Discover Top 100 Audiobooks in History, American Popular Titles

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Title: Our Lady of the Freedoms

Author: Norman Corwin

Narrator: Charles Kuralt

Format: Abridged

Length: 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-23-10

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

A great American voice narrates a poignant tribute to our most outstanding monument. One of Charles Kuralt's last projects, Our Lady of the Freedoms is a full-scale production of writer-director Norman Corwin's account of how the Statue of Liberty came to New York harbor.

Charles Kuralt's brilliant narration accompanies dramatizations of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that brought the Statue of Liberty to America's shore. Rich with historical detail and Americana, Norman Corwin's treatment shows us the struggles faced by the designers, as well as the political battles that almost prevented the statue from ever being built.

A wonderful saga of patriotism, Our Lady of the Freedoms proves once again that no voice captures the spirit of America like Charles Kuralt's.

Members Reviews:

Deeply Moving

Where does Our Lady of the Freedoms rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

Our lady of The Freedoms is my number one book. I learned so much. This one makes me want to reach further and learn more about our history.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Each character is of equal importance. None of this could've come to fruition without each others commitment to achieve ultimate success.

What does Charles Kuralt bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

The deeper tones of his voice add to the serious nature of the history.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried several times. I'm not one easily moved as I approach matters from a stricktly common sense point of view.

Any additional comments?

It's commonplace to see The Statue of Liberty standing there. So common that one might think it been there for so long that,....it's just always been there! Well of course not! How did that big of a statue get there? How long has it been there? Why is it there?! Who's idea was it? How was it built? Who built it?! What did it take to build it? All the answers are here. And so much more, Eternal Gratitiude to Norman Corwin.

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Title: The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth

Author: George Alfred Townsend

Narrator: Erik Sellin

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-18-10

Publisher: Classic CD Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This fascinating account was written as the events of Lincoln's assassination unfolded, and contains insight into the chaos that surrounded it. Included are interesting details of Booth and his motives, the manhunt, as well as the speedy trial and execution of the conspirators, including the first ever woman executed by the federal government, Mary Surratt.

Members Reviews:

some interesting info written at the time

my favorite things are a map of garretts farm showing the layout and exactly where everyone was. rough copies of articles written at the time of the events, in exceedingly small type, but a worthy addition to a collector.

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Title: West Pointers and the Civil War

Subtitle: The Old Army in War and Peace

Author: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh

Narrator: Stephen Hoye

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-15-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The task for those in charge of professionalizing the military in the first half of the nineteenth century and transforming it from a militia-led army to a highly disciplined standing army was a difficult job. Americans had long supported a tradition of militia and distrusted professional soldiers. However, by the time of the Civil War, the high command positions in the Union army and the nascent army of the Confederacy were filled with graduates of West Point, who had served in the U.S.-Mexican War and who had been taught in the European military tradition. The sorts of campaigns the armies would wage, the rules of those engagements, the understandings of victory, all were in a sense predetermined by the military training and experience of the professionals called in to organize and lead the opposing sides. In examining the role of the institutional military in the Civil War, Hsieh makes use of manuals, reports, letters housed at West Point, newspapers, diaries, and numerous secondary sources.

©2009 University of North Carolina Press; (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

Most Civil War generals were graduates of West Point, and many of them helped transform the U.S. Army from what was little better than an armed mob that performed poorly during the War of 1812 into the competent fighting force that won the Mexican War.

"Hsieh challenges studies that have argued that field fortifications and rifles gave the advantage to defenders, insisting instead that other factors, such as leadership, morale, and troop strength were more influential in success or failure. Smart and genuinely stimulating, West Pointers and the Civil War will be controversial in the best sense of the word." (Joseph T. Glatthaar, author of General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse)

Members Reviews:

Some Decent Insights in a Dense and Turgid Work

You may note that I gave West Pointers and the Civil War (WPCW) three stars. If I could I would have given it four stars for those with a solid basis in CW history and two for novices.

I saw Hsieh speaking on television on his book and was impressed by his insights and his ability to express relatively complex concepts in clear and direct language -- and I immediately ordered WPCW. If he could only write as well as he speaks. His prose is, at times, repetitive, dense, sometimes indirect, and often straying from the topic at hand. Hsieh has the defining characteristic of many academic historians -- if he made a note of an item of information, he will include it in the text without regard to how many other notes illustrate an identical point. In the text, many of his insights are little more than a collection of antebellum characterizations of a frontier constabulary that succeeded in its one great test - the Mexican War. He does provide valuable insights into civil-military relations and how the tone set before the war carried into the CW itself. And how the education provided at West Point was reflected in the commonality of both Union and Confederate officers.

Further his observations on the resources and approaches used to create huge armies from the melding of a few professionals with lots of recreational militia and raw volunteers was valuable.

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Title: All the Presidents' Wits

Subtitle: The Power of Presidential Humor

Author: Gerald Gardner

Narrator: Gerald Gardner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-09

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

From the elegant wit of Kennedy to the genial joking of Reagan, you'll hear an insider's insights about the increasingly influential role humor plays in the political arena, and the tangled relationship between the worlds of politics and show business.

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Title: American History

Subtitle: Declaration, Bill of Rights and Gettysburg Address (7 Audiobook Collection)

Author: Deaver Brown

Narrator: Deaver Brown

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 06-29-09

Publisher: Simply Media

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Approximately 7 hours of listening pleasure.

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Title: The State of Jones

Subtitle: The Small Southern County that Seceded from the Confederacy

Author: Sally Jenkins, John Stauffer

Narrator: Don Leslie

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-23-09

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The State of Jones is a true story about the South during the Civil War: the real South. Not the South that has been mythologized in novels and movies, but an authentic, hardscrabble place where poor men were forced to fight a rich man's war for slavery and cotton.

In Jones County, Mississippi, a farmer named Newton Knight led his neighbors, white and black alike, in an insurrection against the Confederacy at the height of the Civil War. Knight's life story mirrors the little-known story of class struggle in the South, and it shatters the image of the Confederacy as a unified front against the Union.

This riveting investigative account takes us inside the battle of Corinth, where thousands lost their lives over less than a quarter mile of land, and to the dreadful siege of Vicksburg, presenting a gritty picture of a war in which generals sacrificed thousands through their arrogance and ignorance. Off the battlefield, the Newton Knight story is rich in drama as well. He was a man with two loves: his wife, who was forced to flee her home simply to survive, and an ex-slave named Rachel, who, in effect, became his second wife. It was Rachel who cared for Knight during the war when he was hunted by the Confederates, and, later, when members of the Knight clan sought revenge for the disgrace he had brought upon the family name.

Working hand in hand with John Stauffer, distinguished chair and professor of the History of American Civilization at Harvard University, Sally Jenkins has made the leap from preeminent sportswriter to a historical writer endowed with the accuracy, drive, and passion of Doris Kearns Goodwin. The result is Civil War history at its finest.

Members Reviews:

Learned my relatives are from Jones Co.

Wow.. Just now realized my great grand mother and her family (surname of Dossett) lived in Jones County during the era covered by this book. I will be taking trip there soon to explore the status of my relatives further... whether they were among the Confederate resisters there. Prior to this book, I had not known of my g.grandmother's ties to Jones County.... although I did know my father's people (Bullock) came from Covington County, MS (right next door to Jones as it turns out). Discovering this special tie, of course, made the book particularly interesting to me. So glad I happened upon this book.

An excellent view of the battles and tactics of Newt Knight's guerrilla band

Coincidentally I chose this of the 3 I bought to read first and it was a good choice. The authors explore the events leading up to the battles of Vicksburg and Corinth that brought about the draft that called up Knight and many of his friends and family.

The inept leadership from officers who had bought their commissions, marching them back and forth in endless, meaningless marches that exhausted them before any battles were engaged.

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Title: The Bill of Rights in Translation

Subtitle: What It Really Means

Author: Amie J. Leavitt

Narrator: Scott Combs, Amy Stockhaus

Format: Abridged

Length: 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-09-09

Publisher: Capstone Publishers, Inc.

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This audiobook presents the Bill of Rights in both its original version and in a translated version using everyday language. It describes the events that led to the creation of the document and its significance through history.

©2009 Capstone Publishers; (P)2009 Capstone Publishers

Members Reviews:

Great

These are great books to help kids understand the Bill of Rights, etc. Easy to read and understand.

Four Stars

Not in the best shape former library book

Not bad at all

This is another great "in translation" book from FactFinders. Also try the Gettysburg Address in translation.The Gettysburg Address in Translation: What It Really Means (Fact Finders: Kids' Translations)

This is great for a basic introduction to civics, at a young age. The text of the amendments is printed in its original langauge, and then an explanaiton follows. Some vocabulary includes: iimpartial, infringe, seizure, probable cause, citizens, quartering...

This is worthwhile.

For older kids, I also like "The Bill of Rights" by Lucia Raatma.The Bill of Rights (Cornerstones of Freedom: Third)

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Title: Historic Voices X

Subtitle: The US Presidents Inaugural Addresses

Author: Various Artists

Narrator: Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon

Format: Abridged

Length: 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-08

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The inaugural addresses of Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy & Nixon.

©2008 Saland Publishing; (P)2008 Saland Publishing

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Title: Washington Burning

Author: Les Standiford

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-14-08

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The dramatic story of how Washington, D.C., rose from a wilderness is a vital chapter in American history, filled with intrigue and outsized characters - from Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the eccentric, passionate, difficult architect who fell in love with his adopted country, to George Washington, who struggled to balance L'Enfant's enthusiasm for his brilliant design with the strident opposition of fiscal conservatives such as Thomas Jefferson. Their conflicts mirror the struggles of a fledgling nation to form a kind of government the world had not yet known, prefiguring similar battles fought in Congress today.

Utterly absorbing and scrupulously researched, Washington Burning offers a fresh perspective on the birth of not just a city but a nation.

Members Reviews:

Washington yes Burning not so much

This book concentrates on the life and contributions of L'Enfant. One does not reach the actual burning of the city until about 75% of the way through the book. Most of the book deals with the planning and construction of Washington. There are many interesting tidbits - L'Enfant spent an inordinate amount of time looking for copper to reproduce his plan for the capital - as well as well told stories such as L'Enfant's incredible and self-destructive stubbornness. Yet the book does not capture. Finally the author takes the occasion to wax on about 9/11 in a manner that never really surpasses the personal.

Horrible Narration

Good story and well written, but the narration is absolutely horrible. The guy's French accent sounds more like Middle Eastern or American Indian. The listener knows that the main character is French, so enough already. Even when he is not making L’Enfant sound like an idiot his narration is deplorable. I would read this rather than listen to it because it is pretty painful at times.

annoying

the narration is annoying both in tone and attempt to duplicate L'Enfant's French accent. And the author's observations are plebeian.

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Title: Pitching in a Pinch

Subtitle: Baseball from the Inside

Author: Christy Mathewson

Narrator: Adams Morgan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-19-08

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Matty, as he was called, makes the listener feel that tense moment when a player in a pinch must use his head. Pitching in a Pinch, originally published in 1912, is an insider's account of the world of baseball, blending anecdote, biography, instruction, and social history. It celebrates baseball as it was played in the first decade of the 20th century by famous contemporaries like Honus Wagner and Rube Marquand, managers like John McGraw and Connie Mack, and many others. Always sensitive to psychology as well as technique, Mathewson describes the "dangerous batters" he faced; the "peculiarities" of big league pitchers; the "good and bad" of coaching, umpiring, sign-stealing, base-running, and spring training; and the importance of superstition to athletes.

(P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Members Reviews:

Good historical reference for players and coaches

The pictures are missing from the Kindle edition (though the photo captions are still in there). There's also the use of a few derogatory terms. This is the 1912 memoir of MLB New York Giants pitcher Christopher Mathewson, aka Christy Matty. It's written almost entirely in shop talk, so unless you're a baseball player, coach, or diehard fan yourself, you may find this a bit of a dry read. My favorite chapters were on Mathewson's experiences with spring training, baseball jinxes, and the old practice of home teams "doctoring" their fields to trip up the opposing teams. The lengths they went to!

Baseball in the early 20th century

I think that any fan of baseball and history would enjoy the insights in this book. Baseball has changed a lot with bigger ball parks and bigger salaries. But it is still a game of balls and strikes, stealing signs and trying for some advantage over the opposing team. There are a few funny stories related by the author which any one who knows a bit about baseball will enjoy. Some of the language is dated...pitchers are sometimes called twirlers and coaches are called coachers but that just adds to the history of the game.

Excellent honest look at early baseball

This book was extremely interesting and brought out many facets of the game from 100 years ago. It was also loaded with interesting anecdotes about players that are now long forgotten. If you are a baseball history junkie this book is essential

but it feels good. I loved his insights into the game most ...

Not having been there it's hard to judge the accuracy of the world outside of the lines he portrays, but it feels good. I loved his insights into the game most of which apply today as well as then. I just wish there had been more about his career especially as some of his best years seem to get short shrift. Recommend highly to anyone looking for a feel for the times, both on and off the field.

... of the 20th century by one of baseball's all-time greatest pitchers. How rare for a great athlete to ...

This is a very interesting account of baseball in the first decades of the 20th century by one of baseball's all-time greatest pitchers. How rare for a great athlete to be so literate. Unfortunately, the free kindle version doesn't include the photos which are in the original version of the book.