Listen Legally to Best Full Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: Washington

Subtitle: The Making of the American Capital

Author: Fergus M. Bordewich

Narrator: Richard Allen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-03-08

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In Washington, award-winning author Fergus M. Bordewich turns his eye to the backroom deal making and shifting alliances among our Founding Fathers and in so doing pulls back the curtain on the lives of the slaves who actually built the city. The answers revealed in this eye-opening and well-researched book are not only surprising and exciting but also illuminate a story of unexpected triumph over a multitude of political and financial obstacles, including fraudulent real-estate speculation, overextended financiers, and management more apt for a "banana republic" than an emerging world power.

In an engrossing work that reveals the hidden and unsavery side of the nation's beginnings, Bordewich once again brings his novelist's sensibility to a little-known chapter in American history.

Critic Reviews:

"Bordewich tells a fascinating tale, and tells it well." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

disappointed

Though the title leads one to expect the book to be about the designation and creation of Washington DC, it was a minor part of the book. If I wanted to read about slavery and the emancipation of slaves, I would have selected such a book.

Great story of it almost never came to be

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes.. Byt be aware the author tends to get into other side stories which are a bit long and not related. Overall it was fascinating to learn about how it transpired and almostnever vhappened

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Title: A Voyage Long and Strange

Subtitle: Rediscovering the New World

Author: Tony Horwitz

Narrator: John H. Mayer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-02-08

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 133 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

On a chance visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz makes an unsettling discovery. A history buff since early childhood, expensively educated at university - a history major, no less! - he's reached middle age with a third-grader's grasp of early America. In fact, he's mislaid more than a century of American history, the period separating Columbus' landing in 1492 from the arrival of English colonists at Jamestown in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between?

©2008 Tony Horwitz; (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic Reviews:

"Horwitz writes in a breezy, engaging style, so this combination of popular history and travelogue will be ideal for general readers." (Booklist)

"Funny and lively...popular history of the most accessible sort. The stories [Horwitz] tells are full of vivid characters and wild detail." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Like travel writer Bill Bryson, Horwitz has a penchant for meeting colorful characters and getting himself into bizarre situations." (The Christian Science Monitor)

Members Reviews:

Just Not For Me

If you have read any history beyond the standard middle school, high school and even college stuff much of this book is a rehash. If you are like me and have read about this time period extensively you may find yourself "hairsplitting" about Horowitz's take on some of the stories. The author's personal experiences with site visits had the potential to be funny--but to me they missed the mark. Overall, I thought these trips went on a bit too long and fell flat. In the end I was either bored or irritated by the whole experience. Disappointing for me--but worth a try if you like Tony Horwitz's style of humor and are up for a history "review". Other reviewers here on audible seem to love it.

Funny, informative, insightful, entertaining.

Determined to learn more about early America than his education in history provided him, Tony Horwitz set out to research the written record, and travel to all of these historic places, collecting enough information along the way to write this book. But this is not a dry, dense, "just the facts, ma'am" type of history book. Most of the story lies in the people who Horwitz visits in his travels. From Hispañiola to New Mexico, to Florida, Virginia and finally back to Plymouth Rock, He finds local people who are well qualified to have opinions about the local history. The opinions of these people, combined with the author's observations and the written record, serve to weave a story not just about early America, but about the way that all histories are written. Horwitz has a great ability to find the humor and silliness in all of this, and the narrator, John H Mayor, does a splendid job of bringing that across. I found myself smiling, chuckling, and sometimes even laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all. Meanwhile, my mind was enriched with accounts of tales that should be common knowledge, but are not the stories that the winners of American history passed on, so therefore are little known. It was one of those books that I got so involved in, I forgot about the rest of the world until it was over. Highly reccomended.

Say Yes to This Voyage

For people like me who spend our days continually amazed at our sheer ignorance, Horowitz's new book is perfect. My major in college was history, U.S.

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Title: The Training Ground

Subtitle: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War 1846-1848

Author: Martin Dugard

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-14-08

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 122 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The Mexican War has faded from our national memory, but it was a struggle of enormous significance. It was the first U.S. war waged on foreign soil, and it nearly doubled the size of our nation. At this fascinating juncture of American history, a group of young men came together to fight as friends - only, years later, to fight again as enemies.

Full of dramatic battles, daring rescues, secret missions, soaring triumphs, and tragic losses, The Training Ground is history at its finest.

Members Reviews:

Excellent Story

Not a detailed history of the war, but a researched element of the conflict. For Civil War buffs, if you haven't read about the details of this conflict, you will miss the reason why your favorite General (blue or gray) is the way they were. The author keeps you focused on the reason for the story, not a diatribe on how the war was unjust. It will leave you wondering how this "band of brothers" could ever fight each other. Maybe there was something to 1860's state loyalty. Manifest Destiny has lost its meaning to modern scholars, but the future soldiers for and against slavery were trained for the horrific clash of the Civil War. The American character had been established 150 years before, but it was clearly demonstrated during the short 18 months war as told by the author. Even our enemies today would do well to study this American way of fighting before starting any future conflicts against the US.

The author would do well to write a definitive account of the Battle of Monterrey and/or Mexico City. Not one about the Campaigns, these have been done. No revisionism typical of modern histories, but recognizing the validity of Manifest Destiny of 1846. The bravery of both the American and Mexican soldiers deserve any detailed accounting of the war.

Flawed, but engaging nevertheless.

The title pretty much sums up the authors main thesis - that the Mexican War was unique in both molding the characters of many notable figures of the Civil War, as well as strengthening the bonds they'd already formed through their tenure at West Point.

His coverage of the war itself sometimes takes a back seat to the "characterizations" of Grant, Lee, Jefferson Davis and George Meade, but is still compelling - especially from a political perspective. However, there were some gaffes in offhanded comments about the War of 1812 and the Civil War. For example, characterizing Pickett's Charge as a "one of the great *cavalry* charges of the Civil War" left one scratching their head - especially given that George Pickett was one of figures highlighted (albeit only briefly).

Still, the book is worth the effort, if only to shed some light on an often-ignored chapter of American history.

Another great Mexican War Book

Thne author did a great job of following the life of Lee. Grant Davis and Longstreet. The book also covers the politics of Polk and the leadership of Taylor and Scott. Anyone how is interested in the Civil War will love this book

An Interesting Look at the Mexican War

Grant, Sherman, Lee, Longstreet. These are all names familiar to people who have studied the CIvil War. These were the men who fought each other in the most devastating war in United States History. In Training Ground Martin Dugard reminds us that these men were not always enemies.

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Title: American Creation

Author: Joseph J. Ellis

Narrator: John H. Mayer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-30-07

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 190 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Ellis is equally incisive about their failures, and he makes clear how their inability to abolish slavery and to reach a just settlement with the Native Americans has played an equally important role in shaping our national character. With eloquence and insight, Ellis strips the mythic veneer of the revolutionary generation to reveal men both human and inspired, possessed of both brilliance and blindness. American Creation is an audiobook that delineates an era of flawed greatness, at a time when understanding our origins is more important than ever.

Critic Reviews:

"A history bound for phenomenal popularity." (Booklist)

"[A] subtle, brilliant examination...Ellis' lucid, illuminating and ironic prose will make this a...hit." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Good But Not Quite There

As one who is thoroughly fed up with our current political paralysis and small-minded partisanship, I have often wished our politicos shared a common passion for greatness as did the revolutionary generation. This book certainly dispels that notion.

In Founding Brothers Ellis focused on their deep bonds. In American Creation he looks through the opposite lens, describing their competitions and jealousies. In the process he reveals history and stories that will be new to many.

The revolutionaries are commonly faulted for not addressing the two biggest issues which even they recognized would surely put a blot on their legacy and the nation. Most agreed on the need to end slavery and develop a fair accommodation with the American Indian. Despite their agreement on the moral imperatives, however, they failed to avoid sacrificing them to pragmatic decisions as they went about creating the new nation state. This was a failure and in both instances led to exactly where they predicted, civil war and contentious expansion across the continent. Having said all that, it is hard to see how they could have solved the rubric successfully.

Ellis does a good job of giving us the back stories as to why that is the case. From Jeffersons wager that Napoleons plan to occupy New Orleans would never come to fruition, to his and Washingtons belief that demography would in time accomplish what the fledgling nation could not in securing its future through expansion. The book is rich in these stories, bringing to light seldom heard of characters. The courting of Creek Nation chief McGillivray who (almost) always put the security of his nation first; how a slave leader prophesied the defeat of Napoleons army when it tried to subdue French slave colonies in the Caribbean, thus thwarting the plan to occupy New Orleans and leading to the Louisiana Purchase; the designs and strategies of France and Spain to leave America with a sliver of the east coast as they contested for the continent and its promise, and a host of other stories.

The stories the author highlights, including the Federalist / Republican divide, the irony of Jefferson's grand exercise of executive power in executing the Louisiana Purchase, and the tension between what the founders believed to be right and the compromises they made are instructive and illustrative of today's quandary. Nothing much has changed, so it seems, other than the time and issue of the moment. Politics is still politics, as they say.

As far as history telling goes this is a good read, but it does not equal Founding Brothers.

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Title: Leviathan

Subtitle: The History of Whaling in America

Author: Eric Jay Dolin

Narrator: James Boles

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-26-07

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 129 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

"To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme," Herman Melville proclaimed, and this absorbing history demonstrates that few things can capture the sheer danger and desperation of men on the deep sea as dramatically as whaling.

Eric Jay Dolin begins his vivid narrative with Captain John Smith's botched whaling expedition to the New World in 1614. He then chronicles the rise of a burgeoning industry, from its brutal struggles during the Revolutionary period to its golden age in the mid-1800s, when a fleet of more than 700 ships hunted the seas and American whale oil lit the world, to its decline as the 20th century dawned. This sweeping social and economic history provides rich and often fantastic accounts of the men themselves, who mutinied, murdered, rioted, deserted, drank, scrimshawed, and recorded their experiences in journals and memoirs. Containing a wealth of naturalistic detail on whales, Leviathan is the most original and stirring history of American whaling in many decades.

Critic Reviews:

"Engrossing....This account is at once grand and quirky, entertaining and informative." (

Publishers Weekly) "Eric Jay Dolin's

Leviathan is the best history of American whaling to come along in a generation." (Nathaniel Philbrick, author of

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex)

Members Reviews:

NOT JUST BLUBBER

In the beginning I thought it would be long and boring.Was I wrong. Suddenly there was a lively story. It is a history beautifully narrated in the language of the times. First it was interesting, then a fasinating chronology full of descriptive adventure. Whaling was such an important part of our heritage.

Excellent Text, Horrendous Narration

This book is an amazing piece of work, Well researched, detailed and still incredibly entertaining even when detailing mundane actions and events. I can't think of any other book with so much information all brought together so well. I picked up the printed book so as to have a reference handy.

The naration was awful, If the text had not been so incredible I would have given up within 20 mins, "William Shakespeare's Henry IV" was being quoted and was read by the narator as "William Shakespeare's Henry Four"...I mean any 3rd Grader knows to add the "th" to a title...This and many other weird actions throughout the reading made me want to fling my MP3 player aganst a wall, He repeatedly dragged me out of the story.

This is the kind of audiobook that would win awards if given a competent Narator.

I would gladly give the book 100% but this is an audiobook website and the narration drags it down hard...

Please let a decent narrator try again, Ill buy it again with a good narrator

nothing fishy

Great book, easy listen. If you like history, New England, whales, or anyone from Nantucket; this is for you.

Informative history of worldwide whaling industry

well written and read, covers the history of whaling from the earliest Basque onshore whalers to the ultimate decline. Some distracting editing if you are listening closely

Thare she blows...!!

I listened to this after Heart of the Sea, which I think is a prerequisite to this story.

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Title: The Lewis and Clark Journals

Subtitle: An American Epic of Discovery

Author: Lewis, Clark

Narrator: Patrick Cullen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-30-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 140 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Editor Gary E. Moulton blends the narrative highlights of his definitive Nebraska edition of the Lewis and Clark journals to bring forth the voices of the enlisted men - and of the Native Americans, heard for the first time alongside the words of the captains.

Critic Reviews:

"If you're going to listen to just one book...you should hear the story from the explorers themselves." (Newsweek)

"A triumph of scholarly publishing....Belongs on most readers' shelves - and should accompany any road trip through the West." (Atlantic Monthly)

"What makes this single volume of journal selections more powerful than its contemporaries is the use of other corps members' diaries to provide further details about the journey." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

I discovered the core of discovery.

If you could sum up The Lewis and Clark Journals in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, intense, informative.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It was interesting to see the different writing styles between Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clark I enjoy Capt. Lewis's journal entries most.

Have you listened to any of Patrick Cullens other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first time I've ever listen anything by Patrick. I thought he did a great job and would listen to his stuff again.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Lewis and Clark the expedition that made America.

At least now I can comment on the Expedition.

Though this book was not loaded with tons of "facts" about the expedition, I'm not sure it was supposed to. It was more a case of someone reading a diary, of sorts, and then filling in the blank spaces so we (the "reader") would have some idea of its context. It could be tiresome. However, now I know something of the expedition and am doubly amazed that anyone made it out alive. If you're on the fence about the Providence of God, this ought to fix ya.'

Worthwhile.

good book

very interesting but not quite so sure about the facts involved and it made the indians look not so smart.

Enlightening

The actual day to day observations revealed here lead to a very different reality than what we were taught as children. It relieves a certain unjustified guilt we have been made to carry by distorted reports about early American history.

fascinating listen

I loved listening to this while I drove to and from work. the narrator does a fantastic job of giving actual locations to the Diaries you could actually follow damn has been came across the continent

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Title: The Lees of Virginia

Author: Paul C. Nagel

Narrator: Edward Lewis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-07-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In The Lees of Virginia, Paul Nagel chronicles seven generations of Lees, from the family founder, Richard, to General Robert E. Lee, covering over 200 years of American history. We meet the dreamers and the nonconformists, the controversial and tempestuous personalities, as well as the disgracers of the family name. Then, of course, we meet the son who was the family's redeeming figure, Robert E. Lee, a brilliant military tactician whose ruling motto was self-denial and who saw God's hand in all things.

In these and numerous other portraits, Paul Nagel discloses how, from 1640 to 1870, a family spirit united the Lees, making them a force in Virginian and American affairs.

Critic Reviews:

"Nagel's research is impeccable, and the historical value great." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Interesting, yet mechanical

Nagel's books ties the Lee family to much of the formative events of American history from the early Jamestown colony to the American Civil War. He does a masterful job of connecting the dots, but, due to the similarity of names (which his tries to clarify), it can still be hard to follow. Lovers of U. S. history will enjoy the insights of this volume.

The audio version of this book is it's biggest downfall. The narrator's cadence, inflection, and style make it sound like a computer generated "reading." It takes some effort to get used to his style.

The Lees of Virginia

I would have given the narration a 3 if you could review the content and narration separately, but the shortcomings of the narration were more than made up for in the content, which was extremely well researched and paints a pretty comprehensive picture of this very interesting family.

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Title: Ship of Ghosts

Author: James D. Hornfischer

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-19-06

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 191 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Renowned as FDR's favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest.

Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, until the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner.

For more than three years, the war continued for the crew in the brutal privation of jungle POW camps. But the men of the Houston fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, willpower, and the undying faith that their country would prevail.

Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, and the eyewitness accounts of the Houston's survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it's easy to forget that every single word of it is true.

Critic Reviews:

"A gripping, well-told memorial to Greatest Generation martyrdom." (Publishers Weekly)

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]

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Title: The Whiskey Rebellion

Author: William Hogeland

Narrator: Simon Vance

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 06-26-06

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 264 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In 1791, at the frontier headwaters of the Ohio River, gangs with blackened faces began to attack federal officials, beating and torturing the collectors who plagued them with the first federal tax ever laid on an American product, whiskey. In only a few years, those attacks snowballed into an organized regional movement dedicated to resisting the fledgling government's power and threatening secession, even civil war.

With an unsparing look at both Hamilton and Washington, and at lesser-known, equally determined frontier leaders such as Herman Husband and Hugh Henry Brackenridge, journalist and popular historian William Hogeland offers an insightful, fast-paced account of the remarkable characters who perpetrated this forgotten revolution, and those who suppressed it. To Hamilton, the whiskey tax was key to industrial growth and could not be permitted to fail. To hard-bitten people in what was then the wild West, the tax paralyzed their economies while swelling the coffers of greedy creditors and industrialists. To President Washington, the settlers' resistance catalyzed the first-ever deployment of a huge federal army, led by the president himself, a military strike to suppress citizens who threatened American sovereignty.

Daring, finely crafted, by turns funny and darkly poignant, The Whiskey Rebellion promises a surprising trip for readers unfamiliar with this primal national drama, whose climax is not the issue of mere taxation but the very meaning and purpose of the American Revolution.

Members Reviews:

Great story and narration

I really enjoyed this book. Like the other reviewer, I was a bit surprised to hear a British accent from the narrator, but Simon Vance is one of the very best narrators. (He also uses the names Richard Matthews and Robert Whitfield, but they're all the same man).

This book provides rich historical detail about the very early days of the United States. The author does an excellent job providing background information. So the chapter on Herman Husband, who believed the (then) Western US (ie Western PA and VA) would be the New Jerusalem of Revelation, is really an excellent overview of all the religious currents running through American society at the time.

There's also great detail on the debate over federal taxation and Hamilton's agency in getting the whiskey excise tax implemented.

The reason for 4 stars and not 5 is that the author's explanation of the unfolding of the Rebellion is so compressed as to lack sense. This is surprising since his attention to detail everywhere else in the book is so thorough.

I would also recommend this book only to those who already have an interest in early American history. For the more general reader, I suggest 1776 and Washington's Crossing.

A great story

Having only heard vague references to the Whiskey Rebellion, and thinking it sounded rather interesting, I got this book. Wow! Hogeland can really tell a story! Not only does he turn names into characters with strengths and idiosyncrasies, but he translates the words and deeds of 18th century men into terms that can be understood today. This is one of the best histories on a discreet subject I have read/heard. Simon Vances narration is excellent, as usual. He is able to bring the characters to life. I admit that I was surprised to hear an English accent reading American history, but it worked.

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Title: Double Victory

Subtitle: A Multicultural History of America in World War II

Author: Ronald Takaki

Narrator: Edward Lewis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-20-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Takaki also considers the racial biases that influenced important American government actions during the war, like the bombing of Hiroshima and the refusal to admit Jews into the U.S. Double Victory clearly demonstrates that World War II helped to transform American society and advance the cause of multiculturalism throughout the country.

Critic Reviews:

"[Double Victory] depicts, forcefully and clearly, the first steps toward an America that could be color-neutral." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

If you like history....

If you could sum up Double Victory in three words, what would they be?

Non-white men in WWII

Who was your favorite character and why?

I had no favorite character because all the characters were fun to learn about thire stories.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Edward Lewis?

No, the narrator was extremely slow and mispronounced some words.

Any additional comments?

This is not a good book for anything but a History class.