Mature
Audio only
Operation Pedestal
The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942By Max HastingsNarrated by Max Hastings, John Hopkins
Length12h 29m
About this audiobook
Renowned historian Max Hastings recreates one of the most thrilling events of World War II: Operation Pedestal, the British action to save its troops from starvation on Malta—an action-packed tale of courage, fortitude, loss, and triumph against all odds.
In 1940, Hitler had two choices when it came to the Mediterranean region: stay out, or commit sufficient forces to expel the British from the Middle East. Against his generals’ advice, the Fuhrer committed a major strategic blunder. He ordered the Wehrmacht to seize Crete, allowing the longtime British bastion of Malta to remain in Allied hands. Over the fall of 1941, the Royal Navy and RAF, aided by British intelligence, used the island to launch a punishing campaign against the Germans, sinking more than 75 percent of their supply ships destined for North Africa.
But by spring 1942, the British lost their advantage. In April and May, the Luftwaffe dropped more bombs on Malta than London received in the blitz. A succession of British attempts to supply and reinforce the island by convoy during the spring and summer of 1942 failed. British submarines and surface warships were withdrawn, and the remaining forces were on the brink of starvation.
Operation Pedestal chronicles the ensuing British mission to save those troops. Over twelve days in August, German and Italian forces faced off against British air and naval fleets in one of the fiercest battles of the war, while ships packed with supplies were painstakingly divided and dispersed. In the end only a handful of the Allied ships made it, most important among them the SS Ohio, carrying the much-needed fuel to the men on Malta.
As Hastings makes clear, while the Germans claimed victory, it was the British who ultimately prevailed, for Malta remained a crucial asset that helped lead to the Nazis’ eventual defeat. While the Royal Navy never again attempted an operation on such scale, Hasting argues that without that August convoy the British on Malta would not have survived. In the cruel accountancy of war, the price was worth paying.
Audiobook details
GenreHistory, Technology
Length12 hrs 29 mins
Narrated byMax Hastings, John Hopkins
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJun 1, 2021
LanguageEnglish
More from Max Hastings
The Secret WarMax Hastings30h 40m$53 · $0.00
The AbyssMax Hastings19h 9m$40 · $0.00
Operation BitingMax Hastings8h 34m$7 · $0.00
Operation ChastiseMax Hastings11h 49m$29 · $0.00
VietnamMax Hastings33h 33m$53 · $0.00
Black AF HistoryMichael Harriot15h 43m$33 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m$46 · $0.00
The Redeemer’s ReturnArthur W. Pink13h 18m$20
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass44h 9m$2 · $0.00
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m5 (1)$11 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m$8 · $0.00
The Red RecordIda B. Wells-Barnett2h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m$29 · $0.00
Saving My EnemyBob Welch9h 11m$20
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m$33 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
EnduranceAlfred Lansing6h 1m$20
Motorcycle, Solo (Harley-Davidson Model WLA)United States. War Department7h 54m$2 · $0.00
Improvised Weapons and Munitions - The Official U.S. Army ManualU.S. Department of the Army4h 38m$2 · $0.00
Frosty: The incredible true story of the boy from Doonside who became a Bathurst kingMark Winterbottom8h 9m$26 · $0.00
Cadillac Desert, Revised and Updated EditionMarc Reisner27h 56m$30
The Honey BusMeredith May9h 31m$25 · $0.00
When the Heavens Went on SaleAshlee Vance18h 20m$40 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla48h 43m$2 · $0.00
Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You)Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Griffin McElroy5h 9m$24 · $0.00
Hands of TimeRebecca Struthers8h 8m$26 · $0.00
Never Lost AgainBill Kilday10h 1m$29 · $0.00
How the Internet HappenedBrian McCullough13h 28m$23 · $0.00
Just AspireAjai Chowdhry9h 13m$29 · $0.00
Addiction by DesignNatasha Dow Schüll14h 32m$25 · $0.00
The Little Book of AliensAdam Frank8h 20m$26 · $0.00
KargilV.P. Malik15h 18m$24 · $0.00
Fire on the HorizonTom Shroder, John Konrad8h 23m$26 · $0.00
The Boy Who Harnessed the WindWilliam Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer10h 5m$29 · $0.00
Mars Rover CuriosityRob Manning, William L. Simon7h 43m$20
Across the Airless WildsEarl Swift10h 8m$29 · $0.00
Console WarsBlake J. Harris20h 41m$46 · $0.00
You may also like
United States Marines in World War IIBernard C. Nalty, John C. Chapin, Joseph H. Alexander, Charles D. Melson, Richard Harwood, Gordon D. Gayle, Cyril J. O'Brien, J. Michael Wenger, Harry W. Edwards, James A. Donovan, Robert J. Cressman, J. Michael Miller, Henry I. Shaw Jr., Charles R. Smith, Marine Corps Historical Center47h 21m$2 · $0.00
Darkest HourAnthony McCarten6h 34m$24 · $0.00
Three Days in January: Young Readers' EditionBret Baier, Catherine Whitney4h 45m$20 · $0.00
The Nine Days Wonder (The Operation Dynamo)John Masefield1h 48m$2 · $0.00
RecklessTom Clavin9h 53m$20
Patton at the Battle of the BulgeLeo Barron12h 47m$23
The Good ShepherdCecil Louis Troughton Smith9h 18m$2 · $0.00
A Christmas Far from HomeStanley Weintraub6h 54m$20
The Miracle of DunkirkWalter Lord10h 5m$20
Into the Jaws of DeathJack O'Brien4h 56m$1 · $0.00
U-Boat KillerCaptain Donald Macintyre7h 19m$23
Brave BelgiansCamille Buffin11h 11m$2 · $0.00
Front LinesBoyd Cable6h 6m$2 · $0.00
Merchantmen-at-arms : the British merchants' service in the warDavid W. Bone6h 45m$1 · $0.00
The IcemanP. T. Deutermann10h 40m$20 · $0.00
Their Finest Hour (Complete Edition)Winston Churchill28h 59m$1 · $0.00
Italian Submarines Combats In The Second World WarAndré Geraque Kiffer1h 52m$5 · $0.00
The Crisis of the Naval War: British Royal Navy in World War IJohn Rushworth Jellicoe8h 43m$1 · $0.00
The Victory at SeaWilliam Sowden Sims13h 22m$23
Our Pilots in the AirWilliam Perry Brown5h 36m$2.30