Waking Giant Audiobook By David S. Reynolds cover art

Waking Giant

America in the Age of Jackson

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Waking Giant

By: David S. Reynolds
Narrated by: Arthur Morey
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The years from 1815 to 1848 were arguably the richest period in American life. In Waking Giant, award-winning historian David S. Reynolds illuminates the era's exciting political story alongside the fascinating social and cultural movements that influenced it. He casts fresh light on Andrew Jackson, who redefined the presidency, as well as John Quincy Adams and James K. Polk, who expanded the nation's territory and strengthened its position internationally.

Waking Giant captures the turbulence of a democracy caught in the throes of the slavery controversy, the rise of capitalism, and the birth of urbanization. Reynolds reveals unknown dimensions of the Second Great Awakening with its sects, cults, and self-styled prophets. He brings alive the reformers, abolitionists, and prohibitionists who struggled to correct America's worst social ills. He uncovers the political roots of some of America's greatest authors and artists, from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Edgar Allan Poe to Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand, and he re-creates the shocking phenomena that marked the age: bloody duels and violent mobs; Barnum's freaks and all-seeing mesmerists; polygamous prophets and wealthy prostitutes; table-lifting spiritualists and rabble-rousing feminists. All were crucial to the political and social ferment that led to the Civil War. Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Waking Giant is a brilliant chronicle of America's vibrant and tumultuous rise.

©2008 David S. Reynolds (P)2008 Tantor Americas United States Socialism Capitalism Latin America Social justice Africa

Critic reviews

"A remarkable synthesis, impressive on many levels." ( Kirkus Starred Review)
"His book will appeal to general history buffs and American studies students. Highly recommended for all public and college libraries." ( Library Journal)
All stars
Most relevant
If you are interested in U. S. history this is a must book for you. Details and insights without judgment or an agenda. A terrific volume about a part of American history that is generally ignored. I couldn't stop listening.

Interested in American History?

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Of the many excellent historical books now available on Audible, this is one of the best. Reynolds provides a panoramic view of life in the first half of the 19th century. His account weaves together the politics, mores, religious ferment, medical and cultural aspects of life in this era. The medical details were of particular interest to this 88 year old listener. During the 20s my mother used the practice of "blistering" - mustard plasters - for chest colds and anything else. Calomel - a poisonous mercury purgative was still employed. Medicine really didn't change much until the first real antibiotic, sulfanilamide, was developed in the 1940s. A fascinating and meticulously researched book.

Waking Giant - US History

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The author is much more pro-Jackson, van Buren, and Tyler than I had before seen, and it provided an interesting alternative perspective. Multiple chapters are dedicated to cultural history, from Melville to minstrel shows.

In multiple places, there’s a mistake in the recording, so that the same phrase repeats several times.

Great political and cultural history!

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I knew almost nothing about the Jacksonian era in American history before listening to this. Reynolds is mostly positive about Jackson's influence on democratic politics (small “d”) while deploring his attitudes toward slavery and his ethnic cleansing of Native Americans. The political campaigns are all here, but even more than that, Reynolds gives a fascinating overview of cultural trends: the new religions, the new novelists and poets and philosophers (Hawthorne, Emerson, Melville), and the painters; and the new technology (telegraph, railroad, the Erie Canal). There is more than a dash of “spice” here as well, with discussions of hucksters, showmen, alcohol consumption, and sexual practices.

As a novice in the period, I don't have any opinion about how complete Reynolds' account is. What I CAN say is that it's very well written, competently narrated, and absorbing throughout. The book covers the same period as the Oxford volume “What Hath God Wrought.” While there is certainly more detail in the Oxford volume, I’m not sure there’s significantly more insight. One issue Reynolds addresses head-on and with greater forthrightness is slavery, a subject “What Hath God Wrought” handles, by comparison, almost shyly.

And as always, I love Arthur Morey’s narration.

Lucid narration

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There were several places in last third of book where the recording repeated and would not move forward. Forced to fast forward and missed a bit of book.

Quality of recording

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