• The Greater Journey

  • Americans in Paris
  • By: David McCullough
  • Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
  • Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (3,386 ratings)

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The Greater Journey  By  cover art

The Greater Journey

By: David McCullough
Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
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Publisher's summary

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.

After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked on a greater journey in the City of Light. Most had never left home, never experienced a different culture. None had any guarantee of success. That they achieved so much for themselves and their country profoundly altered American history.

As David McCullough writes, “Not all pioneers went west.”

Nearly all of the Americans profiled here - including Elizabeth Blackwell, James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Harriet Beecher Stowe - whatever their troubles learning French, their spells of homesickness, and their suffering in the raw cold winters by the Seine, spent many of the happiest days and nights of their lives in Paris. McCullough tells this sweeping, fascinating story with power and intimacy, bringing us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens’s phrase, longed “to soar into the blue”. The Greater Journey is itself a masterpiece.

©2011 David McCullough (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about The Greater Journey

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    4 out of 5 stars
  • BB
  • 09-07-11

Starts strong, finishes weaker

As with all of McCullough's books, "The Greater Journey" is filled with memorable characters--James Fennimore Cooper; Samuel B. Morse; Augustus St. Gaudens; and best of all, Elihu Washburne, the hero of the siege of Paris. McCullough's material here lacks the same strong narrative thread that makes works like "1776" and "Truman" as irresistable as potato chips. Instead, there are several narrative clusters: Cooper and Morse, which is full of quotes from wonderful letters and diaries; Washburne's time as ambassador, which will make you proud to be an American and amazed that his name is not better known; and the artists of the late 19th century, such as St. Gaudens, Whistler, and Cassatt. The first two clusters are fascinating; the last merely interesting--and the end a weak fade-out. But it's still far better than 90% of the other history audiobooks on this site, and Edward Herrmann is McCullough's best reader (after Nelson Runger).

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Another great McCullough book

Entertaining and informative, this book is a delight. I enjoyed learning about Paris as much as I did learning about the American's who lived and learned there.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Pedestrian

Biographies interspersed with a history of Paris. Where Americans participated in the history of Paris, excitement infused the narrative. However, much of the rest was given over to accounts of pedestrian (with some notable exceptions) lives of Americans in Paris coupled with overly detailed descriptions of their furniture. That’s how it felt.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

Mr. McCullough takes a subject for which I had little interest, Paris, and with his singular talent for story telling, made it fascinating.

The book provides insightful mini-biographies of numerous important Americans; James Fenimore Cooper, Samuel Morse, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and more. I learned much about their lives and contributions.

I also learned why Paris of the 19th Century was so important and soulfully educational to those who ventured there. Even those who felt Paris unimportant, such as Henry Adams, discovered it was.

You won’t regret the time taken to read or listen!

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  • Rj
  • 11-27-17

Excellent book

The Greater Journey is a well written book and narrated to perfection. David McCullough is the Master of historical events.

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19th Century Euro-American Gossip

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A discussion of the ideas that drove the tumultuous 19th century in France and the Americans' reactions to and against those ideas

What was most disappointing about David McCullough’s story?

The absence of the American's view of the seminal events of the 19th century in France: the worker's revolts, the Paris commune, the Dreyfus affair, the effects of Pasteur and P.C.A. Louis on American medical training and practice, the evolution of the wine industry and its restitution by American (Californian) rootstock, the origins of the Franco-Prussian war and the obsession with foreigners as spies (leading to the Dreyfus Affair and anti-semitism during the 20th century), the Algerian issues. There were many topics left out which Americans either participated in or were affected by.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

His prononciation of French was poor and that detracted from the impact of the story

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Greater Journey?

The discussions of Parisian fashion.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An interesting easy read

If you could sum up The Greater Journey in three words, what would they be?

Highlights an interesting aspect of American history that I'd never heard before. A very pleasant and easy listen for times when I don't want to have to concentrate.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Marvelous Stories

We (my wife and I) loved everything about this book. We bought the hard back print edition and then I purchased the Audible version to listen to as I read the hard copy. The narration, by Edward Herrmann, is perfection. Herrmann always had a terrific voice and his pronunciation of the many French terms and names was more than helpful. I highly recommend The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, especially to anyone interested in the arts, Paris, and France in general. McCullough's research, as always, was exceptionally thorough.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Facinating!

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but I love historic fiction...but this was not historic fiction, this was better! It reads like a documentary detailing the lives of famous Americans and their Parisian journeys of the 19th century. McCullough does a great job compiling so much information to draw an extraordinary picture of the lives of these people and Herrmann lends his incredible voice for the listener to embark on this incredible journey! Thank you both!

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    5 out of 5 stars

Paris is always Inviting

If you could sum up The Greater Journey in three words, what would they be?

I've been to Paris and seen the museums, walked many of the streets mentioned and loved visiting Paris and hope to go back again. This wonderful book, beautifully narrated brought back many fond memories and gave me a much greater historical look at Paris which I had never known about but found absolutely fascinating.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Greater Journey?

Finding out about the plague and the Franco Prussian war.

What about Edward Herrmann’s performance did you like?

He was the perfect person to narrate this book as he has a wide range of tone and emphasis needed for the numerous and various scenes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it at night before I went to bed.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend this book, one of the best every audible books I've listened to of late.

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