Download the Top 100 Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: Storm Over Texas

Subtitle: The Annexation Controversy and the Road to Civil War

Author: Joel H. Silbey

Narrator: John H. Mayer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-15-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 23 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In the spring of 1844, a fiery political conflict erupted over the admission of Texas into the Union. This hard-fought and bitter controversy profoundly changed the course of American history. Indeed, as Joel Silbey argues in Storm Over Texas, it marked the crucial moment when partisan differences were transformed into a North-vs-South antagonism, and the momentum towards Civil War leaped into high gear.

Silbey, one of America's most renowned political historians, offers a swiftly paced and compelling narrative of the Texas imbroglio, which included an exceptional cast of characters, from John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams, to James K. Polk and Martin Van Buren. We see how a series of unexpected moves, some planned, some inadvertent, sparked a crisis that intensified and crystallized the North-South divide. Sectionalism, Silbey shows, had often been intense, but rarely widespread and generally well contained by other forces. After Texas statehood, it became a driving force in national affairs, ultimately leading to Southern secession and Civil War.

With subtlety, great care, and much imagination, Joel Silbey shows that this brief political struggle became, in the words of an Alabama congressman, "the greatest question of the age" - and a pivotal moment in American history.

The Pivotal Moments in American History series seeks to unite the old and the new history, combining the insights and techniques of recent historiography with the power of traditional narrative. Each title has a strong narrative arc with drama, irony, suspense, and most importantly great characters who embody the human dimension of historical events. The general editors of Pivotal Moments are not just historians; they are popular writers themselves, and, in two cases, Pulitzer Prize winners: David Hackett Fischer, James M. McPherson, and David Greenberg. We hope you like your American History served up with verve, wit, and an eye for the telling detail!

Members Reviews:

Old Wine in New Bottles?

This book would have been more accurately titled, "The Van Buren Faction in the Democratic Party of the 1830s and 1840s, and How it Occassionally Relates to the Annexation of Texas." Texas annexation is completed about halfway through the book, yet the author continues to goes on and on about the "Hunkers" versus the "Barnburners" (don't ask). Perhaps the author got a book contact and decided to economize on his effort by incorporating material from previous works. That being said, the first half of the book is pretty interesting, and may be worth it if you get it on sale, as I did.

Texas at the Crossroad?

In this volume, Joel Silbey turns his attention to the annexation of Texas by the Union. He argues that this was a prime turning point in the nation's history and the movement to the Civil War. Hisotorians, professional and otherwise, may disagree with Silbey's anlysis, but it is informative. Individuals interested in Texas history will benefit as well. The writing is clear and the reading of John H. Mayer is very good.

Too long for what it says.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Barely worthwhile. Nothing new here.

Would you recommend Storm Over Texas to your friends? Why or why not?

Only if they are new to the topic.

What about John H.

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Title: A Sailors History of the U.S. Navy

Author: Thomas J. Cutler

Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 50 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Adopted by the U.S. Navy for issue to all new sailors, A Sailors History of the U.S. Navy brings to life the events that have shaped and inspired the navy of today while highlighting the roles of all sailorsfrom seaman to admiral.

Rather than focus entirely upon such naval icons as Stephen Decatur and Chester Nimitz, as most histories do, author Thomas J. Cutler, a retired lieutenant commander and former petty officer second class, brings to the forefront the contributions of enlisted people. Youll hear about Quartermaster Peter Williams, who steered the ironclad Monitor into history, and Hospital Corpsman Tayinikia Campbell, who saved lives in USS Cole after she was struck by terrorists in Yemen.

Unlike most histories, A Sailors History is arranged thematically rather than chronologically. Chapters are built around the navys core values of honor, courage, and commitment, its traditions of Dont Tread on Me and Dont Give Up the Ship, and other significant aspects of the navy.

As Cutler states in his preface, the book is not a whitewash. He includes mistakes and defeats along with the achievements and victories as he draws a portrait of a navy growing stronger and smarter while turning tragedy into triumph. The result is a unique account that captures the navys heritage as much as its history and provides inspiration as well as information while emphasizing that most essential element of naval history: the sailor.

Members Reviews:

A Sailors History of the U.S. Navy

What made the experience of listening to A Sailors History of the U.S. Navy the most enjoyable?

Learning the history of what it was to follow in the footsteps of previous sailors...

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

At first I perceived it as a feel good book about the service, but after listening for a while, i came to appreciate the trials and learning curve that we (as a country) had to go through to get to the point we are at now. This book seems to get there in a round about manner, with colorful tails of accomplishment, and loss. After listening to it long enough, I was moved by the school of hard knocks that we had to go through.

Great book for US Naval heritage.

The book was well written, thoigh there were some parts that repeated and overlapped leading to a little confusion. Good narration, and a great book for US Naval heritage.

Beginning thematic, ending just list of dates

Good way to learn about Navy History while battling grease on my dishes. Best parts compare similar patterns of courage in Revolutionary and World Wars, and give the personal accounts from individual perspectives.

Worst parts remind one of bad history lecture: Slow paced relatively monotonous voice listing dates and obscure sounding "Operation: Sleeping Brain"-type titles generalizing about US intent and results.

Decent, I guess, for primer on US Navy culture and ethos. Chop last two or three chapters and you've got a better product that stays on-message about Navy Core Values.

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Title: American Rose

Subtitle: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee

Author: Karen Abbott

Narrator: Bernadette Dunne

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-28-10

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 95 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

With the critically acclaimed Sin in the Second City, best-selling author Karen Abbott pioneered sizzle history (USA Today). Now she returns with the gripping and expansive story of Americas coming-of-agetold through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered.

America in the Roaring Twenties. Vaudeville was king. Talking pictures were only a distant flicker. Speakeasies beckoned beyond dimly lit doorways; money flowed fast and free. But then, almost overnight, the Great Depression leveled everything. When the dust settled, Americans were primed for a star who could distract them from grim reality and excite them in new, unexpected ways. Enter Gypsy Rose Lee, a strutting, bawdy, erudite stripper who possessed a preternatural gift for delivering exactly what America needed.

With her superb narrative skills and eye for compelling detail, Karen Abbott brings to vivid life an era of ambition, glamour, struggle, and survival. Using exclusive interviews and never-before-published material, she vividly delves into Gypsys world, including her intensely dramatic triangle relationship with her sister, actress June Havoc, and their formidable mother, Rose, a petite but ferocious woman who seduced men and women alike and literally killed to get her daughters on the stage.

American Rose chronicles their story, as well as the story of the four scrappy and savvy showbiz brothers from New York City who would pave the way for Gypsy Rose Lees brand of burlesque. Modeling their shows after the glitzy, daring reviews staged in the theaters of Paris, the Minsky brothers relied on grit, determination, and a few tricks that fell just outside the lawand they would shape, and ultimately transform, the landscape of American entertainment.

Critic Reviews:

A delicious history . . . a lush love letter to the underworld . . . [Abbott] describes the Levees characters in such detail that its easy to mistake this meticulously researched history for literary fiction. (The New York Times Book Review)

[Abbotts] research enables the kind of vivid description à la fellow journalist Erik Larsons The Devil in the White City that makes what could be a dry historic account an intriguing read. (The Seattle Times)

[A] satisfyingly lurid tale . . . Change the hemlines, add 100 years, and the book could be filed under current affairs. (USA Today)

Members Reviews:

Well done biography of a complicated Icon

It's a good biography, but difficult to listen to because of the time shifts. The author moves back & forth through the highlights of a very busy and very short life and it's difficult to keep track of marriages, performances and relationships because of the time jumping.

Be sure to view YouTube with videos of Gypsy Rose Lee performing (very G rated, but very interesting) and go to the book's website to see photos of Tough Rose and Baby June

Fascinating story!

What a life, lived a few different times, it would seem.

Performance was excellent, story intriguing. Only issue was keeping track of what time period each chapter took place--it does jump around a bit.

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Title: The Modern Scholar: A History of Native America

Author: Ned Blackhawk

Narrator: Ned Blackhawk

Format: Original Recording

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-10

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 42 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In these illuminating lectures from Professor Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), a history of Native America is provided from the time shortly before the expeditions of Christopher Columbus to the present. Focusing on the Columbian Exchange, Indians and the American Constitution, American Indian Removal, the Civil War, and the modern age, Professor Blackhawk concludes his revealing course by addressing the issues that continue to affect Native Americans today.

Members Reviews:

Very uneven but ultimately worth it

While the delivery was somewhat excruciating to endure, the content of Ned Blackhawk's survey (from the pre-Columbian era through the beginning of the Obama administration) was mostly solid. A few of his choices confounded me - for example, spending significant time on Mark Twain (?) while never even mentioning Tecumseh and his pan-tribal alliance or key role in the War of 1812 - but on the whole Blackhawk condensed a great deal of history into a streamlined and fairly audience-friendly narrative. His discussion is particularly strong when dealing with the important court cases and legal precedents that shaped U.S. American Indian policy, and those sections alone made me glad I invested time in this, despite its other shortcomings.

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Title: The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Terry L. Givens

Narrator: Kevin Pariseau

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-15-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 56 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

With over 140 million copies in print, and serving as the principal proselytizing tool of one of the world's fastest growing faiths, the Book of Mormon is undoubtedly one of the most influential religious texts produced in the western world. Written by Terryl Givens, a leading authority on Mormonism, this compact volume offers the only concise, accessible introduction to this extraordinary work.

Givens examines the Book of Mormon first and foremost in terms of the claims that its narrators make for its historical genesis, its purpose as a sacred text, and its meaning for an audience which shifts over the course of the history it unfolds. The author traces five governing themes in particular - revelation, Christ, Zion, scripture, and covenant - and analyzes the Book's central doctrines and teachings. Some of these resonate with familiar 19th-century religious preoccupations; others consist of radical and unexpected takes on topics from the fall of Man to Christ's mortal ministries and the meaning of atonement. Givens also provides samples of a cast of characters that number in the hundreds, and analyzes representative passages from a work that encompasses tragedy, poetry, sermons, visions, family histories, and military chronicles.

Finally, this introduction surveys the contested origins and production of a work held by millions to be scripture, and reviews the scholarly debates that address questions of the record's historicity.Here then is an accessible guide to what is, by any measure, an indispensable key to understanding Mormonism. But it is also an introduction to a compelling and complex text that is too often overshadowed by the controversies that surround it.

Members Reviews:

Good overview of Mormonism

My daughter converted to Mormonism. This work helped me understand their belief system so I can dialog with her more fully.

And it came to pass...

"The Book of Mormon likewise shatters familiar religious paradigms and reconfigures them with a totality that is resistant to compromise."

- Terryl L. Givens, The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction.

Terryl Givens' Very Short Introduction (VSI #219) to The Book of Mormon is my third selection of Oxford's Very Short Introduction series. I read it 1) because I'm a bit obsessed with the series, 2) I've been following Givens for some time and respect the work he has done and the rigor he uses when writing about LDS topics and the Book of Mormon for Oxford and others. I wanted to examine this because it was a topic I was very familiar with having studied the Book of Mormon and much of the literature surrounding it the last couple decades. I wasn't expecting to find much new in the book, and since it WAS written as an introduction to a general audience, I didn't find much new. But that doesn't mean I didn't find anything new. I rather enjoyed Givens' focus on the change of audience throughout the Book of Mormon and appreciated his analysis of the limitations of the Book of Mormon as literature. So, obviously, this is the issue with VSIs. To the reader very familiar with the subject, the books, no matter how carefully written end up being a bit of a disappointment and a retread. So, read this if you aren't familiar with the BOM, read it if you aren't familiar with the origin, narrators, structure, themes, stories, teachings of the BOM.

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Title: Rival Rails

Subtitle: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad

Author: Walter R. Borneman

Narrator: Norman Dietz

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-28-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, which marked the completion of the country's first transcontinental railroad, was only the beginning of the race for railroad dominance. In the aftermath of this building feat, dozens of railroads, each with aggressive empire builders at their helms, raced one another for the ultimate prize of a southern transcontinental route that was generally free of snow, shorter in distance, and gentler in gradients.

More than just a means of transportation, the railroads were a powerful mold, and the presence of a rail line had the power to make - or break - the fledgling towns and cities across the newborn American West. While much has been written about the building of the first transcontinental railroad, the bulk of the history of the railroads in the United States has been largely ignored. With a meticulous, loving eye, Walter Borneman picks up where most other histories leave off.

Critic Reviews:

"With modern railroads in a state of renewal, this well-written history of western railroad expansion will greatly interest rail fans and general readers alike. " (

Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Reads like a train schedule

I'm certainly one who is interested in the evolution of trains throughout the west, The reader as well as the content reads like a train schedule with a litany of schedules, cities, and railroad companies. I'm a fan of Boreman's other works, but this one does not live up to the others.

Ok

Would you try another book from Walter R. Borneman and/or Norman Dietz?

No

What was most disappointing about Walter R. Bornemans story?

There was too much detail that was not directly related. The book is more the story of the Santa Fe than anything else

Would you listen to another book narrated by Norman Dietz?

No

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

Boredom

Any additional comments?

No

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Title: Interstate 69

Subtitle: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway

Author: Matt Dellinger

Narrator: Robert Fass

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-24-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

New Yorker contributor and decade-long staffer Matt Dellinger uses the controversy surrounding Interstate 69 as a lens through which to examine middle America's current political, social, and economic landscape, including hot-button issues like NAFTA and the country's troubled infrastructure. If completed, I-69 will stretch from Canada to Mexico through Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. In the works for more than twenty years, the highway has been both eagerly anticipated as an economic godsend and the center of a firestorm of protests by local environmentalists, farmers, ranchers, anarchists, and others who question both the wisdom of building more highways and the merits of globalization. Part history, part travelogue, Interstate 69 chronicles the last great highway project in America, introducing the people who have worked tirelessly to build it or stop it from being built, and the many places it would change forever.

Critic Reviews:

"A rollicking dispatch from the heartland as great plans are laid for a mega-highway just at the moment when America runs out of gas." (James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere)

Members Reviews:

Get this for your solo drive across country

which is what I did and though I could not listen to it all the way without breaks for fiction or music I finished it. Interestingly, I got an email from a very conservative family member with a bunch of paranoid non-facts about this very highway and felt much too smug pointing out the reality of the politics behind the NAFTA elements. Mr Dellinger's descriptions of the people and communities are treats.

Great Insights

Matt Delinger relates the story of Interstate 69 from concept through related controversies to the present status. Along the way he brings the listener up to speed on what has taken place in each region involved in the controversy. This is not only a story of the development of a highway, but a window into democracy in action. I'll never think of " bridges to no where" in quite the same way.

The narrative is great and the reading of Robert Fass just couldn't be better. Anyone interested in American politics, highway systems, economic development, and how our money is spent will benefit from this helpful book. If you just want a great story ... listen to this one.

Could Not Finish

A bit of a history buff, and a long haul trucker, I thought a book about I-69 would be fascinating. In reality, it nearly put me to sleep behind the wheel. The prose rambles, seems disconnected, and the narrator has the ability to cause a driver to lapse into a definite road coma. Ultimately, I couldn't get past halfway.

For Infrastructure Groupies

Interstate 69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway by Matt Dellinger tells the story what may prove to be the nation's last major new territory superhighway. A road that was originally intended to reach rural counties in Indiana that have been left behind by a globalized economy, Interstate 69 morphed into a massive Mexico to Canada behemoth, and become known (for a time) as the "Nafta Superhighway."

To enjoy this book as much I did you should share with me the following characteristics:

A fascination (or obsession) with infrastructure.

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Title: FDR's Deadly Secret

Author: Steven Lomazow, Eric Fettman

Narrator: Jeremy Gage

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-31-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945 sent shock waves around the world. His lifelong physician swore that the president had always been a picture of health. Later, in 1970, Roosevelt's cardiologist admitted he had been suffering from uncontrolled hypertension and that his death from a cerebral hemorrhage was a cataclysmic event waiting to happen. But even this was a carefully constructed deceit, one that began in the 1930s and became acutely necessary as America approached war.

In this great medical detective story and narrative of a presidential cover-up, an exhaustive study of all available reports of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's health, and a comprehensive review of thousands of photographs, an intrepid physician-journalist team reveals that Roosevelt at his death suffered from melanoma, a skin cancer that had spread to his brain and abdomen. Roosevelt's condition was not only physically disabling, but also could have affected substantially his mental function and his ability to make decisions in the days when the nation was imperiled by World War II.

Members Reviews:

A New and Intriguing Theory

This book was FASCINATING. The author posits a very credible theory about the true cause of FDR's death that makes more sense then the "he had heart disease and his doctors ignored it" that I have read in several other books.

The story is well told, and the medical events and terminolgy are written at a level that is very understable for a lay person. I highly recommend this book to any history or FDR buff.

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Title: Nothing Like It in the World

Subtitle: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863 - 1869

Author: Stephen E. Ambrose

Narrator: Jeffrey DeMunn

Format: Abridged

Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-15-10

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In this account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage, Stephen E. Ambrose offers an historical successor to his universally acclaimed Undaunted Courage.

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. At 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.

In building a railroad, there is only one decisive spot - the end of the track. Nothing like this great work had ever been seen in the world when the last spike, a golden one, was driven in Promontory Peak, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined.

Ambrose writes with power and eloquence about the brave men - the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary - who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.

Members Reviews:

New and interesting facts in every chapter

What made the experience of listening to Nothing Like It in the World the most enjoyable?

Lot's of new historical info

What did you like best about this story?

The blending of the actual construction with the backroom stories and determination of the stockholders to keep the project going

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No . . . but was a great ride along companion for a man who drives 40k a year

Any additional comments?

Amazed by the tenacity exhibited in building the railroad against all odds

Nothing like it in the world

Great subject and we learned quite a bit but the names and dates were really hard to follow and I didn't care for the way it was read.

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Title: The Birth of Modern Politics

Subtitle: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828

Author: Lynn Hudson Parson

Narrator: Milton Bagby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-21-09

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 63 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political resume were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life. It was, many historians have argued, the country's first truly democratic presidential election.

Lynn Hudson Parsons argues that it also established a pattern in which two nationally organized political parties would vie for power in virtually every state. During the election of 1828 voters were introduced to a host of novel campaign tactics, including coordinated media, get-out-the-vote efforts, fund-raising, organized rallies, opinion polling, campaign paraphernalia, ethnic voting blocs, "opposition research," and smear tactics.

In The Birth of Modern Politics, Parsons shows that the Adams-Jackson contest began a national debate that is eerily contemporary, pitting those whose cultural, social, and economic values were rooted in community action for the common good against those who believed the common good was best served by giving individuals as much freedom as possible to promote their own interests. It offers fresh and illuminating portraits of both Adams and Jackson and reveals how, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they had started out with many of the same values, admired one another, and had often been allies in common causes. Both were staunch nationalists, and both shared an aversion to organized parties and "electioneering."But by 1828, caught up in a shifting political landscape, they were plunged into a competition that separated them decisively from the Founding Fathers' era and ushered in a style of politics that is still with us today.

The Pivotal Moments in American History series seeks to unite the old and the new history, combining the insights and techniques of recent historiography with the power of traditional narrative. Each title has a strong narrative arc with drama, irony, suspense, and most importantly great characters who embody the human dimension of historical events. The general editors of Pivotal Moments are not just historians; they are popular writers themselves, and, in two cases, Pulitzer Prize winners: David Hackett Fischer, James M. McPherson, and David Greenberg. We hope you like your American History served up with verve, wit, and an eye for the telling detail!

Editorial Reviews:

The Birth of Modern Politics is a small gem of a historical study, exploring the presidential campaign of 1828 as the first to employ the methods that, as they developed through time, continue to propel campaigns to this day. Narrator Milton Bagby performs a fine fiddle of a book reading, his deep and resonant narrative voice always in sync with the professor emeritus author and his popular historical study. Bagby has a Southern accented voice with an expressive range and narrative control that ranks with the best practitioners of the trade.