Ambitious Honor
George Armstrong Custer's Life of Service and Lust for Fame
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kevin Meyer
-
By:
-
James E. Mueller
About this listen
George Armstrong Custer, one of the most familiar figures of 19th-century American history, is known almost exclusively as a soldier, his brilliant military career culminating in catastrophe at Little Bighorn. But Custer, author James E. Mueller suggests, had the soul of an artist, not of a soldier. Ambitious Honor elaborates this radically new perspective, arguing that an artistic passion for creativity and recognition drove Custer to success and, ultimately, to the failure that has overshadowed his notable achievements.
Custer's ambition is well known and played itself out on the battlefield and in his persistent quest for recognition. Ambitious Honor provides the context for understanding how Custer's theatrical personality took shape and thrived, beginning with his training at a teaching college before he entered West Point. Ambitious Honor offers a close look at Custer's work as a best-selling author right up to the time of his death, when he was writing another book and planning a speaking tour after the 1876 campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne.
This nuanced portrait, for the first time delineating his sense of image, whether as creator or consumer, forever alters Custer's own image in our view.
The book is published by University of Oklahoma Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
"A fresh and lively look at George Armstrong Custer…I thoroughly enjoyed this book." (James Donovan, author of A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn)
©2020 University of Oklahoma Press (P)2021 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
My Life on the Plains
- By: George Custer
- Narrated by: George Pettingell
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Armstrong Custer attended West Point, graduating in the Class of 1861. He served as an officer in the United States Army during the Civil War. He was present at the Civil War's first major engagement, the First Battle of Bull Run, and was the officer who received General Robert E. Lee's Flag of Truce, marking Lee's surrender, at the end of the war.
-
-
Stopped working about 1/4 through.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-06-24
By: George Custer
-
The Last Stand
- Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little Bighorn and Custer are names synonymous in the American imagination with unmatched bravery and spectacular defeat. Mythologized as Custer's Last Stand, the June 1876 battle has been equated with other famous last stands, from the Spartans' defeat at Thermopylae to Davy Crockett at the Alamo.
-
-
A filtered rehash for these more enlightened times
- By Isaac Newtonium on 05-16-17
-
1876: Year of the Gun
- The Year Bat, Wyatt, Custer, Jesse, and the Two Bills (Buffalo and Wild) Created the Wild West, and Why It's Still with Us
- By: Steve Wiegand
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steve Wiegand takes listeners across the post-Civil War Wild West in his 1876: The Year of the Gun. Wiegand introduces—or reintroduces—us to lawmen such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp and outlaws such as the Younger and James Brothers, as well as larger-than-life figures such as Buffalo Bill and George Custer. Juxtaposing their real lives with the often-outlandish accounts of their exploits, 1876 swings from lighthearted humor to cliff-hanger suspense. It also portrays how the Wild West’s initial, tantalizing promise of fame and glamour often disintegrated.
-
-
fascinating history
- By Steven Gerweck on 04-20-23
By: Steve Wiegand
-
Jim Bridger
- Trailblazer of the American West
- By: Jerry Enzler
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of. Here, in a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Jerry Enzler takes this frontiersman's full measure for the first time—and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jon Evans on 07-19-23
By: Jerry Enzler
-
The Godfrey Diary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
- By: Edward Settle Godfrey
- Narrated by: Brian V. Hunt
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lieutenant Edward Settle Godfrey was commander of K Company of the 7th Cavalry in the battalion of Captain Frederick Benteen. Godfrey was a central figure in the Reno-Benteen defense over the 25th and 26th of June, 1876. He kept a diary of the Yellowstone Expedition against the Sioux from May 17 to September 24.
-
-
The Godfrey Diary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
- By Mondo Rodriguez on 03-27-23
-
Meade at Gettysburg
- A Study in Command
- By: Kent Masterson Brown
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although he took command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg, Union general George G. Meade guided his forces to victory in the Civil War's most pivotal battle. Commentators often dismiss Meade when discussing the great leaders of the Civil War. But in this long-anticipated book, Kent Masterson Brown draws on an expansive archive to reappraise Meade's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg.
-
-
Fantastic Book
- By Taylor Boulet on 04-14-22
-
My Life on the Plains
- By: George Custer
- Narrated by: George Pettingell
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Armstrong Custer attended West Point, graduating in the Class of 1861. He served as an officer in the United States Army during the Civil War. He was present at the Civil War's first major engagement, the First Battle of Bull Run, and was the officer who received General Robert E. Lee's Flag of Truce, marking Lee's surrender, at the end of the war.
-
-
Stopped working about 1/4 through.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-06-24
By: George Custer
-
The Last Stand
- Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little Bighorn and Custer are names synonymous in the American imagination with unmatched bravery and spectacular defeat. Mythologized as Custer's Last Stand, the June 1876 battle has been equated with other famous last stands, from the Spartans' defeat at Thermopylae to Davy Crockett at the Alamo.
-
-
A filtered rehash for these more enlightened times
- By Isaac Newtonium on 05-16-17
-
1876: Year of the Gun
- The Year Bat, Wyatt, Custer, Jesse, and the Two Bills (Buffalo and Wild) Created the Wild West, and Why It's Still with Us
- By: Steve Wiegand
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steve Wiegand takes listeners across the post-Civil War Wild West in his 1876: The Year of the Gun. Wiegand introduces—or reintroduces—us to lawmen such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp and outlaws such as the Younger and James Brothers, as well as larger-than-life figures such as Buffalo Bill and George Custer. Juxtaposing their real lives with the often-outlandish accounts of their exploits, 1876 swings from lighthearted humor to cliff-hanger suspense. It also portrays how the Wild West’s initial, tantalizing promise of fame and glamour often disintegrated.
-
-
fascinating history
- By Steven Gerweck on 04-20-23
By: Steve Wiegand
-
Jim Bridger
- Trailblazer of the American West
- By: Jerry Enzler
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of. Here, in a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Jerry Enzler takes this frontiersman's full measure for the first time—and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jon Evans on 07-19-23
By: Jerry Enzler
-
The Godfrey Diary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
- By: Edward Settle Godfrey
- Narrated by: Brian V. Hunt
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lieutenant Edward Settle Godfrey was commander of K Company of the 7th Cavalry in the battalion of Captain Frederick Benteen. Godfrey was a central figure in the Reno-Benteen defense over the 25th and 26th of June, 1876. He kept a diary of the Yellowstone Expedition against the Sioux from May 17 to September 24.
-
-
The Godfrey Diary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
- By Mondo Rodriguez on 03-27-23
-
Meade at Gettysburg
- A Study in Command
- By: Kent Masterson Brown
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although he took command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg, Union general George G. Meade guided his forces to victory in the Civil War's most pivotal battle. Commentators often dismiss Meade when discussing the great leaders of the Civil War. But in this long-anticipated book, Kent Masterson Brown draws on an expansive archive to reappraise Meade's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg.
-
-
Fantastic Book
- By Taylor Boulet on 04-14-22
-
Grant
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 48 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow reveals in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.
-
-
Excellent Book (BUT WHERE IS THE PDF FILES)????
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-17
By: Ron Chernow
-
Rebel Yell
- The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General Stonewall Jackson was like no one anyone had ever seen. In April of 1862 he was merely another Confederate general with only a single battle credential in an army fighting in what seemed to be a losing cause. By middle June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western World. He had given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked: hope.
-
-
Candidate for "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend"
- By Dorothy on 01-10-15
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
American Ulysses
- A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
- By: Ronald C. White
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 27 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new biography of the Civil War general and American president, by the author of the New York Times bestseller A. Lincoln. The dramatic story of one of America's greatest and most misunderstood military leaders and presidents, this is a major new interpretation of Ulysses S. Grant. Based on seven years of research with primary documents, some of them never tapped before, this is destined to become the Grant biography of our times.
-
-
A New Campaign to Reasses Grant
- By Mark on 11-02-16
By: Ronald C. White
-
The Real Custer
- From Boy General to Tragic Hero
- By: James S Robbins
- Narrated by: E. Roy Worley
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Real Custer takes a good hard look at the life and storied military career of George Armstrong Custer - from cutting his teeth at Bull Run in the Civil War, to his famous and untimely death at Little Bighorn in the Indian Wars. Author James Robbins demonstrates that Custer, having graduated last in his class at West Point, went on to prove himself again and again as an extremely skilled cavalry leader.
-
-
Civil War Battles blow by blow.
- By C. Davis on 12-31-14
By: James S Robbins
-
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
- By: Sarah Vowell
- Narrated by: Sarah Vowell, John Slattery, Nick Offerman, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Assassination Vacation and Unfamiliar Fishes, a humorous account of the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette - the one Frenchman we could all agree on - and an insightful portrait of a nation's idealism and its reality. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States is a humorous and insightful portrait of the famed Frenchman, the impact he had on our young country, and his ongoing relationship with instrumental Americans of the time.
-
-
You likely haven't heard it this way...
- By William L. Scott III on 06-04-16
By: Sarah Vowell
-
The Road to Guilford Courthouse
- The American Revolution in the Carolinas
- By: John Buchanan
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant account of the proud and ferocious American fighters who stood up to the British forces in savage battles highlights just how crucial these individuals were in deciding both the fate of the Carolina colonies and the outcome of the American Civil War.
-
-
Amazing Book
- By Anthony S. on 04-01-21
By: John Buchanan
-
Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers
- The Texas Victory That Changed American History
- By: Brian Kilmeade
- Narrated by: Brian Kilmeade
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 1836, the Mexican army led by General Santa Anna massacred more than 200 Texians who had been trapped in the Alamo. After 13 days of fighting, American legends Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett died there, along with other Americans who had moved to Texas looking for a fresh start. It was a crushing blow to Texas' fight for freedom. But the story doesn’t end there. The defeat galvanized the Texian settlers, and under General Sam Houston’s leadership, they rallied. Six weeks after the Alamo, Houston and his band of settlers defeated Santa Anna’s army in a shocking victory.
-
-
Gotta talk like Texans
- By younggranny on 11-11-19
By: Brian Kilmeade
-
Crazy Horse and Custer
- The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the sparkling morning of June 25, 1876, 611 men of the US 7th Cavalry rode toward the banks of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory, where 3,000 Indians stood waiting for battle. The lives of two great warriors would soon be forever linked throughout history: Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, and General George Armstrong Custer.
-
-
A Fascinating, Fair Depiction of Two Heroes
- By Stewart Fletcher on 04-29-19
-
Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of American Leadership
- By: Jon Knokey
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
President Theodore Roosevelt forever transformed America, ushering the country into the arena of world supremacy. His brand of leadership was entirely American: confident, compassionate, energetic, diverse, visionary. But Roosevelt was not a born leader; his ascent to the apex of power was not a foregone conclusion.
-
-
Incredible
- By JORGE on 12-20-15
By: Jon Knokey
-
In the Hands of Providence
- Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War
- By: Alice Rains Trulock
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joshua Chamberlain of Maine forged a remarkable career during the Civil War. An academic and theologian by training, this modest young professor left Bowdoin College to accept a commission as lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine. He fought at Antietam and Fredericksburg, then led his regiment to glory at Gettysburg, where he ordered the brilliant charge that saved Little Round Top.
-
-
Details of war
- By Richard on 04-23-07
-
Hymns of the Republic
- The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of that era’s most compelling narratives, defining the nation and one of history’s great turning points. Now, S.C. Gwynne’s Hymns of the Republic addresses the time Ulysses S. Grant arrives to take command of all Union armies in March 1864 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox a year later. He breathes new life into the epic battle between Lee and Grant; the advent of 180,000 black soldiers in the Union army; Sherman’s March to the Sea; the rise of Clara Barton; and much more.
-
-
Questionable
- By Stafford Lewis on 05-16-20
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer
- By: General G. Moxley Sorrel
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by the officer who became General Longstreet’s most trusted associate, this collection of firsthand accounts, memoirs, and diaries grants the listener an inside view into the workings of the Confederate army staff - the unknown soldiers, the well-known commanders, politicians, nurses, and civilians - relating the events of the Civil War as Lt. Colonel Gilbert Moxley Sorrel experienced it.
-
-
Fascinating Account of a Staff Officer
- By Chelz on 03-20-22
Related to this topic
-
Custer's Trials
- A Life on the Frontier of a New America
- By: T.J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 23 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History. In this magisterial biography, T. J. Stiles paints a portrait of Custer both deeply personal and sweeping in scope, proving how much of Custer’s legacy has been ignored. He demolishes Custer’s historical caricature, revealing a volatile, contradictory, intense person - capable yet insecure, intelligent yet bigoted, passionate yet self-destructive, a romantic individualist at odds with the institution of the military (he was court-martialed twice in six years).
-
-
Custer and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-17-15
By: T.J. Stiles
-
A Soldier's Passion for Order
- Sherman
- By: John F. Marszalek
- Narrated by: Kevin Charles Minatrea
- Length: 20 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General William Tecumseh Sherman has come down to us as the implacable destroyer of the Civil War, notorious for his burning of Atlanta and his brutal march to the sea. A probing biography that explains Sherman's style of warfare and the threads of self-possession and insecurity that made up his character.
-
-
An Honest Study of a Flawed Hero
- By Chris on 09-20-14
-
A Worse Place than Hell
- How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation
- By: John Matteson
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 1862 drove the United States toward a breaking point. The Battle of Fredericksburg shattered Union forces and Northern confidence. As Abraham Lincoln's government threatened to fracture, this critical moment also tested five extraordinary individuals whose lives reflect the soul of a nation. The changes they underwent led to profound repercussions in the country's law, literature, politics, and popular mythology. Taken together, their stories offer a striking restatement of what it means to be American.
-
-
Fantastic Intertwining!
- By Peter H. Christensen on 09-02-21
By: John Matteson
-
Hymns of the Republic
- The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of that era’s most compelling narratives, defining the nation and one of history’s great turning points. Now, S.C. Gwynne’s Hymns of the Republic addresses the time Ulysses S. Grant arrives to take command of all Union armies in March 1864 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox a year later. He breathes new life into the epic battle between Lee and Grant; the advent of 180,000 black soldiers in the Union army; Sherman’s March to the Sea; the rise of Clara Barton; and much more.
-
-
Questionable
- By Stafford Lewis on 05-16-20
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Rebel Yell
- The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General Stonewall Jackson was like no one anyone had ever seen. In April of 1862 he was merely another Confederate general with only a single battle credential in an army fighting in what seemed to be a losing cause. By middle June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western World. He had given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked: hope.
-
-
Candidate for "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend"
- By Dorothy on 01-10-15
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Crazy Horse and Custer
- The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the sparkling morning of June 25, 1876, 611 men of the US 7th Cavalry rode toward the banks of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory, where 3,000 Indians stood waiting for battle. The lives of two great warriors would soon be forever linked throughout history: Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, and General George Armstrong Custer.
-
-
A Fascinating, Fair Depiction of Two Heroes
- By Stewart Fletcher on 04-29-19
-
Custer's Trials
- A Life on the Frontier of a New America
- By: T.J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 23 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History. In this magisterial biography, T. J. Stiles paints a portrait of Custer both deeply personal and sweeping in scope, proving how much of Custer’s legacy has been ignored. He demolishes Custer’s historical caricature, revealing a volatile, contradictory, intense person - capable yet insecure, intelligent yet bigoted, passionate yet self-destructive, a romantic individualist at odds with the institution of the military (he was court-martialed twice in six years).
-
-
Custer and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-17-15
By: T.J. Stiles
-
A Soldier's Passion for Order
- Sherman
- By: John F. Marszalek
- Narrated by: Kevin Charles Minatrea
- Length: 20 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General William Tecumseh Sherman has come down to us as the implacable destroyer of the Civil War, notorious for his burning of Atlanta and his brutal march to the sea. A probing biography that explains Sherman's style of warfare and the threads of self-possession and insecurity that made up his character.
-
-
An Honest Study of a Flawed Hero
- By Chris on 09-20-14
-
A Worse Place than Hell
- How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation
- By: John Matteson
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 1862 drove the United States toward a breaking point. The Battle of Fredericksburg shattered Union forces and Northern confidence. As Abraham Lincoln's government threatened to fracture, this critical moment also tested five extraordinary individuals whose lives reflect the soul of a nation. The changes they underwent led to profound repercussions in the country's law, literature, politics, and popular mythology. Taken together, their stories offer a striking restatement of what it means to be American.
-
-
Fantastic Intertwining!
- By Peter H. Christensen on 09-02-21
By: John Matteson
-
Hymns of the Republic
- The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of that era’s most compelling narratives, defining the nation and one of history’s great turning points. Now, S.C. Gwynne’s Hymns of the Republic addresses the time Ulysses S. Grant arrives to take command of all Union armies in March 1864 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox a year later. He breathes new life into the epic battle between Lee and Grant; the advent of 180,000 black soldiers in the Union army; Sherman’s March to the Sea; the rise of Clara Barton; and much more.
-
-
Questionable
- By Stafford Lewis on 05-16-20
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Rebel Yell
- The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General Stonewall Jackson was like no one anyone had ever seen. In April of 1862 he was merely another Confederate general with only a single battle credential in an army fighting in what seemed to be a losing cause. By middle June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western World. He had given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked: hope.
-
-
Candidate for "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend"
- By Dorothy on 01-10-15
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Crazy Horse and Custer
- The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the sparkling morning of June 25, 1876, 611 men of the US 7th Cavalry rode toward the banks of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory, where 3,000 Indians stood waiting for battle. The lives of two great warriors would soon be forever linked throughout history: Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, and General George Armstrong Custer.
-
-
A Fascinating, Fair Depiction of Two Heroes
- By Stewart Fletcher on 04-29-19
-
Fierce Patriot
- The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman
- By: Robert O'Connell
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a unique, witty, and conversational voice historian Robert O'Connell breaks down the often paradoxical, easily caricatured character of General William T. Sherman for the most well-rounded portrait of the man yet written. There were many Shermans, according to O'Connell. Most prominently was Sherman the military strategist (indeed, one of the greatest strategists of all time), who gained an appreciation of geography from early campaigns out west and applied it to his famed Civil War march.
-
-
An interesting biography
- By Jean on 07-19-14
By: Robert O'Connell
-
The Road to Guilford Courthouse
- The American Revolution in the Carolinas
- By: John Buchanan
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant account of the proud and ferocious American fighters who stood up to the British forces in savage battles highlights just how crucial these individuals were in deciding both the fate of the Carolina colonies and the outcome of the American Civil War.
-
-
Amazing Book
- By Anthony S. on 04-01-21
By: John Buchanan
-
Grant and Sherman
- The Friendship That Won the Civil War
- By: Charles Bracelen Flood
- Narrated by: Charles Bracelen Flood
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"We were as brothers," William Tecumseh Sherman said, describing his relationship with Ulysses S. Grant. They were incontestably two of the most important figures in the Civil War, but until now there has been no book about their victorious partnership and the deep friendship that made it possible.
-
-
Superb History
- By Brad LaMorgese on 01-24-11
-
The Crowded Hour
- Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century
- By: Clay Risen
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The “gripping” (The Washington Post) story of the most famous regiment in American history: the Rough Riders, a motley group of soldiers led by Theodore Roosevelt, whose daring exploits marked the beginning of American imperialism in the 20th century. Both a portrait of these men, few of whom were traditional soldiers, and of the Spanish-American War itself, The Crowded Hour dives deep into the daily lives and struggles of Roosevelt and his regiment. Using diaries, letters, and memoirs, Risen illuminates an influential moment in American history.
-
-
Dissapointed
- By Bill on 09-13-19
By: Clay Risen
-
Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers
- The Texas Victory That Changed American History
- By: Brian Kilmeade
- Narrated by: Brian Kilmeade
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 1836, the Mexican army led by General Santa Anna massacred more than 200 Texians who had been trapped in the Alamo. After 13 days of fighting, American legends Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett died there, along with other Americans who had moved to Texas looking for a fresh start. It was a crushing blow to Texas' fight for freedom. But the story doesn’t end there. The defeat galvanized the Texian settlers, and under General Sam Houston’s leadership, they rallied. Six weeks after the Alamo, Houston and his band of settlers defeated Santa Anna’s army in a shocking victory.
-
-
Gotta talk like Texans
- By younggranny on 11-11-19
By: Brian Kilmeade
-
38 Nooses
- Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End
- By: Scott W. Berg
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1862, after decades of broken treaties, increasing hardship, and relentless encroachment on their lands, a group of Dakota warriors convened a council at the tepee of their leader, Little Crow. Knowing the strength and resilience of the young American nation, Little Crow counseled caution, but anger won the day. Forced to either lead his warriors in a war he knew they could not win or leave them to their fates, he declared, "[Little Crow] is not a coward: he will die with you."
-
-
Powerful condemnation of Manifest Destiny
- By Buretto on 09-26-19
By: Scott W. Berg
-
Patton
- Blood, Guts, and Prayer
- By: Michael Keane
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one in the history of warfare was less likely to follow that advice than George S. Patton, Jr. His place was in front of his men, and he paid the price, when he lay bleeding to death in a bomb crater in France. Patton’s survival that day at the end of World War I was nothing short of miraculous. It confirmed the powerful sense of destiny that guided him through three decades of war and made him a military legend. Patton has been venerated and despised but rarely understood. In Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer, Michael Keane penetrates the fog of legend and reveals as compelling a human character as any in American history.
-
-
A different view of Patton
- By Jean on 06-19-13
By: Michael Keane
-
The War Lovers
- Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898
- By: Evan Thomas
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. Although there was no evidence that the Spanish were responsible, yellow newspapers such as William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal whipped Americans into frenzy by claiming that Spain's "secret infernal machine" had destroyed the battleship. Soon after, the blandly handsome and easily influenced President McKinley declared war, sending troops not only to Cuba but also to the Philippines.
-
-
A Rather Poor History
- By Paul C. White on 08-17-10
By: Evan Thomas
-
A Terrible Glory
- Custer and the Little Bighorn: The Last Great Battle of the American West
- By: James Donovan
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A rousing and meticulously researched account of the notorious Battle of Little Big Horn and its unforgettable cast of characters from Sitting Bull to Custer himself.
-
-
Terrific story of Custer, the Little Big Horn
- By rwmiller on 09-06-19
By: James Donovan
-
In the Hands of Providence
- Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War
- By: Alice Rains Trulock
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joshua Chamberlain of Maine forged a remarkable career during the Civil War. An academic and theologian by training, this modest young professor left Bowdoin College to accept a commission as lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine. He fought at Antietam and Fredericksburg, then led his regiment to glory at Gettysburg, where he ordered the brilliant charge that saved Little Round Top.
-
-
Details of war
- By Richard on 04-23-07
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War
- By: H. W. Crocker III
- Narrated by: Bill Wallace
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Get ready for a rousing rebel yell as best-selling author H. W. Crocker III charges through bunkers and battlefields in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War. Crocker busts myths and shatters stereotypes as he profiles eminent and colorful military generals, revealing little-known truths, like why Robert E. Lee had a higher regard for African-Americans than Lincoln did.
-
-
The American Civil War Made Simple
- By Vincent Tume on 12-18-08
-
Robert E. Lee
- By: Emory M. Thomas
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 22 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With absorbing power, Emory M. Thomas tells the story of one of the most revered figures in American history. A story of triumph and tragedy, this stunning biography provides a fascinating glimpse at the man behind the Civil War legend. Revealing the "whole" Lee in this enthralling, detailed saga, Thomas portrays him as a man driven by the paradoxes in his own personality. Here is the Lee who is both a legend and a man. Heroic and larger than life in battle; insecure and unfulfilled in private life.
-
-
Must Read
- By Tamra Sanchez on 08-19-20
By: Emory M. Thomas