-
Calhoun
- American Heretic
- Narrated by: Rick Perez
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Calhoun
Buy for $35.09
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
A new biography of the intellectual father of Southern secession - the man who set the scene for the Civil War, and whose political legacy still shapes America today.
John C. Calhoun is among the most notorious and enigmatic figures in American political history. First elected to Congress in 1810, Calhoun went on to serve as secretary of war and vice president. But he is perhaps most known for arguing in favor of slavery as a "positive good" and for his famous doctrine of "state interposition", which laid the groundwork for the South to secede from the Union - and arguably set the nation on course for civil war.
Calhoun has catapulted back into the public eye in recent years, as the strain of radical politics he developed has found expression once again in the tactics and extremism of the modern Far Right. In this revelatory biographical study, historian Robert Elder shows that Calhoun is crucial for understanding the political climate in which we find ourselves today. By excising him from the mainstream of American history, we have been left with a distorted understanding of our past and no way to explain our present.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Dr. Benjamin Rush
- The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
A revealing biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush - fiery signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent physician, ardent politician, zealous social reformer, passionate humanitarian, and dedicated educator. Known primarily as America's most influential and leading physician, Rush was also among the first to call for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, free education and health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation facilities, an end to child labor, and universal public education, among other causes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Great Humanitarian
- By Jean on 10-08-19
-
Napoleon
- A Life
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-01-19
By: Adam Zamoyski
-
Philip and Alexander
- Kings and Conquerors
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Neil Dickson
- Length: 20 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 452
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 389
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 388
This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world - and their rise and fall from power.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narrator
- By Anonymous User on 01-05-21
-
The Ministry of Truth
- The Biography of George Orwell's 1984
- By: Dorian Lynskey
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
1984 isn't just a novel; it's a key to understanding the modern world. George Orwell's final work is a treasure chest of ideas and memes - Big Brother, the Thought Police, Doublethink, Newspeak, 2+2=5 - that gain potency with every year. Particularly in 2016, when the election of Donald Trump made it a best seller ("Ministry of Alternative Facts", anyone?).
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
words from MY mouth...
- By Amazon Customer on 08-02-19
By: Dorian Lynskey
-
Democracy Awakening
- Notes on the State of America
- By: Heather Cox Richardson
- Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,015
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 922
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 922
At a time when the very foundations of American democracy seem under threat, the lessons of the past offer a road map for navigating a moment of political crisis. In Democracy Awakening, acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson delves into the tumultuous journey of American democracy, tracing the roots of Donald Trump’s “authoritarian experiment” to the earliest days of the republic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We’d be in a much better position if everyone read this
- By Jeffrey Schwartz on 10-01-23
-
Heirs of the Founders
- The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 602
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 540
In the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Jean on 12-04-18
By: H. W. Brands
-
Dr. Benjamin Rush
- The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
A revealing biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush - fiery signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent physician, ardent politician, zealous social reformer, passionate humanitarian, and dedicated educator. Known primarily as America's most influential and leading physician, Rush was also among the first to call for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, free education and health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation facilities, an end to child labor, and universal public education, among other causes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Great Humanitarian
- By Jean on 10-08-19
-
Napoleon
- A Life
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-01-19
By: Adam Zamoyski
-
Philip and Alexander
- Kings and Conquerors
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Neil Dickson
- Length: 20 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 452
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 389
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 388
This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world - and their rise and fall from power.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narrator
- By Anonymous User on 01-05-21
-
The Ministry of Truth
- The Biography of George Orwell's 1984
- By: Dorian Lynskey
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
1984 isn't just a novel; it's a key to understanding the modern world. George Orwell's final work is a treasure chest of ideas and memes - Big Brother, the Thought Police, Doublethink, Newspeak, 2+2=5 - that gain potency with every year. Particularly in 2016, when the election of Donald Trump made it a best seller ("Ministry of Alternative Facts", anyone?).
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
words from MY mouth...
- By Amazon Customer on 08-02-19
By: Dorian Lynskey
-
Democracy Awakening
- Notes on the State of America
- By: Heather Cox Richardson
- Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,015
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 922
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 922
At a time when the very foundations of American democracy seem under threat, the lessons of the past offer a road map for navigating a moment of political crisis. In Democracy Awakening, acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson delves into the tumultuous journey of American democracy, tracing the roots of Donald Trump’s “authoritarian experiment” to the earliest days of the republic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We’d be in a much better position if everyone read this
- By Jeffrey Schwartz on 10-01-23
-
Heirs of the Founders
- The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 602
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 540
In the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Jean on 12-04-18
By: H. W. Brands
-
A Man of Iron
- The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland
- By: Troy Senik
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli, Troy Senik
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 213
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 185
Grover Cleveland’s political career—a dizzying journey that saw him rise from obscure lawyer to president of the United States in just three years—was marked by contradictions. A politician of uncharacteristic honesty and principle, he was nevertheless dogged by secrets from his personal life. A believer in limited government, he pushed presidential power to its limits to combat a crippling depression, suppress labor unrest, and resist the forces of American imperialism.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the Wait!
- By Brian S Cunningham on 09-21-22
By: Troy Senik
-
Behind the Throne
- A Domestic History of the British Royal Household
- By: Adrian Tinniswood
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 198
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 197
In Behind the Throne, historian Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking the listener on a remarkable journey from one Queen Elizabeth to another and exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads: the power struggles and petty rivalries, the tension between duty and desire, the practicalities of cooking dinner for thousands and of ensuring the king always won when he played a game of tennis.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Worthwhile
- By G. Cole on 12-13-18
-
The Impending Crisis
- America Before the Civil War: 1848-1861
- By: David M. Potter, Don E. Fehrenbacher
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 569
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 482
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 482
David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern secession.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A Slog for Sure
- By Brux on 04-13-17
By: David M. Potter, and others
-
Henry Clay
- The Essential American
- By: David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 30 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
He was the Great Compromiser, a canny and colorful legislator whose life mirrors the story of America from its founding until the eve of the Civil War. Speaker of the House, senator, secretary of state, five-time presidential candidate, and idol to the young Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is captured in full at last in this rich and sweeping biography.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
"probably" "possibly" "maybe" "could have"
- By Thor Finn on 08-10-18
By: David S. Heidler, and others
-
The Last Leonardo
- The Secret Lives of the World's Most Expensive Painting
- By: Ben Lewis
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 177
In 2017, Leonardo da Vinci’s small oil painting the Salvator Mundi was sold at auction. In the words of its discoverer, the image of Christ as savior of the world is “the rarest thing on the planet.” Its $450 million sale price also makes it the world’s most expensive painting. For two centuries, art dealers had searched in vain for the Holy Grail of art history: a portrait of Christ as the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. Many similar paintings of greatly varying quality had been executed by Leonardo’s assistants in the early 16th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Definitely makes you think.
- By John Galt on 04-20-21
By: Ben Lewis
-
Jefferson
- Architect of American Liberty
- By: John B. Boles
- Narrated by: Michael Johnson
- Length: 24 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 257
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
From an eminent scholar of the American South, the first full-scale biography of Thomas Jefferson since 1970. Not since Merrill Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation has a scholar attempted to write a comprehensive biography of the most complex Founding Father. In Jefferson, John B. Boles plumbs every facet of Thomas Jefferson's life, all while situating him amid the sweeping upheaval of his times. We meet Jefferson the politician and political thinker - as well as Jefferson the architect, scientist, bibliophile, paleontologist, musician, and gourmet.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Makes Jefferson Human
- By MichaelBuffalo on 06-23-20
By: John B. Boles
-
The Seeds of Life
- From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Why cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes.Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics: Men and women had sex, and sometimes babies followed. But beyond that the origins of life were a colossal mystery. The Seeds of Life is the remarkable and rollicking story of how a series of blundering geniuses and brilliant amateurs struggled for two centuries to discover where, exactly, babies come from.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outrageously entertaining and boldly informative
- By Andrea on 03-06-18
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Indivisible
- Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism
- By: Joel Richard Paul
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 21 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 21
When the United States was founded in 1776, its citizens didn’t think of themselves as “Americans.” They were New Yorkers or Virginians or Pennsylvanians. It was decades later that the seeds of American nationalism—identifying with one’s own nation and supporting its broader interests—began to take root. But what kind of nationalism should Americans embrace? The state-focused and racist nationalism of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson? Or the belief that the US Constitution made all Americans one nation, indivisible, which Daniel Webster and others espoused?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Author very biased
- By Richard Wayne Feller on 02-05-23
-
The Last King of America
- The Misunderstood Reign of George III
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: Phillipe Stevens
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 412
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 411
Most Americans dismiss George III as a buffoon - a heartless and terrible monarch with few, if any, redeeming qualities. The best-known modern interpretation of him is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting, and pompous take in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of 18th-century revolutionaries. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic .. a proud defense of George III
- By Wyatt on 11-12-21
By: Andrew Roberts
-
The Mirage Factory
- Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 282
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 282
Little more than a century ago, the southern coast of California - bone-dry, harbor-less, isolated by deserts and mountain ranges - seemed destined to remain scrappy farmland. Then, as if overnight, one of the world’s iconic cities emerged. At the heart of Los Angeles’ meteoric rise were three flawed visionaries: William Mulholland, an immigrant ditch-digger turned self-taught engineer; D.W. Griffith, who transformed the motion picture from a vaudeville-house novelty into a cornerstone of American culture; and Aimee Semple McPherson, a charismatic evangelist.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great start, weak completion
- By steve on 05-11-21
By: Gary Krist
-
Crucible of War
- The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
- By: Fred Anderson
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 29 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 620
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 535
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 538
In this vivid and compelling narrative, the Seven Years' War - long seen as a mere backdrop to the American Revolution - takes on a whole new significance. Relating the history of the war as it developed, Anderson shows how the complex array of forces brought into conflict helped both to create Britain's empire and to sow the seeds of its eventual dissolution. Beginning with a skirmish in the Pennsylvania backcountry involving an inexperienced George Washington, the Iroquois chief Tanaghrisson, and the ill-fated French emissary Jumonville, Anderson reveals a chain of events that would lead to world conflagration.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Detailed History
- By Daniel on 07-15-18
By: Fred Anderson
-
The Great Dissenter
- The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero
- By: Peter S. Canellos
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 214
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 196
They say that history is written by the victors. But not in the case of the most famous dissenter on the Supreme Court. Almost a century after his death, John Marshall Harlan’s words helped end segregation and gave us our civil rights and our modern economic freedom. But his legacy would not have been possible without the courage of Robert Harlan, a slave who John’s father raised like a son in the same household.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good and necessary book, BUT WHY THE BEEPS??!
- By aaron on 09-06-21
Related to this topic
-
James Madison
- America's First Politician
- By: Jay Cost
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Good listen
- By James Shannon on 06-27-22
By: Jay Cost
-
John Tyler, the Accidental President
- By: Edward P. Crapol
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 181
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 163
The first vice president to become president on the death of the incumbent, John Tyler (1790-1862) was derided by critics as "His Accidency." In this biography of the 10th president, Edward P. Crapol challenges depictions of Tyler as a die-hard advocate of states' rights, limited government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Instead, he argues, Tyler manipulated the Constitution to increase the executive power of the presidency. Crapol also highlights Tyler's faith in America's national destiny and his belief in boundless territorial expansion.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible book :( Incredibly TEDIOUS.
- By Mike on 10-02-19
By: Edward P. Crapol
-
Fears of a Setting Sun
- The Disillusionment of America's Founders
- By: Dennis C. Rasmussen
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Americans seldom deify their Founding Fathers any longer, but they do still tend to venerate the Constitution and the republican government that the founders created. Strikingly, the founders themselves were far less confident in what they had wrought, particularly by the end of their lives. In fact, most of them - including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson - came to deem America's constitutional experiment an utter failure that was unlikely to last beyond their own generation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A different perspective on the founders
- By kpa on 03-04-24
-
These Truths
- A History of the United States
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Jill Lepore
- Length: 29 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,331
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,077
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,039
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. 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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good Story but distracting sound engineering
- By MindSpiker on 11-21-18
By: Jill Lepore
-
Thaddeus Stevens
- Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice
- By: Bruce Levine
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
Thaddeus Stevens was among the first to see the Civil War as an opportunity for a second American revolution - a chance to remake the country as a genuine multiracial democracy. As one of the foremost abolitionists in Congress in the years leading up to the war, he was a leader of the young Republican Party’s radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before party colleagues like Abraham Lincoln endorsed them. These policies - including welcoming black men into the Union’s armies - would prove crucial to the Union war effort.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent bio of a political hero
- By Anonymous User on 03-11-21
By: Bruce Levine
-
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,291
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,094
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,089
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
-
James Madison
- America's First Politician
- By: Jay Cost
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Good listen
- By James Shannon on 06-27-22
By: Jay Cost
-
John Tyler, the Accidental President
- By: Edward P. Crapol
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 181
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 163
The first vice president to become president on the death of the incumbent, John Tyler (1790-1862) was derided by critics as "His Accidency." In this biography of the 10th president, Edward P. Crapol challenges depictions of Tyler as a die-hard advocate of states' rights, limited government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Instead, he argues, Tyler manipulated the Constitution to increase the executive power of the presidency. Crapol also highlights Tyler's faith in America's national destiny and his belief in boundless territorial expansion.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible book :( Incredibly TEDIOUS.
- By Mike on 10-02-19
By: Edward P. Crapol
-
Fears of a Setting Sun
- The Disillusionment of America's Founders
- By: Dennis C. Rasmussen
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Americans seldom deify their Founding Fathers any longer, but they do still tend to venerate the Constitution and the republican government that the founders created. Strikingly, the founders themselves were far less confident in what they had wrought, particularly by the end of their lives. In fact, most of them - including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson - came to deem America's constitutional experiment an utter failure that was unlikely to last beyond their own generation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A different perspective on the founders
- By kpa on 03-04-24
-
These Truths
- A History of the United States
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Jill Lepore
- Length: 29 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,331
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,077
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,039
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. 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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good Story but distracting sound engineering
- By MindSpiker on 11-21-18
By: Jill Lepore
-
Thaddeus Stevens
- Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice
- By: Bruce Levine
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
Thaddeus Stevens was among the first to see the Civil War as an opportunity for a second American revolution - a chance to remake the country as a genuine multiracial democracy. As one of the foremost abolitionists in Congress in the years leading up to the war, he was a leader of the young Republican Party’s radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before party colleagues like Abraham Lincoln endorsed them. These policies - including welcoming black men into the Union’s armies - would prove crucial to the Union war effort.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent bio of a political hero
- By Anonymous User on 03-11-21
By: Bruce Levine
-
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,291
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,094
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,089
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
-
The Words That Made Us
- America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840
- By: Akhil Reed Amar
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 27 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
In The Words That Made Us, Akhil Reed Amar unites history and law in a vivid narrative of the biggest constitutional questions early Americans confronted, and he expertly assesses the answers they offered. His account of the document's origins and consolidation is a guide for anyone seeking to properly understand America's Constitution today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
And the words that made Us
- By Anonymous User on 10-17-22
By: Akhil Reed Amar
-
Give Me Liberty
- A History of America's Exceptional Idea
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Tony Messano
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Nationalism is inevitable: It supplies feelings of belonging, identity, and recognition. It binds us to our neighbors and tells us who we are. But increasingly - from the United States to India, from Russia to Burma - nationalism is being invoked for unworthy ends: to disdain minorities or to support despots. As a result, nationalism has become to many a dirty word.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extraordinary!
- By Cynthia M. Suprenant on 12-23-19
-
Break It Up
- Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union
- By: Richard Kreitner
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
The novel and fiery thesis of Break It Up is simple: the United States has never lived up to its name - and never will. The disunionist impulse may have found its greatest expression in the Civil War, but as Break It Up shows, the seduction of secession wasn't limited to the South or the 19th century. With a scholar's command and a journalist's curiosity, Kreitner takes readers on a revolutionary journey through American history, revealing the power and persistence of disunion movements in every era and region.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Completely Partisan
- By Patrick Tobin on 11-06-22
By: Richard Kreitner
-
The American Political Tradition
- And the Men Who Made it
- By: Richard Hofstadter, Christopher Lasch - foreword
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 28
The American Political Tradition is one of the most influential and widely read historical volumes of our time. First published in 1948, its elegance, passion, and iconoclastic erudition laid the groundwork for a totally new understanding of the American past. By writing a "kind of intellectual history of the assumptions behind American politics", Richard Hofstadter changed the way Americans understand the relationship between power and ideas in their national experience. Hofstadter was able to articulate, in a single work, a historical vision that inspired and shaped an entire generation.
By: Richard Hofstadter, and others
-
Founding Fathers
- A Captivating Guide to Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and James Monroe
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny, Jason R. Gray, David Patton, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 22
Explore the captivating lives of the Founding Fathers. Eight captivating manuscripts in one audiobook. So if you want to learn more about the life of Founding Fathers, get this audiobook now!
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
filled with inaccuracies
- By Eben on 04-13-22
-
Franklin & Washington
- The Founding Partnership
- By: Edward J. Larson
- Narrated by: Andrew Tell
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
Today the United States is the world’s great superpower, and yet we also wrestle with the government Franklin and Washington created more than two centuries ago - the power of the executive branch, the principle of checks and balances, the electoral college - as well as the wounds of their compromise over slavery. Now, as the founding institutions appear under new stress, it is time to understand their origins through the fresh lens of Larson’s Franklin & Washington, a major addition to the literature of the founding era.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Two together, written about at same time
- By fair & balanced on 03-28-21
By: Edward J. Larson
-
Confederate Reckoning
- Power and Politics in the Civil War South
- By: Stephanie McCurry
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
The story of the Confederate States of America, the proslavery, antidemocratic nation created by white Southern slaveholders to protect their property, has been told many times in heroic and martial narratives. Now, however, Stephanie McCurry tells a very different tale of the Confederate experience. Confederate Reckoning is the startling story of this epic political battle in which women and slaves helped to decide the fate of the Confederacy and the outcome of the Civil War.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good view of the confederate inner workings.
- By Amazonian on 08-10-22
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers
- By: Brion McClanahan Ph. D.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 387
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 303
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 302
Here to rescue the reputations of our Founding Fathers from the plague of modern political correctness is The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers. Author and Professor Brion McClanahan shows how patriots like Franklin, Madison, and Hamilton laid the foundations of American civil liberty and had a better understanding of the problems facing us today than our current Congress.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Highly Recommended
- By Colleen H. on 08-13-09
-
Lincoln's Mentors
- The Education of a Leader
- By: Michael J. Gerhardt
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33
A novel and brilliant look at how Abraham Lincoln mastered the art of leadership: acclaimed historian Michael J. Gerhardt, who appeared during the impeachment proceedings of President Trump, reveals how a group of five men mentored an obscure lawyer with no executive experience to become American’s greatest leader
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting book
- By Brian on 03-07-21
-
Hard Driving
- The Wendell Scott Story
- By: Brian Donovan, Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
The only book-length account of the life of Wendell Scott, the one-time moonshine runner who broke the color barrier in stock-car racing in 1952 and, against all odds, competed for more than 20 years in a sport dominated by Southern Whites.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding! A must for any racing fan!
- By ThatGuyHerb on 10-17-23
By: Brian Donovan, and others
-
The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 523
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 466
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 464
Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician, he cofounded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
-
Decision in Philadelphia
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787
- By: James Collier, Christopher Collier
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 307
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 277
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 273
Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world: the Constitution. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. Decision in Philadelphia is the best popular history of the Constitutional Convention; in it, the life and times of 18th-century America not only come alive, but the very human qualities of the men who framed the document are brought provocatively into focus - casting many of the Founding Fathers in a new light.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book
- By Josh on 09-13-12
By: James Collier, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Heirs of the Founders
- The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 602
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 540
In the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Jean on 12-04-18
By: H. W. Brands
-
Calhoun
- A Statesman for the 21st Century
- By: Clyde N. Wilson
- Narrated by: George Bagby
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall