Download Best Sellers Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: Passing Strange

Subtitle: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line

Author: Martha A. Sandweiss

Narrator: Lorna Raver

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-24-09

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 53 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Martha A. Sandweiss, a noted historian of the American West, is the first writer to uncover the life that King tried so hard to conceal from the public eye. She reveals the complexity of a man who while publicly espousing a personal dream of a uniquely American "race," an amalgam of white and black, hid his love for his wife and their five biracial children. Passing Strange tells the dramatic tale of a family built along the fault lines of celebrity, class, and race - from the "Todd's" wedding in 1888 to the 1964 death of Ada, one of the last surviving Americans born into slavery, and finally to the legacy inherited by Clarence King's granddaughter, who married a white man and adopted a white child in order to spare her family the legacies of racism. A remarkable feat of research and reporting spanning the Civil War to the civil rights era, Passing Strange tells a uniquely American story of self-invention, love, deception, and race.

Critic Reviews:

"A delicious brew of public accomplishment and domestic intrigue." (

Publishers Weekly Starred Review)"An intriguing look at long-held secrets." (

Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Speculative History -- What happened to evidence?

This book is billed as history or biography, yet there is little evidence for many of the claims Sandweiss makes. Indeed, a significant portion of her sentences begin, "One might imagine," precisely because she is drawing broad conclusions from so little evidence. My confidence in the aptness of her conclusions is shaken by her interpretations of facts in evidence, which are often questionable. This book could have been a great pre-writing exercise for a novel she would have written, but should not have been marketed on its own.

SLOW.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This book is just slow. I'm 2/3 of the way through it, and it's been a whole lot about geology and expansionism, with not a lot about identity or race.

Would you ever listen to anything by Martha A. Sandweiss again?

no

Which scene was your favorite?

none

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

boredom

Race and Identity

Well, I started with this book because I wanted to know about the relationship between Clarence King who was prominent and white and his secret, post-civil war marriage to a black woman.

In particular, I wanted to better understand the identity issues (crisis?) that impelled King into this relationship and motivated it. This book yields up about all we can discern about King, but little is known about his wife. The book did not give me the insights I thought it might, but it certainly did not disappoint. I was well rewarded for the effort gathering much greater insight into the Civil War, slavary, race relationships, politics and all manner of information.

Essentially the book falls into three sections. The first tells the story of King and his wife up to their meeting. Much of what we know about her is infered from history. The second describes what we know about their mneeting, wedding, and life together. It details the double life King was living and the problems he ran into. Finally, the book carries the life of King's widow and their children.

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Title: Forgotten Patriots

Subtitle: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War

Author: Edwin G. Burrows

Narrator: Norman Dietz

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-11-08

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 67 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

New York City became the jailhouse of the American Revolution because it was the principal base of the Crown's military operations. Beginning with the bumper crop of American captives taken during the 1776 invasion of New York, captured Americans were stuffed into a hastily assembled collection of public buildings, sugar houses, and prison ships. The prisoners were shockingly overcrowded and chronically underfed---those who escaped alive told of comrades so hungry they ate their own clothes and shoes.

Despite the extraordinary number of lives lost, Forgotten Patriots is the first-ever account of what took place in these hellholes. The result is a unique perspective on the Revolutionary War as well as a sobering commentary on how Americans have remembered our struggle for independence---and how much we have forgotten.

Critic Reviews:

"[A] very interesting and well-written book. Highly recommended." (Library Journal Starred Review)

Members Reviews:

Great audiobook

First, the narration is fabulous, as was the other book that I listened to that was narrated by Norman Deitz, The Drillmaster of Valley Forge. This book was very interesting and was easy to follow.

Unique untold story

Even for a Rev war history buff, the aspects of the HUGE number of colonial POWs held (brutally) by the British is very interesting... a good listen!

Interesting perspective on the Revoluntary War

I had just finished listening to a book on George Washington's life, so I thought this would be a good tie in to the knowledge gained from that book. References to Gen. Washington are minimal in this book, but it does present an aspect of the Revoluntary War (behind the scenes look at the men captured by the enemy) that I had never given any thought to before. This narrative has also given me a perspective on Tory activities during this war that I was unaware of. That said, this book contains disturbing facts about how badly the American captives were treated by the Britisth, and goes on and on and on presenting those facts. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, because I feel that there is valuable information presented, but it does get a bit dull at times, but then held my attention again in the last 3 chapters.

Compelling

This book tells a compelling tale of how social stratification and the politics of war influenced the treatment of prisioners during the American Revolution and how they were and are remembered.

Admittedly, my knowledge of the American Revolutionary War is abysmal. In school I learned that it happened, and that's about it (I obviously lived in a brilliant school district). There were no people (I don't even remember a discussion of Washington, and I live in a town named for the man!), dates, or locations, simply, "There was a war, we won."

Luckily, I have a geeky mom, unfortunately she's a product of the same school system, so the information she provided was spotty. Everything I know of the subject has been cobbled together over the years from books and visits to historical sites, all of which assumed a basic knowledge of the subject. All of this is to say that I had a bit of trouble piecing some of the information together, but that I don't think it is a problem with the book, but with the reader (listener). More importantly, it means that I was completely blown away by this story.

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Title: The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown

Subtitle: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America

Author: Lorri Glover, Daniel Smith

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-15-08

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 79 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

To rescue the doomed colonists and restore order, the company chose a new leader, Thomas Gates. Nine ships left Plymouth in the summer of 1609---the largest fleet England had ever assembled---and sailed into the teeth of a storm so violent that "it beat all light from Heaven." The inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest, the hurricane separated the flagship from the fleet, driving it onto reefs off the coast of Bermuda - a lucky shipwreck (all hands survived) that proved to be the turning point in the colony's fortune.

Members Reviews:

The background for Shakespeare's The Tempest

The actual story of the storm and the shipwreck on Bermuda was fascinating. The beginning and end of the book seemed to lose me because of all the names, dates and facts and shifting between groups of people. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in that time period in history. I am glad that I listened to it. The narrator was good but perhaps could be a bit more animated.

Great !

Loved it- couldn't put it down !

Not The Grade School Version of the First Colony

If you vaguely remember something about the founding of America's first permanent colony at Jamestown, it's likely the grade school textbook or Disney versions about Capt. John Smith and Pocahontas. This book reveals the real story of the colony that came close to being abandoned amidst continuing conflicts and poor leadership. The reading of this book is rather flat, and drags the narrative. There are enough golly gee's in this book to make it a worthwhile read, and frankly, it would be better flipped than listen to this lackluster reading performance.

The WORST reader I have EVER heard

What disappointed you about The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown?

This is a great story not served well by the mediocre writing of this book, but rendered a much graver disservice by the incredibly HORRIBLE reading - by far the worst I have ever heard, almost un-listenable. The reader has an almost comically bad monotone - where (and why, why, WHY?) did Audible find such a terrible reader?

Would you be willing to try another book from Lorri Glover and Daniel Smith ? Why or why not?

Maybe, but ABSOLUTELY NOT if same reader

How did the narrator detract from the book?

See above - monotone so poor and so difficult to listen to that I was wondering for a moment if it was a joke. Listen to the opening scene of the stereotyped boring reader in the movie 'Good Morning Vietnam' and you will get the idea. In the movie it is used nicely for comic effect. Here it is (inexplicably) for real, and terribly annoying.

What character would you cut from The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown?

None in particular (except the reader!)

Any additional comments?

This is my first ever review of an audiobook and I very, very rarely write online reviews of anything. But this was so far off the charts and so inexcusable that I have to warn people as a public service. Excuse my strident tone but it is truly exasperating and wrong to allow such poor quality to be offered. That is not to say I am not happy with Audiobooks as a whole- I am, very much so.

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Title: The Slaves' War

Subtitle: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves

Author: Andrew Ward

Narrator: Richard Allen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-22-08

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 39 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

An acclaimed historian of 19th-century and African American history, Andrew Ward gives us the first narrative of the Civil War told from the perspective of those whose destiny it decided. Woven together from interviews, diaries, letters, and memoirs, here is the Civil War as seen not only from battlefields and camps but also from slave quarters, kitchens, roadsides, and fields.

Speaking in a quintessentially American language of biblical power and intensity, body servants, army cooks and launderers, runaways, teamsters, and gravediggers bring the war to life.

From slaves' theories about the war's causes to their frank assessments of such figures as Lincoln, Davis, Lee, and Grant; from their searing memories of the carnage of battle to their often startling attitudes toward masters and liberators alike; and from their initial jubilation at the Yankee invasion of the slave South to the crushing disappointment of freedom's promise unfulfilled, The Slaves' War is an engrossing vision of America's Second Revolution.

Critic Reviews:

"A fresh angle and a wealth of material." (Kirkus)

"A riveting book about the most important event in our history, from the perspective of those most affected by its outcome....An antidote to all the mythologizing that has over the years smothered this moral tale." (Ken Burns)

Members Reviews:

Interesting read

I enjoyed this book, although I have to admit that the first few chapters were a little confusing - it was tough to follow each battle scene. The book got a lot better when it documented the end of the war, and how that impacted the slaves. If you enjoy civil war literature, you would like this book.

historical listening/learning made ease

This is such a good book that comes to me from a new direction...that of the slaves and freemen. I have relatives that fought in the war between the states. (that is the way my mother says it..."There was nothing civil about it!" she says very forcefully.) I think I am happier that I got this as an audio book as the reader has a has just the right voice for it. Maybe this is the right time for people to hear these voices. To hear the words of people we didn't hear from in school. Consider it well, my friends.

In the very words of the slaves themselves!

This is an amazing book. Here we have a massive compilation of eye-witnesses to history in the making, as quoted directly from them. African-American people of all ages and in all the war-affected areas, each with their own personality and particular point of view sharing their insights and opinions on all aspects of the tumult. The quotes are well-selected and exceedingly moving; it is fascinating to hear what the soon-to-be-free slaves' thoughts were as they watched the effects of the war on their white masters and communities. The narrator is very good, doing justice to the slaves' patois. I finally feel that I am getting a sense of the 'whole picture' of the Civil War, now that I can hear these long dead people's voices! And they are lively voices that need to be heard. A truly wonderful contribution to the historical record.

It is good but.....

I have listened to the first part of this book. It is fascinating to hear first hand of the personal comments of the people involved.

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Title: Patriot Pirates

Subtitle: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution

Author: Robert H. Patton

Narrator: Alan Sklar

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-06-08

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 56 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In Patriot Pirates, Robert H. Patton, the grandson of the battlefield genius of World War II, explains how privatizing engaged all levels of Revolutionary life, from the dockyards to the assembly halls; how it gave rise to wild speculation in purchased shares in privateer ventures, enabling sailors to make more money in a month than they might earn in a year; and how privatizing created fortunes that survive to this day.

As one naval historian wrote, "The great battles of the American Revolution were fought on land, but independence was won at sea."

Patton tells how, in addition to its strategic and economic importance, privatizing played a large political role in the Revolution. For example, Benjamin Franklin, from his diplomatic post in Paris, secretly encouraged skippers to sell their captured goods in French ports - a calculated effort on Franklin's part to break the neutrality agreements between France and Britain, bring the two countries to blows, and take the pressure off American fighters.

This is a sweeping tale of maritime rebel-entrepreneurs bent on personal profit and national freedom.

Critic Reviews:

"[Patriot Pirates] is a well-written examination of an obscure aspect of American military history." (Booklist)

"An absorbing exhumation of an undersung subject that will be of particular interest to Revolution buffs." (Publishers Weekly)

"An illuminating look at an underappreciated chapter of the Revolutionary War: the daring, faintly disreputable, privateer war on British maritime interests...a pleasing mixture of high-seas adventure and shrewd analysis." (Kirkus Reviews)

Members Reviews:

Great topic - poor treatment

Neither concise nor comprehensive nor difinitive

Unfortunately, this book is not a history of the Privateering war during the Revolution but instead meerly provides a number of case studies taken seemingly at random of American Privateers and those who invested or profited from them. Additionally, many of these case studies include exceptionally long tangents into subjects that have very little to do with privateering. For example, much of the book is devoted to the great General Nathanial Greene merely because he invested and lost money on privateers. Another case is the decidedly undue amount of attention paid to the slave-trading activities of people who also were privateers. The author also makes his low opinion of privateers evident. In answering the question, "Is a privateer a licensed pirate or is a pirate an unlicensed privateer?" the author clearly thinks the privateer is a pirate.

I cam to the book hoping for an assessment of the privateering "guerre de course" of the American Revolution and was terribly disappointed. The big historical question is: Did the American Privateers significantly affect the course of the war and if so how? That question was not even addressed.

This book does have a limited role however. If you are already familiar with American Privateers, this gives you a worm's eye view of the "trade" from the perspective of crewmen, captains, owners, and investors. For that limited purpose alone I would recommend the book. (This is what lifts my rating from two stars to three.) Even then, I would advise looking elsewhere.

Great insites on the Rev war naval struggle

A under-reported in modern history books...

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Title: The Intellectual Devotional: American History

Author: David S. Kidder, Noah D. Oppenheim

Narrator: Jeff Woodman, Helen Litchfield

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-16-07

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 22 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In this follow-up volume, authors David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have turned to the rich legacy of American history for their selections. From Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King Jr., from the Federalist Papers to Watergate, the giant figures, cultural touchstones, and pivotal events in our national heritage provide a bountiful source of reflection and education that will refresh knowledge, revitalize the mind, and open new horizons of intellectual discovery.

Members Reviews:

Best Of Audible! Great for errand listening!

I cannot say enough good things about the Audiobooks in the Intellectual Devotional Series including this one: American History. Mr. Woodman & Ms. Litchfield share the narration duties alternating each lesson. This is not annoying (as i thought it might be) but rather keeps the book from being monotone and tune-out-able. I also must note that I really love both Woodman & Litchfield and seeing their names on other audiobooks influences my buying decision.

Narration dispensed with the Devotional is a collection of 3-7 minute lessons on American History designed for listening to 1 lesson per day with each day having its own theme (e.g. Saturday - Arts, Monday - Politics & Leadership). I cannot tell you how many times a topic will come up that I thought I knew about and 7 minutes later I'm gobsmacked to find I was either wrong or only knew a micron of the story. I listen to more than one per day but what is great about the way they break it up is this: it makes it the 100% BEST AUDIOBOOK AROUND to listen to whilst running errands! No waiting in your car to find a natural pause point.

WELL WORTH IT! My only complaint - there aren't any new ones! I wish they would come out with more...I've tried other similar series (don't know much about... etc) and they pale in comparison!

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Title: Vicksburg

Subtitle: A Guided Tour from Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields

Author: Jeff Shaara

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Format: Abridged

Length: 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-26-07

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Jeff Shaara, America's premier Civil War novelist, gives a remarkable guided tour of one of the Civil War battlefields every American should visit. He captures the true meaning and magnitude of the conflict.

Critic Reviews:

"This is an informative and moving examination of 'hallowed ground' that will appeal to both scholars and Civil War buffs, especially those planning to visit these sites." (Booklist)

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Title: Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields

Subtitle: Discovering America's Hallowed Ground

Author: Jeff Shaara

Narrator: various

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-26-07

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 50 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

From Antietam to Gettysburg to Vicksburg, and to the many poignant destinations in between, Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields is the ideal guide for casual tourists and Civil War enthusiasts alike.

Critic Reviews:

"This is an informative and moving examination of 'hallowed ground' that will appeal to both scholars and Civil War buffs, especially those planning to visit these sites." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Dry Civil war history 101

Jeff Shaara, in writing this book constructed a dry history lesson. Jeff Shaara's father, Michael Shaara, got me interested in Civil War history because the dramatization within his Civil War books, made history come to life. I loved Michael Sharra' s books. However, reading this book of Jeff Shaara, brought me painfully back to the boredom of 8th-9th grade history. If you are a genuine history buff, you may love this dry rendition. If you need history to come alive, pass on this book, and search for the father's, Michael Shaara's, fun and exciting dramatizations of Civil War history.

Informative battle guide

Shaara does a very good job of summarizing six battles of the Civil War with the focus on visiting the fields and seeing the terrain. If touring battlefields is one's desire, this book makes a great introduction.

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Title: Union 1812

Subtitle: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence

Author: A. J. Langguth

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-06-06

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 122 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This dramatic account of the War of 1812 fills a surprising gap in the popular literature of the nation's formative years. It is this war, followed closely on the War of Independence, that established the young nation as a permanent power and proved its claim to Manifest Destiny.

Full of fascinating characters - Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Dolley Madison, Sam Houston, the great Indian chieftain Tecumseh, Francis Scott Key, Davy Crockett, and Oliver Perry, among others - Langguth's riveting account covers a vast panorama of battles, from the American sacking of Toronto and the British burning of the White House and the Capitol, to the thrilling war at sea and on the Great Lakes and the final spectacular American victory at New Orleans.

Union 1812 will take its place on the history shelf of essential books on the young nation, alongside Langguth's Patriots.

Critic Reviews:

"Langguth's prose is vivid, and he brings to life a panoply of personalities." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Fantastic narrative history

Langguth is a wonderful writer and Gardner is a wonderful narrator. Union 1812 tells the story of the early republic, up through the War of 1812. The subtitle is a key to the book's approach: it's a history that focuses on the people involved, with incisive portraits of the earliest statesmen (Washington, Adams, and Jefferson) as well as the later generation: John Quincy Adams, James Madison, William Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson.

The story is somewhat more panoramic than the title implies. In laying the groundwork for his narrative of the war, Langguth describes the Constitutional Convention and the careers of the first four presidents in a series of brisk chapters. When he gets to the presidency of James Madison, the timeline slows down to focus on the events of the war itself. (The timeline slows down but the pace doesn't: Union 1812 remains a compelling and exciting listen throughout.)

I knew little about the War of 1812 before the book. My main impressions of it came from the movie The Buccaneer, which tells the story of the pirate Jean LaFitte at the battle of New Orleans. I had no idea the US had invaded Canada not once but multiple times over the course of the war; and though I knew the White House was burned by the British, I knew nothing about the campaign that led up to that. I'd heard of Tecumseh, the Native American leader who sided with the British, but had no idea what role he played in the conflict. The book was, for me, full of dramatic surprises.

I liked it so much I immediately downloaded Langguth's "sequel," Driven West, which is supposed to cover the years from the end of the war up to the Civil War. Many years ago, I'd read Langguth's history of the American Revolution, Patriots: if Audible or someone else would care to publish that as an audiobook (hint, hint), we'd have a dynamite trilogy.

My only complaint, as usual with books of this type, is that I needed to track down some good battle maps while listening. Presumably the printed book came with some: it would be nice if there were a PDF with those maps that could be downloaded from Audible. Maybe it's just me.

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Title: Redemption

Subtitle: The Last Battle of the Civil War

Author: Nicholas Lemann

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 09-19-06

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 41 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Nicholas Lemann opens his extraordinary new book with a riveting account of the horrific events of Easter 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana, where a white militia of Confederate veterans-turned-vigilantes attacked the black community there and massacred hundreds of people in a gruesome killing spree. This was the start of an insurgency that changed the course of American history: for the next few years, white Southern Democrats waged a campaign of political terrorism aimed at overturning the 14th and 15th Amendments and challenging President Grant's support for the emergent structures of black political power. The remorseless strategy of well-financed "White Line" organizations was to create chaos and keep blacks from voting, out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Redemption is the first book to describe in uncompromising detail this organized racial violence, which reached its apogee in Mississippi in 1875.

Lemann bases his devastating account on a wealth of military records, congressional investigations, memoirs, press reports, and the invaluable papers of Adelbert Ames, the war hero from Maine who was Mississippi's governor at the time. When Ames pleaded with Grant for federal troops who could thwart the white terrorists violently disrupting Republican political activities, Grant wavered, and the result was a bloody, corrupt election in which Mississippi was "redeemed", that is, returned to white control.

Redemption makes clear that this is what led to the death of Reconstruction and of the rights encoded in the 14th and 15th Amendments. We are still living with the consequences.

Critic Reviews:

"Lemann delivers an engrossing...account of a disgraceful episode in American history." (Publishers Weekly) "[Redemption] is an important contribution to the rewriting of Southern history that began half a century ago with C. Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow, and it may well have comparable influence on our understanding of one of the most shameful periods in our past." (The Washington Post) "Written on a dramatic human scale, and leavened by some fresh research and analysis, [Redemption] is an arresting piece of popular history." (New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

A good accouting of the post Civil War suffering

This is a good history and accounting of the post Civil War suffering that freed blacks had to endure, but also shows the conviction, bravery and determination that many blacks possessed during this difficult period. I liked everything except the narrator's style. Something about this book left me thinking it could have been much more effective emotionally if narrated by someone else.