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  • Devil Dogs

  • First in, Last Out–King Company from Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan
  • By: Saul David
  • Narrated by: Adam James
  • Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (52 ratings)
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Devil Dogs

By: Saul David
Narrated by: Adam James
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Summary

A Times History Book of the Year 2022 From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last.

The ‘Devil Dogs’ of K Company, 3/5 Marines, were part of the legendary first Marine Division. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942 – the first US ground offensive of the war – and were present when Okinawa, Japan’s most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. In between they fought in the ‘Green Hell’ of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, and across the coral wasteland of Peleliu in the Palau Islands, a campaign described by one K Company veteran as ‘thirty days of the meanest, around-the-clock slaughter that desperate men can inflict on each other.’

Ordinary men from very different backgrounds, and drawn from cities, towns, and settlements across America, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army, composed of some of the most effective soldiers in world history – and defeat it. This is the story of how they did just that and, in the process, forged bonds of brotherhood that still survive today.

Remarkably, the company contained an unusually high number of talented writers, whose first-hand accounts and memoirs provide the colour, emotion, and context for this extraordinary story. In Devil Dogs, award-winning historian Saul David sets the searing experience of K Company into the broader context of the brutal war in the Pacific and does for the U.S. Marines what Band of Brothers did for the 101st Airborne.

Gripping, intimate, authoritative and far-reaching, this is a unique and incredibly personal narrative of war.

©2022 Saul David (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘Exquisite detail…subtly textured… the Pacific War is rendered in painful and poignant detail… A narrative that reads like war in real time. It's war unplugged: cruelty, destruction, pain, but also love, kindness and camaraderie. I cried for these men and then thanked God that I will never have to send my son to war.’ Times

‘Brilliant… A chronicle that is part Hollwood film-script, but never less than vigorously researched history. David has a claim to be our finest military historian… Superb’ Daily Telegraph

‘David recounts in this stirring saga the WWII campaigns of Company K, the 1st Marine Division unit … Skillfully plumbing the rich array of firsthand accounts by Company K veterans, David vividly describes pillbox raids, accidental deaths, and hellish jungle conditions, and draws incisive portraits of Marine officers and their command decisions. The result is a captivating chronicle of the war in the Pacific’ Publishers Weekly

What listeners say about Devil Dogs

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Another Astonishing Account

Saul David has swiftly become my goto author for the Pacific War. He has a brilliant skill of telling the story through the eyes & words of the brave men who fought in these deadly battles.

I can’t recommend his books enough.

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amazing listen

I really enjoyed this audible production. a great story of Great men and the greatest generation

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detailed history and amazing story

I got audible because I find it hard to sit down a read a book but I remember seeing this one in a store and thinking wow this looks up my ally. so after a year I bought audible and I am not disappointed with this book. the stories of Guadalcanal to Okinawa were informative and kept me listening. the description of what the men saw and there emotions felt were impeccable and cheering for k35 when things went right and feeling the blues when things didn't. I think it's time to buy this book physically and listen again and again so I can enjoy it more than I did the first time, may have even found my new favourite author

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Superb

A great perspective of the Pacific Campaign from a more personal standpoint. Very well written and beautifully narrated.

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Excellent

Really enjoyed the book. Felt every thrust of K3/5 throughout each campaign. Excellent work

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Great

Well worth the high reviews, gripping recount of a vicious war Recommend reading great book

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What a story!

Wonderfully read. Brought an amazing story to life as if you were in one of the foxholes!

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Great account but struggled with narration

The story was a great account and gripping, plus I think all of Sauls books are wonderful, I do wish I'd just read this one. I personally struggled with the constant changing into random American accents especially in places where it wasn't at all necessary, I actually started to think about when the next accent change was coming, not about the story. I think picking 4 or 5 main people to do would have been an easier follow and given more emphasis on the main men.

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Incorrect pronunciation

Really great, Saul knows how to write. This covers the right amount of personal recollections and factual information. My only gripe is the narrator and his incorrect pronunciation of Corpsman.

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Superb …

This ought to be mandated for all children! Such an emotional journey about war and what man can endure.
Brilliant.

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