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Alistair Cooke's America
- Narrated by: Peter Marinker
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
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Publisher's Summary
For year’s legendary broadcaster Alistair Cooke brought America to the rest of the world with incomparable wit and wisdom. This is his classic ‘personal history’ of America, guiding us through centuries of changing life in the USA.
Beginning with his own arrival in America as a graduate in the 1930s, Alistair Cooke discusses the explorers who put their new-found land on the map, the pioneers who tamed the Wild West, the soldiers who fought for independence and the tycoons who built fortunes. From the Mayflower to the gold rush, the jazz age to Pearl Harbour, with figures as varied as Buffalo Bill, John D. Rockefeller and Martin Luther King, here is the defining portrait of America.
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What listeners say about Alistair Cooke's America
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Caroline Vickers
- 08-27-16
Alastair Cook's America
love it. great narrator would like the story to continue 2 2016 and Beyond thanks
1 person found this helpful
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Overall

- steven
- 03-18-12
It takes a Pom to write the definitive USA history
Cooke has gained worldwide fame for his splendid weekly "Letter from America" which lasted for many decades. In this book he provides a succinct yet masterfully insightful panorama of America history from pre-Columbus to about 1970. It was based on a TV series he made for the BBC. He has the gift of vision and discrimination - he can cut through the glory a folk hero and an assassinated president while shining a worthy spotlight on neglected characters who are somehow less appealing to the modern American psyche. The narrator is superb and captures Cooke's style and eloquence quite brilliantly. Cooke is said never to have written a poor sentence, and that statement is proven yet again. Eminently listenable and thoroughly enjoyable. I only wish he had not stopped in 1970.
2 people found this helpful
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- steven gomersal
- 06-03-22
Your sat by the radio leaning in to listen, again.
A reminder of great storytelling . Cooke a man who met a man who fought in the Civil war spans the generations to let you in personally as if you encountered him yourself today.
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- Steven
- 12-02-16
A beautifully crafted history of America
A total delight that despite its 30+ year vintage poses questions that are as relevant now as they were then. A recommended listen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-29-16
brilliant comprehensive personal histoty
gripping history from amazing storyteller. I have also listened to his letters from america. a legend.
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- Esther
- 11-05-14
Beautiful written and read
As an avid listener to Letter from America (broadcast in the sixties and seventies, I was eager to listen to this book and was not disappointed. It tells the fascinating story of the discovery and colonisation of the US, the formulation of its constitution and its rise to economic power. Beautifully written and read in Cooke's own lyrical tones. Lovely
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- Julia Brown
- 12-28-12
Boring
I don't know much about American history and thought this book would be interesting. But I got lost very quickly and found it dull in parts. I gave up in the end.
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Overall

- D Dolling
- 12-23-12
Dragged on a bit
I really enjoyed the first half of this book looking at the early history and founding of America but by the time we reached the 20th Century it started to drag. This is curious because this is the period of history that Alistair Cooke actually lived through but I don't feel he brought that much to this section in personal experience. The epilogue, a curious rant against consumerism felt out of place. Narration was solid, but not the sort of voice I'd seek out for any other work.
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An inspiring book
- By Frank on 08-27-18
By: Russell Shorto
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The Island at the Center of the World
- The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In a landmark work of history, Russell Shorto presents astonishing information on the founding of our nation and reveals in riveting detail the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today.
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Incomplete history, but fun. Performance is poor.
- By Matthew on 11-27-18
By: Russell Shorto
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The British Empire
- By: Stephen W. Sears
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 30 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the story of how the English acquired their vast domain; how they ruled, maintained, and exploited it; and how, within decades, they presided over its dissolution. Here are Britain's triumphs and also her stinging defeats, her heroes and her scoundrels. It is a full and fascinating chronicle of the growth of the British Empire and its people and of the impact that empire had on the rest of the world.
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Interesting but anti western civilization
- By Jeremy Martineau on 10-16-20
By: Stephen W. Sears
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The Age of Gold
- The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River, it completely transformed the territory of California. Hundreds of thousands of people sped to California by any means possible, and small cities sprung up to service their needs as they sought the precious metal. By 1850, California had become a state; it had also become a symbol of where the nation was going.
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Very Enjoyable
- By Claire on 01-15-04
By: H.W. Brands
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King Leopold's Ghost
- A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In the late 1890s, Edmund Dene Morel, a young British shipping company agent, noticed something strange about the cargoes of his company's ships as they arrived from and departed for the Congo. Incoming ships were crammed with valuable ivory and rubber. Outbound ships carried little more than soldiers and firearms. Correctly concluding that only slave labor could account for these cargoes, Morel almost singlehandedly made this slave-labor regime the premier human rights story in the world.
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Fascinating
- By Edith on 01-20-11
By: Adam Hochschild
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The New Nation
- A History of US, Book 4
- By: Joy Hakim
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with George Washington's inauguration and continuing into the nineteenth century, The New Nation tells the story of the remarkable challenges that the new country faced. Thomas Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana Territory (bought from France at a mere four cents an acre!), Lewis and Clark's daring expedition through the wilderness, the War of 1812, and more.
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Wonderful US History; book 4 particularly good
- By EmilyK on 08-10-14
By: Joy Hakim
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The Paradox of Jamestown
- 1585-1700
- By: Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier
- Narrated by: Jim Manchester
- Length: 1 hr and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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> The Paradox of Jamestown discusses the circumstances surrounding English colonization of Virginia and the evolution of slavery in that colony. Beginning with an examination of 16th- and 17th-century life in England, the authors explain many of the reasons - social, political, religious, and economic - people chose to leave the Old World for a new life in the Americas. They describe the early interactions between the settlers and the Indians, the difficulties those groups had in establishing cooperative relationships, and the many difficulties the settlers had in adjusting to life in the New World.
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poorly Accurate
- By Bertie on 12-02-20
By: Christopher Collier, and others
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A Different Mirror
- A History of Multicultural America
- By: Ronald Takaki
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 18 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Upon its first publication, A Different Mirror was hailed by critics and academics everywhere as a dramatic new retelling of our nation's past. Beginning with the colonization of the New World, it recounts the history of America in the voice of the non-Anglo peoples of the United States---Native Americans, African Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and others---groups who helped create this country's rich mosaic culture.
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All mirrors distort
- By Michael on 04-02-17
By: Ronald Takaki
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David Crockett: The Lion of the West
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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His name was David Crockett. He never signed his name any other way, but popular culture transformed his memory into "Davy Crockett", and Hollywood gave him a raccoon hat he hardly ever wore. Best-selling historian Michael Wallis casts a fresh look at the frontiersman, storyteller, and politician behind these legendary stories.
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Author is very bias.
- By Michael on 05-31-12
By: Michael Wallis
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Empire
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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Not Balanced till Conclusion
- By Hectoris on 08-13-20
By: Niall Ferguson
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Bury the Chains
- Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In early 1787, 12 men - a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slavery - came together in a London printing shop and began a remarkable grass-roots movement, battling for the rights of people on another continent. Masterfully stoking public opinion, the movement's leaders pioneered a variety of techniques that have been adopted by citizens' movements ever since, from consumer boycotts to wall posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements.