Tim

It was a pleasant story, although rather simplistic.

Why is it that any book I listen to about business seems to have been written for an eight year old?

This narrator has an pompous English accent, which is a constant annoyance. In addition, for some reason, an echo effect is applied to quotations, which sounds ridiculous.
Apart from that, I'm not sure if the book is poorly written, or if it is all the narrator's fault.

Near the top.

The author not only describes specific events in detail, but gave me a far deeper understanding than I ever had before of not just Johnson and the many other characters involved, but also the workings of American politics, and the way power might have been brokered in other countries and other times.

It is possible that the author knows what he is trying to say, but I learnt nothing from it. He generalizes when he needs to be specific. He is far too verbose, assaulting us with a flood of corporate speak instead of English.
For example, instead of simply writing "come to an agreement", he writes "come to an agreement on a particular set of issues". This might sound like not big deal, but this repeated use of unnecessary words only serves to obscure his meaning and annoy the listener.

The scope of the book is so vast that it, in effect, is little more than a series of lists.

It is fascinating to learn more about the country's leading characters in the early days of this republic. An interesting story, well told, which expanded my understanding of this country, and its history.

If the book were less than half as long, it might have been interesting.
It is filled with so many verbose descriptions of the bickering between the many people involved as well as far too much mundane detail. In the end the fascinating moments are drowned out by it all.

Adequate.

I'm sure there was a good tale buried in there somewhere.

The subject are interesting, but I do not like the way the author switches from Alexander to Hannibal to Caeser and back to Alexander again, over and over again. He even doesn't compare these leaders particularly effectively.
I just start to become engrossed in the story of one of these generals. when he switches to the next guy.

Probably not.