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John Brown, Abolitionist
- The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 25 hrs and 14 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Few historical figures are as intriguing as John Brown, the controversial Abolitionist who used terrorist tactics against slavery and single-handedly changed the course of American history. This brilliant biography of Brown (1800-1859) by the prize-winning critic and cultural biographer David S. Reynolds brings to life the Puritan warrior who gripped slavery by the throat and triggered the Civil War.
When does principled resistance become anarchic brutality? How can a murderer be viewed as a heroic freedom fighter? The case of John Brown opens windows on these timely issues. Was Brown an insane criminal or a Christ-like martyr? A forerunner of Osama bin Laden or of Martin Luther King, Jr.? David Reynolds sorts through the tangled evidence and makes some surprising findings.
Reynolds demonstrates that Brown’s most violent acts - his slaughter of unarmed citizens in Kansas, his liberation of slaves in Missouri, and his dramatic raid, in October 1859, on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia - were inspired by the slave revolts, guerilla warfare, and revolutionary Christianity of the day. He shows us how Brown seized the nation’s attention, creating sudden unity in the North, where the Transcendentalists led the way in sanctifying Brown, and infuriating the South, where proslavery fire-eaters exploited the Harpers Ferry raid to whip up a secessionist frenzy. In fascinating detail, Reynolds recounts how Brown permeated politics and popular culture during the Civil War and beyond. He reveals the true depth of Brown’s achievement: not only did Brown spark the war that ended slavery, but he planted the seeds of the civil rights movement by making a pioneering demand for complete social and political equality for America’s ethnic minorities.
A deeply researched and vividly written cultural biography - a revelation of John Brown and his meaning for America.
“Absorbing.” (Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times Book Review)
“Almost every page forces you to think hard, and in new ways, about American violence, American history, and what used to be called the American character.” (Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker)
Critic Reviews
“Splendidly written . . . the reader is led carefully by the author, who builds the story and lets the readers draw their own conclusions about Brown and his actions . . . Reynolds is that rarest of authors who knows how to write well and who successfully presents a life-size image of Brown, warts and all.” (Brian Richard Boylan, Denver Post)
“This well-researched book . . . peels away some of the extreme interpretations of Brown and offers a generally balanced and objective assessment of why he should matter.” (Robert Joiner, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
“Great sensitivity, thorough research, and some marvelous narrative.” (David W. Blight, Washington Post Book World)
“A rich, nuanced and exhaustively researched ‘life and times’ that positions the abolitionist firmly in the context of 19th century American culture . . . impeccably written.” (Chuck Leddy, San Francisco Chronicle)
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What listeners say about John Brown, Abolitionist
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Marc
- 09-29-20
The story of the man who saved America from itself
This extremely well crafted, researched and written book achieves the monumental task of enabling the reader to get to know the man as well as develop an appreciation for the complexities, emotions and personalities contributing to the build up to the Civil War and the titanic battle between the pro-slavery and abolitionist camps, while masterly and importantly addressing the racism which permeated society at the times as well as the Black experience and perspective.
This book should be a mandatory read for all Americans and is highly recommended to anyone seeking an understanding of the American experience and a historical context as a foundation to understand current events.
5 people found this helpful
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- martin hall
- 12-16-20
Maybe my favorite nonfiction book
This book changed me. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. Listen and be changed, too.
4 people found this helpful
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- CD0213
- 04-11-22
Should have a trigger warning
I recognize that primary sources use language that was acceptable during the time they were written. But there are many ways to address these words in current works that don’t require egregious repetition of racial slurs. I highly recommend including a warning that this book does NOT attempt to moderate offensive language. Otherwise, it was a fascinating work shedding critical light on JB’s courageous life and actions.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anne Ruszkiewicz
- 08-21-21
An Exhaustive Biography
This massive and meticulously researched biography examines every detail and aspect of John Brown’s life and legacy right down to the modern era in exhaustive, even excruciating detail. Anything known about John Brown and his legacy which is not covered must be minute to the point of microscopic. It is particularly useful for the way it examines the various ways he was perceived at the time and after his death and for the thoughtful and balanced consideration of the questions his life raises such as: was he insane? Was he a terrorist? If the book has any fault the analysis and speculations at the end of the book sometimes stretch too far. For instance speculation without any textual evidence of how Emily Dickinson may have felt or been influenced by Brown seems to be made out of whole cloth stretched very thin. This is minor, however. The book is a scholarly tour de force, well written and well narrated. It takes stamina and perseverance to get through it even on Audible, but is well worth the effort.
2 people found this helpful
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- Alednam A Uonopk
- 12-11-20
John Brown epitomizes a good white man....
It's no wonder his exploits have been delegated to brief passings over of his actions... America(s) still has a long way to go in terms of facing it's hurtstory/history.... I will listen to this book perhaps thrice...
2 people found this helpful
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- Jo Ellen
- 08-23-19
Repetitive and boring
As other reviewers have stated this book is extremely poorly written and unorganized. The author keeps repeating information over and over. It is difficult to follow because he jumps around with his facts.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kheir Fakhreldin
- 05-20-22
Excellent introduction to John Brown
Great chapters on Brown’s family of origin, early career, and times. The chapters about Kansas were compelling and horrifying. The lead up to Harpers Ferry, the raid, and the trial were very well done too. I particularly enjoyed chapters on his relationship to the Transcendentalists and other writers and abolitionists. It gave a good sense of his life and times, as well as his complicated legacy.
1 person found this helpful
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- Peter Riley
- 05-18-21
Absolutely fantastic!!
WOW, what a great book, essential reading. Brown’s story highlights the difference between him and the other abolitionist of his era in that be actually believed NOT just in the abolition of slavery but in real equality. Brown actually liked, admired and lived with black Americans. This makes him a singular figure in the history of that era.
The book is beautifully written and narrated, a must listen for all Americans to learn about this great American hero.
1 person found this helpful
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- Bill
- 04-28-23
Written by an Extreme Fan of John Brown
John Brown’s story is admirable and can stand on its own. This book however, was written by an extreme fan. John Brown pulled innocent people from their homes, murdered and dismembered them, and the author can only say that these actions “may have been unethical and illegal”. This severe lack of condemnation of murder calls into question the rest of the book. The book is full of blatant fanfare and little objectivity. This is unfortunate. The extreme fanfare may have been toned down and the book would have been much better, more convincing, and credible.
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- Cris
- 09-29-22
John Brown was Right
The performer was okay, as I was able to finish it, but that's it. Holy cow there were a lot of N words.
I really like putting the man and his deeds in historical context, as no one is an island.
I think our country could be heading for trouble, but not under any single issue like slavery. Just the fact that half the people would rather live in delusion and believe lies than accept reality.
The freedom and rights of marginalized groups is still a question that needs to be settled. I for one am ready for the fight.
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Story
John Brown is a common name, but the John Brown who masterminded the failed raid at Harpers Ferry was anything but common.Nevertheless, today Brown is a martyred hero who gave his life attempting to terminate the evil institution of human bondage. This new biography covers Brown's background and the context to his decision to carry out the raid, a detailed narrative of the raid and its consequences for both those involved and America; and an exploration of the changing characterization of Brown since his death.
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Great Summary of the Raid on Harper's Ferry
- By J.C. on 04-03-23
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The Zealot and the Emancipator
- John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Master storyteller and best-selling historian H. W. Brands narrates the epic struggle over slavery as embodied by John Brown and Abraham Lincoln - two men moved to radically different acts to confront our nation’s gravest sin. The Zealot and the Emancipator is acclaimed historian H. W. Brands' thrilling account of how two American giants shaped the war for freedom.
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I Never Knew That!
- By William G. Stuart on 10-19-20
By: H. W. Brands
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John Brown
- By: W. E. B. Du Bois
- Narrated by: Kristen Wallace
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Few figures are more seminal in the abolitionist movement in America than John Brown. His firebrand approach to the movement arose out of his religiously inspired and deep-seated belief that slavery was not only morally unjust but that its removal from American society could only be achieved through armed insurrection. Prominent African American W. E. B. Du Bois chronicles the life of John Brown in this 1909 biography. In the words of Du Bois, John Brown was "a man whose leadership lay not in his office, wealth or influence, but in the white flame of his utter devotion to an ideal."
By: W. E. B. Du Bois
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To Purge This Land with Blood
- A Biography of John Brown
- By: Stephen B. Oates
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry. His goal was to secure weapons and start a slave rebellion. The raid was a failure, but it galvanized the nation and sparked the Civil War. Still one of the most controversial figures in American history, John Brown's actions raise interesting questions about unsanctioned violence that can be justified for a greater good.
By: Stephen B. Oates
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Midnight Rising
- John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War
- By: Tony Horwitz
- Narrated by: Dan Oreskes
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland....
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Up from Obscurity
- By Lynn on 06-18-12
By: Tony Horwitz
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Patriotic Treason
- John Brown and the Soul of America
- By: Evan Carton
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Brown is a lightning rod of history. Yet he is poorly understood and most commonly described in stereotypes, as a madman, martyr, or enigma. Not until Patriotic Treason has a biography or history brought him so fully to life, in scintillating prose and moving detail, making his life and legacy - and the staggering sacrifices he made for his ideals - fascinatingly relevant to today's issues of social justice and to defining the line between activism and terrorism.
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A Jarring Reminder of Antebellum America
- By Ronald A. Nelson on 12-22-06
By: Evan Carton
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America's Good Terrorist
- John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid
- By: Charles P. Poland Jr.
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Brown is a common name, but the John Brown who masterminded the failed raid at Harpers Ferry was anything but common.Nevertheless, today Brown is a martyred hero who gave his life attempting to terminate the evil institution of human bondage. This new biography covers Brown's background and the context to his decision to carry out the raid, a detailed narrative of the raid and its consequences for both those involved and America; and an exploration of the changing characterization of Brown since his death.
-
-
Great Summary of the Raid on Harper's Ferry
- By J.C. on 04-03-23
-
The Zealot and the Emancipator
- John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master storyteller and best-selling historian H. W. Brands narrates the epic struggle over slavery as embodied by John Brown and Abraham Lincoln - two men moved to radically different acts to confront our nation’s gravest sin. The Zealot and the Emancipator is acclaimed historian H. W. Brands' thrilling account of how two American giants shaped the war for freedom.
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I Never Knew That!
- By William G. Stuart on 10-19-20
By: H. W. Brands
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Abe
- Abraham Lincoln in His Times
- By: David S. Reynolds
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 33 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Abraham Lincoln did not come out of nowhere. But if he was shaped by his times, he also managed at his life's fateful hour to shape them to an extent few could have foreseen. Ultimately, this is the great drama that astonishes us still, and that Abe brings to fresh and vivid life. The measure of that life will always be part of our American education.
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Spectacular research and performance.
- By Amy O. on 11-22-20
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I Saw Death Coming
- A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction
- By: Kidada E. Williams
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting listeners into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives.
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Fateful Lightning
- A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 26 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Fateful Lightning, two-time Lincoln Prize-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. He examines the strategy, the tactics, and the logistics of the Civil War and brings the most recent historical thinking to bear on emancipation, the presidency and the war powers, the blockade and international law, and the role of intellectuals, North and South.
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The worst part of this book is it's title
- By Rodney on 11-19-13
By: Allen C. Guelzo
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Waking Giant
- America in the Age of Jackson
- By: David S. Reynolds
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The years from 1815 to 1848 were arguably the richest period in American life. In Waking Giant, award-winning historian David S. Reynolds illuminates the era's exciting political story alongside the fascinating social and cultural movements that influenced it. He casts fresh light on Andrew Jackson, who redefined the presidency, as well as John Quincy Adams and James K. Polk, who expanded the nation's territory and strengthened its position internationally.
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Lucid narration
- By Tad Davis on 12-09-08
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The Agitators
- Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women's Rights
- By: Dorothy Wickenden
- Narrated by: Heather Alicia Simms, Anne Twomey, Gabra Zackman, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward. Through exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country.
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Excellent!
- By Nikki on 12-22-21
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American Caliph
- The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC
- By: Shahan Mufti
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The riveting true story of America’s first homegrown Muslim terror attack, the 1977 Hanafi siege of Washington, DC.
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A story of America and American Islam
- By Stephen on 05-03-23
By: Shahan Mufti
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Beneath the American Renaissance
- The Subversive Imagination in the Age of Emerson and Melville
- By: David S. Reynolds
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 29 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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The award-winning Beneath the American Renaissance is a classic work on American literature. It immeasurably broadens our knowledge of our most important literary period, as first identified by F.O. Matthiessen’s American Renaissance. With its combination of sharp critical insight, engaging observation, and narrative drive, it represents the kind of masterful cultural history for which David Reynolds is known. Here the major works of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and others receive striking, original readings set against the rich backdrop of contemporary popular writing.
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Absolutely fantastic!
- By Theresa A. on 05-06-23