A Patriot's History of the United States

By: Larry Schweikart, Michael Allen

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 50 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Since the liberal revolution of the '60s and '70s, American history books have been biased toward the negative. They overemphasize America's racism, sexism, and bigotry while downplaying the greatness of her patriots. As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington, more on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II than on D-day or Iwo Jima, more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin.

This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America's true and proud history. The authors reexamine America's discovery, founding, and development with an appreciation for the principles of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that have made this nation so uniquely successful.

©2004 Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"A welcome, refreshing, and solid contribution to relearning what we have forgotten and remembering why this nation is good, and worth defending." (National Review)
"There are a thousand pleasant surprises and heartening reminders that underneath it all America remains a country of ideas, ideals, and optimism: and no amount of revisionism can take that legacy away." (Humane Studies Review)
"Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen remind us what a few good individuals can do in just a few short centuries....A fluid account of America from the discovery of the continent up to the present day." (Wall Street Journal)

Counterbias

This is an entertaining and energetically read history. It is well-recorded and the reader’s voice is easy to understand (though he would have been wise to forgo the occasional attempt at a British accent). It was written in reaction to the (not just) perceived liberal bias of many American history texts. On the theory that two wrongs make a right, this book offers a pro-Christian, pro-free market bias. It’s pretty sketchy - a history can’t be both short and comprehensive - and not elegantly written, but still fun.

What You Never Knew...

Informative for the newbie to American history, but not overly simplified. Narrator changes tone when reading a quote. He almost seems to be doing an "impression" of the speaker. Great listen again and again.

Worth your time! American History as it should be taught!

American history for highschoolers and beyond any age wanting the fundamental basics of American history; clearly showing both sides of matters when needed. Long yet so worth your time! Great narrator too.

American History as it should be taught!

Better Than high School

This book took me back to my high school days when I took American History. This was deeper, though. I enjoyed the information and found it difficult to pause my listening. Yes, Patrick Lawler was probably not the best choice of narrator, and I have complained about him before to the Brilliance people, not Blackstone. I think Grover Gardner probably would've been better for this book. Narrator's voice aside, Patrick does make this interesting enough for me to keep listening. This is a good book. Don't let the narration hold you back from listening to a superior historical book.

Great historical survey, performance lacking

This is a great succinct narrative of American history, going into depth on events and individuals when appropriate. The author mixes historical fact with broader interpretive analysis, drawing out the inspirations and motives for different parties and major figures. The author frequently notes points of historical contention (at some points specifically addressing Zinn's American history book), and usually provides arguments for his statements. (Although there is some truth to the claim these are not always deeply proven... but that would put the length and scope of this book far beyond what it's meant to be; a sweeping factually accurate historical narrative mixed with interpretive guidance)

My main point in writing this review is to ask more from audiobook production. The reader's voice is great, very easy on the ears, with appropriate emphases. However it's embarrassing how many words have been mispronounced... especially in a story with so much Spanish and French history, it's unacceptable to not do a basic search for common pronunciations. This small preparation would have made a good audiobook *great*

Narration

I cannot rate on the full book, I am still listening to it. I do want to comment on the narration. For the people who think the narration on this book is bad, you haven't heard bad. Try listening to "Wealth of Nations".

The narration is "ok" in comparison to "Wealth of Nations".

About What You Would Expect

What did you like best about A Patriot's History of the United States? What did you like least?

It was a refreshing departure from the "History" that is taught in colleges these days. It focuses less on racism, prejudice, and bigotry and more on politics, war, and the home. The obvious conservative bias makes it a little difficult to take seriously primarily due to the author's treatment of Clinton and George W Bush. Up until that point in the story, I was right with him in what seemed like a pretty fair assessment of major events in US history. The events of the recent past (with the exception of 9/11) don't seem as critical in the story of the country as other major past events, but one would not be able to make that determination based on the relative amount of time spent by the author in recounting this period.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

This volume contains only stories you've heard before... occasionally with some new insight, but basically the same stuff you learned as an elementary and junior high schooler. Weren't there any unsung heroes in American History that aren't household names?

Which scene was your favorite?

The depictions of the Civil War and the New Deal provided insights and opinions that I had never heard before.

Was A Patriot's History of the United States worth the listening time?

It was quite long... but I spend a lot of time in the car. I wanted a start-to-finish history of the United States, and that's what I got. This can't be done in a shorter time period and still be worth listening to.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this for the younger generation who probably hasn't heard some of these stories due to the changing curriculum in primary schools and to anyone who is tired of hearing that American is history is simply a story of racial bigotry and hatred.

Excellent comprehensive history of the USA

Where does A Patriot's History of the United States rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Probably top 10

What did you like best about this story?

I liked how PHotUS stuck with the facts and historical events of our country's founding and growth rather than leaning on political bias and socio-economic side items. I thought that this was a great, comprehensive look at America's history and seemed like a fair snapshot of all the people who have influenced the shaping of this great nation.

Which scene was your favorite?

World War II

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Come see America's Heritage & History come to life!"

Any additional comments?

"A Patriot's History of the US" was an incredible and exhaustive history of the United States and was exactly what I have been looking for in terms of a comprehensive look at our nation's history.

I previously read the highly recommended "People's History of the US" by Howard Zinn and found it biased and preachy - constantly promoting socialism and anti-capitalist view points. It spoke very little to the actual historical events and instead used them only as a platform to make a point.

With "PHotUS" I thought it did a fairly decent job of keeping to the historical record of events and attempted to stick with the facts. I know at times it would be hard to not go into detail with motivations or even political bias (especially when dealing with presidents); however I think that it was at least fair and balanced.

"PHotUS" was able to cover everything from America's involvement with world wars/conflicts and also the early expansion of America, basically Manifest Destiny. It also provided great insight into our nation's founders, leaders, and influential citizens that brought about innovation, advancement, and change (for better or worse).

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the events that have shaped the United States of America into one of the greatest societies in our modern age.

Pros: a comprehensive read of our country's history and heritage.
Cons: when writing about presidents, it's hard not to cover their activities without some type of political bias.
Bottom line: highly recommended read for anyone looking to get a refresher of our history and to also get a better understanding of what has happened 'then' that has gotten us to 'now'.

A Patriot's History of the United States

Excellent overview (and thorough) of the history of the United States, an accurate and balanced approach you will appreciate. Audio book is the way to go since the book itself is about 900 pages!

Starts strong, but devolves into partisan rant.

While this book is overtly an "answer" to perceived "left wing" recountings of U.S. history, the account up through the end of the 19th century is broad an informative. Yes, there is a point of view--an interpretation of US history from the perspective of the contemporary hard right--but there's a real attempt at presenting history of the evolution of American politics and society. But starting at the Civil War, the narrative gradually starts to move away from a recounting history, per se, toward more and more critiques of centrist and left wing economic, social and political ideas, and less and less history. By the time it reaches the 1980s and nineties, there's barely a pretense left. Instead, there's a selection of events, cherry-picked to provide a soap-box for elevating the right and dismissing the center and left, with unsupported pronouncements abounding (one of my faves: racism ended in the ninties!), until the final two chapters which are really nothing more than rants. It's disappointing. As a liberal, I was hoping for a well-supported conservative take on history, to better understand the point of view. The first half of the book does that; the second is about as factually informative as a Sean Hannity broadcast -- which is to say, not much.