The Men Who United the States

America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics, and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester, the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author of Atlantic and The Professor and the Madman, delivers his first book about America: a fascinating popular history that illuminates the men who toiled fearlessly to discover, connect, and bond the citizenry and geography of the U.S.A. from its beginnings.

How did America become “one nation, indivisible”? What unified a growing number of disparate states into the modern country we recognize today? To answer these questions, Winchester follows in the footsteps of America’s most essential explorers, thinkers, and innovators, such as Lewis and Clark and the leaders of the Great Surveys; the builders of the first transcontinental telegraph and the powerful civil engineer behind the Interstate Highway System. He treks vast swaths of territory, from Pittsburgh to Portland, Rochester to San Francisco, Seattle to Anchorage, introducing the fascinating people who played a pivotal role in creating today’s United States.

Throughout, he ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree. The Men Who United the States is a fresh look at the way in which the most powerful nation on Earth came together.

©2013 Simon Winchester (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

A melodious exploration of nationhood

Well written, thought provoking and a genuine exhaultion of the connection of American people from a British immigrant turned American. Not a comprehensive American history, no doubt, but a mellifluous ode of a land becoming a nation, indivisible.

fantastic

great listen. very detailed. awesome narration by the author. could listen to his voice all day

Extremely Informative & Well Read

I am often cautious when purchasing an audiobook that is read by its author; quite frankly, more often than not, they are not good readers. However, this is absolutely not the case with Simon Winchester; he masterfully reads his material, delightfully infusing it with a subtle wit and charm.

The myriad stories he tells are expertly woven together and endlessly fascinating. This is no boring history lesson. Quite the opposite, the book clearly shows the tremendous impact various immigrants—and their immediate descendants—have had on the development of the United States, covering a spectrum of infrastructure. Highly recommended!

Read on

I clicked on this audio book without having read any of the author’s other works. Despite its rather verbose tittle and sub title, I wasn’t exactly sure what the book was about in the beginning. The first few chapters were a bit tiresome, but I soon came to realize that they were establishing a much needed framework for the reader. I was hooked by chapter three and things just got more interesting and relevant from there.

Interesting but nothing great

The historical accounts are interesting though slightly superficial. There's potentially a massive amount of material here, so it was necessary to cut and to skim over quite a bit. Given that, why oh why did the author keep interjecting personal reminiscences of his various travels to some of the locations discussed in the book. These personal anecdotes added nothing but time/pages, felt grandiose and self-indulgent, and meant there was less time available to describe the actual subjects of the book. Also, Winchester notes at the beginning that he initially put off the project because he didn't know how to organize it all. He latches on to doing so according to five Chinese elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. That works, more or less, but feels arbitrary and does not afford any insight or broader perspective. More meaningful than alphabetical order, I suppose, but not by much. I don't regret reading this, but there was such rich material to work with it could have been a lot better.

Other reviewers have objected to Winchester injecting his political views. I thought he barely did so and was not bothered at all. If it feels too "political" to acknowledge that, say, Native Americans were badly treated, then maybe history is not for you.

Must read/listen.

Liked it all, dislike none. Simon’s narration was spellbinding. Will likely listen to it again. Don’t pass it up!!!

Excellent Book!

Love history and very pleased with this book! Thank you for writing it! Very Good!

Great background information

Interesting read about the background & what lead up to these men that helped unite Americans of their time. Many were just inventors or business men that came upon an idea that just might work. Well worth your time if you like what lead up and past some of the great inventions of the day.

This book had its moments. At times very interesting, other times very slow and hard to stay interested.

One of my all time favorites

I really loved the book when I started it back in 2014 but sadly was not able to finish. I was glad to see it available in audio form and was really happy to hear that it was narrated by the author. It gave itself authority and and authenticity. Very well done... highly recommended!