Given Up for Dead, Bill Sloan
Given Up for Dead, Bill Sloan
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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Given Up for Dead
America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island

Author: Bill Sloan

Narrator: David Cochran Heath

Unabridged: 13 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/01/2021

Synopsis

On December 8, 1941, just five hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes attacked a remote US outpost in the westernmost reaches of the Pacific. It was the beginning of an incredible sixteen-day fight for Wake Island, a tiny but strategically valuable dot in the ocean. Unprepared for the stunning assault, the small battalion was dangerously outnumbered and outgunned. But they compensated with a surplus of bravery and perseverance, waging an extraordinary battle against all odds.

When it was over, a few hundred American Marines, sailors, and soldiers, along with a small army of heroic civilian laborers, had repulsed enemy forces several thousand strong—but it was still not enough. Among the Marines was twenty-year-old PFC Wiley Sloman. By Christmas Day, he lay semiconscious in the sand, struck by enemy fire. Another day would pass before he was found—stripped of his rifle and his uniform. Shocked to realize he hadn't awakened to victory, Sloman wondered: Had he been given up for dead—and had the Marines simply given up?

In this riveting account, veteran journalist Bill Sloan re-creates this history-making battle, the crushing surrender, and the stories of the uncommonly gutsy men who fought it.

About Bill Sloan

Bill Sloan is renowned military historian and the author of more than a dozen books, including The Ultimate Battle and Brotherhood of Heroes. During his ten years as an investigative reporter and feature writer for the Dallas Times Herald, he covered many of the major events and personalities of the second half of the twentieth century and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Reviews

Goodreads review by carl on April 29, 2014

SEND MORE JAPS ENEMY ON ISLAND ISSUE IN DOUBT With Pearl Harbor shattered, the country looked to the tiny Wake Island atoll in the far off Pacific where a small group of Marines stood the picket line against the might of the victorious Japanese Navy. During the 16 day siege, two of the messages that c......more

Goodreads review by C.H. on February 07, 2022

I was completely unaware of the battle for Wake Island during WW2, a battle that occurred mere days after Pearl Harbor. Sloan's book brings to life the gutsy stand of the Marines, naval personnel, and civilians on the island, as they were attacked by numerically superior Japanese forces. Though fair......more

Goodreads review by George on August 04, 2017

A great military history read. This is the story of how a handful of American fighting men held off a Japanese invasion of Wake Island in the opening of World War II in the Pacific, but were ultimately directed to surrender during a second seaborne invasion. Wake Island, a cluster of three small cor......more

Goodreads review by Erika on February 05, 2017

3.5 stars An omnipresent viewpoint of a forgotten early battle of World War II. Sloan is a journalist/novelist who talks to various survivors and uses historical documents to piece together a cohesive, relatively objective narrative. I say relatively objective because there's some political commentar......more

Goodreads review by Matt on January 21, 2015

This book can claim one of the best true history books to be written. Bill Sloan did an absolute amazing job at retelling the story of the brave marines, sailors, soldiers, and civilians that defended a small atoll in the middle of the pacific at the beginning of the 2nd World War. The book was so m......more

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