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America's First Dynasty
- The Adamses 1735-1918
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
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Publisher's summary
Brookhiser has written a great history of a great family, balancing praise with due consideration of the family's darker side.
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Critic reviews
"Providing new insights into the development of American political and social ideas, this family biography will benefit readers interested in these ideas and the recent outpouring of literature concerning the Adamses." (Library Journal)
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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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Thomas Jefferson
- By: R. B. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". It is in this simple epitaph that R. B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder - not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again". In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American - the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account.
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In-Depth and Interesting
- By Sarahi Nieves on 04-24-19
By: R. B. Bernstein
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Washington's Farewell
- The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
- By: John Avlon
- Narrated by: John Avlon
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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George Washington's Farewell Address was a prophetic letter from a "parting friend" to his fellow citizens about the forces he feared could destroy our democracy: hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars. Once celebrated as civic scripture, more widely reprinted than the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Its message remains starkly relevant. In Washington's Farewell, John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our first president and his battle to save America from self-destruction.
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Very well written and performed
- By Michael Reading on 03-02-17
By: John Avlon
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A Self-Made Man
- The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1849
- By: Sidney Blumenthal
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The first of a multivolume history of Lincoln as a political genius - from his obscure beginnings to his presidency, his assassination, and the overthrow of his post-Civil War dreams of Reconstruction. This first volume traces Lincoln from his painful youth, describing himself as "a slave", to his emergence as the man we recognize as Abraham Lincoln.
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I Can't Wait for Volume II!
- By NC-N-NC on 06-14-16
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A Wicked War
- Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico
- By: Amy S. Greenberg
- Narrated by: Caroline Shaffer
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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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 authority and narrative flair.
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Rubbish Historical Work, Lots of Fake Stuff
- By Jose on 04-28-17
By: Amy S. Greenberg
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Friends Divided
- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government.
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A Great Read
- By Jean on 12-22-17
By: Gordon S. Wood
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Adams vs. Jefferson
- The Tumultuous Election of 1800
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning author John Ferling is a leading authority on the American Revolution. His entertaining and enlightening histories have greatly improved our understanding of early America and the Founding Fathers. Now Ferling opens a window to the past and explores the contentious presidential election of 1800.
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Outstanding work of interpretive history
- By D. Littman on 11-01-04
By: John Ferling
What listeners say about America's First Dynasty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mystery Maven
- 11-17-21
Unusual and mildly disappointing
The danger facing biographers is that they sometimes fall in love with their subject. That accusation cannot be made here. There are many criticisms of the Adamses, generally without supporting arguments. The result is a skewed view of these men, shallow and incomplete. I found this work vague and unsatisfying.
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