Download Best Sellers Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: The Hiramic Legend and the Ashmolean Theory

Subtitle: Foundations of Freemasonry Series

Author: W. B. Hextall

Narrator: Adam Hanin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-14

Publisher: Lamp of Trismegistus

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Worshipful Brother Hextall explores various possible histories of the Hiram Abiff legend in Masonic ritual, focusing largely on noted British alchemist and astrologer Elias Ashmole in the process. He includes speculation on the manufacturing of the Master Mason degree as well as the history of its emergence. And what does the burning of historical Masonic documents in 1720 have to do with all of it? The author explains.

Members Reviews:

It completely was devoid of the Hiram details.

This was only a biography of Ashmol, void of the legend details . Quite boring but at least it was credible information.

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Title: Showdown at Antietam

Subtitle: A Battlefield Tour of the Bloodiest Day in American History

Author: Jack Kunkel

Narrator: Jack Kunkel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-06-14

Publisher: Pepper Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The Antietam is a large creek that runs about a mile east and south of the small hamlet of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Despite its attractive name, Antietam was a man-made disaster, its name signifying horror to the participants and to generations of their families. Some 6,400 Americans were killed or mortally wounded on that day, which is more than those killed in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War and all the Indian wars, combined. At a time when the American population was a fraction of what it is today, the deaths at Antietam were more than twice the number killed at the World Trade Center, and four times the number killed on D-Day.

Then of course there were the wounded and maimed. About 15,000 of them. Many would later die of their wounds, not counted as killed on the field. And an exceptional percentage of these wounded would go under the knife of the surgeons, aptly named saw-bones, on the kitchen table of a local farmers house, and then laid in some filthy straw in a dank barn, to either live or die. For those that lived, usually teenagers, they could look forward to spending the remainder of their lives hobbling around on a crude wooden crutch, or minus an arm or two, no longer capable of doing a mans work of that time. And particularly for the Southerners, dont count too much on any government assistance after the war.

While this battlefield tour must by necessity focus on the big picture - the generals, the map arrows, the movements of divisions, brigades and regiments, etc. - I do from time to time try to include insights from the privates and corporals in the maelstrom, so that we dont forget that on the ground, down at the regiment, company and individual level, Antietam was not just lines on a map; it was a brutal fight between flesh and blood men who believed so completely in their cause that they were quite willing to kill or be killed.

Members Reviews:

Battlefield Tour Necessity

Although Showdown at Antietam can be used as a battlefield guide. Its details of the battle and the various units is best read cover to cover before visiting the battlefield and then used again to follow the location by location tour integrated into the book.

Having read it shortly before the recent anniversary, we were then able to follow the battle without either standing around reading or skipping though pages to save time during our time spent at the site. Perfect for the detail oriented Civil War buff or the casual tourist trying to quickly understand the significance of America's bloodiest day.

More dead than the Revolutionary, 1812, Indian and Spanish American Wars combined. Four times the deaths at Omaha and Utah beaches on D-Day. A sacred site worth visiting and with this book in hand.

Fascinating and riveting civil war travel guide

I ordered this book for my Kindle last night just before bed and planned to leaf through it for a few minutes... but instead, I found the book so fascinating and well written that I ended up reading it under the covers (to not wake Husband) until late into the night. Mr. Kunkel's dry wit, cool and well-researched battle commentary and interesting, easy-to-understand maps put this guide up there on the shelf next to the most respected historian's books about the Civil War.

I also couldn't take my eyes off his 'Then and Now' photos.

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Title: The Walking People

Subtitle: A Native American Oral History

Author: Paula Underwood

Narrator: Paula Underwood

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-25-14

Publisher: A Tribe of Two Press

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This story has its beginnings on a day long ago when Earth rolled and heaved, and rocks fell like rain.

Thus began what some today would call a migration of The Walking People. Leaderless and bereft of the shared knowledge of tradition, they set off on their journey. Their story is the story of how one particular group of human beings was able to start anew - to learn through difficulty and changing circumstance to prosper as a Whole People. This story of survival through sweeping change has important messages for all those who value learning today.

Paula Underwood (1932-2000) was the fifth generation of her family to hold responsibility for this ancient tradition. Paula said, "It is the history of my ancestors, who - in a direct line down uncounted generations - never forgot to remember." Her instructions were to record all she had learned in English to be given as a gift to all Earth's Children.

Members Reviews:

Three Stars

Oral history passed down in a family. OK for what it is.

Almost perfect

The book is very good condition as mentioned and arrived on time. Only one thing I didn't like was the tracking number was incorrect. I couldn't track it. And I couldn't find a contact info of the shipper either. Otherwise my experience was very good.

Audible version incomplete

This is one of the most wonderful books ever written. I own the hard cover copy and have read it silently to myself and aloud to friends many times. It is life changing.

The Audible version is beautifully done BUT COVERS ONLY A SMALL PORTION of the whole book. I was expecting the entire audiobook and was extremely disappointed to discover that so little was included only after purchasing it. I consider it false advertising that the reality was not made clear in the description.

The Amazing True Oral Story of the Ancient History and Learning of a Tribe

When you realize what this saga actually consists of, you are utterly stunned. From the time she was very young, Paula Underwood was the recipient of the oral history of her tribe, the Oneida, one of the Five First Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, from her father. This narration, passed from generation to generation in song form, goes back into the dim reaches of time - perhaps thousands of years before - and consists of the events, learning and wisdom that her people acquired from their experiences. Incredibly, it appears that the story begins in Asia and describes how the people, through horrific hardship and disasters, yet always learning as a people from their experiences, eventually came to cross the disappearing Aleutian land bridge into North America.

In her Introduction, Ms. Underwood tells how she came to be selected to carry forward this history. She says, "Whether this ever was the history of the Iroquois - or of one group who joined them - I do not know. But I am certain it is the history of my ancestors, who - in a direct line down uncounted generations - never forgot to remember."

Be sure to read the Foreword and the Introduction, which give fascinating details about how her father came to share this knowledge with her, and why he did so. A priceless document, rendered into English deliberately by Paula Underwood so that all its pieces of wisdom, acquired so long ago, could be understood by modern humanity.

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Title: Empire City

Subtitle: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape

Author: David M. Scobey

Narrator: Jim Feldman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-14

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

For generations, New Yorkers have joked about The City's interminable tearing down and building up. The city that the whole world watches seems to be endlessly remaking itself. When the locals and the rest of the world say New York, they mean Manhattan, a crowded island of commercial districts and residential neighborhoods, skyscrapers and tenements, fabulously rich and abjectly poor cheek by jowl. Of course, it was not always so; New York's metamorphosis from compact port to modern metropolis occurred during the mid-19th century.

Empire City tells the story of the dreams that inspired the changes in the landscape and the problems that eluded solution. Author David Scobey paints a remarkable panorama of New York's uneven development, a city-building process careening between obsessive calculation and speculative excess. Envisioning a new kind of national civilization, bourgeois urbanists attempted to make New York the nation's pre-eminent city. Ultimately, they created a mosaic of grand improvements, dynamic change, and environmental disorder. Empire City sets the stories of the city's most celebrated landmarks - Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the downtown commercial center within the context of this new ideal of landscape design and a politics of planned city building. Perhaps such an ambitious project for guiding growth, overcoming spatial problems, and uplifting the public was bound to fail; still, it grips the imagination.

Critic Reviews:

"This is an excellent book: It is meticulously researched, full of insights, and beautifully written." (Business History Review)

"Scobey has written a brilliant, evocative account of New York on the brink of economic and social chaos." (Journal of American History)

Members Reviews:

Empire City

David Scobey's book on the effects of boosterism on the city's development is well documented and provides a close look at NYC's habit of consistently destroying and rebuilding its landscape. This book is a helpful history of the city but is densely written and somewhat strangely organized. In regards to the organization matter, for instance, Central Park is discussed piecemeal in different chapters. While it might make sense to split discussions on certain subjects in terms of the larger topics being discussed in more detail, the fact that this organizational choice becomes a point to ponder, makes me question the effectiveness of the argument as it is set up. Though I admit it might be a matter of personal choice. On the former issue, or that of the writing style, I think it might be a matter of aim: I think the book is based on Scobey's dissertation which explains the dense language. It is overall a good history of NYC's growth throughout the C19th.

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Title: October Fury

Author: Peter A. Huchthausen

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-14

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Drama on the high seas as the world holds its breath

It was the most spectacular display of brinkmanship in the Cold War era. In October 1962, President Kennedy risked inciting a nuclear war to prevent the Soviet Union from establishing missile bases in Cuba. The risk, however, was far greater than Kennedy realized.

October Fury uncovers startling new information about the Cuban missile crisis and the potentially calamitous confrontation between US Navy destroyers and Soviet submarines in the Atlantic. Peter Huchthausen, who served as a junior ensign aboard one of the destroyers, reveals that a single shot fired by any US warship could have led to an immediate nuclear response from the Soviet submarines.

This riveting account re-creates those desperate days of confrontation from both the American and Russian points of view and discloses detailed information about Soviet operational plans and the secret orders given to submarine commanders. It provides an engrossing, behind-the-scenes look at the technical and tactical functions of two great navies along with stunning portraits of the officers and sailors on both sides who were determined to do their duty even in the most extreme circumstances.

As absorbing and detailed as a Tom Clancy novel, this real-life suspense thriller is destined to become a classic of naval literature.

Members Reviews:

Not quite what I expected

This book turned out to be more about the Russian submarines and the US navy trailing them during the crisis then about the Crisis itself.. Lots of detail about life aboard those subs and you quickly find that those Russians were not in an enviable position. Terrible conditions with very little information from their Government about what was going on. But, these subs carried nuclear missiles and they could fire them with out an OK from Moscow if conditions were right. Grover Gardner was good for this book, he does his usual good narration. It was a good book, just not what I expected.

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Title: Interpreting American History: The Age of Andrew Jackson

Author: Brian D. McKnight, James S. Humphreys

Narrator: Todd Barsness

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-25-14

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The inaugural volume in a new historiography series

Historians possess the power to shape the view of history for those who come after them. Their efforts to illuminate significant events of the past often result in new interpretations, which frequently conflict with ideas proposed by earlier historians. Invariably, this divergence of thoughts creates a dissonance between historians about the causes and meanings of prior events. The Kent State University Press' new Interpreting American History Series aims to help listeners learn how truth emerges from the clash of interpretations present in the study of history.

In the series' first volume, Interpreting American History: The Age of Andrew Jackson, experts on Jacksonian America address the changing views of historians over the past century on a watershed era in U.S. history. A two-term president of the United States, Jackson was a powerful leader who widened constitutional boundaries on the presidency, shaping policy himself instead of deferring to the wishes of Congress.

The essayists in this volume review the most important issues of the period - including the Corrupt Bargain, Nullification Crisis, Indian Removal Act, and Jacksonian democracy, economics, and reform - and discuss their interpretation over the last hundred years by such historians as Frederick Jackson Turner, Richard Hofstadter, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Sean Wilentz, Robert V. Remini, Daniel Feller, and David Walker Howe.

An insightful compilation of essays, Interpreting American History: The Age of Andrew Jackson will acquaint listeners with the 19th century world of Andrew Jackson and the ways in which historians have interpreted his life and times.

Members Reviews:

Way over my head.

Andrew Jackson always interested me but I never purchased any books about him. All my prior readings on him were only chapters of larger books. I listened to the demo for this book and decided to jump on in.

Buyer beware. This is not an easy book to listen to. This book is more on the level of a doctorate thesis. You should have a solid grounding in the life and times of Jackson in order to enjoy this book. In addition, you should also have extensive knowledge about past historians and their views as this book is a comparative study

Recommended only for the master level and above student

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Title: Crimes of the Presidents

Author: M. William Phelps

Narrator: Kevin Pierce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-21-14

Publisher: M. William Phelps, LLC

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Journalist M. William Phelps, author of 22 books, masterfully examines the crimes and failures of presidents Lyndon Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Richard Nixon, Andrew Jackson, and Woodrow Wilson, in this delightful audiobook that sheds new light on some rather telling moments in United States history. Using his expert storytelling techniques, Phelps draws listeners into the narrative and allows each to decide how bad and criminal a particular president's behavior actually was!

In his no holds barred style, Phelps doesn't allow any president a free pass.

Members Reviews:

Interesting set of stories about five US Presidents

Well written and easy to read short book. He addresses official actions only.

For Lyndon Johnson, he addresses the actions of Johnson and his Sec Def, Robert McNamara. He paints the tale as Johnson and McNamara as wanting to get involved in VIetnam, and looking for an excuse, for which they used the US Navy encounter in the South China Sea.

Grover Cleveland and the Pullman strike at the end of the 19th century was not handled well. There was a labor issue at the Pullman railway car factory and town of Pullman ILL, outside Chicago. There was no real precedent on how to handle labor strikes in the US on a large scale. The US Army was sent in by Cleveland, and a number of people were shot, and many others were killed in the civil disorder.

Richard Nixon is all about the Watergate, and the actions leading up to it including CREEP (Committee to REElect the President) where many abuses were done.

Andrew Jackson is about Jackson's failures as a president where he ended up allowing some US Army Civil War vets who were Irish to invade Canada, intending to take it over and use it to bargain with Britain for Irish rights etc.

Woodrow Wilson issue that he addresses is messing with Mexican affairs in the confusion in Mexico in the early 1900s, resulting in Poncho Villa invading the US at Columbus NM, and Gen. Pershing sent into Mexico with over 10,000 troops to catch Poncho Villa. The invasion of Mexico was a bad idea and the Mexicans resented it, and Villa evaded Pershing as could be expected.

Interesting read if you are interested in reading about things our Presidents have done which were on the negative side of the ledger.

Somewhat informational

I read everything M. William Phelps writes as I did with Ann Rule. I'm not sure what I was expecting on this. I'm not a big history buff for sure but I did find out a couple things. It's a light read. If you want something in-between your true crime general books, this is it.

Very Interesting!!!

This is a book of mandatory reading. It lets one know, even Presidents not only make mistakes, but their erroneous crimes affect all of us. They should be held responsible for their crimes.

Four Stars

Interesting.

good

It was very good and will definitely read this again. Very informative and learned more now reading this book. Good job

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Title: The Invisible Soldiers

Subtitle: How America Outsourced Our Security

Author: Ann Hagedorn

Narrator: Laural Merlington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-19-14

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The urgent truth about the privatization of Americas national security that exposes where this industry came from, how it operates, where it's heading - and why we should be concerned.

Thirty years ago there were no private military and security companies (PMSCs); there were only mercenaries. Now the PMSCs are a bona-fide industry, an indispensable part of American foreign and military policy. PMSCs assist US forces in combat operations and replace them after the military withdraws from combat zones; they guard our embassies; they play key roles in US counterterrorism strategies; and Homeland Security depends on them. Their services include maritime security, police training, drone operations, cyber security, and intelligence analysis (as Edward Snowden has famously revealed). Even the United Nations employs them.

When did this happen? The turning point came when the US found itself in a prolonged war with Iraq, but without adequate forces. So the Bush Administration turned to the PMSCs to fill the gap. Private contractors and subcontractors eventually exceeded the traditional troops. The industry has never scaled back.

Ann Hagedorn profiles the members of Congress who recognize the dangers of dependence on PMSCs, but have been unable to limit them or even determine their true scope. She takes us to the exclusive club in London where the PMSCs were created, and she reveals the key figure in the evolution of the industry. She introduces us to a US Army general who studies new developments, such as PMSCs drone operations, and worries about PMSCs potentially fighting American troops. The Invisible Soldiers will inspire a national dialogue about a little-known international industry on which our security rests.

Members Reviews:

Steeply slanted hit piece

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

Less obvious political bias.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Undecided

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Workmanlike performance with occasional mispronounced words.

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

Tedium. The writing was superficial, derivative, repetitive, laden with irrelevant anecdotes, and heavy with quotes from left-wing politicians and journalists. I continued reading nearly to the end, hoping for some useful insights into this burgeoning industry, but found the conclusions unreliable due to the heavy bias. Realistic alternatives to the growing use of PMSCs were not to be found.

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Title: A Death in San Pietro

Subtitle: The Untold Story of Ernie Pyle, John Huston, and the Fight for Purple Heart Valley

Author: Tim Brady

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-16-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

By the time Mark Clark's Fifth Army reached the small village of San Pietro north of Naples in the first week of December 1943, a tough but rapid sweep through Sicily came to a muddy halt. On the slopes of a distant mountain, the death of a single platoon captain, Henry Waskow, epitomized the struggle.

A Death in San Pietro chronicles the quietly heroic and beloved Captain Waskow and his company as they make their way into battle. Waskow's 36th ("Texas") Division would ultimately succeed in driving the Germans off the mountains; but not before eighty percent of Waskow's company is lost in action.

For Americans back home, two of the war's most lasting artistic expression brought horrified focus to the battlefield, already dubbed "Purple Heart Valley" by the men of the 36th. Pulitzer Prize-winner Ernie Pyle's dispatch about Waskow's death and filmmaker John Huston's award-winning documentary of the battle rivets - and shocks - the nation, bringing, as if for the first time, the awful carnage of world war into living rooms across America.

Members Reviews:

An intriguing historical backstory

Ernie Pyle's "The Death of Captain Waskow" is one of the most well-known columns about World War II, and yet the backstory of how he died during the Sicilian campaign is mostly unknown. People (like me) know the column, but the actual person is just a name - and the actual battle is lost among all the battles.

This book gives a close-up view of that series of battles, culminating in the exchange that killed Waskow - it's a mundane battle...not even a battle, but just one another ongoing series of fights. Because Pyle never met him, he was able to write objectively not about the actual person, but how the loss of one soldier impacted the men of the unit, even if briefly. Now, the reader knows the before, of what was going on around everyone.

It also gives background to Pyle's work. A lot of his columns lack present day context - his work from North Africa was relevant in 1942, but it's hard for readers of today to even remember that's where US forces first arrived overseas. Now, we can see the conditions that Pyle was reporting from.

The battle itself is described in a bit much of detail, but it gives the entire story the necessary weight. John Huston is a secondary figure, probably not deserving of equal billing, but interesting all the same.

This is good complementary history. I don't think it stands-alone, and readers will want to use this as a jumping-off point for more reading from Pyle. The column - "The Death of Captain Waskow" is reproduced here.

I've reported from Iraq as an embedded journalist, same as Pyle did (and anyone who thinks 'embedded reporting' is a new idea, should refer to Pyle's work, which is exactly the embedded model to a tee), and it's always poignant to see accounts of Pyle on the job. We can only wonder what he might have written, had he been given the perspective of a few post-war years to gain perspective. But, like Waskow, Pyle died in 1945 in an equally mundane exchange of fire, not even a battle.

Definitely a Good Read

I read a lot of WWII including Ernie Pyle's books and I knew the story of Capt.

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Title: Star-Spangled Men

Subtitle: America's Ten Worst Presidents

Author: Nathan Miller

Narrator: Andy Caploe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-20-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Picking America's best presidents is easy. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt usually lead the list. But choosing the nation's worst presidents requires more thought. In Star-Spangled Men, respected presidential biographer Nathan Miller puts on display those leaders who were abject failures as chief executive. With pointed humor and a deft hand, he presents a rogues' gallery of the men who dropped the presidential ball, and sometimes their pants as well.

Miller includes Richard M. Nixon, who was forced to resign to escape impeachment; Jimmy Carter, who proved that the White House is not the place for on-the-job training; and Warren G. Harding, who gave "being in the closet" new meaning as he carried on extramarital interludes in one near the Oval Office. This current edition also includes a new assessment of Bill Clinton - who has admitted lying to his family, his aides, his cabinet, and the American people.

Members Reviews:

Fun, opinionated

A nice brief recap of arguably the worst presidents. Narrator is a bit too enthusiastic, taking in audible deep breaths before launcing off each new sentence!

Fun, easy to listen to

This is a bipartisan roast of various presidents. Historical facts are mixed with amusing anecdotes to keep it flowing. Sometimes one could sense a positive glee in the author, painting a caricature of one or another fellow -- Nixon, Harding, etc. And who can blame him? This is a nice break for me from deeply straight-faced, intensively scholarly works. A couple of my favorites are the 2 "overrated" presidents at the end -- Jefferson and JFK. Of course the listener may find one or more things to disagree with -- I always hope for some of those! I want my existing notions shaken and tested.

Entertaining and factual

The author critiques his ten worst presidents with humor and insight. He backs up his criticism with facts while acknowledging that other interpretations are valid. The piece is relatively light in tone and makes easy listening.

He has Democrats and Republicans on his list and there does not seem to be any agenda he is pushing. For example, there are bad isolationists and bad expansionists. His idea of "badness" is mostly (lack of) character driven e.g. Nixon, but overall (lack of) performance also makes someone a target, e.g. Carter.

I would recommend the book to anyone interested in a critical look at American politics without a demagogue's screed.

Trite but fun

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

For fans of the Presidency, this ranking of the ten worst executives provides fun but cursory reading. When ranking the best or worst Presidents, there is often broad consensus and little controversy over say the top five and the same applies here. It is when you get to six through ten that the disagreements and, well, fun set in. I can't say I was surprised by any of the men in Miller's list nor their rankings. Therefore, you won't find any surprises in here. He does a nice job providing a brief bio of each of his subjects as well as his reasons for why theirs was a failed or disappointing Presidency. None of it is approached in a scholarly fashion, but more as an extended op ed piece and I thought it was approached in a generally unbiased manner.