-
Cabal!
- The Plot Against General Washington
- Narrated by: Bob Neufeld
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
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
Publisher's summary
In the spring of 1778, General George Washington wrote to his friend Landon Carter about a rumored “disposition in the Northern officers to see me superseded in my command”. This was as candid a statement as the general ever made about the so-called “Conway Cabal” of patriot officers and politicians critical of his leadership.
Most early historians of the Revolution took the threat to Washington seriously, but by the mid-20th century, interpretations had reversed, with the plot - if one existed - posing no real danger to the commander-in-chief.
Yet, as historian Mark Edward Lender reveals in his compelling Cabal!: The Plot Against General Washington, clues found in original new research provide a more comprehensive understanding of the personalities and political maneuverings of those involved in the cabal and the real nature of the challenge to Washington.
The threat to Washington’s command was a gradual administrative attempt by the Board of War and political allies to take over the war effort. Reorganized in late 1777 under the leadership of Mifflin, with Gates assuming the board presidency in January 1778, the Board of War sought authority to determine military policy and strategic goals, training, organizational, personnel, and logistical functions, and even the assignment of theater commanders.
Had they succeeded, Washington’s title of commander-in-chief would have been utterly hollow. The cabal tested Washington as few other things did during the war and, perhaps, tempered him into the man we remember today.
Washington adroitly navigated the challenges to his leadership, meeting and defeating every attempt to curtail his authority. His response revealed a leadership style that saw him safely through the war and gave him overwhelming support from his countrymen to become their first president.
The book is published by Westholme Publishing. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
- By: Stacy Schiff
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Jefferson asserted that if there was any leader of the Revolution, “Samuel Adams was the man.” With high-minded ideals and bare-knuckle tactics, Adams led what could be called the greatest campaign of civil resistance in American history. Stacy Schiff returns Adams to his seat of glory, introducing us to the shrewd and eloquent man who supplied the moral backbone of the American Revolution, bringing her masterful skills to Adams’s improbable life, illuminating his transformation from aimless son of a well-off family to tireless, beguiling radical who mobilized the colonies.
-
-
The revolutionary
- By Charles on 11-02-22
By: Stacy Schiff
-
The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series)
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Aaron Killian
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century.
-
-
Best book of this early battle
- By Bradley Behrhorst on 09-02-22
-
The Nazi Conspiracy
- The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
- By: Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1943, as the war against Nazi Germany raged abroad, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical goal: a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. This first-ever meeting of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, would decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape—an assassination plot that would’ve changed history.
-
-
Fabulous book!
- By Luke Einfeldt on 01-18-23
By: Brad Meltzer, and others
-
Cornwallis
- Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World
- By: Richard Middleton
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles, first marquis of Cornwallis (1738-1805), was a leading figure in late 18th-century Britain. His career spanned the American War of Independence, Irish Union, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the building of the Second British Empire in India - and he has long been associated with the unacceptable face of Britain's colonial past. In this vivid new biography, Richard Middleton shows that this portrait is far from accurate. Cornwallis emerges as a reformer who had deep empathy for those under his authority and was clear about his obligation to govern justly.
-
-
Highly recommend
- By CAB on 08-29-22
-
Washington at the Plow
- The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery
- By: Bruce A. Ragsdale
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington spent more of his working life farming than he did at war or in political office. For more than 40 years, he devoted himself to the improvement of agriculture. Washington at the Plow depicts the "first farmer of America" as a leading practitioner of the New Husbandry, a transatlantic movement that spearheaded advancements in crop rotation.
-
The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
-
-
A reasonable summary of the revolutionary War of the Northern Army
- By Astrobuf on 12-22-23
By: Kevin Weddle
-
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
- By: Stacy Schiff
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Jefferson asserted that if there was any leader of the Revolution, “Samuel Adams was the man.” With high-minded ideals and bare-knuckle tactics, Adams led what could be called the greatest campaign of civil resistance in American history. Stacy Schiff returns Adams to his seat of glory, introducing us to the shrewd and eloquent man who supplied the moral backbone of the American Revolution, bringing her masterful skills to Adams’s improbable life, illuminating his transformation from aimless son of a well-off family to tireless, beguiling radical who mobilized the colonies.
-
-
The revolutionary
- By Charles on 11-02-22
By: Stacy Schiff
-
The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series)
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Aaron Killian
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century.
-
-
Best book of this early battle
- By Bradley Behrhorst on 09-02-22
-
The Nazi Conspiracy
- The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
- By: Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1943, as the war against Nazi Germany raged abroad, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical goal: a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. This first-ever meeting of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, would decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape—an assassination plot that would’ve changed history.
-
-
Fabulous book!
- By Luke Einfeldt on 01-18-23
By: Brad Meltzer, and others
-
Cornwallis
- Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World
- By: Richard Middleton
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles, first marquis of Cornwallis (1738-1805), was a leading figure in late 18th-century Britain. His career spanned the American War of Independence, Irish Union, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the building of the Second British Empire in India - and he has long been associated with the unacceptable face of Britain's colonial past. In this vivid new biography, Richard Middleton shows that this portrait is far from accurate. Cornwallis emerges as a reformer who had deep empathy for those under his authority and was clear about his obligation to govern justly.
-
-
Highly recommend
- By CAB on 08-29-22
-
Washington at the Plow
- The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery
- By: Bruce A. Ragsdale
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington spent more of his working life farming than he did at war or in political office. For more than 40 years, he devoted himself to the improvement of agriculture. Washington at the Plow depicts the "first farmer of America" as a leading practitioner of the New Husbandry, a transatlantic movement that spearheaded advancements in crop rotation.
-
The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
-
-
A reasonable summary of the revolutionary War of the Northern Army
- By Astrobuf on 12-22-23
By: Kevin Weddle
-
Noble Volunteers
- The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution
- By: Don N. Hagist
- Narrated by: David Beveridge
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution, Don N. Hagist brings life to these soldiers, describing the training, experiences, and outcomes of British soldiers who fought during the Revolution. Drawing on thousands of military records and other primary sources in British, American, and Canadian archives, and the writings of dozens of officers and soldiers, Noble Volunteers shows how a peacetime army responded to the onset of war, how professional soldiers adapted quickly and effectively to become tactically dominant, and more.
-
-
botched edition at chapter 13
- By Anonymous User on 12-06-22
By: Don N. Hagist
-
To Rescue the Constitution
- George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment
- By: Bret Baier
- Narrated by: Bret Baier
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping narrative ranging from the unsettled early American frontier and the battlefields of the Revolution to the history-making clashes within Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, Bret Baier’s To Rescue the Constitution dramatically illuminates the life of George Washington, the Founder who did more than perhaps any other individual to secure the future of the United States.
-
-
Never disappointed in the historical accounts of our countries accounts.
- By Terri Anderson on 10-13-23
By: Bret Baier
-
The Cause
- The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington claimed that anyone who attempted to provide an accurate account of the war for independence would be accused of writing fiction. At the time, no one called it the “American Revolution”: Former colonists still regarded themselves as Virginians or Pennsylvanians, not Americans, while John Adams insisted that the British were the real revolutionaries, for attempting to impose radical change without their colonists’ consent. With The Cause, Ellis takes a fresh look at the events between 1773 and 1783.
-
-
Modest history primer, wished for more substance
- By Buretto on 10-21-21
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Braxton Bragg
- The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy
- By: Earl J. Hess
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Civil War historian Earl J. Hess presents a compelling biography of Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the summer of 1862 to the end of 1863.
-
-
Thought-provoking
- By Jean on 02-11-18
By: Earl J. Hess
-
The Coming Fury
- The Centennial History of the Civil War, Volume 1
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
> The New York Times hailed this trilogy as “one of the greatest historical accomplishments of our time”. With stunning detail and insights, America’s foremost Civil War historian recreates the war from its opening months to its final, bloody end. Each volume delivers a complete listening experience. The Coming Fury (Volume 1) covers the split Democratic Convention in the spring of 1860 to the first battle of Bull Run.
-
-
History As It Should Be
- By Bryan on 07-19-11
By: Bruce Catton
-
Generals in the Making
- How Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Their Peers Became the Commanders Who Won World War II
- By: Benjamin Runkle
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shakespeare famously wrote that some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Part military history and part group biography, Generals in the Making tells the true story of how George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, and their peers became the greatest generation of senior commanders in military history.
-
-
Great survey of the military upbringing of WWII’s most prominent Army generals.
- By Kristi on 05-20-24
By: Benjamin Runkle
-
George Washington’s Military Genius
- By: Dave R. Palmer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington’s military strategy has been called bumbling at worst and brilliant at best. So which is it? Was George Washington a strategic genius or just lucky? So asks Dave R. Palmer in George Washington’s Military Genius. An updated edition of Palmer’s earlier work, The Way of the Fox, George Washington’s Military Genius breaks down the American Revolution into four phases and analyzes Washington’s strategy during each.
-
-
Genius
- By John on 08-08-22
By: Dave R. Palmer
-
Grant
- By: Jean Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 29 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this comprehensive biography, Jean Edward Smith reconciles conflicting assessments of Grant's life, arguing that Grant is greatly underrated as a president. Following the turmoil of Andrew Johnson's administration, Grant guided the nation through the post-Civil War era, overseeing Reconstruction of the South and enforcing the freedoms of new African-American citizens. His presidential accomplishments were as considerable as his military victories, for the same strength of character that made him successful on the battlefield also characterized his years in the White House.
-
-
Splendid Biography Inspires New Respect for Grant
- By John David on 10-07-19
-
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge
- The Baron De Steuben and the Making of the American Army
- By: Paul Lockhart
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The image of the Baron de Steuben training Washington's ragged, demoralized troops in the snow at Valley Forge is part of the iconography of our Revolutionary heritage, but most history fans know little more about this fascinating figure.
-
-
Great history good naration
- By Matthew on 11-18-08
By: Paul Lockhart
-
Controversies and Commanders
- Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac
- By: Stephen Sears
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout the devastating years of the Civil War, the Union Army of the Potomac seldom marched in step. In this provocative book, acclaimed historian and award-winning author Stephen W. Sears takes a fascinating look at some of the intriguing Union generals and the controversies that swirled around them. Delving into historical documents and the personal papers of military officers, Sears shares the compelling stories of oft-maligned Generals McClellan and Hooker, the shocking court-martial of patriotic General Stone, the failed plots to kidnap Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and more.
-
-
Intriguing!
- By Alice Conley on 05-04-23
By: Stephen Sears
-
Revolutionary Summer
- The Birth of American Independence
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The summer months of 1776 witnessed the most consequential events in the story of our country’s founding. While the thirteen colonies came together and agreed to secede from the British Empire, the British were dispatching the largest armada ever to cross the Atlantic to crush the rebellion in the cradle. The Continental Congress and the Continental Army were forced to make decisions on the run, improvising as history congealed around them. In a brilliant and seamless narrative, Ellis meticulously examines the most influential figures in this propitious moment, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Britain’s Admiral Lord Richard and General William Howe. He weaves together the political and military experiences as two sides of a single story, and shows how events on one front influenced outcomes on the other.
Revolutionary Summer tells an old story in a new way, with a freshness at once colorful and compelling.
-
-
Excellent
- By Andrew on 12-18-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise
- A Life of Bunny Mellon
- By: Mac Griswold
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bunny Mellon, whose life was marked by astonishing good fortune as well as tragedy and scandal, remains a singular figure in the annals of American design. She had her finger on the pulse of American culture and possessed a rare sense of style and grace. Her most celebrated work—the White House Rose Garden—demonstrated how formal restraint and the sparing use of color could be deployed to maximal effect.
-
-
Great pairing of author &reader produced engrossing biography of brilliant, self educated, disciplined, romantic, rich American
- By Gracenote on 05-31-23
By: Mac Griswold
Related to this topic
-
The Cause
- The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington claimed that anyone who attempted to provide an accurate account of the war for independence would be accused of writing fiction. At the time, no one called it the “American Revolution”: Former colonists still regarded themselves as Virginians or Pennsylvanians, not Americans, while John Adams insisted that the British were the real revolutionaries, for attempting to impose radical change without their colonists’ consent. With The Cause, Ellis takes a fresh look at the events between 1773 and 1783.
-
-
Modest history primer, wished for more substance
- By Buretto on 10-21-21
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge
- The Baron De Steuben and the Making of the American Army
- By: Paul Lockhart
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The image of the Baron de Steuben training Washington's ragged, demoralized troops in the snow at Valley Forge is part of the iconography of our Revolutionary heritage, but most history fans know little more about this fascinating figure.
-
-
Great history good naration
- By Matthew on 11-18-08
By: Paul Lockhart
-
Controversies and Commanders
- Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac
- By: Stephen Sears
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout the devastating years of the Civil War, the Union Army of the Potomac seldom marched in step. In this provocative book, acclaimed historian and award-winning author Stephen W. Sears takes a fascinating look at some of the intriguing Union generals and the controversies that swirled around them. Delving into historical documents and the personal papers of military officers, Sears shares the compelling stories of oft-maligned Generals McClellan and Hooker, the shocking court-martial of patriotic General Stone, the failed plots to kidnap Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and more.
-
-
Intriguing!
- By Alice Conley on 05-04-23
By: Stephen Sears
-
Grant
- By: Jean Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 29 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this comprehensive biography, Jean Edward Smith reconciles conflicting assessments of Grant's life, arguing that Grant is greatly underrated as a president. Following the turmoil of Andrew Johnson's administration, Grant guided the nation through the post-Civil War era, overseeing Reconstruction of the South and enforcing the freedoms of new African-American citizens. His presidential accomplishments were as considerable as his military victories, for the same strength of character that made him successful on the battlefield also characterized his years in the White House.
-
-
Splendid Biography Inspires New Respect for Grant
- By John David on 10-07-19
-
Revolutionary Summer
- The Birth of American Independence
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The summer months of 1776 witnessed the most consequential events in the story of our country’s founding. While the thirteen colonies came together and agreed to secede from the British Empire, the British were dispatching the largest armada ever to cross the Atlantic to crush the rebellion in the cradle. The Continental Congress and the Continental Army were forced to make decisions on the run, improvising as history congealed around them. In a brilliant and seamless narrative, Ellis meticulously examines the most influential figures in this propitious moment, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Britain’s Admiral Lord Richard and General William Howe. He weaves together the political and military experiences as two sides of a single story, and shows how events on one front influenced outcomes on the other.
Revolutionary Summer tells an old story in a new way, with a freshness at once colorful and compelling.
-
-
Excellent
- By Andrew on 12-18-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Washington's Revolution
- The Making of America's First Leader
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington was famously unknowable, but Robert Middlekauff penetrates the mystique to reveal the fears, values, and passions that drove him. Rich in psychological details regarding Washington's temperament, idiosyncrasies, and experiences, this audiobook shows us a self-conscious Washington who grew in confidence and experience as a young soldier, businessman, and Virginian gentleman; and was transformed into an American patriot by the revolutionary ferment of the 1760s and 70s.
-
-
Fresh Look at Leader of American Revolution
- By Sean Lannan on 09-02-15
-
The Cause
- The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington claimed that anyone who attempted to provide an accurate account of the war for independence would be accused of writing fiction. At the time, no one called it the “American Revolution”: Former colonists still regarded themselves as Virginians or Pennsylvanians, not Americans, while John Adams insisted that the British were the real revolutionaries, for attempting to impose radical change without their colonists’ consent. With The Cause, Ellis takes a fresh look at the events between 1773 and 1783.
-
-
Modest history primer, wished for more substance
- By Buretto on 10-21-21
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge
- The Baron De Steuben and the Making of the American Army
- By: Paul Lockhart
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The image of the Baron de Steuben training Washington's ragged, demoralized troops in the snow at Valley Forge is part of the iconography of our Revolutionary heritage, but most history fans know little more about this fascinating figure.
-
-
Great history good naration
- By Matthew on 11-18-08
By: Paul Lockhart
-
Controversies and Commanders
- Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac
- By: Stephen Sears
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout the devastating years of the Civil War, the Union Army of the Potomac seldom marched in step. In this provocative book, acclaimed historian and award-winning author Stephen W. Sears takes a fascinating look at some of the intriguing Union generals and the controversies that swirled around them. Delving into historical documents and the personal papers of military officers, Sears shares the compelling stories of oft-maligned Generals McClellan and Hooker, the shocking court-martial of patriotic General Stone, the failed plots to kidnap Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and more.
-
-
Intriguing!
- By Alice Conley on 05-04-23
By: Stephen Sears
-
Grant
- By: Jean Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 29 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this comprehensive biography, Jean Edward Smith reconciles conflicting assessments of Grant's life, arguing that Grant is greatly underrated as a president. Following the turmoil of Andrew Johnson's administration, Grant guided the nation through the post-Civil War era, overseeing Reconstruction of the South and enforcing the freedoms of new African-American citizens. His presidential accomplishments were as considerable as his military victories, for the same strength of character that made him successful on the battlefield also characterized his years in the White House.
-
-
Splendid Biography Inspires New Respect for Grant
- By John David on 10-07-19
-
Revolutionary Summer
- The Birth of American Independence
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The summer months of 1776 witnessed the most consequential events in the story of our country’s founding. While the thirteen colonies came together and agreed to secede from the British Empire, the British were dispatching the largest armada ever to cross the Atlantic to crush the rebellion in the cradle. The Continental Congress and the Continental Army were forced to make decisions on the run, improvising as history congealed around them. In a brilliant and seamless narrative, Ellis meticulously examines the most influential figures in this propitious moment, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Britain’s Admiral Lord Richard and General William Howe. He weaves together the political and military experiences as two sides of a single story, and shows how events on one front influenced outcomes on the other.
Revolutionary Summer tells an old story in a new way, with a freshness at once colorful and compelling.
-
-
Excellent
- By Andrew on 12-18-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Washington's Revolution
- The Making of America's First Leader
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington was famously unknowable, but Robert Middlekauff penetrates the mystique to reveal the fears, values, and passions that drove him. Rich in psychological details regarding Washington's temperament, idiosyncrasies, and experiences, this audiobook shows us a self-conscious Washington who grew in confidence and experience as a young soldier, businessman, and Virginian gentleman; and was transformed into an American patriot by the revolutionary ferment of the 1760s and 70s.
-
-
Fresh Look at Leader of American Revolution
- By Sean Lannan on 09-02-15
-
Our First Civil War
- Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution.
-
-
Not a fresh take on the Revolution
- By James on 01-05-22
By: H. W. Brands
-
Supreme Command
- Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
- By: Eliot A. Cohen
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The relationship between military leaders and political leaders has always been a complicated one, especially in times of war. When the chips are down, who should run the show, the politicians or the generals? In Supreme Command, Eliot Cohen examines four great democratic war statesmen - Abraham Lincoln, Georges Clemenceau, Winston Churchill, and David Ben-Gurion - to reveal the surprising answer - the politicians. The generals may think they know how to win, but the statesmen are the ones who see the big picture.
-
-
Dated material
- By Charlotte R. Shover on 11-21-20
By: Eliot A. Cohen
-
Lincoln and Churchill
- Statesmen at War
- By: Lewis E. Lehrman
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed historian Lewis Lehrman, in his path-breaking comparison of both statesmen, finds that Lincoln and Churchill - with very different upbringings and contrasting personalities - led their war efforts, to some extent, in similar ways. As supreme war lords, they were guided not only by principles of honor, duty, freedom, but also by the practical wisdom to know when, where, and how to apply these principles. They made mistakes which Lehrman considers carefully. But the author emphasizes that, despite setbacks, they never gave up.
-
-
Outstanding book
- By Barmand on 03-07-18
By: Lewis E. Lehrman
-
Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 29 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Pulitzer Prize - winning biography, Barbara Tuchman explores American relations with China through the experiences of one of our men on the ground. In the cantankerous but level-headed "Vinegar Joe", Tuchman found a subject who allowed her to perform, in the words of the National Review, "one of the historian's most envied magic acts: conjoining a fine biography of a man with a fascinating epic story."
-
-
A period that directly affected our world today
- By Charlotte on 08-29-12
-
The Ascent of George Washington
- The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even compared to his fellow founders, George Washington stands tall. Our first president has long been considered a stoic hero, holding himself above the rough-and-tumble politics of his day. Now John Ferling peers behind that image, carefully burnished by Washington himself, to show us a leader who was not only not above politics but a canny infighter---a master of persuasion, manipulation, and deniability.
-
-
A very Honest look at George Washington
- By DM on 03-24-22
By: John Ferling
-
Turncoat
- Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty
- By: Stephen Brumwell
- Narrated by: Andrew Sellon
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General Benedict Arnold's failed attempt to betray the fortress of West Point to the British in 1780 stands as one of the most infamous episodes in American history. In the light of a shining record of bravery and unquestioned commitment to the Revolution, Arnold's defection came as an appalling shock. Contemporaries believed he had been corrupted by greed; historians have theorized that he had come to resent the lack of recognition for his merits and sacrifices. In this provocative book, Stephen Brumwell challenges such interpretations and draws on unexplored archives to reveal other crucial factors that illuminate Arnold's abandonment of the revolutionary cause he once championed.
-
-
Uniquely Informative
- By Brenda McAteer on 07-31-18
By: Stephen Brumwell
-
Panzer General
- Heinz Guderian and the Blitzkrieg Victories of WWII
- By: Kenneth Macksey
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kenneth Macksey's highly regarded biography of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian gives clear insight into the mind and motives of the father of modern tank warfare. Panzer General shows Guderian as a man of ideas equipped with the ability to turn inspiration into reality. A master of strategy and tactics, he was the officer most responsible for creating blitzkrieg in World War II.
-
-
Terrible narration/pronunciation
- By Amazon Customer on 01-23-22
By: Kenneth Macksey
-
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
-
Leadership in War
- Essential Lessons from Those Who Made History
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking us from the French Revolution to the Cold War, Andrew Roberts presents us with a bracingly honest and deeply insightful look at nine major figures in modern history: Napoleon Bonaparte, Horatio Nelson, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, George C. Marshall, Charles de Gaulle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Margaret Thatcher. Each one of these leaders fundamentally shaped the outcome of the war in which their nation was embroiled.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Amazon Customer on 01-15-20
By: Andrew Roberts
-
The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
-
-
A reasonable summary of the revolutionary War of the Northern Army
- By Astrobuf on 12-22-23
By: Kevin Weddle
-
Washington and Hamilton
- The Alliance That Forged America
- By: Stephen F. Knott, Tony Williams
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers faced a daunting task: overcome their competing visions to build a new nation, the likes of which the world had never seen. Washington and Hamilton chronicles the unlikely collaboration between two conflicting characters working together to protect their hard-won freedoms. Yet while Washington and Hamilton's different personalities often led to fruitful collaboration, their conflicting ideals also tested the boundaries of their relationship - and threatened the future of the new republic.
-
-
Biography
- By Emily on 06-14-18
By: Stephen F. Knott, and others
-
Embattled Rebel
- Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Civil War
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. Many Americans of his own time and in later generations considered him an incompetent leader, not to mention a traitor. Not so, argues James M. McPherson. In Embattled Rebel, McPherson shows us that Davis might have been on the wrong side of history, but that it is too easy to diminish him because of his cause’s failure. Gravely ill throughout much of the Civil War, Davis nevertheless shaped and articulated the principal policy of the Confederacy—the quest for independent nationhood—with clarity and force.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 10-18-14