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Franklin: The Essential Founding Father
- Narrated by: Robert Keiper
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
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Franklin: The Essential Founding Father
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Publisher's summary
Historian and biographer James Srodes tells Benjamin Franklin's incredible life story, making full use of the previously neglected Franklin papers to provide the most riveting account yet of the journalist, scientist, polilician, and unlikely adventurer. From London, Paris, Philadelphia to his numerous romantic liaisons, Franklin's life becomes a panorama of dramatic history.
Srodes contends that Benjamin Franklin is the one Founding Father who was irreplaceable, and that without Franklin, there would be no American independence. Srodes delivers a riveting narrative where Franklin faces his antagonist, John Adams, garners French financial and military backing for the revolution, and keeps America at the forefront with his inventions and mechanical advances.
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- By: Joel Richard Paul
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story5 out of 5 stars 25
Unlikely Allies is the story of three remarkable historical figures. Silas Deane was a Connecticut merchant and delegate to the Continental Congress as the American colonies struggled to break with England. Caron de Beaumarchais was a successful playwright who wrote The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love it
- By jenney on 05-17-11
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The Loyal Son
- The War in Ben Franklin's House
- By: Daniel Mark Epstein
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Ben Franklin is the most lovable of America's founding fathers. His wit, his charm, his inventiveness - even his grandfatherly appearance - are legendary. But this image obscures the scandals that dogged him throughout his life. In The Loyal Son, award-winning historian Daniel Mark Epstein throws the spotlight on one of the more enigmatic aspects of Franklin's biography: his complex and confounding relationship with his illegitimate son, William.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Gripping Narrative
- By Jean on 08-07-17
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James Madison
- A Life Reconsidered
- By: Lynne Cheney
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 713
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 642
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Story4 out of 5 stars 637
A major new biography of the fourth US president, from New York Times best-selling author Lynne Cheney. James Madison was a true genius of the early republic, the leader who did more than any other to create the nation we know today. This majestic new biography tells his story. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution. His visionary political philosophy was a crucial factor behind the Constitution’s ratification, and his political savvy was of major importance in getting the new government underway.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Great man, great ideas, muddling book
- By NDFletch on 06-13-15
By: Lynne Cheney
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The Making of America: Volume 1
- Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln
- By: Teri Kanefield
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Unlike other biographies, the Making of America series goes beyond individual narratives linking influential figures to create an overarching story of America's growth that will deepen understanding of the country we live in today. This bundle featuring Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson tells the story of American constitutional history from the founding of the nation through the end of the Civil War.
By: Teri Kanefield
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Apostles of Revolution
- Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and James Monroe were in the vanguard of revolutionary ideas in the 18th century. As founding fathers, they risked their lives for American independence, but they also wanted more. Each wished for profound changes in the political and social fabric of pre-1776 America and hoped that the American Revolution would spark republican and egalitarian revolutions throughout Europe, sweeping away the old aristocratic order. Ultimately, each rejoiced at the opportunity to be a part of the French Revolution, a cause that became increasingly untenable as idealism gave way to the bloody terror.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A bit of a challenging listen but well worth it
- By J. Parks on 09-20-21
By: John Ferling
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The Last Founding Father
- James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,039
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 903
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Story4 out of 5 stars 898
In this lively and compelling biography, Harlow Giles Unger reveals the dominant political figure of a generation. A fierce fighter in four critical Revolutionary War battles and a courageous survivor of Valley Forge and a near-fatal wound at the Battle of Trenton, James Monroe (1751 - 1831) went on to become America's first full-time politician, dedicating his life to securing America's national and international durability.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Readable, but more hero worship than history
- By Elaine Martin on 12-22-10
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Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,593
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,798
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,756
In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day
- By Darwin8u on 11-14-12
By: Jon Meacham
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For Liberty and Glory
- Washington, Lafayette, and Their Revolutions
- By: James R. Gaines
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
On April 18, 1775, a riot over the price of flour broke out in the French city of Dijon. That night, across the Atlantic, Paul Revere mounted the fastest horse he could find and kicked it into a gallop. So began what have been called the "sister revolutions" of France and America. In a single, thrilling narrative, this audiobook tells the story of those revolutions and shows just how deeply intertwined they actually were.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent presentation
- By Hal on 08-20-12
By: James R. Gaines
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Jefferson and Hamilton
- The Rivalry That Forged a Nation
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Bo Foxworth
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story5 out of 5 stars 29
The decade of the 1790s has been called the "age of passion". Fervor ran high as rival factions battled over the course of the new republic - each side convinced that the other's goals would betray the legacy of the Revolution so recently fought and so dearly won. All understood as well that what was at stake was not a moment's political advantage, but the future course of the American experiment in democracy. In this epochal debate, no two figures loomed larger than Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant
- By Laird Williams on 05-10-23
By: John Ferling
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Revolution Song
- A Story of American Freedom
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 190
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
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Story5 out of 5 stars 170
From the author of the acclaimed history The Island at the Center of the World, an intimate new epic of the American Revolution that reinforces its meaning for today. With America's founding principles being debated today as never before, Russell Shorto looks back to the era in which those principles were forged. Drawing on new sources, he weaves the lives of six people into a seamless narrative that casts fresh light on the range of experience in colonial America on the cusp of revolution.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An inspiring book
- By Frank on 08-27-18
By: Russell Shorto
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An Empire on the Edge
- How Britain Came to Fight America
- By: Nick Bunker
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 134
The story of the American Revolution told from the unique perspective of British Parliament and the streets of London, rather than that of the Colonies. Here, Nick Bunker explores and illuminates the dramatic chain of events that led to the outbreak of the war-revealing a tale of muddle, mistakes, and misunderstandings by men in London that led to the Boston tea party and then to the decision to send redcoats into action against the minutemen.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hard to put down
- By Mike From Mesa on 03-07-15
By: Nick Bunker
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Washington's Circle
- The Creation of the President
- By: David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In Washington's Circle, David and Jeanne Heidler introduce not just the president but the group of extraordinary men who advised him. The familiar names are here, like the often irked and occasionally irksome John Adams, the scheming Alexander Hamilton, and the prodigiously talented James "Jemmy" Madison, but so are the lesser known Edmund Randolph, John Jay, and Gouverneur Morris. Washington's choices of whom to listen to, for better and sometimes worse, were as consequential as the advice his cabinet gave.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Enlightening
- By Morgan on 06-04-18
By: David S. Heidler, and others
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James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 261
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 222
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Story4 out of 5 stars 221
Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
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4 out of 5 stars
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OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12