Listen to Top 100 Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: The Rehnquist Choice

Subtitle: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Red

Author: John W. Dean

Narrator: Michael Rafkin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-10-12

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In the fall of 1971, when William Rehnquist was nominated to fill an Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court, the Senate raised no major objections, and a little-known Assistant Attorney General found himself at the pinnacle of the judiciary.

It seemed a straightforward choice of a relatively young, academically outstanding and politically seasoned lawyer who shared Richard Nixon's philosophy of "strict constructionism." As Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean reveals for the first time that the choice was anything but straightforward. The truth is that Nixon's nomination was the result of a dramatic, Nixonian rollercoaster. Rehnquist was a last-minute longshot who had once been dismissed by Nixon as a "clown." Only John Dean -- Rehnquist's champion at the time -- knows the full, improbable story.

Dean's gripping tale is loaded with revelations such as Nixon's plan to pack the court by forcing resignations, before his inauguration.

Using newly released White House tapes, and thousands of previously unseen documents, Dean puts listeners directly in the Oval Office with Nixon, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Rehnquist, and the candidates they considered.

The Rehnquist Choice fills in a long-missing explanation of the making of the man who wrote the majority opinion in Bush v. Gore and presided over the impeachment trial of William Jefferson Clinton.

Critic Reviews:

"The inside look at chaos in deciding who should fill Supreme Court vacancies is a delight....Dean has performed a valuable service in recording Nixon's tortuous course to a decision." (National Review)

"The most detailed behind-the-scenes account ever written of a high court nomination...impressive for many reasons: its lucid prose, its subtle humor, its relentlessly logical argumentation...a terrific page-turner." (The Washington Monthly)

"Watergate buffs will find [The Rehnquist Choice] jolly nostalgic fun." (The Washington Post)

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Title: Target: Patton

Subtitle: The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton

Author: Robert K. Wilcox

Narrator: Lynn Benson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-28-12

Publisher: Regnery Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 54 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The death of General George S. Patton is shrouded in mystery. While officially the result of an unfortunate car accident, the evidence points to a far more malevolent plot: murder. So says investigative and military journalist Robert K. Wilcox in his book Target: Patton: The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton.

Written like a WWII spy thriller and meticulously researched, Target: Patton leads you through that fateful December day in 1945, revealing a chilling plan to assassinate General Patton. Backing up this shocking story with facts, photos, and eyewitness statements, Wilcox reveals long-hidden documents and accounts that explain how secrets Patton knew - and his strong anti-Soviet views - may have cost him his life.

Not only does Wilcox reveal how, why, and when, he also names names, exposing little-known stories and secrets of such key players as General "Wild Bill" Donovan, the storied head of the OSS (the predecessor to the CIA); an OSS assassin; an Army intelligence agent; and even Josef Stalin himself.

Target: Patton challenges readers to look at the evidence and question the conventional wisdom. After reading it, few will think of General Patton or the circumstances surrounding his death in the same way again.

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Title: The Mormon People

Subtitle: The Making of an American Faith

Author: Matthew Bowman

Narrator: Mark Deakins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-24-12

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 54 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

With Mormonism on the verge of an unprecedented cultural and political breakthrough, an eminent scholar of American evangelicalism explores the history and reflects on the future of this native-born American faith and its connection to the life of the nation.

In 1830, a young seer and sometime treasure hunter named Joseph Smith began organizing adherents into a new religious community that would come to be called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (and known informally as the Mormons). One of the nascent faiths early initiates was a 23-year-old Ohio farmer named Parley Pratt, the distant grandfather of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

In The Mormon People, religious historian Matthew Bowman peels back the curtain on more than 180 years of Mormon history and doctrine. He recounts the churchs origin and development, explains how Mormonism came to be one of the fastest-growing religions in the world by the turn of 21st century, and ably sets the scene for a 2012 presidential election that has the potential to mark a major turning point in the way this all-American faith is perceived by the wider American public - and internationally.

Mormonism started as a radical movement, with a profoundly transformative vision of American society that was rooted in a form of Christian socialism. Over the ensuing centuries, Bowman demonstrates, that vision has evolved - and with it the esteem in which Mormons have been held in the eyes of their countrymen. Admired on the one hand as hardworking paragons of family values, Mormons have also been derided as oddballs and persecuted as polygamists, heretics, and zealots clad in magic underwear. Even today, the place of Mormonism in public life continues to generate heated debate on both sides of the political divide. Polls show widespread unease at the prospect of a Mormon president. Yet the faith has never been more popular. Today there are about 14 million Mormons in the world, fewer than half of whom live inside the United States. It is a church with a powerful sense of its own identity and an uneasy sense of its relationship with the main line of American culture.

Mormons will surely play an even greater role in American civic life in the years ahead. In such a time, The Mormon People comes as a vital addition to the corpus of American religious history - a frank and fair-minded demystification of a faith that remains a mystery for many.

Critic Reviews:

What do Mormons stand for? Are they quintessential good citizens or troubling religious deviants? Why are Mormons running for president? Matthew Bowman offers a quick, lively, and informative trip into the heart of Mormonism. All who are concerned or just curious will learn a lot about the making of modern Mormons from this book. (Richard Lyman Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling)

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Title: Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul

Subtitle: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty

Author: John M. Barry

Narrator: Richard Poe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-19-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 104 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This is a story of power, set against Puritan America and the English Civil War. Williams's interactions with King James, Francis Bacon, Oliver Cromwell, and his mentor Edward Coke set his course, but his fundamental ideas came to fruition in America, as Williams, though a Puritan, collided with John Winthrop's vision of his "City upon a Hill.

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Title: The New Deal

Subtitle: A Modern History

Author: Michael Hiltzik

Narrator: Traber Burns

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-30-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Michael Hiltzik tells the epic story of the New Deal through the outsized personalities of the people who fought for it, opposed it, and benefited from it, rendering vital lessons for our own time.

As America struggles with an economic debacle akin to the Great Depression, nothing could be timelier than an authoritative account of the New Deal, masterfully written by Michael Hiltzik, author of the acclaimed history of the Hoover Dam, Colossus.

In this richly peopled, vividly rendered narrative, Hiltzik describes how the urgent short-term relief measures of Franklin Roosevelts Hundred Days evolved into a transformative concept of the federal role in American life. Rather than the product of a single ideology, the New Deal emerged from the clash of ideas held by advisors from very different backgrounds. With historical and psychological insight, Hiltzik sheds light on the lives of the gargantuan characters who fought for and against it: Herbert Hoover, whose own administration gave birth to many of the programs that would become part of the New Deal; General Hugh Johnson, the West Pointer whose pugnacious leadership of the National Recovery Administration symbolized the New Deal for millions of Americans; Harry Hopkins, whose closeness to Roosevelt earned him the moniker deputy president; and many other fascinating figures. What emerges is a saga of how FDR managed to recast the federal government into something that still inspires: a unifying structure with the concept of social justice at its heart.

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Title: The President and the Assassin

Subtitle: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century

Author: Scott Miller

Narrator: Arthur Morey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-30-11

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 207 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In 1901, as America tallied its gains from a period of unprecedented imperial expansion, an assassin's bullet shattered the nation's confidence. The shocking murder of President William McKinley threw into stark relief the emerging new world order of what would come to be known as the American Century. The President and the Assassin is the story of the momentous years leading up to that event, and of the very different paths that brought together two of the most compelling figures of the era: President William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who murdered him. The two men seemed to live in eerily parallel Americas. McKinley was to his contemporaries an enigma, a president whose conflicted feelings about imperialism reflected the country's own. Under its popular Republican commander-in-chief, the United States was undergoing an uneasy transition from a simple agrarian society to an industrial powerhouse spreading its influence overseas by force of arms. Czolgosz was on the losing end of the economic changes taking place---a first-generation Polish immigrant and factory worker sickened by a government that seemed focused solely on making the rich richer. With a deft narrative hand, journalist Scott Miller chronicles how these two men, each pursuing what he considered the right and honorable path, collided in violence at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Along the way, listeners meet a veritable who's who of turn-of-the-century America: John Hay, McKinley's visionary secretary of state, whose diplomatic efforts paved the way for a half century of Western exploitation of China; Emma Goldman, the radical anarchist whose incendiary rhetoric inspired Czolgosz to dare the unthinkable; and Theodore Roosevelt, the vainglorious vice president whose 1898 charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba is but one of many thrilling military adventures recounted here.

Critic Reviews:

"This is a wildly complex and significant period in American history, and Miller does a solid job of attending to the many boiling pots on the stove." (Kirkus)

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Title: Alistair Cooke: Reporting America

Author: Alistair Cooke

Narrator: Peter Marinker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-01-11

Publisher: BBC Worldwide Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Alistair Cooke was the greatest of all twentieth century reporters of life in America to the rest of the world. This book presents the cream of his writings on the events that shaped modern American history, from the end of the Second World War through to the assassination of John Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy (Cooke was actually present), the moon landings and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Almost all the material will be new to Cooke fans transcripts of his legendary Letters from America, long-forgotten reports in the Guardian (whose correspondent in New York he was for 25 years) and other freshly discovered writings.

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Title: To America

Subtitle: Personal Reflections of an Historian

Author: Stephen E. Ambrose

Narrator: Henry Strozier

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-19-11

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 41 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Reflecting on his career, Stephen E. Ambrose - one of the country's most influential historians - confronts America's failures and struggles as he explores both its moral and pragmatic triumphs. To America celebrates the men and women who invented the United States and made it exceptional.

Taking a few swings at today's political correctness, Ambrose grapples with the country's historic sins of racism, its neglect and ill treatment of Native Americans, and its tragic errors. He reflects on some of the early founders - great men such as Washington and Jefferson - who, while progressive thinkers, lived a contradiction as slaveholders. He contemplates the genius of Andrew Jackson's defeat of a vastly superior British force with a ragtag army in the War of 1812. He describes the grueling journey that Lewis and Clark made to open up the country, and the building of the railroad that produced great riches for a few barons.

Ambrose explains the misunderstood presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, records the country's assumption of world power under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, and extols the heroic victory of World War II. He explores women's rights and civil rights, immigration, and museum and nation-building.

Most importantly, Ambrose tells us about writing history, and about what an historian's job is all about. As he says, "The last five letters of the word 'history' tell us that it is an account of the past that is about people and what they did, which is what makes it the most fascinating of subjects." As he reflects upon American history, Ambrose shares his own personal history. To America is an instant classic for those interested in history, patriotism, and the love of writing.

Critic Reviews:

"Stephen Ambrose is that rare breed: an historian with true passion for his subjects." (Ken Burns)

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Title: Brothers, Rivals, Victors

Subtitle: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership That Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe

Author: Jonathan W. Jordan

Narrator: William Hughes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 23 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-06-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 312 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The true story of the friendshipand rivalryamong the greatest American generals of World War II

Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley engineered the Allied conquest that shattered Hitlers hold over Europe. But they also shared an intricate web of relationships going back decades. In the cauldron of World War II, they found their prewar friendships complicated by shifting allegiances, jealousy, insecurity, patriotism, and ambition.

Meticulously researched and vividly written, Jonathan W. Jordans book recounts the battle for Europe through the eyes of these three legendary generals. For the first time in such detail, the bonds between them are explored, and readers are treated to an insiders view of life at the summit of raw, violent power. Throughout three years of hard, bloody warfare, Eisenhower, the Alliances great diplomat, sought victory in the fighting qualities and tactical genius of his most trusted subordinates, Bradley and Patton. They, in turn, owed their careers to Eisenhower. Yet their friendship would be put to the ultimate test as life-and-death decisions were thrust upon them, and honor and duty conflicted with personal loyalty.

Brothers, Rivals, Victors is drawn from the candid accounts of its main characters and strips away much of the public image of Ike (Eisenhower), the GIs General (Bradley), and Old Blood and Guts (Patton) to reveal the men behind the legend. Adding richness to this story are the words and observations of a supporting cast of generals, staff officers, secretaries, aides, politicians, and wives, brought together to produce a uniquely intimate account of a relationship that influenced a war. The story of how these three great strategists pulled together to wage the deadliest conflict in history, despite their differences and rivalries, is marvelously told in this eye-opening narrative that is sure to become a classic of military history.

Critic Reviews:

A truly compelling narrativeA masterly, exciting study of character and tactics in World War II. (

Kirkus Reviews)

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Title: Founding Gardeners

Subtitle: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation

Author: Andrea Wulf

Narrator: Antonia Bath

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-29-11

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 106 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of the acclaimed The Brother Gardeners, a fascinating look at the founding fathers from the unique and intimate perspective of their lives as gardeners, plantsmen, and farmers.

For the founding fathers, gardening, agriculture, and botany were elemental passions, as deeply ingrained in their characters as their belief in liberty for the nation they were creating.

Andrea Wulf reveals for the first time this aspect of the revolutionary generation. She describes how, even as British ships gathered off Staten Island, George Washington wrote his estate manager about the garden at Mount Vernon; how a tour of English gardens renewed Thomas Jeffersons and John Adamss faith in their fledgling nation; how a trip to the great botanist John Bartrams garden helped the delegates of the Constitutional Congress break their deadlock; and why James Madison is the forgotten father of American environmentalism. These and other stories reveal a guiding but previously overlooked ideology of the American Revolution.

Founding Gardeners adds depth and nuance to our understanding of the American experiment and provides us with a portrait of the founding fathers as theyve never before been seen.

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