American Heritage's Great Minds of American History

What a pleasure it is to listen to men who've spent their lives learning and writing our history. They have such an accomplished knowledge and are so articulate and passionate for the periods they study. And Roger Mudd is just a wonderful interviewer. I downloaded this several years ago and have listened to it probably a dozen times or more since. Whenever I need a pick me up, listening to David McCullough's passion for our history will do the trick. He's just a national treasure. Download this title and don't look back... you won't regret it.

I originally own the cassette version of this audio years ago and would listen to it in the car. When I recently found it here on Audible I had to buy it again. I've been interested in history since High School and hearing these men talk about their passion was almost like listening to someone talking about old friends.

Way back when The History Channel really *was* the HISTORY channel, they had absolutely wonderful programs about...well... history! These programs frequently featured esteemed historians speaking passionately about the topics that comprised their life's work. Many of them had fabulous, evocative voices. Some of the best are featured in this audio presentation.

David McCullough, Steven Ambrose, and James McPherson make this recording worthwhile, no question. I loved hearing their knowledge, perspective, and engagement with their subjects shine through. Listening to smart, lively scholars discuss historic events and people and shed light on how they made a difference and impacted where we are today--- this is great stuff!

While I found neither Gordon Wood nor Richard White anywhere near as engaging as their peers here, I still learned things from them. White somehow just seemed too dispassionate to me, I couldn't warm up to him. At first I thought perhaps it was because his historical niche (The American West) just wasn't that interesting to me, but then I realized that wasn't true. I've found it an interesting topic in other media. But White's discussion here somehow felt bloodless and detached. I couldn't wait for his segment to end!

Still, the recording is worthwhile for McCullough and Ambrose alone. The price is a bit steep for such a short piece, but real history buffs will really love this.