A Leap in the Dark
The Struggle to Create the American Republic
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Narrated by:
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Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
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By:
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John Ferling
About this listen
It was an age of fascinating leaders and difficult choices, of grand ideas eloquently expressed and of epic conflicts bitterly fought. Now comes a brilliant portrait of the American Revolution, one that is compelling in its prose, fascinating in its details, and provocative in its fresh interpretations.
In A Leap in the Dark, John Ferling offers a magisterial new history that surges from the first rumblings of colonial protest to the volcanic election of 1800. Ferling's swift-moving narrative teems with fascinating details. We see Benjamin Franklin trying to decide if his loyalty was to Great Britain or to America, and we meet George Washington when he was a shrewd planter-businessman who discovered personal economic advantages to American independence. We encounter those who supported the war against Great Britain in 1776, but opposed independence because it was a "leap in the dark."
Following the war, we hear talk in the North of secession from the United States. The author offers a gripping account of the most dramatic events of our history, showing just how closely fought were the struggle for independence, the adoption of the Constitution, and the later battle between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Yet, without slowing the flow of events, he has also produced a landmark study of leadership and ideas. Here is all the erratic brilliance of Hamilton and Jefferson battling to shape the new nation, and here too is the passion and political shrewdness of revolutionaries, such as Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, and their Loyalist counterparts, Joseph Galloway and Thomas Hutchinson.
Here as well are activists who are not so well known today, men like Abraham Yates, who battled for democratic change, and Theodore Sedgwick, who fought to preserve the political and social system of the colonial past. Ferling shows that throughout this period the epic political battles often resembled today's politics and the politicians - the founders - played a political hardball attendant with enmities, selfish motivations, and bitterness. The political stakes, this audiobook demonstrates, were extraordinary: first to secure independence, then to determine the meaning of the American Revolution. John Ferling has shown himself to be an insightful historian of our Revolution, and an unusually skillful writer. A Leap in the Dark is his masterpiece, work that provokes, enlightens, and entertains in full measure.
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In 1789, James Madison and James Monroe ran against each other for Congress-the only time that two future presidents have contested a congressional seat. But what was at stake, as author Chris DeRose reveals in Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation, was more than personal ambition. This was a race that determined the future of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the very definition of the United States of America.
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A Must for Anyone Interested in the Constitution
- By Garshom L. Arkoff on 07-09-13
By: Chris DeRose
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The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician, he cofounded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.
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Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
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The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789
- By: Edward Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Although Washington is often overlooked in most accounts of the period, this masterful new history from Pulitzer Prize winner Edward J. Larson brilliantly uncovers Washington's vital role in shaping the Convention - and shows how it was only with Washington’s support and his willingness to serve as President that the states were brought together and ratified the Constitution, thereby saving the country.
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A readable history
- By Jean on 10-21-14
By: Edward Larson
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American Heritage History of the Presidents
- By: Michael R. Beschloss
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 25 hrs and 56 mins
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From George Washington's reluctant oath-taking through George W. Bush's leadership challenges after September 11, 2001, we view ambitious and fallible men through the new lens of the 21st century. Where did they succeed? Where did they fail? And what do we know now that we could not have known at the time?
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Good but Far from Great
- By Michael on 07-11-20
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The Summer of 1787
- By: David O Stewart
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
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David O. Stewart presents this well-researched account of the U.S. Constitution's creation not as a dry analysis of events, but as a high-powered narrative filled with dramatic intensity and larger-than-life historical figures.
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Very well done!
- By Alan on 04-20-17
By: David O Stewart
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Patrick Henry
- Champion of Liberty
- By: Jon Kukla
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
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Born in 1736, Patrick Henry was an attorney and a planter and an outstanding orator in the movement for independence. A contemporary of Washington, Henry stood with John and Samuel Adams among the leaders of the colonial resistance to Great Britain that ultimately created the United States. The first governor of Virginia after independence, he was reelected several times. After declining to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Henry opposed the Constitution, arguing that it granted too much power to the central government.
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Long awaited biography of Patrick Henry
- By GallowsJudge on 11-18-17
By: Jon Kukla
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James Madison
- A Life Reconsidered
- By: Lynne Cheney
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
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A major new biography of the fourth US president, from New York Times best-selling author Lynne Cheney. James Madison was a true genius of the early republic, the leader who did more than any other to create the nation we know today. This majestic new biography tells his story. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution. His visionary political philosophy was a crucial factor behind the Constitution’s ratification, and his political savvy was of major importance in getting the new government underway.
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Great man, great ideas, muddling book
- By NDFletch on 06-13-15
By: Lynne Cheney
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The Great Divide
- The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson That Defined a Nation
- By: Thomas Fleming
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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History tends to cast the early years of America in a glow of camaraderie when there were, in fact, many conflicts between the Founding Fathers - none more important than the one between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Their disagreement centered on the highest, most original public office created by the Constitutional Convention: the presidency. It also involved the nation's foreign policy, the role of merchants and farmers in a republic, and the durability of the union.
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Very Readable
- By Jean on 05-02-15
By: Thomas Fleming
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A Magnificent Catastrophe
- The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign
- By: Edward J. Larson
- Narrated by: John Dossett
- Length: 6 hrs
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A Magnificent Catastrophe tells the story of the most perverse, bizarre, nail-biting, and influential election battle ever in U.S. history: America's first true presidential campaign, and a contest so important to the future of the country that Jefferson referred to it as "the second American Revolution" because the outcome resolved so much unfinished business about just what kind of government we would have. This election in many ways determined just how democratic a country we would be.
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Get this if you have to use it for a class!!!
- By Gabriel on 03-03-17
By: Edward J. Larson
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The First Congress
- How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government
- By: Fergus M. Bordewich
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
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The First Congress was the most important in US history, says prizewinning author and historian Fergus Bordewich, because it established how our government would actually function. Had it failed - as many at the time feared it would - it's possible that the United States as we know it would not exist today.
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Compelling
- By Jean on 03-05-18
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James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
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OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12
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What listeners say about A Leap in the Dark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 01-31-21
The Founding with a light focus on economics.
Ferling's "A Leap in the Dark" is a well-researched and well-written general history of the pre-Revolutionary era up to the election of 1800. It's structured chronologically with each chapter covering a couple years with mini-biographies of all the major (and some minor) players.
The deeper one dives into Revolutionary history, you start to the sense that the Rebels really didn't have it so bad and there's an undercurrent of "what's the big deal?" That's not to say the American Revolution was a bad thing (it certainly wasn't), but with more and more examples of real oppressive tyranny occupying the historical space between the Revolution and now, complaints about George III or Parliament sound *almost* quaint.
Ferling's history eschews the histrionic and melodramatic and works from the premise that those pushing for rebellion had legitimate grievances, but that they tended to be of a type: economic interests and economic independence threatened or impinged upon coupled with a consistent lack of respect or influence from/within Parliament. As a result, his framing of much of the debates/conflicts over what form the government should take (and debates after the ratification) has an economic focus of agrarian Republicans vs merchant and moneyed Federalists.
Unfortunately, Ferling could have done a deeper dive into this economic framing device but really doesn't. So as a result we get a perfectly fine general history that leaves the reader wanting a little more of the suggested premise.
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- VA Basso
- 10-31-19
Detailed history of American Revolution and after.
Great story, told to give an understanding of the precursors to revolution and the aftermath of revolution. Good reading by narrator, shows that the nation is not in a unique place, but a place we have been before.
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- Richard
- 03-03-15
Loved every minute!
Beautiful narrative, great writing, elucidating and entertaining!!
I have enjoyed Ferling's work before and he does not disappoint. Get it!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-24-19
Narrator needs to bone up
Excellent book and I recommend it. The narrator has a very peasant voice to listen to,
But I would seriously recommend boning up on some of the pronunciation because it can be a bit jarring. There are quite a number of mispronunciations, the worst being pronouncing “impugn” to rhyme with “plunge.” Overall though, very informative and captivating telling of the material
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- wylie smith
- 04-11-24
a recapitulation with a distinct view
I find books by John Ferling always to be a good, if not great read. Here Ferling concentrates more on the political issues than on the military. The book follows a path from early colonial dissent to the 'Revolution of 1800.' Ferling describes the politics and personalities of the 1790s well, but like all histories, he chooses the facts that lead to his desired endibg which is that the transition of power from Adams to Jefferson was the real culmination of the American Revolution. Ferling points out some of the flaws and foibles of the leaders who would break apart into the first political parties: Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Near the end of he book Ferling states that Jefferson feared kings while Adams, in the end, feared oligarchy, and Admas' viewpoint helped him lose the election. As Ferling's book rolled along, I could not help but feel that he found the the men who became Federalists were too limited in scope in their desire to keep the bulk of power limited to the wealthy. It seemed to me that Jefferson's election was what, in Ferling's view - and mine after reading the book - marked the turning over of political power from those of the 'better sort' to the people. Ferling does an excellent job of showing how the early years of the Revolutionary era led to this change.
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- Dorothy
- 08-15-23
Review
A bit too long but lots of previously unknown details about the era. 2 more.
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- E. Holmes
- 01-31-22
Decent book, poor narration.
Decent story but narration is distracting due to mispronunciations, awkward pauses and clumsy inflections.
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- William Edmund Fahey
- 09-09-23
Marvelous book, terrible reader
I would think this were a book loaded into something like Chat GPT, except tat Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff is an established voice over worker. This is a case of a magnificent book made aggrevating and obscure by a third rate narrator. I have been reading the book in the evenings and listening to the book when I drive during the day. It is fortunate that I have the text, otherwise I would constantly lose the thread, or simply become frustrated and give up (in truth, this is what happens ever time I try to listen to the book. 10 minutes is about all I can tolerate). Ferling, on the other hand is a wonderful historian. He is one of the finest historians on the American Revolution. Anyone serious about understanding America's Founding must read Ferling, whether you ultimately agree or not with his interpretation. Nemcoff's reading is a liability. The major problems are: lack of understanding or emotion and an utter failure at syllabications, pauses, and emphasis. Nemcoff is robotic, like a man who is working to read X-number of words per hour in order to get paid and probably is not even sure what the book he has been assigned is about. He reads as if only capable of reading a line of printed text rather than a sentence. The author's syntax means little, pauses are odd and not consistently according to grammar or sense. Words that could bear two possible pronounciations sometimes are mispronouced--for example the way we say, "address" in American English varies between an "address" (264 North Maint St, ...) or an "address" (all were moved by the Senator's address). Nemocoff gets it wrong. If you are listeing, and the reader is not attentive to normative intonation and emphasis is it easy to get lost, bored, and annoyed. Nemcoff can speak clearly, but he is utterly lackluster here. Maybe other recordings are better, but I will hesitate should I notice his name again. Truly, until I looked up his other works, I assumed the digital text of the book had been feed into a computer program, an early defective program. Purchase the book; skip this recording.
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- Scarlett Standridge
- 01-01-18
Very disappointed
Don't be fooled to believe you have a free book download during your 30 day Trail because if you're like me who likes to read along with the narrator of the book you will be asked to purchase the Kindle eBook prescription. My mother used this 30 day trial before and she was able to download and listen to narrator while reading along with the narrator in two of her books she got free with the same 30 day free trail promotion, but unfortunately it did not happen with me. I will never use this company again. I tried calling this company two times and got hung up on both times and I talked to six different tech people to help figure out why I couldn't read along with the narrator of the book I downloaded for free - to finally was told it was because I didn't purchase the Kindle Ebook.
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