These Truths

A History of the United States

De: Jill Lepore

Narrado por: Jill Lepore

In the most ambitious one-volume American history in decades, award-winning historian Jill Lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation. The American experiment rests on three ideas - "these truths", Jefferson called them - political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. And it rests, too, "[O]n a dedication to inquiry, fearless and unflinching", writes Jill Lepore in a groundbreaking investigation into the American past that places truth itself at the center of the nation's history.

In riveting prose, These Truths tells the story of America, beginning in 1492, to ask whether the course of events has proven the nation's founding truths or belied them.

"A nation born in contradiction, liberty in a land of slavery, sovereignty in a land of conquest, will fight, forever, over the meaning of its history", Lepore writes, finding meaning in those very contradictions as she weaves American history into a majestic tapestry of faith and hope, of peril and prosperity, of technological progress and moral anguish.

A spellbinding chronicle filled with arresting sketches of Americans from John Winthrop and Frederick Douglass to Pauli Murray and Phyllis Schlafly, These Truths offers an authoritative new history of a great, and greatly troubled, nation.

©2018 Jill Lepore (P)2018 Recorded Books

The narrator is not easy to listen to

I had to give up on this. The content is good, but the narrator ranges too far between a shout and a whisper It's painful. Had to return it.

This is a book to read, not listen to.

The book is great, the reading not so great. The author sometimes reads too fast or varies from a loud high pitch to a low murmur making it a grating experience. The insights, the organization, and the detail, however, make it worthwhile.

Please! Let a professional read!

Almost unlistenable. Sorry Jill, but you should stick to writing, not performing. The volume was so uneven, it needed constant adjusting. Every quote was acted out ludicrously. Cringeworthy.

Excellent historian, mediocre reader!

Jill Lepore's history of the U.S. is well worth the read, but the listening experience was challenging for me. She tends to shout her quotations and swallow the end of her sentences. I maintain that unless authors also are trained in voice performance (e.g., the author who is also an actor), they should think twice before reading their own works. The dozens of hours that Professor Lepore spent performing her history for Audible readers would had been better spent researching her next book or article.

Outstanding writing and research; poorly narrated

I tried my best to listen to the entire book, which I found very compelling and well written, as is to be expected from Jill Lepore. But the manner in which she reads her book is hard to tolerate. She reads her own text calmly, thoughtfully, and authoritatively. When it comes to reading quoted material, her voice and tone change completely and the narration becomes shrill, very rushed and breathless, and almost unbearable to listen to. This distracts from the excellent content. Regrettably, I could not finish listening to the book because of this. I might have to borrow a copy from a library if I want to finish the book.