang
- 10-21-22
An eye opener
Excellent research and presentation. Eye opening insights. Incredible bravery and sacrifice. Worth the read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-19-23
Okay book
I thought it too long for the story line even though covering WWII and real people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HooFan
- 12-02-22
Excellent WWII history.
Graphic, heartbreaking and noble account of US Marines preparing for and battling on Okinawa. The football game is the backbone to the histories of the men, many of which died in the fighting.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- legbone51
- 12-27-22
Compelling stories
Well-written, learned some history, and got to know some heros. The narrator was excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!