
The Pioneers
The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
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Narrated by:
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John Bedford Lloyd
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By:
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David McCullough
About this listen
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
As part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the prohibition of slavery.
In 1788 the first band of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River. McCullough tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and Putnam; Cutler's son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer in American science.
"With clarity and incisiveness, [McCullough] details the experience of a brave and broad-minded band of people who crossed raging rivers, chopped down forests, plowed miles of land, suffered incalculable hardships, and braved a lonely frontier to forge a new American ideal" (The Providence Journal).
Drawn in great part from a rare and all-but-unknown collection of diaries and letters by the key figures, The Pioneers is a uniquely American story of people whose ambition and courage led them to remarkable accomplishments. "A tale of uplift" (The New York Times Book Review), this is a quintessentially American story, written with David McCullough's signature narrative energy.
©2019 David McCullough (P)2019 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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Editor's Pick
The wait is over, McCullough is back!
"As a history fanatic, any time one of the all-time-greats like David McCullough—two Pulitzers, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—drops some new material, it’s cause for rampant celebration. And the selection to the left is, naturally, more than worthy of the hype. One of the things that I love about McCullough’s work is that he takes the lesser-known, or at least lesser-discussed, aspects of our shared American past, and brings them to the forefront by telling stories that resonate with modern listeners. While it is true that not all aspects of our shared past are things we should be proud of, McCullough does not shy away from the hard truths associated with the relationship between these settlers and the indigenous peoples they encountered—there are still lessons to be learned from any chronicle of our past. This is more than a story of American settlement. This is a story about immigration. This is a story about what it means to move your entire existence to a new location and attempt to start fresh, even when the going gets rough." —Kyle S., Audible Editor
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Overall
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This monumental book tells the enthralling story of one of the greatest accomplishments in our nation's history, the building of what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge rose out of the expansive era following the Civil War, when Americans believed all things were possible.
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An Historian and not a Novelist
- By Tim on 06-01-12
By: David McCullough
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The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Abridged
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Winner of the National Book Award for history, The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Applying his remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition, McCullough weaves the many strands of the momentous event into a comprehensive and captivating tale.
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The Path Between The Seas
- By Thomas M. Kokinda on 07-19-08
By: David McCullough
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John Adams
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 29 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
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An outstanding biography
- By Davis on 07-10-06
By: David McCullough
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Truman
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 54 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed by critics as an American masterpiece, David McCullough's sweeping biography of Harry S. Truman captured the heart of the nation. The life and times of the 33rd president of the United States, Truman provides a deeply moving look at an extraordinary, singular American.
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That Mousy Little Man From Missouri Revisited
- By Sara on 07-23-15
By: David McCullough
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John Adams
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jan Maxwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
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With the sweep and vitality of a great novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough presents the enthralling story of John Adams. This is history on a grand scale - an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Read by History Channel host Edward Herrmann!
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fantastic
- By Thomas on 07-06-06
By: David McCullough
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History Matters
- By: David McCullough, Dorie McCullough Lawson - contributor, Michael Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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History Matters brings together selected essays by beloved historian David McCullough, some published here for the first time, written at different points over the course of his long career but all focused on the subject of his lifelong passion: the importance of history in understanding our present and future. Edited by McCullough’s daughter, Dorie McCullough Lawson, and his longtime researcher, Michael Hill, History Matters is a tribute to a master historian and offers fresh insights into McCullough’s enduring interests and writing life. The book also features a foreword by Jon Meacham.
By: David McCullough, and others
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Undaunted Courage
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River, across the forbidding Rockies, and - by way of the Snake and the Columbia rivers - down to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, endured incredible hardships and witnessed astounding sights. With great perseverance, they worked their way into an unexplored West. When they returned two years later, they had long since been given up for dead.
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Narration kills a great book
- By Kindle Customer on 02-10-08
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The Great Bridge
- The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
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In the years around 1870, the concept of building a great bridge to span the East River between the cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn required a vision and determination comparable to that which went into the building of the pyramids. Throughout the fourteen years of the bridge's construction, the odds against its successful completion seemed staggering. Bodies were crushed and broken, lives were lost, political empires fell, and surges of public emotion constantly threatened the project.
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Very Poorly Abridged
- By Greg on 12-21-08
By: David McCullough
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The Greater Journey
- Americans in Paris, 1830-1900
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Abridged
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The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.
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Terrific book, terrible abridgement
- By Barbara on 06-21-11
By: David McCullough
What listeners say about The Pioneers
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- Mr. Lloyd, Esq.
- 05-15-19
Not his best
More a history of Ohio than the rest of the of the burgeoning Northwest Territory. Nary a mention of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
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32 people found this helpful
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- Sandra
- 05-16-19
Left me wanting more!
Terrific book, as are all of this author's
As usual, I wanted to hear more. Learn more, know more. This is a periodic history I've never really been exposed to before this and I truly felt drawn into the times, sights and surroundings. Perhaps that's because I'm a Massachisetts Yankee too. I could so easily picture the raditional buildings, speech and meals. John Bedford Lloyd's reading/performance was just perfect and added to my enjoyment! I would recommend this book highly
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24 people found this helpful
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- Eric
- 05-23-19
Dry and Little Boring
Learned some interesting things, but overall found the book dry and little boring. Rather listen to a Larry McMurtry novel taking place at the similar point in time.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 02-02-20
Written at an 8th grade reading level
This reads like a book report from middle school. Interesting history about development of Ohio. Be ready for a regurgitation of facts. The story is not gripping. Nothing in this book challenged me or caused me to think or ponder. Overall this book felt like a slog to me. Erik Larson could have done a better job of telling the story through the eyes of one of the main characters.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Joseph J. Venazindis
- 08-01-21
Slow and boring
I’ve read several other books by this author, but I struggled to finish this one. He seemed to zero in more on the slavery issue and less on the pioneers undertaking.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Dkc
- 02-08-22
Interesting but tedious
if you're from Ohio and familiar with the areas and families mentioned it's very interesting but otherwise tedious and boring. I thought it would cover more of an overall coverage of the movement west given the title and I love David McCullough but this was way to much on a narrow topic for me.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-21-24
Last Half Uneventful
Disappointed the author who may be the greatest narrator of his time didn't narrate. First half was great. Second half wasn't very eventful. Good book but below average for McCullough who is a great writer of history.
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1 person found this helpful
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- S.Daniel
- 11-10-19
Not So Great
Not written as interestingly as David McCullough’s other books....seemed to lack a central theme.
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1 person found this helpful
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- J. C. WOODS
- 02-14-20
Absolutely fascinating people and stories!
This was a phenomenal book, and it really put several things in perspective historically and tied together different lives and states and events in an amazing way. Highly recommended 😃
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- Nancy
- 06-30-19
What more can one say? This is yet another David McCullough Masterpiece and with superb narration too.
For those who are fans of David McCullough, “The Pioneers” will certainly not disappoint. He focuses here on the families encouraged by the call of opportunity to push West to the unknown wilderness just across the Ohio River into the Northwest Territory. Few anticipated and no one was prepared for what they would find and have to endure just to feed and protect themselves. Included are savage battles with Native Americans who justifiably pushed back as they faced the loss of their lands, but also the historic declaration that Slavery would be banned in the Northwest Territory. You’ll be taken back in history by some of the best narration I’ve heard.
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