Plain, Honest Men

The Making of the American Constitution

By: Richard Beeman

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 19 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The Constitutional Convention affected nothing less than a revolution in the nature of the American government. Led by James Madison, a small cohort of delegates devised a plan that would radically alter the balance of power between state and national governments, and then sprung that idea on a largely unsuspecting convention. The success of this bold and brilliant strategy was, however, far from assured, and the ultimate outcome of the delegates' labors---the creation of a frame of government that would enable the fragile American union to flourish---turned out to be very different from that which Madison had originally envisioned. In fact, there was very little agreement among the framers about the nature of the government they had just created.

Audiences will come to appreciate the challenges that the Founding Fathers faced in creating a form of government that, while imperfect in many respects, nevertheless approaches, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "so near to perfection as it does."

©2008 Richard Beeman (P)2009 Tantor

Return to the truth

respect lost in modern times.return to needs of the people.Best system in the world.

Detailed Examination

Where does Plain, Honest Men rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audio-book easily rates among my top 5 listening experiences.

What other book might you compare Plain, Honest Men to and why?

I don't really have a non-fiction book to compare it to since it is a day by day account.

Any additional comments?

The experience of the Revolutionary War is obviously still fresh in the minds of the attendees and probably accounts for their difficulties with Executive Power.

Thorough and entertaining.

I really enjoyed this story of the creation of the constitution. The debates between the founding fathers were fascinating and the narrator is great.

very well written

A fantastic look into the inner workings of the Constitutional Convention and the minds of the men behind it.
Fascinating and detailed, gave me a much clearer picture of the machinations around the 4 month process that ended with the Constitution.
Enjoyable in every way, took a subject that could be very boring and kept it interesting.
It's no page turning murder mystery, but very enjoyable in its own right

Fascinating Telling of Important Story

This is the way history needs to be told. Even though I knew the ending, I was on the edge of my seat.
Michael Prichard is my favorite reader. He could read the phone book and it would be good.

Grand Narrative

If you ever wanted to clearly understand what really occurred when the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia, this is the book for you. I was not too enthralled by the first few pages of the narrator's voice, but as time passed, I began to like the pace, and lack of enthusiasm in his voice. This is the seminal work for looking deep into the hearts and minds of the authors of the US Constitution.

Much like Goodwin's Team of Rivals, this sweeping work has extensive source materials and uses these source materials to support the finding and lives of these very distinct men. Beeman also carries you back to what the city was like in the late 1700's, thrusting the reader into the time period whether you want to go or not. George Washington's presence at the beginning of the book signals what is about to come!

I encourage those whose tastes move in early American historical fact, this is the book for you. It is comprehensive in scope and answers those questions that you did not think to ask!

Excellent!

Good history.

I don't read a lot of history, but I have been reading a number of books about the American Revolution and its leaders. This book is a worthy entry into that group. I remember (vaguely) studying this stuff in school, and how boring it was. But this book was not boring. He made the various characters come alive, and he did a good job of making the setting real as well. I have long wondered why the Bill of Rights was not part of the original Constitution and why slavery was not eliminated. These were discussed and well answered. I had heard the Constitution referred to as the Great Compromise without understanding what it meant. Now I know (or at least know a lot more about it than I used to). The more I learn about the founding of our country and the men who made it happen, the more amazed I am that they were able to bring it off, and the more grateful I am to men who were willing to put the good of all ahead of their own personal gain. I also want to say that I have listened to a lot of books narrated by Michael Prichard, and he did his usual excellent job. I recommend this book to you.

Outstanding!!!

I have always been fascinated by the story of the crafting of the Constitution. This book is now in 1st place as far as my favs go n the subject.

Every once in awhile, I did detect the author’s opinion but the other 98% of the time he let the story tell itself and the audience form their own opinions.

Who knew!

I am not a history buff in the least, however, my husband is and when we listen to books together, I select some that might interest him. This book was pretty interesting and did a nice job of telling what happened in developing the important documents and the key players involved in the process. It was interesting and enlightening to me and had a few tidbits my husband didn't know. I did finally speed up the narration as it was a bit slow on the third download part.

fantastic story telling of the U.S. constitution

loved the story telling style of the history of the creation of the U.S. constitution. Woven perfectly with primary source quotes and environmental context.

the narrator would have done well to avoid using accents when quoting historical figures. I found them distracting rather than engrossing. I also listened to it all at 1.5 speed and it sounded, for the most part, like it was being read at a casual pace.