Listen to New Full Audiobooks in History, The Americas

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/450891 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt

Author: Audrey Clare Farley

Narrator: Lisa Flanagan

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 2 minutes

Release date: April 20, 2021

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 3

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

For readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, a page-turning drama of fortunes, eugenics and women's reproductive rights framed by the sordid court battle between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother. At the turn of the twentieth century, American women began to reject Victorian propriety in favor of passion and livelihood outside the home. This alarmed authorities, who feared certain "over-sexed" women could destroy civilization if allowed to reproduce and pass on their defects. Set against this backdrop, The Unfit Heiress chronicles the fight for inheritance, both genetic and monetary, between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon. In 1934, aided by a California eugenics law, the socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her "promiscuous" daughter declared feebleminded and sterilized without her knowledge. She did this to deprive Ann of millions of dollars from her father's estate, which contained a child-bearing stipulation. When a sensational court case ensued, the American public was captivated. So were eugenicists, who saw an opportunity to restrict reproductive rights in America for decades to come. This riveting story unfolds through the brilliant research of Audrey Clare Farley, who captures the interior lives of these women on the pages and poses questions that remain relevant today: What does it mean to be "unfit" for motherhood? In the battle for reproductive rights, can we forgive the women who side against us? And can we forgive our mothers if they are the ones who inflict the deepest wounds?

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/450874 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Ledger and the Chain: How Domestic Slave Traders Shaped America

Author: Joshua D. Rothman

Narrator: Leon Nixon

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 13 hours 40 minutes

Release date: April 20, 2021

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

An award-winning historian reveals the harrowing forgotten story of America's internal slave trade—and its role in the making of America. Slave traders are peripheral figures in most histories of American slavery. But these men—who trafficked and sold over half a million enslaved people from the Upper South to the Deep South—were essential to slavery's expansion and fueled the growth and prosperity of the United States. In The Ledger and the Chain, acclaimed historian Joshua D. Rothman recounts the shocking story of the domestic slave trade by tracing the lives and careers of Isaac Franklin, John Armfield, and Rice Ballard, who built the largest and most powerful slave-trading operation in American history. Far from social outcasts, they were rich and widely respected businessmen, and their company sat at the center of capital flows connecting southern fields to northeastern banks. Bringing together entrepreneurial ambition and remorseless violence toward enslaved people, domestic slave traders produced an atrocity that forever transformed the nation.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/497438 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s “Girl Stunt Reporters”

Author: Kim Todd

Narrator: Maggie-Meg Reed

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 11 hours 39 minutes

Release date: April 13, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

''A gripping, flawlessly researched, and overdue portrait of America’s trailblazing female journalists. Kim Todd has restored these long-forgotten mavericks to their rightful place in American history.'' — Abbott Kahler, author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy  A vivid social history that brings to light the “girl stunt reporters” of the Gilded Age who went undercover to expose corruption and abuse in America, and redefined what it meant to be a woman and a journalist—pioneers whose influence continues to be felt today. In the waning years of the nineteenth century, women journalists across the United States risked reputation and their own safety to expose the hazardous conditions under which many Americans lived and worked. In various disguises, they stole into sewing factories to report on child labor, fainted in the streets to test public hospital treatment, posed as lobbyists to reveal corrupt politicians. Inventive writers whose in-depth narratives made headlines for weeks at a stretch, these “girl stunt reporters” changed laws, helped launch a labor movement, championed women’s rights, and redefined journalism for the modern age. The 1880s and 1890s witnessed a revolution in journalism as publisher titans like Hearst and Pulitzer used weapons of innovation and scandal to battle it out for market share. As they sought new ways to draw readers in, they found their answer in young women flooding into cities to seek their fortunes. When Nellie Bly went undercover into Blackwell’s Insane Asylum for Women and emerged with a scathing indictment of what she found there, the resulting sensation created opportunity for a whole new wave of writers. In a time of few jobs and few rights for women, here was a path to lives of excitement and meaning. After only a decade of headlines and fame, though, these trailblazers faced a vicious public backlash. Accused of practicing “yellow journalism,” their popularity waned until “stunt reporter” became a badge of shame. But their influence on the field of journalism would arc across a century, from the Progressive Era “muckraking” of the 1900s to the personal “New Journalism” of the 1960s and ’70s, to the “immersion journalism” and “creative nonfiction” of today. Bold and unconventional, these writers changed how people would tell stories forever.  Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/493217 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Lincolnomics: How President Lincoln Constructed the Great American Economy

Author: John F. Wasik

Narrator: Bob Souer

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 15 minutes

Release date: April 13, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

Lincoln's view of the right to fulfill one's economic destiny was at the core of his governing philosophy—but he knew no one could climb that ladder without strong federal support. Some of his most enduring policies came to him before the Civil War: visions of a country linked by railroads running ocean to ocean, canals turning small towns into bustling cities, public works bridging farmers to market. Author John F. Wasik tracks Lincoln from his time in the 1830s as a young Illinois state legislator pushing for internal improvements; through his work as a lawyer representing the Illinois Central Railroad in the 1840s; to his presidential fight for the Transcontinental Railroad; and his support of land-grant colleges that educated a nation. These brick-and-mortar developments were essential to how the nation could lift citizens above poverty and its isolating origins. Lincolnomics revives the disremembered history of how Lincoln paved the way for Eisenhower's interstate highways and FDR's social amenities. With an afterword addressing the failure of American infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how Lincoln's policies provide a guide to the future, Lincolnomics makes the case for the man nicknamed 'The Rail Splitter' as the Presidency's greatest builder.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/495132 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom

Author: William J. Bennett

Narrator: Jon Gauger

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 20 hours 28 minutes

Release date: April 6, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

Respected scholar William Bennett reacquaints America with its heritage in the second volume of America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II). This engaging narrative slices through the cobwebs of time, memory, and prevailing cynicism to reinvigorate America with an informed patriotism. While national test scores reveal that American students know startlingly little about their history, former U.S. Education Secretary William J. Bennett offers one of the most gripping and memorable versions of the American story in print.  Bennett brings American history to life with stories such as: - when Time magazine named Hitler man of the year - Eisenhower's bold actions documenting the horrors of the Holocaust - Nixon's comic opera uniforms for White House guards - Reagan's most famous example of just saying 'No'   From upheavals of the Great Depression and WWII to the civil rights reforms of the 1960s, from the high drama of the Space Race to the gut-wrenching tension of the Cold War, Bennett slices through the cobwebs of time, memory, and prevailing cynicism to reinvigorate America with an informed patriotism. Praise for America: The Last Best Hope 'This is the American history that Abraham Lincoln has long awaited.' -Harry V. Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided 'Bennett has a gift for choosing the pithy, revealing anecdote and for providing fresh character sketches and critical analyses of the leading figures. This is an American history that adults will find refreshing and enlightening and that younger readers will find a darn good read.' -Michael Barone, US News & World Report 'A worthy and necessary book for our time.' -Michael J. Lewis, Commentary 'Bennett ... has a strong sense of narrative, a flair for anecdote and a lively style. And the American story really is a remarkable one, filled with its share of brilliant leaders and tragic mistakes. Bennett brings that story to life.' -Alan Wolfe, The Washington Post 'The role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America.' -Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life 'The importance of America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner.' -Brad Miner, American Compass 'This lively book acknowledges mistakes and shortcomings, yet patriotically asserts that the American experiment in democracy is still a success story.' -School Library Journal

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/495131 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War

Author: William J. Bennett

Narrator: Wayne Shepherd

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 19 hours 25 minutes

Release date: April 6, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

America, how well do you know your history? - Who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses? - Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor? - Which first lady refused to serve alcohol in the White House? - What famous inventor was called to find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back? - Which successful candidate for president insisted on telling the truth about his sex scandal? - Which beloved ex-president raced with death and poverty to write his best-selling memoirs and which famous humorist came to his rescue? - Which president carefully read the trial notes of 303 condemned Sioux warriors and spared all but 38 from the hangman's noose? - Which 'four-eyed' future president beat up a drunken bully in a saloon?   In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan said if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. This book, written by one of Reagan's most loyal lieutenants, responds to Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism. We all need to know more about this land we love. In this gripping tale of a nation, our country's past comes alive. Here is the story of those we chose to lead us and what they did with the awesome power we gave them. Join Bill Bennett for the great adventure. America's teacher will lead you on a voyage of discovery. What others are saying: 'William J. Bennett artfully and subtly makes connections between our past and current events, reminding us ... that we are intimately and immediately connected to the extraordinary Americans who have bestowed upon us our great heritage.... [T]he importance of America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner.... Prepare to have your faith in, hope for, and love of America renewed.' -Brad Miner, American Compass 'The Role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America.' -Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life 'For too long Americans have been looking for a history of our country that tells the story of America's triumphs as well as its tragedies. Now Bill Bennett has come forward with America: The Last Best Hope, which tells the story-fairly and fully-from 1492 to 1914. Americans who have been reading recent biographies of the Founding Fathers will love this book.' -Michael Barone, US News & World Report 'Bill Bennett's book will stand as perhaps the most important addition to American scholarship at this, the start of the new century. For the past fifty years American historians have either distorted American history or reduced it to a mess of boring indictments of our cultural and political heritage. With this book Bennett offers to Americans young and old an exciting and enjoyable history of what makes America the greatest nation on earth.' -Brian Kennedy, president, The Claremont Institute

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/493870 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo: History, Hits and Headquarters

Author: Michael F. Rizzo

Narrator: Danny Campbell

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 6 hours 7 minutes

Release date: April 6, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

Take a tour of Buffalo, New York's mobster and mafia history. Local mob expert reveals gangsters' stories, hangouts, and more. Buffalo has housed its fair share of thugs and mobsters. Besides common criminals and bank robbers, a powerful crime family headed by local boss Stefano Magaddino emerged in the 1920s. Close to Canada, Niagara Falls and Buffalo were perfect avenues through which to transport booze, and Magaddino and his Mafiosi maintained a stranglehold on the city until his death in 1974. Local mob expert Michael Rizzo takes a tour of Buffalo's mafia exploits everything from these brutal gangsters' favorite hangouts to secret underground tunnels to murder.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/490261 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Why The New Deal Matters

Author: Eric Rauchway

Narrator: Peter Lerman

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 5 hours 32 minutes

Release date: April 6, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

The greatest peaceable expression of common purpose in US history, the New Deal altered Americans' relationship with politics, economics, and one another in ways that continue to resonate today. No matter where you look in America, there is likely a building or bridge built through New Deal initiatives. If you have taken out a small business loan from the federal government or drawn unemployment, you can thank the New Deal. While certainly flawed in many aspects—the New Deal was implemented by a Democratic Party still beholden to the segregationist South for its majorities in Congress and the Electoral College—the New Deal was instated at a time of mass unemployment and the rise of fascistic government models and functioned as a bulwark of American democracy in hard times. This book looks at how this legacy, both for good and ill, informs the current debates around governmental responses to crises.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/487784 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777

Author: Michael Harris

Narrator: Eric Jason Martin

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 17 hours 30 minutes

Release date: April 6, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

Long overshadowed by the stunning American victory at Saratoga, the complex British campaign that defeated George Washington's colonial army and led to the capture of the capital city of Philadelphia was one of the most important military events of the war. Michael C. Harris's impressive Brandywine is the first full-length study of this pivotal engagement in many years. Though the bitter fighting around Brandywine Creek drove the Americans from the field, their heroic defensive stand saved Washington's army from destruction and proved that the nascent Continental foot soldiers could stand toe-to-toe with their foe. Although more combat would follow, Philadelphia fell to Gen. Sir William Howe's British legions on September 26, 1777. Harris's Brandywine is the first complete study to merge the strategic, political, and tactical history of this complex operation and important set-piece battle into a single compelling account. More than a decade in the making, his sweeping prose relies almost exclusively upon original archival research and his personal knowledge of the terrain. Told largely through the words of those who fought there, Brandywine will take its place as one of the most important military studies of the American Revolution ever written.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/497719 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: James Monroe: A Republican Champion

Author: Brook Poston

Narrator: Matthew Boston

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 6 hours 28 minutes

Release date: March 30, 2021

Genres: The Americas

Publisher's Summary:

Despite serving his country for fifty years and being among the most qualified men to hold the office of president, James Monroe is an oft-forgotten Founding Father. In this book, Brook Poston reveals how Monroe attempted to craft a legacy for himself as a champion of American republicanism. Monroe's dedication to the vision of a modern republic built on liberty began when he joined the American Revolution. His devotion to the cause further developed under his apprenticeship to Thomas Jefferson. These experiences spurred him to support the virtues of republicanism during the French Revolution, when he tried to create an alliance between the United States and the French republic despite ire from the US Federalist party. As he climbed the political ranks, Monroe's achievements began to add up: he played a significant role in the Louisiana Purchase, helped lead the fight against Great Britain in the War of 1812, oversaw the acquisition of Florida from Spain, and created the Monroe Doctrine to protect the Americas from the influence of European monarchies.