Empire of Mud
The Secret History of Washington, DC
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Narrated by:
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John Lescault
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By:
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J. D. Dickey
About this listen
Washington, DC, gleams with stately columns and neoclassical temples, a pulsing hub of political power and prowess. But for decades it was one of the worst excuses for a capital city the world had ever seen.
Before America became a world power in the 20th century, Washington City was an eyesore at best and a disgrace at worst. Unfilled swamps, filthy canals, and rutted horse trails littered its landscape. Political bosses hired hooligans and thugs to conduct the nation’s affairs. Legendary madams entertained clients from all stations of society and politicians of every party. The police served and protected with the aid of bribes and protection money. Beneath pestilential air, the city’s muddy roads led to a stumpy, half-finished obelisk to Washington here, a domeless Capitol Building there. Lining the streets stood boarding houses, tanneries, and slums. Deadly horse races gouged dusty streets, and opposing factions of volunteer firefighters battled one another like violent gangs rather than life-saving heroes. The city’s turbulent history set a precedent for the dishonesty, corruption, and mismanagement that have led generations to look suspiciously on the various sin - both real and imagined - of Washington politicians.
Empire of Mud unearths and untangles the roots of our capital’s story and explores how the city was tainted from the outset, nearly stifled from becoming the proud citadel of the republic that George Washington and Pierre L’Enfant envisioned more than two centuries ago.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Very Interesting.
- By Joyce Mirowski on 06-05-20
By: Jonathan Gill
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A People's History of the United States
- By: Howard Zinn
- Narrated by: Jeff Zinn
- Length: 34 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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For much of his life, historian Howard Zinn chronicled American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version taught in schools - with its emphasis on great men in high places - to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of - and in the words of - America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers.
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Amateur hour in the production booth
- By Thomas on 11-09-10
By: Howard Zinn
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City of Dreams
- The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York
- By: Tyler Anbinder
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Tyler Anbinder's story is one of innovators and artists, revolutionaries and rioters, staggering deprivation and soaring triumphs, all playing out against the powerful backdrop of New York City, at once ever changing and profoundly, permanently itself. City of Dreams provides a vivid sense of what New York looked like, sounded like, smelled like, and felt like over the centuries of its development and maturation into the city we know today.
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Even as a history, not engaging
- By Patrick Kelly on 12-03-16
By: Tyler Anbinder
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A Nation Under Our Feet
- Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration
- By: Steven Hahn
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the epic story of how African-Americans, in the six decades following slavery, transformed themselves into a political people - an embryonic black nation. As Steven Hahn demonstrates, rural African-Americans were central political actors in the great events of disunion, emancipation, and nation-building. At the same time, Hahn asks us to think in more expansive ways about the nature and boundaries of politics and political practice.
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A staple
- By Amazon Customer on 09-03-22
By: Steven Hahn
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Island on Fire
- The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire
- By: Tom Zoellner
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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For five horrific weeks after Christmas in 1831, Jamaica was convulsed by an uprising of its enslaved people. What started as a peaceful labor strike quickly turned into a full-blown revolt, leaving hundreds of plantation houses in smoking ruins. By the time British troops had put down the rebels, more than a thousand Jamaicans lay dead from summary executions and extrajudicial murder. While the rebels lost their military gamble, their sacrifice accelerated the larger struggle for freedom in the British Atlantic.
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Learned a lot
- By Amazon Customer on 04-10-21
By: Tom Zoellner
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Freedom's Dominion
- A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power
- By: Jefferson Cowie
- Narrated by: André Chapoy
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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American freedom is typically associated with the fight of the oppressed for a better world. But for centuries, whenever the federal government intervened on behalf of nonwhite people, many white Americans fought back in the name of freedom—their freedom to dominate others. In Freedom’s Dominion, historian Jefferson Cowie traces this complex saga by focusing on a quintessentially American place: Barbour County, Alabama, the ancestral home of political firebrand George Wallace.
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Very easily read and I learned a lot
- By Kev All on 02-05-23
By: Jefferson Cowie
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The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
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Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
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Black Birds in the Sky
- The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
- By: Brandy Colbert
- Narrated by: Brandy Colbert, Kristyl Dawn Tift
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a White mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District - a thriving, affluent neighborhood known as America's Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives. In a few short hours, they'd razed 35 square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. But how did it come to pass?
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Incredible story and sooo well written
- By Deby on 02-17-22
By: Brandy Colbert
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History of Chicago: A Captivating Guide to the People and Events that Shaped the Windy City’s History
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Founded as a tiny, temporary settlement, Chicago became a crux of the American fur trade before growing into one of the powerhouses of the Industrial Revolution. From procuring drinking water to implementing racial equality, nothing has ever been simple for the people who have called Chicago home - and yet there is immense pride among Chicagoans for what they and their fellow people have achieved. The city has been home to some of America’s most influential people, be they talk show hosts or US Presidents.
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Clearly read by AI
- By Ben A Moreno on 09-03-24
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American Republics
- A Continental History of the United States 1783-1850
- By: Alan Taylor
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In this beautifully written history of America’s formative period, a preeminent historian upends the traditional story of a young nation confidently marching to its continent-spanning destiny.
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Helps the dots of history to today.
- By Tascha F. on 06-26-21
By: Alan Taylor
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Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
- An American History
- By: Ada Ferrer
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Ada Ferrer - prologue
- Length: 23 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued—through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country’s future. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation.
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US Bash Job
- By Derek & Amber Witt on 04-14-22
By: Ada Ferrer
What listeners say about Empire of Mud
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JG
- 04-08-21
Fantastic
Really well written and well read. This should be required readying by all Americans. Great History book!
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- Detailed Shopper
- 10-06-21
Effortlessly insightful
I was surprised by the number of events that connect directly to today's political debates. The book rarely hints at connections, leaving readers to arrange dots and lines from context clues. The second half was most unfamiliar and interesting, given previous reading on the Revolutionary era. The reader was good, not adding much excitement, but easy to follow.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-22-21
informative but biased towards the negatives
I learned a lot from this book, but it focused a lot on the negatives of the history of the Washington DC. A reflection of the problems our country continues to face.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Shadow007
- 10-02-21
History of old muddy Washington
This book focuses on the history of Washington D.C. before the basically up to 1877, with most of the book being before the Civil War.
This book isn’t about politics history such as ‘during this time mayor blank did this’. No, instead it is more of a social history where you will learn about how the local population interact with the Congress elite, the social status of the various residents, how the city was laid out, how slavery affected the city etc.
it is well written and works perfectly good on audiobook. I would recommend this book especially for people to see not just poor and literally muddy the national Capital use to be, but also how the federal government essentially robbed the residents of D.C. of their rights with no resistance or protests from anyone.
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2 people found this helpful
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- CCS
- 03-23-22
Okay, I guess
Not a full history, of course. Kinda flat compared to similar city histories I’ve read on NYC, Chicago, LA, etc., but that’s D.C., I suppose.
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1 person found this helpful
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- cassandra m howe
- 10-30-23
Interesting
Had some interesting facts about the evolution of Washington DC and the surrounding areas
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- Alex
- 06-15-22
Badly written, terribly narrated, but still worth it.
This book had so much potential and I really did learn a lot about the history of Washington DC. Albeit in a confusing and disorganized way. In the end, it was just poorly written and organized, and the author did not make his points or the structure of the book clear. Worse was the narration.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Ryan J Albertson
- 05-06-22
Great read of a fascinating story
A fascinating history of Washington DC, mainly focused on the city in the 19th century. Wild, eye-opening tales of 1800s debauchery and violence read by an excellent narrator.
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1 person found this helpful
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- William Elliott
- 09-30-20
Not what I thought
This should be labeled more as a history of African Americans in D.C. It mildy delved into the actual geagraphy and buildings of the capital's history. Not very good!
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8 people found this helpful
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- nlherman
- 03-25-23
Poor "history" seen thru today's progressive lens
I now know why this book was on the monthly free list. I would have never selected it otherwise. It started out OK and was interesting, BUT after chapter two the author began sniping progressive judgement on everything and everybody (with the exception of their obscure and insignificant no named 'heros'). I couldn't stomach more than 5 chapters, I really tried. I should have known better by Audibles next soggest selections for me of even more progressive and 'woke' tripe. This is NOT a work of history. it is opinionated sociology and should be market itself as such. The mud here was not the 'history' of Washington City, it was the muddy presentation of this important historical subject. Skip this title.
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