A History of the American People

By: Paul Johnson

Narrated by: Nadia May

Johnson's monumental history of the United States, from the first settlers to the Clinton administration, covers every aspect of American culture: politics, business, art, literature, science, society and customs, complex traditions, and religious beliefs. The story is told in terms of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character.

Anne Hutchinson, Cotton Mather, Ben Franklin, Tom Paine, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, among others, are all presented in a fresh perspective. Wherever possible, letters, diaries, and recorded conversations are used to ensure a sense of actuality.

This is an in-depth portrait of a great people, from their fragile origins and struggles for independence, to their heroic efforts and sacrifices to deal with the "organic sin" of slavery and the preservation of the Union, to their explosive economic growth and emergence as the world's greatest superpower.

©1997 Paul Johnson (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Johnson is a lively writer (more so than nearly all other historians), and May's reading is sensitive to Johnson's wit and sharp comments....Her reading is lively, crisp, and sharp throughout." (AudioFile)

"A magnificent achievement...brilliantly combines broad sweep with extraordinary detail." (Wall Street Journal)

Excellent

I loved the overall history especially the reading by Nadia May. I thought the outlook was a bit biased towards the right of the political spectrum. However, that doesn’t take away from my general opinion of Paul Johnson or his history. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves their big history books.

A better understanding

There are so many times in history books or news articles where what happened was spun to serve someone purpose. This is the kind of book which will dig deeper and shed some light on these subjects and they suddenly seem less "black and white". Overall an amazing book with loads of information, although hard to stay focused on at times because of its thoroughness.

Magnificent history

Johnson gives us a pro-American history of our great country. Finally, a book that does not condemn the U.S. due to her many, past wrongs. The overarching tone is optimism. Whether Johnson is discussing race relations, women's rights, industrialization or immigration, he obviously admires our nation(Johnson was born and educated in England)! Nadia May gives a crisp and lively reading which just adds to the listeners experience.

Not much different than a HS text book

The author made a lot of assumptions from assumptions, especially in dealing with Native Americans. The natives of North America were not primitve and few. The numbers before the European diseases wiped them out down to the few (before any major settlements from Europe arrived) were in fact quite large. There were even abandoned settlements where European settlers just moved in. See the book "1491".

It was, however, very interesting to hear US History from a woman with a British Accent. I wich it had had less scope and more detail.

a wonderful history

panoramic, thorough, remarkably well researched and written, full of unexpected perspectives that are of great value for those to pay attention.

47 hours felt too short!

A great comprehensive view of American history. With no pretensions or excuses Mr Johnson explains the complexity through the lives of great statesman.

Bliss

Uses data to make points. Memorable turns of phrase. Ready to listen again. insightful, enjoyable listen.

Amazing book narrator horrible

I stuck with the book because Paul Johnson's books are awesome. This one in particular. I think he is right in that not having learned American History in school gave him a fresh perspective. I haven't read all of his, but many and Intellectuals is the best I've read.
But, I didn't like the narrator. It isn't that she did a bad job, I just dislike her voice. She does many audiobooks, so it is probably just me.

Superb history.

I am a longtime fan of American History and Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People" is the most insightful and as well researched as any I have encountered. I can recommend this book as an excellent source for the novice and advanced connoisseur. In addition the book is very entertaining and engaging.

Not de Tocqueville

One can almost hear George III thinking out loud about the loss of all the vast open spaces of America. There is a total lack of any sense of awe of America in this Englishman's very long book. He strives to show how American Exceptionalism was merely the result of happy and brutal coincidence. Reading between the lines we see a typical European Liberal (in the modern vile sense of the word) green with envy that they lost their colonies.

I am about 15 hours into this long thing. Perhaps if he traveled the country like de Tocqueville he might have gotten a real sense of the American people. Instead we can imagine him up to his elbows in obscure research sources at Cambridge or at Cambridge West (Harvard).

So, to read this, you must endure continual subtle and overt leftist bias and his criticism of what is thinks is the American tendency to over react to imaginary threats (i.e. the silly red scar of the 1950s - which we have known since the fall of the USSR was real indeed).

I suppose this tendency to graft one's political biases onto past events is what makes many history books highly suspect.

But if you can hold your nose and get past the liberal bias, the book is interesting and has some original in-sights.

Too bad it was read by some lady with a stuffy British accent. This is another substantial negative.