-
The American Future
- A History
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
Publisher's summary
It's not business as usual. Cultural hostilities more irreconcilable than any since the Civil War have divided America in two. In November 2008, the American people elected a new president, feeling more anxious about the future of the nation than at any time since Watergate. Our omnipotent military, the cornucopia of material comforts available, the security of our borders, and the global economy can no longer be taken for granted.
In The American Future, historian Simon Schama takes a long look at the multiple crises besetting the United States and asks how these problems look in the mirror of time. In four crucial debates - on wars, religion, race and immigration, and the relationship between natural resources and prosperity - Schama looks back to see more clearly into the future.
Full of lost insights, The American Future showcases Schama's acclaimed gift for storytelling, ensuring these voices will be heard again.
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A motif that works well
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Editorial reviews
Renowned historian Simon Schama uses the election of 2008 as a springboard to discuss America's future as shaped by stories of its past. He examines the ideals and the problems of the country's formative years up through 2008 and how the nation became ideologically divided to the point where that year represented a dramatic crossroads and history was made. Accomplished British voice actor Rupert Degas brings the history to life, his clear diction and powerful voice invoking the magnitude of the election of Barack Obama. For an interesting perspective that puts some of the elements of the American story into a narrative that includes the good and the bad but looks forward with hope toward the future.
Critic reviews
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Story
At the crux of America's history stand two astounding events: the immediate and complete destruction of the most powerful system of slavery in the modern world, followed by a political reconstruction in which new constitutions established the fundamental rights of citizens for formerly enslaved people. Few people living in 1860 would have dared imagine either event, and yet, in retrospect, both seem to have been inevitable. In a beautifully crafted narrative, Edward L. Ayers restores the drama of the unexpected to the history of the Civil War.
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great history
- By Linda Sisco on 11-30-17
By: Edward L. Ayers
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The New Nation
- A History of US, Book 4
- By: Joy Hakim
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with George Washington's inauguration and continuing into the nineteenth century, The New Nation tells the story of the remarkable challenges that the new country faced. Thomas Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana Territory (bought from France at a mere four cents an acre!), Lewis and Clark's daring expedition through the wilderness, the War of 1812, and more.
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Wonderful US History; book 4 particularly good
- By EmilyK on 08-10-14
By: Joy Hakim
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The Immortal Irishman
- The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
- By: Timothy Egan
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man. A dashing young orator during the Great Famine of the 1840s, in which a million of his Irish countrymen died, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule, for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony. He escaped and six months later was heralded in the streets of New York - the revolutionary hero, back from the dead, at the dawn of the great Irish immigration to America.
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Yes, but....
- By Dale and Carol on 04-01-16
By: Timothy Egan
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South (and Why it Will Rise Again)
- By: Clint Johnson
- Narrated by: Dianna Dorman
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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With its emphasis on traditional values, family, faith, military service, good manners, small government, and independent-minded people, the South should certainly rise again. Far from being the backwater of prejudice and ignorance that the liberal media would have you believe, the South has always been the center of American culture.
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Tubby Bearded Guy reference earned an extra star
- By Ed on 09-30-17
By: Clint Johnson
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Madness Rules the Hour
- Charleston, 1860, and the Mania for War
- By: Paul Starobin
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1860, Charleston, South Carolina, embodied the combustible spirit of the South. No city was more fervently attached to slavery, and no city was seen by the North as a greater threat to the bonds barely holding together the Union. And so, with Abraham Lincoln's election looming, Charleston's leaders faced a climactic decision: They could submit to abolition - or they could drive South Carolina out of the Union and hope that the rest of the South would follow.
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Madness Rules The Hour ...once more
- By Anonymous User on 05-06-21
By: Paul Starobin
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A Slave No More
- Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation
- By: David W. Blight
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Slave narratives are extremely rare. Of the 100 or so of these testimonies that survive, a mere handful are first-person accounts by slaves who ran away and freed themselves. Now two newly uncovered narratives, and the biographies of the men who wrote them, join that exclusive group.
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A Piece Of History
- By John on 07-10-09
By: David W. Blight
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To America
- Personal Reflections of an Historian
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Reflecting on his career, Stephen E. Ambrose - one of the country's most influential historians - confronts America's failures and struggles as he explores both its moral and pragmatic triumphs. To America celebrates the men and women who invented the United States and made it exceptional. Taking a few swings at today's political correctness, Ambrose grapples with the country's historic sins of racism, its neglect and ill treatment of Native Americans, and its tragic errors.
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Wow!
- By Coach Nathan L. on 02-10-16
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A Different Mirror
- A History of Multicultural America
- By: Ronald Takaki
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 18 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Upon its first publication, A Different Mirror was hailed by critics and academics everywhere as a dramatic new retelling of our nation's past. Beginning with the colonization of the New World, it recounts the history of America in the voice of the non-Anglo peoples of the United States---Native Americans, African Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and others---groups who helped create this country's rich mosaic culture.
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All mirrors distort
- By Michael on 04-02-17
By: Ronald Takaki
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Lincoln's Boys
- John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincoln's Image
- By: Joshua Zeitz
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Lincoln's official secretaries, John Hay and John Nicolay, enjoyed more access, witnessed more history, and knew Lincoln better than anyone outside of the president's immediate family. Hay and Nicolay were the gatekeepers of the Lincoln legacy. They read poetry and attendeded the theater with the president, commiserated with him over Union army setbacks, and plotted electoral strategy.
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Best Publicists since Mathew, Mark, Luke, & John
- By James on 04-06-15
By: Joshua Zeitz
What listeners say about The American Future
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joshua Kim
- 06-10-12
Compelling
You know those questions that go "if you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?". Well...I think I'd choose Simon Schama. Or maybe a roadtrip. Schama is one of those historians who both have something to say about how we live now and the depth of knowledge to ground his thinking by weaving stories from our past. One part sociology, one part history, all very smart and engaging. The American Future should be read in conjunction with watching the BBC documentary of the same title, narrated by Schama.
Reading the book while watching the documentary does wonderful things for the brain in terms of reinforcing the concepts and stories with images. It helps the stories stick.
Schama's basic premise is that the election of Obama represents the culmination of an American journey towards our nation struggling to live up to our founding myths. Only American could produce the horror of the civil war, segregation and institutional racism while holding the promise of electing an African American to the highest office. This American Future beautifully chronicles our redemption, placing the biggest story of our times firmly within our American narrative.
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8 people found this helpful
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- enya keshet
- 02-08-18
Fascinating!
Schama's selection of themes out of the huge scope of America's history is brilliant, making it a book about the history of the American spirit. A most wonderful book!
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Overall
- D. Littman
- 05-30-09
Simon Schama is always entertaining
Simon Schama has a knack for writing beautifully and finding interesting and often obscure stories to highlight his historical theses. The fact that some of his books, including this one, are companions to BBC or PBS shows, helps his texts move along at a fast clip (a good feature for an audiobook), makes sure that the material contains good word-pictures to light up your mind, and makes sure the words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters are well edited. The downside of all this is that sometimes the topics are left somewhat under-developed, somewhat superficial. But as long as you know that is the style, going in, you can suspend your critical eye and just go along for a very entertaining ride. I highly recommend the book. I have only dinged it one star for occasionally irritating superficiality, and for the narrator's occasional lapses into fake accents to speak out quotes from the characters. Minor blemishes in a good audiobook.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Augustus Caesar
- 09-27-09
Loved it and listened to it non-stop.
As someone who has lived here for 11 years, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Like Schama, I am a foreigner reflecting upon why things are what they are and how did we get here.
The breadth of history covered (often out of sync) gave me some insight into why there is no such as a typical American. The book is a great primer into non-conventional US history what you don't see on history channel. For example, I'd not heard of Meigs and the contribution he made to the Civil war nor did I know about other members of his family line before and after.
The stories on TDR, Westpoint, why Texas joined the Union, the uprooting of Cheroke by President Jackson, the German immigrants / Chinese immigrants and their corresponding race riots were particularly entertaining though not always is a happy way.
As for reviewers who dismissed this book with one star. I don't agree with them one bit. I can appreciate History is written by the victor and one man's freedom fighter is another one's terrorist but but I didn't hear Schama writings as being particularly biased.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Andy
- 06-03-09
Unsuccessful attempt at breaking ground
Schama appears to attempt a sort of modern "de Tocqueville" account of America, and falls short by providing inconclusive, bug-on-the-wall anecdotes of the country's current condition. This may very well be interesting for a foreigner who is interested in learning about the minutaie of ever-elusive American culture, but otherwise it leaves the reader with little but Schama's futile attempt at turning over a new leaf.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Matt Finholm
- 12-07-12
Blatant Disgusting Political Bias
I endured it for an hour hoping it would move on to something useful. This book isn't just biased, is openly hostile and condescending of conservatives and worshipful of politicians on the left. If Rush Limbaugh were a liberal, this is the book he would write.
You won't gain anything from reading this at all.
Most Democratic politicians would work hard to distance themselves from this nut. Paul Krugman however would probably love the book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- gustavSpeed
- 08-02-09
Opinion masquerading as opinion
I tried to listen to this but after the first two chapters contained so many opinions masquerading as fact - unsubstantiated fact - I almost gave up and boy I wish I had. It got no better. I think this was written by Obama's campaign or PR department - or else David Axelrod (nickname "Karl Rove"). Look elsewhere unless you drank the kool-aid.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Chris
- 07-06-09
Unabashedly liberal attempt at objectivity
The author revels in the current popularity of liberal ideas as if it is some rebirth of America. While trying to craft a foreigner's critique of American Democracy (the author is British) like some second rate Alexis de Tocqueville, Schama can't help but let escape his glee on each and every page at the prospect of a final victory of liberal ideals. This book hardly ranks as a history and should instead be shelved in the politics section along with the James Carville and Ann Coulter titles. This way fans of history won't waste their money after reading a misleading description of this book.
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17 people found this helpful