Listen to Top 100 Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: Shiloh

Subtitle: In Hell before Night

Author: James Lee Mcdonough

Narrator: Gary D. MacFadden

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-13

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Colorful, dramatic, blundering, and tragic - these are some of the adjectives that have been applied to the two-day engagement at Shiloh. This battle, which bears the biblical name meaning place of peace, was one of the bloodiest encounters of the Civil War. The Union colonel, whose words give the present book its title, foretold the losses when he told his men: Fill your canteens Boys! Some of you will be in hell before night.

Fought in the early spring of 1862 on the west bank of the Mississippi state line, Shiloh was, up to that time, the biggest battle of American history. One hundred thousand men were involved, and major Civil War commanders such as Grant, Sherman, Johnston, Beauregard, Bragg, and Forrest participated. The battle took the life of Johnston and it left a lasting impact on the reputation of other commanders. More-over, it played a significant role in the campaign for control of the Mississippi Valley.

Although hundreds of books have been written about the Civil War and its battle, questions about the disorganized struggle at Shiloh have continued to perplex historians. Why was Grant absent when his army was attacked? Why did Grant and Sherman apparently ignore evidence of a Confederate advance? What happened to Lew Wallace that he never got his division into the fight on the first day of battle? Why did it take the Rebels so long to make their way from Corinth to the battlefield? Did the Rebels really have a distinct opportunity to win the battle, as it seems in retrospect, or were they doomed from the start? Were Johnston and Beauregard working at cross-purposes? Shiloh - In Hell Before Night provides answers or clues to answers of clues to answers for these and other questions arising from this controversial engagement.

The author tells his story by placing Shiloh in the larger context of the war and by exploring the very personal side of the conflict through the words of the Union and Confederate participants, officers and common soldiers alike. Touches of humor and even or romance are revealed in the midst of the carnage, but the overriding element is the specter of death. Among those who survived, the soldiers who had been eager to see the elephant, as they commonly referred to combat, could never again feel so eager for a fight.

James Lee McDonough is professor of history at Auburn University, and the author of Stones River - Bloody Winter in Tennessee, Chattanooga - A Death Grip on the Confederacy, and the co-author of Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of Franklin.

The book is published by University of Tennessee Press.

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Title: Freedom National

Subtitle: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865

Author: James Oakes

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-10-12

Publisher: Gildan Media, LLC

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 23 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The consensus view of the Civil War - that it was first and foremost a war to restore the Union, and an antislavery war only later when it became necessary for Union victory - dies here.

James Oakess groundbreaking history shows how deftly Lincoln and congressional Republicans pursued antislavery throughout the war, pragmatic in policy but steadfast on principle. In the disloyal South the federal government quickly began freeing slaves, immediately and without slaveholder compensation, as they fled to Union lines.

In the loyal Border States the Republicans tried coaxing officials into abolishing slavery gradually with promises of compensation. As the devastating war continued with slavery still entrenched, Republicans embraced a more aggressive military emancipation, triggered by the Emancipation Proclamation. Finally it took a constitutional amendment on abolition to achieve the Unions primary goal in the war. Here, in a magisterial history, are the intertwined stories of emancipation and the Civil War.

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Title: Liberty's Exiles

Subtitle: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World

Author: Maya Jasanoff

Narrator: L. J. Ganser

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-12-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

National Book Critics Circle Award, Nonfiction, 2012

After the American Revolution, 60,000 British loyalists fled the U.S. for Canada, the Caribbean, India, and other points abroad. Jasanoff traces their harrowing journeys across the globe, shedding light on their ambitions, the post-revolutionary world they encountered, and their legacies.

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Title: A Wicked War

Subtitle: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico

Author: Amy S. Greenberg

Narrator: Caroline Shaffer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-06-12

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 104 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

A Wicked War presents the definitive history of the 1846 war between the United States and Mexico - a conflict that turned America into a continental power. Amy Greenberg describes the battles between American and Mexican armies, but also delineates the political battles between Democrats and Whigs - the former led by the ruthless Polk, the latter by the charismatic Henry Clay and a young representative from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. Greenberg brilliantly recounts this key chapter in the creation of the United States with authority and narrative flair.

Critic Reviews:

Greenbergs probing account of this war reveals its drama - and its very modern complexity.(

Publishers Weekly)

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Title: One Shot at Forever

Subtitle: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season

Author: Chris Ballard

Narrator: Mike Chamberlain

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-28-12

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 56 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to become the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. There, sporting long hair, and warming up to "Jesus Christ Superstar", the Ironmen would play a dramatic game against a Chicago powerhouse that would change their lives forever.

In a gripping, cinematic narrative, Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard tells the story of the team and its coach, Lynn Sweet, a hippie, dreamer and intellectual who arrived in Macon in 1966, bringing progressive ideas to a town stuck in the Eisenhower era. Beloved by students but not administration, Sweet reluctantly took over a rag-tag team, intent on teaching the boys as much about life as baseball. Inspired by Sweet's unconventional methods and led by fierystar Steve Shartzer and spindly curveball artist John Heneberry, the undersized, undermanned Macon Ironmen embarked on an improbable postseason run that infuriated rival coaches and buoyed an entire town.

Beginning with Sweet's arrival, Ballard takes listeners on a journey back to the Ironmen's historic season and then on to the present day, returning to the 1971 Ironmen to explore the effect the game had on their lives' trajectories-and the men they've become because of it. Engaging and poignant, One Shot at Forever is a testament to the power of high school sports to shape the lives of those who play them, and it reminds us that there are few bonds more sacred than those among a coach, a team, and a town.

Critic Reviews:

"Ballard writes very well and avoids the usual pitfalls of the inspirational story, the cloying platitudes and rah-rah nonsense. These kids were simply good ballplayers coached by a guy with an open mind, a lot of common sense, and a zest for fun." (Booklist)

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Title: Gladesmen: Gator Hunters, Moonshiners, and Skiffers

Subtitle: Florida History and Culture

Author: Glen Simmons, Laura Ogden

Narrator: James R. Marshall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-12

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Few people today can claim a living memory of Florida's frontier Everglades. Glen Simmons, who has hunted alligators, camped on hammock-covered islands, and poled his skiff through the mangrove swamps of the glades since the 1920s, is one who can. Together with Laura Ogden, he tells the story of backcountry life in the southern Everglades from his youth until the establishment of the Everglades National Park in 1947.

During the economic bust of the late 20s, when many natives turned to the land to survive, Simmons began accompanying older local men into Everglades backcountry, the inhospitable prairie of soft muck and mosquitoes, of outlaws and moonshiners, that rings the southern part of the state. As Simmons recalls life in this community with humor and nostalgia, he also documents the forgotten lifestyles of south Florida gladesmen.

By necessity, they understood the natural features of the Everglades ecosystem. They observed the seasonal fluctuations of wildlife, fire, and water levels. Their knowledge of the mostly unmapped labyrinth of grassy water enabled them to serve as guides for visiting naturalists and scientists. Simmons reconstructs this world, providing not only fascinating stories of individual personalities, places, and events, but an account that is accurate, both scientifically and historically, of one of the least known and longest surviving portions of the American frontier.

The book is published by University Press of Florida.

Critic Reviews:

"An homage to the rugged 'swamp rats' who were largely overlooked or scorned by the region's historians, naturalists, and adventurers." (Miami Herald)

"Contains interesting tales of outlaws, moonshiners and other characters-some who lived on the edge of right and wrong-and roamed the inhospitable backcountry prairies of soft muck and massive mosquitoes." (South Dade News Leader)

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Title: Decision in Philadelphia

Subtitle: The Constitutional Convention of 1787

Author: James Collier, Christopher Collier

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 46 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world: the Constitution. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. Decision in Philadelphia is the best popular history of the Constitutional Convention; in it, the life and times of 18th-century America not only come alive, but the very human qualities of the men who framed the document are brought provocatively into focus - casting many of the Founding Fathers in a new light. A celebration of how and why our Constitution came into being, Decision in Philadelphia is also a testament of the American spirit at its finest.

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Title: The Founding of New Acadia

Subtitle: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765-1803

Author: Carl A. Brasseaux

Narrator: Aaron Henkin, Aaron Henkin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-16-12

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In this penetrating study, Carl Brasseaux looks beyond long-standing mythology to provide a critical account of early Acadian culture in Louisiana and the reasons for its survival. He convincingly dispels many received notions about the routes Acadians traveled from Nova Scotia to Louisiana, their original settlement sites, and the patterns of their subsequent migrations within the state, and closely examines the relations of Louisiana's Acadians with their black, Spanish, Indian, and Creole neighbors. As Brasseaux reveals, Acadians' cohesiveness and insularity preserved the core elements of their culture and helped them adjust to new physical and social demands.

Critic Reviews:

"A contribution of the highest order. It will undoubtedly remain the defiitive study of the Acadians for many years to come." (Journal of American Studies)

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Title: September Hope

Subtitle: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far

Author: John C. McManus

Narrator: Walter Dixon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-03-12

Publisher: Gildan Media, LLC

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 53 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In September Hope, acclaimed historian John C. McManus explores World War IIs most ambitious invasion, an immense, daring offensive to defeat Nazi Germany before the end of 1944. Operation Market-Garden is one of the wars most famous, but least understood, battles, and McManus tells the story of the American contribution to this crucial phase of the war in Europe.

August 1944 saw the Allies achieve more significant victories than in any other month over the course of the war. Soviet armies annihilated more than 20 German divisions and pushed the hated enemy from Russia to deep inside Poland. General Eisenhowers D-Day Invasion led to the liberation of France. Encouraged by these triumphs, British, Canadian, and American armored columns plunged into Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. The Germans were in disarray, overwhelmed on all fronts, losing soldiers by the thousands as Allied bombers pulverized their cities. For the Third Reich it seemed the end was near. Rumors swirled that the war would soon be over and that everyone would be home for Christmas.

Then came September, and Holland.

On September 17, the largest airborne drop in military history commenced - including two entire American divisions, the 101st and the 82nd. Their mission was to secure key bridges at such places as Son, Eindhoven, Grave, and Nijmegen until British armored forces could relieve them. The armor would slash northeast, breech the Rhine and go wild on the north German plains. However, the Germans were much stronger than the Allies anticipated. In eight days of ferocious combat, they mauled the airborne, stymied the tanks and prevented the Allies from crossing the Rhine. For the first time, using never-before-seen sources and countless personal interviews, September Hope reveals the American perspective on one of the most famous and decisive battles of World War II.

Critic Reviews:

In September 1944 the Allies' heady advances ground to a bloody halt all along the Western Front. John C. McManus's superb September Hope takes us to the heart of some of the most intense and dramatic combat of the entire war. A riveting and deeply moving story of uncommon courage. (Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter)

A fine account of one of the Second World War's most fraught and frustrating battles. John C. McManus's extensive research allows him to tell the story with verve and authority. (Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of An Army at Dawn)

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Title: The Oregon Trail

Subtitle: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life

Author: Francis Parkman

Narrator: Robert Morris

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-18-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This is the classic account of Francis Parkmans rugged trip over the eastern part of the Oregon Trail with his cousin Quincy Adams Shaw in the spring and summer of 1846. They left St. Louis by steamboat and traveled on horseback, in company with guides and occasionally other travelers. They encountered storms and buffalo hunts, meeting Indians, soldiers, sportsmen, and emigrants.

The Oregon Trailis an eyewitness account of the Mormons and outlaws, trappers andIndians, pioneers and adventurers who struggled to conquer the frontier.

Critic Reviews:

The Oregon Trailappeared in 1849, and with its publication Parkman was launched upon his career as a storyteller without peer in American letters. It is the picturesqueness, the racy vigor, the poetic eloquence, the youthful excitement, that giveThe Oregon Trailits enduring appeal, recreating for us, as perhaps does no other book in our literature, the wonder and beauty of life in a new world that is now old and but a memory. (Henry Steel Commager, historian)

This book, in brief, is excellent and has the true wild game flavor. (Herman Melville)

This timeless account of Parkmans travels and travailsremains a colorful classic. (Library Journal)

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