What Is America
A Short History of the New World Order
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Narrated by:
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Stefan Rudnicki
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By:
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Ronald Wright
About this listen
Ranging with dazzling expertise through anthropology, history, and literature, Wright reconfigures our self-perception, arguing that the "essence" of America can be traced to the foundations of our history - literally to the collision of worlds that began in 1492, as one civilization subsumed another--and exploring how these currents continue to shape our world.
©2008 Ronald Wright (P)2009 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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A country both admired and feared, Germany has been the epicenter of world events time and again: the Reformation, both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It did not emerge as a modern nation until 1871 - yet today, Germany is the world's fourth-largest economy and a standard-bearer of liberal democracy.
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The narrator can’t pronounce German
- By Vauras Ilmari on 03-22-19
By: James Hawes
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The British Empire
- By: Stephen W. Sears
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 30 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the story of how the English acquired their vast domain; how they ruled, maintained, and exploited it; and how, within decades, they presided over its dissolution. Here are Britain's triumphs and also her stinging defeats, her heroes and her scoundrels. It is a full and fascinating chronicle of the growth of the British Empire and its people and of the impact that empire had on the rest of the world.
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Great presentation of a broad historical narrative
- By MiamiMe on 03-27-18
By: Stephen W. Sears
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Empire's Crossroads
- A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day
- By: Carrie Gibson
- Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since Christopher Columbus stepped off the Santa Maria onto what is today San Salvador, in the Bahamas, and announced that he had arrived in the Orient, the Caribbean has been a stage for projected fantasies and competition between world powers. In Empire’s Crossroads, British American historian Carrie Gibson traces the story of this coveted area from the northern rim of South America up to Cuba, and from discovery through colonialism to today, offering a vivid, panoramic view of this complex region and its rich, important history.
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Careless production mars storytelling
- By Brenda Thomas on 03-31-16
By: Carrie Gibson
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A People’s History of the World
- From the Stone Age to the New Millennium
- By: Chris Harman
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 29 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Chris Harman describes the shape and course of human history as a narrative of ordinary people forming and re-forming complex societies in pursuit of common human goals. Interacting with the forces of technological change as well as the impact of powerful individuals and revolutionary ideas, these societies have engendered events familiar to every schoolchild-from the empires of antiquity to the world wars of the 20th century. In a bravura conclusion, Chris Harman exposes the reductive complacency of contemporary capitalism.
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Oh God avoid
- By Robert on 03-28-18
By: Chris Harman
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Born Fighting
- How the Scots-Irish Shaped America
- By: Jim Webb
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only five percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army).
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Every politician should read this
- By Bette Grace on 02-08-19
By: Jim Webb
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Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History
- By: Sandra Benjamin
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Emigration of people from Sicily often overshadows the importance of the people who immigrated to the island through the centuries. These have included several who became Sicily's rulers, along with Jews, Ligurians, and Albanians. Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Goths, Byzantines, Muslims, Normans, Hohenstaufens, Spaniards, Bourbons, the Savoy Kingdom of Italy and the modern era have all held sway, and left lasting influences on the island's culture and architecture.
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Surprisingly compelling!
- By P. Strayer on 08-25-12
By: Sandra Benjamin
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The English and Their History
- By: Robert Tombs
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 43 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Tombs' momentous The English and Their History is both a startlingly fresh and a uniquely inclusive account of the people who have a claim to be the oldest nation in the world. The English first came into existence as an idea, before they had a common ruler and before the country they lived in even had a name. They have lasted as a recognizable entity ever since, and their defining national institutions can be traced back to the earliest years of their history.
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Should be called, The English and their politics
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 08-24-16
By: Robert Tombs
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The End of the Myth
- From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America
- By: Greg Grandin
- Narrated by: Eric Pollins
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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From a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump’s border wall.
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The chickens are coming home to roost
- By MJ on 04-21-19
By: Greg Grandin
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El Norte
- The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America
- By: Carrie Gibson
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots - ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century, and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation as it exists today.
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Chicken Noodle History
- By Jose on 10-30-19
By: Carrie Gibson
What listeners say about What Is America
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- rm3154
- 04-19-12
insightful overview
What other book might you compare What Is America to and why?
Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is the obvious comparison. However the aims and the focus of the two books are quite different.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Yes. The impact comes from looking at the "big picture" and then contrasting it to the standard American mythology. Go watch Milton Friedman's "What is America?" lecture on Youtube after finishing Wright's book to gain some insight into the importance of the titular question. True American history is subversive! America, as presently constituted, needs selective amnesia in order to function. Its a rather heavy feeling once that realization sinks in.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Rodolphe
- 06-08-21
fascinating early american history
great book. Fills up the 200 years hole in usa history that we never hear about.
caution; last part of the book about near past and present is clearly wrong. he talks about global warming and he compares Trump to Bush and Jackson...lol. Jackson genocided many natives tribes and Bush started 2 wars that lasted 20 years..oups they are still going on. Trump tweeted bad words.
i recommend this book, just skip the part about recent history, the last 30 min of the book. bye
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2 people found this helpful
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- Louis
- 08-24-12
I'm a newly converted Libertarian.
Where does What Is America rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Ranks pretty low. The one reason I know our Government is dishonest is it's BS version of history that smears Capitalism. If there is one thing that's good in this world, it is Free-market Capitalism. Both the Dem and GOP party are guilty of not defending it.
What other book might you compare What Is America to and why?
This book can be bad and still useful. It can let you know what the Gov wants to promote.I bought this book and continued shopping and this Authors name appears in a review for : "The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America" From The Washington PostReviewed by Michael KazinWhat do Richard Wright, Gloria Steinem, Henry Kissinger, George Meany, Nina Simone and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. have in common?Answer: Directly or indirectly, they all took money from the Central Intelligence Agency during the early years of the Cold War.
Which scene was your favorite?
Thank you, Mises Institute for existing! The truth can set you free! Now I can listen to anything without fear. I can pick out useful info from a pile of garbage.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I had a bow movement when he preached about the horrors of Global Warming!
Any additional comments?
This Author said one thing that's very true. He said it in Reference to Alexis De Tocqueville and he basically said he is not a historian, which means he can be trusted to tell the truth about history. Very true, Mr Wright! That explains the rest of your book! ( I found the truth about history from Austrian economists)
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3 people found this helpful