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Imperfect Union
- How Jessie and John Frémont Mapped the West, Invented Celebrity, and Helped Cause the Civil War
- Narrated by: Steve Inskeep
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
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Publisher's summary
Steve Inskeep tells the riveting story of John and Jessie Frémont, the husband and wife team who in the 1800s were instrumental in the westward expansion of the United States, and thus became America's first great political couple.
John C. Frémont, one of the United States' leading explorers of the 19th century, was relatively unknown in 1842, when he commanded the first of his expeditions to the uncharted West. But in only a few years, he was one of the most acclaimed people of the age - known as a wilderness explorer, best-selling writer, gallant army officer, and latter-day conquistador, who in 1846 began the United States' takeover of California from Mexico. He was not even 40 years old when Americans began naming mountains and towns after him. He had perfect timing, exploring the West just as it captured the nation’s attention. But the most important factor in his fame may have been the person who made it all possible: his wife, Jessie Benton Frémont.
Jessie, the daughter of a United States senator who was deeply involved in the West, provided her husband with entrée to the highest levels of government and media, and his career reached new heights only a few months after their elopement. During a time when women were allowed to make few choices for themselves, Jessie - who herself aspired to roles in exploration and politics - threw her skill and passion into promoting her husband. She worked to carefully edit and publicize his accounts of his travels, attracted talented young men to his circle, and lashed out at his enemies. She became her husband’s political adviser, as well as a power player in her own right. In 1856, the famous couple strategized as John became the first-ever presidential nominee of the newly established Republican Party.
With rare detail and in consummate style, Steve Inskeep tells the story of a couple whose joint ambitions and talents intertwined with those of the nascent United States itself. Taking advantage of expanding news media, aided by an increasingly literate public, the two linked their names to the three great national movements of the time - westward settlement, women’s rights, and opposition to slavery. Together, John and Jessie Frémont took parts in events that defined the country and gave rise to a new, more global America. Theirs is a surprisingly modern tale of ambition and fame; they lived in a time of social and technological disruption and divisive politics that foreshadowed our own. In Imperfect Union, as Inskeep navigates these deeply transformative years through Jessie and John’s own union, he reveals how the Frémonts’ adventures amount to nothing less than a tour of the early American soul.
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Critic reviews
"This is one of those listens that makes you wonder how people like Jessie and John Frémont can have escaped history - and a Hollywood treatment. It also makes you wonder how authors and narrators like Inskeep find the time to do what they do - and do it so well.... Not surprisingly, [Inskeep is] an effective and engaging narrator. His enthusiasm for his main characters is apparent but never approaches hagiography. Since he's a professional broadcaster, you'd expect his reading to be crisp and his inflections just right. And they are. This is an engaging and rewarding listen." (AudioFile Magazine)
“Revelatory...a fresh look that brings 21st-century vision to bear on the 19th-century story. In writing about both Frémont and his wife, Jessie, the aggressive promoter of his career, Inskeep does two important things. He shines an unsparing light on his subjects, and he finds unnerving similarities between the Frémonts’ America and our own. Like Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic, an improbably thrilling book about the Garfield assassination, Imperfect Union finds a big, resonant, star-studded subject that has been hiding in plain sight.... If the book’s purpose is to illuminate and chill, mission accomplished.” (The New York Times)
"In the hands of National Public Radio journalist Steve Inskeep, the Frémonts become a vehicle to explore media, the making of modern celebrity, and the fascinating world of mid-nineteenth century American politics ... [Inskeep’s] contribution is to frame these disparate threads through the lens of a widened Frémont circle, masterfully weaving the narratives together in highly readable prose. What emerges is a rich tapestry of not only the Frémonts’ relationship (an “imperfect union”), but also their imperfect midcentury United States as well.” (Missouri Historical Review)
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The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
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i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
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Revolution Song
- A Story of American Freedom
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of the acclaimed history The Island at the Center of the World, an intimate new epic of the American Revolution that reinforces its meaning for today. With America's founding principles being debated today as never before, Russell Shorto looks back to the era in which those principles were forged. Drawing on new sources, he weaves the lives of six people into a seamless narrative that casts fresh light on the range of experience in colonial America on the cusp of revolution.
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An inspiring book
- By Frank on 08-27-18
By: Russell Shorto
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The Patriots
- Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Making of America
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In this masterful narrative, Winston Groom brings his signature storytelling panache to the tale of our nation's most fascinating founding fathers - Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams - painting a vivid picture of the improbable events, bold ideas, and extraordinary characters who created the United States of America.
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For newbies or history buffs
- By SBR72 on 06-06-21
By: Winston Groom
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Union
- The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood
- By: Colin Woodard
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Union tells the story of the struggle to create a national myth for the United States, one that could hold its rival regional cultures together and forge an American nationhood.
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Required Reading
- By Ben Brafford on 08-30-20
By: Colin Woodard
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The President and the Freedom Fighter
- Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America's Soul
- By: Brian Kilmeade
- Narrated by: Brian Kilmeade
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling author of George Washington's Secret Six and Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates turns to two other heroes of the nation: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In The President and the Freedom Fighter, Brian Kilmeade tells the little-known story of how two American heroes moved from strong disagreement to friendship, and in the process changed the entire course of history.
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Great Story and Research
- By Marla O'Halloran on 11-06-21
By: Brian Kilmeade
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Revolver
- Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter That Changed America
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Brilliantly told, Revolver brings the brazenly ambitious and profoundly innovative industrialist and leader Samuel Colt to vivid life. In the space of his 47 years, he seemingly lived five lives: He traveled, womanized, drank prodigiously, smuggled guns to Russia, bribed politicians, and supplied the Union Army with the guns they needed to win the Civil War. Colt lived during an age of promise and progress, but also of slavery, corruption, and unbridled greed, and he not only helped to create this America, he completely embodied it.
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Sam Colt, but not the Revolver
- By Eggleston on 08-01-20
By: Jim Rasenberger
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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
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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."
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Powerful condemnation of Manifest Destiny
- By Buretto on 09-26-19
By: Scott W. Berg
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David Crockett: The Lion of the West
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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His name was David Crockett. He never signed his name any other way, but popular culture transformed his memory into "Davy Crockett", and Hollywood gave him a raccoon hat he hardly ever wore. Best-selling historian Michael Wallis casts a fresh look at the frontiersman, storyteller, and politician behind these legendary stories.
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Author is very bias.
- By Michael on 05-31-12
By: Michael Wallis
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You Never Forget Your First
- A Biography of George Washington
- By: Alexis Coe
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Alexis Coe
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down - even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. With irresistible style and warm humor, You Never Forget Your First combines rigorous research and lively storytelling that will have listeners - including those who thought presidential biographies were just for dads - inhaling every word.
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You Never Forget Your Worst
- By Wm Cole on 02-27-20
By: Alexis Coe
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Lincoln on the Verge
- Thirteen Days to Washington
- By: Ted Widmer
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Ted Widmer
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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As a divided nation plunges into the deepest crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Washington and his inauguration - an inauguration Southerners have vowed to prevent by any means necessary. Drawing on new research, this account reveals the president-elect as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, foiling an assassination attempt, and forging an unbreakable bond with the American people.
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A perfect listen for our divided times.
- By Jonathan W White on 12-06-20
By: Ted Widmer
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Jacksonland
- President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab
- By: Steve Inskeep
- Narrated by: Steve Inskeep
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Jacksonland is the thrilling narrative history of two men - President Andrew Jackson and Cherokee chief John Ross - who led their respective nations at a crossroads of American history. Five decades after the Revolutionary War, the United States approached a constitutional crisis. At its center stood two former military comrades locked in a struggle that tested the boundaries of our fledgling democracy. Jacksonland is their story.
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Fantastic and Thoughtful
- By Elizabeth Westbrook on 05-05-16
By: Steve Inskeep
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Master Slave Husband Wife
- An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
- By: Ilyon Woo
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards, Leon Nixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.
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Necessary story well told!
- By Marc W Rhoades on 01-19-23
By: Ilyon Woo
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Bury the Chains
- Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In early 1787, 12 men - a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slavery - came together in a London printing shop and began a remarkable grass-roots movement, battling for the rights of people on another continent. Masterfully stoking public opinion, the movement's leaders pioneered a variety of techniques that have been adopted by citizens' movements ever since, from consumer boycotts to wall posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements.
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Great Eye-Opener
- By Carl Thompson on 01-06-19
By: Adam Hochschild
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1861: The Civil War Awakening
- By: Adam Goodheart
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of our defining national drama, 1861 presents a gripping and original account of how the Civil War began. 1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields. Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded, inspiring a new generation to reject their parents' faith in compromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in the name of an ideal.
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Not what I expected
- By Sol on 07-01-11
By: Adam Goodheart
What listeners say about Imperfect Union
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Hugh C.
- 01-18-20
I'm just here for the stuff on the Know Nothings
This book takes a great examination of the political forces which have long sought to deteriorate, disrupt and dissolve our United States of America. No sooner had the ink dried on the Constitution that certain Americans began having "Dis-union Dinners" to plot and support a path to ensuring slavery, xenophobia, and white Anglo political control for their states.
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7 people found this helpful
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- jeremy
- 03-29-22
Great story, adequate performance
The content and story are exciting, however with each sentence, Inskeep resembles a bored librarian evacuating his last labored asthmatic breath.
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-23-21
This biography of John Fremont makes you want to strangle him.
Innskeep paints a picture of Fremont that is convincing by its complexity. Fremont’s wife certainly seemed to be “the better man of the two”. The book is a valuable tool of triangulation as we peer back into history.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Hervé DuThé
- 04-01-20
Plus ça change
This is a well told story, made clear but never oversimplified by Steve Inskeep. What is remarkable is the extent to which politics has remained the same over the years. When John Fremont ran for president in 1856 he was first accused of being a Catholic (he wasn't), then a Mohammedan (he wasn't), then not a legal US citizen (he was). Freemont was born out of wedlock to a Frenchman (gasp!), a fact which emerged during the dirty tricks campaign conducted by Democrats against Freemont. So basically all the gutter accusations and innuendo were already baked in. What we are now seeing is merely a continuation of the process.
I enjoyed listening to this. There are times when Inskeep's default tone of incredulity wears thin, but mostly he is the right man for the job of reading this. This is scholarship done right, made understandable by careful research and editing.
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- Edward P. Cerne
- 06-25-20
The issues confronting Freemont presaged today's.
If you think the issues of racism and xenophobia America is confronting today, you are wrong. Read this riveting tale of issues confronting America as it was more than 150 years ago.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Wendy Wood
- 11-06-20
History repeats it’s self
I listened to this book during the final days of the 2020 election. As I finished the country still does not know who is to be our next president. I am always struck by historical facts that so closely mirror our lives today. Very interesting. I enjoyed the compelling story of Fremont but must say that in my opinion he lacked many attributes that could have made him great. His father in law had good instincts I believe in not endorsing him for politics. My take away is that he was a weak person supported by a strong and loyal wife. Interesting that just like today a person can become famous without any substance to support the celebrity.
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- Paul K
- 04-24-22
Excellent Book
Steve Inskeep -a well know NPR commentator -has both written and narrated his wonderful account about John and Jessie Fremont. The book is both a good listen and a good read. I highly recommend it to anybody with an interest in either adventure or history.
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- Scott
- 02-09-21
Unique story, told well.
An entire cast of compelling characters is revealed and the adventures they are involved with are truly epoch. Especially those of the both lead characters.
Steve does a masterful job of performing the very well written book!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kevin Keller
- 02-08-20
A delightful yarn of a complicated story
This was fantastic. Steve Inskeep’s narration keeps the listener engaged through a story that develops slowly and ends with a clearer picture of whom the hero in the story is.
Thoroughly delightful in its entirety.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michelle
- 02-02-23
Whispersync
Does Whispersync for Voice-ready work with this book?
I have the audible book. I want to make sure before I get the kindle book.
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