-
The Pony Express: The History and Legacy of America's Most Famous Mail Service
- Narrated by: James McSorley
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Pony Express: The History and Legacy of America's Most Famous Mail Service
Buy for $6.04
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Riders of the Pony Express
- By: Ralph Moody
- Narrated by: Cameron Beierle
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Prior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri - across two thousand miles of mountains, deserts, and plains - guaranteed in ten days or less.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
history come to life
- By Teresa Roe on 05-29-17
By: Ralph Moody
-
West Like Lightning
- The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express
- By: Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
The thrilling narrative history of one of the most enduring icons of the American West, the Pony Express, from the number-one New York Times bestselling co-author of American Sniper - an exciting tale of daring young men pushing limits to the extremes across the vast, rugged, and unsettled American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Picture of Wild West Life and the Pony
- By Amazon Customer on 08-07-18
By: Jim DeFelice
-
Killing Crazy Horse
- The Merciless Indian Wars in America
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly, Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,720
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,279
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,257
The bloody Battle of Tippecanoe was only the beginning. It’s 1811, and President James Madison has ordered the destruction of Shawnee warrior Chief Tecumseh’s alliance of tribes in the Great Lakes region. But while General William Henry Harrison would win this fight, the armed conflict between Native Americans and the newly formed United States would rage on for decades.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not the Best in the Killing... Series
- By Sandy McMahon on 10-16-20
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Empire of the Summer Moon
- Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13,397
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,451
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 11,427
Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son, Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Historically Significant
- By Rick on 10-07-16
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Undaunted Courage
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,538
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,371
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,356
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River, across the forbidding Rockies, and - by way of the Snake and the Columbia rivers - down to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, endured incredible hardships and witnessed astounding sights. With great perseverance, they worked their way into an unexplored West. When they returned two years later, they had long since been given up for dead.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration kills a great book
- By Kindle Customer on 02-10-08
-
The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,842
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,188
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,160
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
-
Riders of the Pony Express
- By: Ralph Moody
- Narrated by: Cameron Beierle
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Prior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri - across two thousand miles of mountains, deserts, and plains - guaranteed in ten days or less.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
history come to life
- By Teresa Roe on 05-29-17
By: Ralph Moody
-
West Like Lightning
- The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express
- By: Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
The thrilling narrative history of one of the most enduring icons of the American West, the Pony Express, from the number-one New York Times bestselling co-author of American Sniper - an exciting tale of daring young men pushing limits to the extremes across the vast, rugged, and unsettled American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Picture of Wild West Life and the Pony
- By Amazon Customer on 08-07-18
By: Jim DeFelice
-
Killing Crazy Horse
- The Merciless Indian Wars in America
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly, Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,720
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,279
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,257
The bloody Battle of Tippecanoe was only the beginning. It’s 1811, and President James Madison has ordered the destruction of Shawnee warrior Chief Tecumseh’s alliance of tribes in the Great Lakes region. But while General William Henry Harrison would win this fight, the armed conflict between Native Americans and the newly formed United States would rage on for decades.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not the Best in the Killing... Series
- By Sandy McMahon on 10-16-20
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Empire of the Summer Moon
- Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13,397
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,451
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 11,427
Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son, Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Historically Significant
- By Rick on 10-07-16
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Undaunted Courage
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,538
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,371
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,356
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River, across the forbidding Rockies, and - by way of the Snake and the Columbia rivers - down to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, endured incredible hardships and witnessed astounding sights. With great perseverance, they worked their way into an unexplored West. When they returned two years later, they had long since been given up for dead.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration kills a great book
- By Kindle Customer on 02-10-08
-
The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,842
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,188
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,160
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
-
Blood and Thunder
- An Epic of the American West
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,823
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,281
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,269
In the fall of 1846, the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people's chieftains, looked down upon the small town of Santa Fe, the stronghold of the Mexican settlers he had been fighting his whole long life. He had come to see if the rumors were true, if an army of blue-suited soldiers had swept in from the East and utterly defeated his ancestral enemies.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Publisher's summary does not do it justice
- By Eric on 02-07-11
By: Hampton Sides
-
Brave Companions
- Portraits in History
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,527
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,341
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,319
The best-selling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition. Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, "the little woman who made the big war”....
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I USUALLY LOVE THIS GUY
- By Randall on 01-28-19
By: David McCullough
-
Nothing Like It in the World
- The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,046
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 743
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 743
Nothing Like It in the World is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies - the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads - against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. As its peak the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, lived off buffalo, deer, and antelope.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A tragic waste
- By Joshua Tretakoff on 04-11-03
-
American Serengeti
- The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains
- By: Dan Flores
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,467
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,289
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,288
America's Great Plains once possessed one of the grandest wildlife spectacles of the world, equaled only by such places as the Serengeti, the Masai Mara, or the veld of South Africa. Pronghorn antelope, gray wolves, bison, coyotes, wild horses, and grizzly bears: less than 200 years ago these creatures existed in such abundance that John James Audubon was moved to write "it is impossible to describe or even conceive the vast multitudes of these animals".
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Could have been great, but
- By An Amazon Buyer on 08-29-18
By: Dan Flores
-
Hispanic America, Texas, and the Mexican War: 1835 - 1850
- The Drama of American History
- By: Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier
- Narrated by: Jim Manchester
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 267
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 233
Hispanic America, Texas, and the Mexican War examines the history of the southwestern area of the United States. Topics covered include the settlement of the area that became the southwestern portion of the United States, detailing how it evolved from land settled by Native Americans, to Spanish territory, to states that were pawns between the North and South prior to the Civil War.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
distorts history
- By Nori Muster on 09-07-20
By: Christopher Collier, and others
-
Unruly Places
- Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies
- By: Alastair Bonnett
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 54
At a time when Google Maps can take you on a virtual tour of Yosemite's remotest trails and cell phones double as navigational systems, it's hard to imagine there's any uncharted ground left on the planet. In Unruly Places, Alastair Bonnett goes to some of the most unexpected, offbeat places in the world to reinspire our geographical imagination. Bonnett's remarkable tour includes moving villages, secret cities, no man's lands, and floating islands.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating look at places you never thought of
- By Jody R. Nathan on 05-21-15
By: Alastair Bonnett
-
The Island at the Center of the World
- The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 473
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 415
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 412
In a landmark work of history, Russell Shorto presents astonishing information on the founding of our nation and reveals in riveting detail the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Incomplete history, but fun. Performance is poor.
- By Matthew on 11-27-18
By: Russell Shorto
-
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
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,047
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,041
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. Introducing the fascinating people who played a pivotal role in creating today’s United States, he ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Simon Winchester tells us the history of America
- By KathrynVB on 10-16-14
By: Simon Winchester
-
American Legend
- The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett
- By: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Chris Abernathy
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 29
David Crockett was an adventurer, a pioneer, and a media-savvy national celebrity. In his short-but-distinguished lifetime, this charismatic frontiersman won three terms as a US congressman and a presidential nomination. His 1834 memoir enjoyed frenzied sales and prompted the first-ever "official" book tour for its enormously popular author. Down-to-earth, heroic, and independent to a fault, the real Crockett became lost in his own hype, and he's been overshadowed by a larger-than-life, pop-culture character in a coonskin cap.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Buddy Levy delivers again.
- By Tyler on 03-14-22
By: Buddy Levy
-
American Hippopotamus
- By: Jon Mooallem
- Narrated by: Jon Mooallem
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
In 1910, the United States - its population exploding, its frontier all but exhausted - was in the throes of a serious meat shortage. But a small and industrious group of thinkers stepped forward with an answer, a bold idea being endorsed by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and The New York Times. Their plan: to import hippopotamuses to the swamps of Louisiana and convince Americans to eat them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I Loved This Story!...
- By Douglas on 01-13-14
By: Jon Mooallem
-
Lewis and Clark
- By: William R. Lighton
- Narrated by: Kevin Stilwell
- Length: 70 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
In the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, two men commanded an expedition which explored the wilderness that stretched from the mouth of the Missouri River to where the Columbia enters the Pacific, and dedicated to civilization a new empire. Their names were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. This book relates that adventure from it’s inception through its completion as well as the effect the expedition had upon the history of the United States.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I've never heard the word etcetera so many times
- By D. Johnson on 06-01-12
-
California
- A History
- By: Kevin Starr
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 275
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 231
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 230
Acclaimed author, historian, and Guggenheim Fellow Kevin Starr is a professor at the University of Southern California. His extensive knowledge shines through this concise, yet comprehensive, depiction of the most fascinating aspects in California's history. From its colonial beginnings through Governor Schwarzenegger's administration, the Golden State has become a uniquely American phenomenon that has enchanted people with the possibility of a better life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting read, until it's not
- By MiamiMe on 03-27-18
By: Kevin Starr
Publisher's Summary
"I, [name], do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God." (The oath taken by Pony Express riders)
Although it was only in operation for about 18 months, the Pony Express remains the most famous and romanticized mailing system in American history. It still instantly brings to mind all of the old themes of the untamed frontier and the Wild West. Starting shortly before the Civil War erupted across the United States, the Pony Express connected the east and west by having riders deliver mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California - a route set up by previous explorations and a system of relay stations and waypoints. When working in perfect unison, the Pony Express dramatically cut down the time it took to travel to California, with the mail traveling nearly 1,900 miles to California just 10 days after the beginning of the journey in Missouri. Naturally, the Pony Express also ran from west to east as well.
Of course part of the allure of the Pony Express is in the way it challenged riders and horses, which ties it to Americans' fond visions of the frontier as an untamed landscape that only the most pioneering and rugged individuals could survive. At the same time, the Pony Express needed small riders to reduce the weight being carried by the horses.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Pony Express: The History and Legacy of America's Most Famous Mail Service
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Sally Arcarese
- 04-04-20
very short
1 hr +. Great performance/narrator. Story was minimal, but interesting. Just not worth the price or 1 credit.
Related to this topic
-
West Like Lightning
- The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express
- By: Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
The thrilling narrative history of one of the most enduring icons of the American West, the Pony Express, from the number-one New York Times bestselling co-author of American Sniper - an exciting tale of daring young men pushing limits to the extremes across the vast, rugged, and unsettled American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Picture of Wild West Life and the Pony
- By Amazon Customer on 08-07-18
By: Jim DeFelice
-
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian
- John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West
- By: Wallace Stegner
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 317
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner recounts the remarkable career of Major John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of the Southwest Indian tribes. This classic work is a penetrating and insightful study of the Powell’s career, from the beginning of the Powell Survey, in which Powell and his men famously became the first to descend the Colorado River, to his eventual expulsion from the Geological Survey.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
History repeats itself.
- By Roy on 09-12-11
By: Wallace Stegner
-
The Promise of the Grand Canyon
- John Wesley Powell's Perilous Journey and His Vision for the American West
- By: John F. Ross
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
John Wesley Powell’s first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869 counts among the most dramatic chapters in American exploration history. When the Canyon spit out the surviving members of the expedition - starving, battered, and nearly naked - they had accomplished what others thought impossible and finished the exploration of continental America that Lewis and Clark had begun almost 70 years before.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Superb History, but a bit too detailed.
- By Joseph on 07-23-18
By: John F. Ross
-
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
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,047
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,041
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. Introducing the fascinating people who played a pivotal role in creating today’s United States, he ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Simon Winchester tells us the history of America
- By KathrynVB on 10-16-14
By: Simon Winchester
-
Pathfinder: John Charles Fremont and the Course of American Empire
- By: Tom Chaffin
- Narrated by: Douglas R Pratt
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 23
The career of John Charles Frémont (1813-90) ties together the full breadth of American expansionism from its 18th-century origins through its culmination in the Gilded Age. Tom Chaffin's biography demonstrates Frémont's vital importance to the history of American empire and illuminates his role in shattering long-held myths about the ecology and habitability of the American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great story, terrible narrator
- By brian johnson on 11-02-20
By: Tom Chaffin
-
The Age of Gold
- The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 387
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 286
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 291
When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River, it completely transformed the territory of California. Hundreds of thousands of people sped to California by any means possible, and small cities sprung up to service their needs as they sought the precious metal. By 1850, California had become a state; it had also become a symbol of where the nation was going.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Enjoyable
- By Claire on 01-15-04
By: H.W. Brands
-
West Like Lightning
- The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express
- By: Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
The thrilling narrative history of one of the most enduring icons of the American West, the Pony Express, from the number-one New York Times bestselling co-author of American Sniper - an exciting tale of daring young men pushing limits to the extremes across the vast, rugged, and unsettled American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Picture of Wild West Life and the Pony
- By Amazon Customer on 08-07-18
By: Jim DeFelice
-
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian
- John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West
- By: Wallace Stegner
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 317
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner recounts the remarkable career of Major John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of the Southwest Indian tribes. This classic work is a penetrating and insightful study of the Powell’s career, from the beginning of the Powell Survey, in which Powell and his men famously became the first to descend the Colorado River, to his eventual expulsion from the Geological Survey.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
History repeats itself.
- By Roy on 09-12-11
By: Wallace Stegner
-
The Promise of the Grand Canyon
- John Wesley Powell's Perilous Journey and His Vision for the American West
- By: John F. Ross
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
John Wesley Powell’s first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869 counts among the most dramatic chapters in American exploration history. When the Canyon spit out the surviving members of the expedition - starving, battered, and nearly naked - they had accomplished what others thought impossible and finished the exploration of continental America that Lewis and Clark had begun almost 70 years before.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Superb History, but a bit too detailed.
- By Joseph on 07-23-18
By: John F. Ross
-
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
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,047
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,041
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. Introducing the fascinating people who played a pivotal role in creating today’s United States, he ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Simon Winchester tells us the history of America
- By KathrynVB on 10-16-14
By: Simon Winchester
-
Pathfinder: John Charles Fremont and the Course of American Empire
- By: Tom Chaffin
- Narrated by: Douglas R Pratt
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 23
The career of John Charles Frémont (1813-90) ties together the full breadth of American expansionism from its 18th-century origins through its culmination in the Gilded Age. Tom Chaffin's biography demonstrates Frémont's vital importance to the history of American empire and illuminates his role in shattering long-held myths about the ecology and habitability of the American West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great story, terrible narrator
- By brian johnson on 11-02-20
By: Tom Chaffin
-
The Age of Gold
- The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 387
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 286
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 291
When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River, it completely transformed the territory of California. Hundreds of thousands of people sped to California by any means possible, and small cities sprung up to service their needs as they sought the precious metal. By 1850, California had become a state; it had also become a symbol of where the nation was going.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Enjoyable
- By Claire on 01-15-04
By: H.W. Brands
-
A Life Wild and Perilous
- Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific
- By: Robert M. Utley
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 313
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 276
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 277
If you have ever wondered what is was like to be an explorer in the unspoiled American West of the early 1800s, then this is the audiobook for you. Not only a groundbreaking work of American history by critically acclaimed author Robert M. Utley, A Life Wild and Perilous is also a dramatic story of innovation and survival. Here is your chance to live in the very heart of the American wilderness with legendary trappers and mountain men like Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Tom Fitzpatrick, and Jedediah Smith.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A lot of good history and quite a story too.
- By David on 04-01-12
By: Robert M. Utley
-
Earning the Rockies
- How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 224
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 193
As a boy, Robert D. Kaplan listened to his truck-driver father's evocative stories about traveling across America as a young man, travels in which he learned to understand the country from a ground-level perspective. In Earning the Rockies, Kaplan undertakes his own cross-country journey to recapture an appreciation and understanding of American geography that is often lost in the jet age.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Magnificent book that found a great narrator!
- By BotakTree on 03-09-17
By: Robert D. Kaplan
-
King and Queen of Malibu
- The True Story of the Battle for Paradise
- By: David K. Randall
- Narrated by: Eric Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
Over a half century, Malibu went from an untamed ranch in the middle of nowhere to a paradise seeded with movie stars. Behind its transformation is the love story of Frederick and May Rindge. He was a Harvard-trained confidant of presidents; she grew up on a hardscrabble Midwestern farm; yet their unlikely bond would shape history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible.
- By Trent Brady on 02-01-22
By: David K. Randall
-
Genius of Place
- The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted
- By: Justin Martin
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 18 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 220
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 203
Frederick Law Olmsted is arguably the most important historical figure that the average American knows the least about. Best remembered for his landscape architecture, from New York's Central Park to Boston's Emerald Necklace to Stanford University's campus, Olmsted was also an influential journalist, early voice for the environment, and abolitionist credited with helping dissuade England from joining the South in the Civil War. This momentous career was shadowed by a tragic personal life, also fully portrayed here.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Ponderous yet incomplete
- By John F. Caffrey on 01-23-19
By: Justin Martin
-
A Passion for Nature
- The Life of John Muir
- By: Donald Worster
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 503
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 425
"I am hopelessly and forever a mountaineer," John Muir wrote. "Civilization and fever and all the morbidness that has been hooted at me has not dimmed my glacial eye, and I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature's loveliness. My own special self is nothing". In Donald Worster's magisterial biography, John Muir's "special self" is fully explored as is his extraordinary ability, then and now, to get others to see the sacred beauty of the natural world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good biography for historical perspective
- By Harold W. Wood Jr. on 05-15-14
By: Donald Worster
-
The Suppressed History of America
- The Murder of Meriwether Lewis and the Mysterious Discoveries of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- By: Paul Schrag, Xaviant Haze
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Meriwether Lewis discovered far more than the history books tell - ancient civilizations, strange monuments, "nearly white, blue-eyed" Indians, and evidence that the American continent was visited long before the first European settlers arrived. And he was murdered to keep it all secret. Examining the shadows and cracks between America's official version of history, Xaviant Haze and Paul Schrag propose that the America of old taught in schools is not the America that was discovered by Lewis and Clark and other early explorers.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Don't Bother
- By Georgia Deardoff on 03-31-17
By: Paul Schrag, and others
-
A Crack in the Edge of the World
- America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 579
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 324
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 320
San Francisco Earthquake that leveled a city symbolic of America's relentless western expansion. Simon Winchester has also fashioned an enthralling and informative informative look at the tumultuous subterranean world that produces earthquakes, the planet's most sudden and destructive force. In the early morning hours of April 18, 1906, San Francisco and a string of towns to its north-northwest and the south-southeast were overcome by an enormous shaking that was compounded by the violent shocks of an earthquake, registering 8.25 on the Richter scale.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This Book Delivers
- By Drayton on 10-31-05
By: Simon Winchester
-
Blood and Thunder
- An Epic of the American West
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,823
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,281
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,269
In the fall of 1846, the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people's chieftains, looked down upon the small town of Santa Fe, the stronghold of the Mexican settlers he had been fighting his whole long life. He had come to see if the rumors were true, if an army of blue-suited soldiers had swept in from the East and utterly defeated his ancestral enemies.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Publisher's summary does not do it justice
- By Eric on 02-07-11
By: Hampton Sides
-
Jungle of Stone
- The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya
- By: William Carlsen
- Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 592
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 527
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
In 1839 rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of the world's most intrepid travelers. Seized by the reports, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood sailed together out of New York Harbor on an expedition into the forbidding rainforests of present-day Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. What they found would rewrite the West's understanding of human history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Unsung Explorers at the Heart of History
- By thomas on 01-10-17
By: William Carlsen
-
Brave Companions
- Portraits in History
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,527
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,341
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,319
The best-selling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition. Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, "the little woman who made the big war”....
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I USUALLY LOVE THIS GUY
- By Randall on 01-28-19
By: David McCullough
-
A Splendid Savage
- The Restless Life of Frederick Russell Burnham
- By: Steve Kemper
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
Frederick Russell Burnham's amazing story resembles a newsreel fused with a Saturday matinee thriller. One of the few people who could turn his garrulous friend Theodore Roosevelt into a listener, Burnham was once world famous as "the American scout". His expertise in woodcraft, learned from frontiersmen and Indians, helped inspire another friend, Robert Baden-Powell, to found the Boy Scouts. His adventures encompassed Apache wars and range feuds and death-defying military feats that brought him renown and high honors.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent historical-adventure biography
- By Brandon on 04-18-17
By: Steve Kemper
-
American Serengeti
- The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains
- By: Dan Flores
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,467
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,289
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,288
America's Great Plains once possessed one of the grandest wildlife spectacles of the world, equaled only by such places as the Serengeti, the Masai Mara, or the veld of South Africa. Pronghorn antelope, gray wolves, bison, coyotes, wild horses, and grizzly bears: less than 200 years ago these creatures existed in such abundance that John James Audubon was moved to write "it is impossible to describe or even conceive the vast multitudes of these animals".
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Could have been great, but
- By An Amazon Buyer on 08-29-18
By: Dan Flores