A Confederacy of Dumptys
Portraits of American Scoundrels in Verse
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A Confederacy of Dumptys
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Narrated by:
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John Lithgow
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By:
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John Lithgow
About this listen
The next book in John Lithgow's New York Times best-selling series
Following the success of New York Times best sellers Dumpty and Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown, award-winning actor, author, and illustrator John Lithgow presents the third book in his runaway hit series. A Confederacy of Dumptys takes us through a history of 25 "American Scoundrels" in this all-new collection of Lithgow's satirical poems.
While the Trump Era was rife with corruption and abuse of power, it was nothing new. Through Lithgow's cutting humor, you will hear about a rogues' gallery of villains that came before Donald J. Trump, powerful men and women who were corrupt, venal, criminal, adulterous, racist, or just plain disgusting. With dark and lyrical stories from across American history, you will learn about long-forgotten figures and bad actors of today, including the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, the perpetrator of 19th-century women's pyramid schemes, and participants in both the Watergate scandal and the Capitol insurrection. Trump and Nixon show up, of course, but also Leona Helmsley, Boss Tweed, Typhoid Mary, Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz, and many more. Skipping through time, and delivered with classic Lithgow wit and style, A Confederacy of Dumptys is an exuberant reminder of how not to repeat history.
Digital audio edition read by the author.
The perfect book for:
- Political satire fans - viewers of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
- American history buffs and trivia enthusiasts - listeners of Jon Stewart's America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction and Josh Clark's Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things.
- Poetry aficionados.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
American populism has always been home to a fascinating assortment of charismatic leaders, characters, kooks, cranks, and sometimes charlatans who have led the charge of ordinary folks who have gotten wise to the ways of the swamp. Every Man a King tells the stories of America's populist leaders, from Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt to Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, and Donald Trump. It is a rollicking history of an American attitude that has shaped not only our current moment, but also the long struggle over who gets to define the truths we hold to be self evident.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Education delivered in a most entertaining way.
- By Snaps And Snippets on 09-17-18
By: Chris Stirewalt
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Beautiful Country Burn Again
- Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution
- By: Ben Fountain
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Beautiful Country Burn Again narrates a shocking year in American politics, moving from the early days of the Iowa Caucus to the crystalizing moments of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and culminating in the aftershocks of the weeks following election night. Along the way, Fountain probes deeply into history, illuminating the forces and watershed moments of the past that mirror and precipitated the present, from the hollowed-out notion of the American Dream, to Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy, to the cult of celebrity that gave rise to Donald Trump.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Must read
- By Gerald Moore on 11-01-18
By: Ben Fountain
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Star-Spangled Men
- America's Ten Worst Presidents
- By: Nathan Miller
- Narrated by: Andy Caploe
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Picking America's best presidents is easy. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt usually lead the list. But choosing the nation's worst presidents requires more thought. In Star-Spangled Men, respected presidential biographer Nathan Miller puts on display those leaders who were abject failures as chief executive. With pointed humor and a deft hand, he presents a rogues' gallery of the men who dropped the presidential ball, and sometimes their pants as well.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining and factual
- By Sean on 10-25-14
By: Nathan Miller
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Big Wonderful Thing
- By: Stephen Harrigan
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story5 out of 5 stars 84
The story of Texas is the story of struggle and triumph in a land of extremes. It is a story of drought and flood, invasion and war, boom and bust, and of the myriad peoples who, over centuries of conflict, gave rise to a place that has helped shape the identity of the United States and the destiny of the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Guidall is in top form with very good material
- By Elizabeth on 12-22-19
By: Stephen Harrigan
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Better than Sex
- By: Hunter S. Thompson
- Narrated by: Scott Sowers
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
A pioneer of the New Journalism movement, Hunter S. Thompson wrote with a fire that captured the attention of millions. Here Thompson delivers a mind-bending view of the 1992 presidential race, packed with all the horror, sacrifice, lust, and glory that made this campaign so utterly fascinating.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Classic for One Chapter
- By Michael Friedman on 12-08-12
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Beale Street Dynasty
- Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis
- By: Preston Lauterbach
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Following the Civil War, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, thrived as a cauldron of sex and song, violence and passion. But out of this turmoil emerged a center of black progress, optimism, and cultural ferment. Preston Lauterbach tells this vivid, fascinating story through the multigenerational saga of a family whose ambition, race pride, and moral complexity indelibly shaped the city that would loom so large in American life.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Narration Speed...It's Half the Battle
- By B. Westman on 03-21-17
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After the Civil War
- The Heroes, Villains, Soldiers, and Civilians Who Changed America
- By: James Robertson
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 410
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 372
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 369
Returning to the turbulent days of a nation divided, best-selling author and acclaimed historian James Robertson explores 70 fascinating figures who shaped America during Reconstruction and beyond. Relentless politicians, intrepid fighters, cunning innovators - the times called for bold moves, and this resilient generation would not disappoint.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Just a southern lost cause book
- By Russell Hansen on 03-24-21
By: James Robertson
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Jesse James
- Last Rebel of the Civil War
- By: T. J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 18 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 177
In this brilliant biography T. J. Stiles offers a new understanding of the legendary outlaw Jesse James. Although he has often been portrayed as a Robin Hood of the old west, in this ground-breaking work Stiles places James within the context of the bloody conflicts of the Civil War to reveal a much more complicated and significant figure.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Borderline woke retelling of the era JJ live in
- By Rodney on 08-24-22
By: T. J. Stiles
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1932
- The Rise of Hitler and FDR - Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny
- By: David Pietrusza
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Two Depression-battered nations confronted destiny in 1932, going to the polls in their own way to anoint new leaders, to rescue their people from starvation and hopelessness. America would elect a Congress and a president - ebullient aristocrat Franklin Roosevelt or tarnished "Wonder Boy" Herbert Hoover. Decadent, divided Weimar Germany faced two rounds of bloody Reichstag elections and two presidential contests - doddering reactionary Paul von Hindenburg against rising radical hate-monger Adolf Hitler.
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1 out of 5 stars
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What a waste of time
- By Pam Sullivan on 07-06-19
By: David Pietrusza
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Empire of Mud
- The Secret History of Washington, DC
- By: J. D. Dickey
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 144
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 143
Washington, DC, gleams with stately columns and neoclassical temples, a pulsing hub of political power and prowess. But for decades it was one of the worst excuses for a capital city the world had ever seen. Empire of Mud unearths and untangles the roots of our capital’s story and explores how the city was tainted from the outset, nearly stifled from becoming the proud citadel of the republic that George Washington and Pierre L’Enfant envisioned more than two centuries ago.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not what I thought
- By William Elliott on 09-30-20
By: J. D. Dickey
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Rome's Last Citizen
- The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 281
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 284
Marcus Porcius Cato: aristocrat who walked barefoot and slept on the ground with his troops, political heavyweight who cultivated the image of a Stoic philosopher, a hardnosed defender of tradition who presented himself as a man out of the sacred Roman past-and the last man standing when Rome's Republic fell to tyranny. His blood feud with Caesar began in the chamber of the Senate, played out on the battlefields of a world war, and ended when he took his own life rather than live under a dictator.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Unfortunate
- By Olivia N. on 11-06-20
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life
- By: Jeff Wilser
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story5 out of 5 stars 89
Two centuries after his death, Alexander Hamilton is shining once more under America's spotlight - and we need him now more than ever. Orphaned as a kid, this young, scrappy, and hungry self-starter came from nothing and then helped win the Revolutionary War, created the country's financial system, seduced New York's most eligible ladies, ratified the Constitution, and landed his face on our $10 bill. (In his spare time he also formed the Coast Guard and the US Mint.) He is the ultimate underdog.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing
- By Robert McGrorty on 02-27-19
By: Jeff Wilser
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Every Drop of Blood
- Hatred and Healing at Lincoln's Second Inauguration
- By: Edward Achorn
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 194
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans. After a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washington’s Capitol grounds that day to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation by arguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the war’s unimaginable horrors - every drop of blood spilled - might well have been God’s just verdict on the national sin of slavery.
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5 out of 5 stars
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New and fascinating
- By Clark Booth on 07-19-20
By: Edward Achorn
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The Mexican Revolution
- A Captivating Guide to the Mexican Civil War and How Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata Impacted Mexico
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
The Mexican Revolution was a defining moment of the 20th century. The Mexican fight for democracy, equality, and justice sent shockwaves around the world. No other episode in its history has left a deeper mark. It is a three-act drama full of politics, persecution, and war, not to mention earthquakes, signs in the sky, and even spiritualist sessions, while being populated by larger-than-life villains, international spies, and the universally known figures of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Don’t have readers who speak Spanish - It’s the LAW!
- By James C on 06-26-21
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Crimes and Cover-ups in American Politics
- 1776-1963
- By: Donald Jeffries, Ron Paul - foreword
- Narrated by: Lars Mikaelson
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 151
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 152
Jeffries spares no one and nothing in this explosive new book. The atrocities of Union troops during the Civil War, and Allied troops during World War II, are documented in great detail. The Nuremberg Trials are presented as the antithesis of justice. In the follow-up to his previous, bestselling book Hidden History: An Exposé of Modern Crimes, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups in American Politics, Jeffries demonstrates that crimes, corruption, and conspiracies didn't start with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Southern apologetic nonesense
- By Amazon Customer on 07-26-20
By: Donald Jeffries, and others
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Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan
- The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate
- By: Rick Bowers
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
Journalist Rick Bowers has contributed to Time, The Washington Post, and USA Today, and his fascinating Spies of Mississippi—about the spy network that tried to take down the Civil Rights Movement—earned a starred review from Booklist. Here, Bowers examines how, in the late 1940s, The Adventures of Superman radio show struck a powerful blow to the Ku Klux Klan when Superman aired episodes pitting the hero against the Klan in an effort to teach young listeners to stand up to bigotry.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The willingness to visit the truth
- By David Alexander McDonald on 03-13-24
By: Rick Bowers