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Without Precedent
- Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
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Publisher's summary
From the author of Unlikely Allies and Indivisible comes the remarkable story of John Marshall who, as chief justice, statesman, and diplomat, played a pivotal role in the founding of the United States.
No member of America's Founding Generation had a greater impact on the Constitution and the Supreme Court than John Marshall, and no one did more to preserve the delicate unity of the fledgling United States. From the nation's founding in 1776 and for the next forty years, Marshall was at the center of every political battle. As Chief Justice of the United States—the longest-serving in history—he established the independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the federal Constitution and courts. As the leading Federalist in Virginia, he rivaled his cousin Thomas Jefferson in influence. As a diplomat and secretary of state, he defended American sovereignty against France and Britain, counseled President John Adams, and supervised the construction of the city of Washington. D.C.
This is the astonishing true story of how a rough-cut frontiersman—born in Virginia in 1755 and with little formal education—invented himself as one of the nation's preeminent lawyers and politicians who then reinvented the Constitution to forge a stronger nation. Without Precedent is the engrossing account of the life and times of this exceptional man, who with cunning, imagination, and grace shaped America's future as he held together the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the country itself.
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“[Paul] has crafted a scholarly but highly readable and often entertaining chronicle that embeds Marshall among the leading lights of the nation’s founding generation, humanizing him along the way... [Marshall] is justly celebrated as the most far-sighted justice ever to lead the Supreme Court. His lasting achievements are ably served by Mr. Paul’s deeply felt and penetrating biography.”—Wall Street Journal
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By: David O Stewart
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Lion of Liberty
- Patrick Henry and the Call to a New Nation
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Known to generations of Americans for his stirring call to arms, “Give me liberty or give me death,” Patrick Henry is all but forgotten today as the first of the Founding Fathers to call for independence, the first to call for revolution, and the first to call for a bill of rights. If Washington was the “Sword of the Revolution” and Jefferson, “the Pen,” Patrick Henry more than earned his epithet as “the Trumpet” of the Revolution for rousing Americans to arms in the Revolutionary War.
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A Decent Book on an Amazing Character
- By David I. Williams on 05-13-13
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Andrew Jackson, Southerner
- By: Mark R. Cheathem
- Narrated by: Trevor Thompson
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Many Americans view Andrew Jackson as a frontiersman who fought duels, killed Indians, and stole another man's wife. Historians have traditionally presented Jackson as a man who struggled to overcome the obstacles of his backwoods upbringing and helped create a more democratic United States. In his compelling new biography of Jackson, Mark R. Cheathem argues for a reassessment of these long-held views, suggesting that in fact "Old Hickory" lived as an elite southern gentleman.
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Lesser Work than HW Brands or John Meacham's books
- By Jose on 05-10-17
By: Mark R. Cheathem
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The Great Divide
- The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson That Defined a Nation
- By: Thomas Fleming
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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History tends to cast the early years of America in a glow of camaraderie when there were, in fact, many conflicts between the Founding Fathers - none more important than the one between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Their disagreement centered on the highest, most original public office created by the Constitutional Convention: the presidency. It also involved the nation's foreign policy, the role of merchants and farmers in a republic, and the durability of the union.
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Very Readable
- By Jean on 05-02-15
By: Thomas Fleming
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The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician, he cofounded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.
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Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
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Liberty's First Crisis
- Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech
- By: Charles Slack
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
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When the United States government passed the Bill of Rights in 1791, its uncompromising protection of speech and of the press were unlike anything the world had ever seen before. But by 1798, the once-dazzling young republic of the United States was on the verge of collapse. Suddenly, the First Amendment, which protected harsh commentary of the weak government, no longer seemed as practical. So that July, President John Adams and the Federalists in control of Congress passed an extreme piece of legislation that made criticism of the government and its leaders a crime.
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Marvelous Book....
- By Douglas on 01-07-17
By: Charles Slack
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Alexander Hamilton
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 35 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.
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An Outstanding & Riveting Book!
- By Kevin on 03-04-05
By: Ron Chernow
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Salmon P. Chase
- Lincoln's Vital Rival
- By: Walter Stahr
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 27 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Salmon P. Chase is best remembered as a rival of Lincoln’s for the Republican nomination in 1860—but there would not have been a national Republican Party, and Lincoln could not have won the presidency, were it not for the groundwork Chase laid over the previous two decades. Starting in the early 1840s, long before Lincoln was speaking out against slavery, Chase was forming and leading antislavery parties. He represented fugitive slaves so often in his law practice that he was known as the attorney general for runaway negroes.
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Very inspiring and insightful
- By Mike Haverty on 06-20-23
By: Walter Stahr
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Written Out of History
- The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government
- By: Mike Lee
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In the earliest days of our nation, a handful of unsung heroes - including women, slaves, and an Iroquois chief - made crucial contributions to our republic. They pioneered the ideas that led to the Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, and the abolition of slavery. Yet their faces haven't been printed on our currency or carved into any cliffs. Instead they were marginalized, silenced, or forgotten - sometimes by an accident of history, sometimes by design.
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Interesting American History- not the usual stuff
- By Marie on 06-19-17
By: Mike Lee
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James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
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OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12
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Informative and well written.
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Excellent judicial, intellectual history
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Upon his election to the presidency, Abraham Lincoln inherited a country in crisis. Even before the Confederacy’s secession, the United States Treasury had run out of money. The government had no authority to raise taxes, no federal bank, no currency. But amid unprecedented troubles Lincoln saw opportunity—the chance to legislate in the centralizing spirit of the “more perfect union” that had first drawn him to politics.
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Perspective that matters - financing the Civil War
- By Edgewater on 07-04-22
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James Madison
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How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.
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Good listen
- By James Shannon on 06-27-22
By: Jay Cost
What listeners say about Without Precedent
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- jason leclerc
- 07-19-21
great book on a great chief Justice
well written and read. great I cite on a great man. the author had a little bias against Jefferson in book but Gave great Insight into Marshall's life
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- Jeff Lacy
- 10-01-20
Clearly written and narrated
A book that is clearly written and narrated. Very illuminating and engaging. Marshall, the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court in the early years of the nation wrote some of the most important foundational opinions of the court that gave meaning and affect to the Constitution, issues addressing judicial review, commerce, Indian rights, contracts, international law. Fred Sanders does a fine job giving a clear reading of the book.
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- David Fry
- 09-17-21
Time well spent
Loved it. I am working my way through presidential and chief justice biographies in order. This is one of the best among the 19 I've read so far. My respect for Marshall increased a lot and my dislike for Jefferson increased.
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- Diana Black Kennedy
- 03-01-18
Scholarly and Accessible
When I think about Founding Fathers, I usually only think about the Presidents plus Benjamin Franklin. It turns out John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from John Adams through Andrew Jackson (34 years--the record for Chief Justices) is as important as any of them in the forming of our nation.
This is the second book I have listened to about Marshall, and it far outshines the other (What Kind of Nation by James F Simon). First of all, it covers much more of Marshall's biography, providing more personal context for his political life. Second, Paul couches his statement and especially his judgments in historical fact and context, sharing the common narratives, both pro and con, about each topic he discusses. Third, Paul goes as far back as necessary to fully contextualize each important case or event he discusses so that the listener can understand the how we got here, what it means and where it leads us of each of the momentous decisions Marshall wrote. So I learned as much, well, more actually, about law as I did about Marshall himself.
Definitely worth listening to. Fascinating history that has implications up through today.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Jared L.
- 05-20-19
Excellent Perspective and SCOTUS Case Review
John Marshall is best known for his tremendous work in creating an unmatched body of precedent case law. His background and experience as an American Revolution veteran, diplomat, and cabinet member all provide an excellent view of what made the most extraordinary chief justice tick. A master of building consensus and navigating the dangerous political waters that the Supreme Court was forced to sail, Marshall set the course of American Jurisprudence that is still being referred to and relied on today.
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- William Moritz
- 08-24-22
John Marshall Chief Justice Biography
He must have been an amazing man. this story is well written andvperformed. His landmark cases still are used as precedent over 200 years later.
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- Darin M Groteboer
- 07-17-18
Great book, good narration
I'd give this book 5-stars but the anti-Jefferson sentiment was heavy and by the end of the book it became quite annoying. That aside, the book is wonderful.
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3 people found this helpful
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- John
- 04-24-19
excellent combination of law and history
excellent combination of law and history .
..Marshall was a giant in both areas. Greatbook.
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- Liz C
- 04-30-23
outstanding book!
Great book for all readers who want to learn more about early American History and the legal challenges we faced as a young country.
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- Robert J. Pansegrau
- 03-28-24
Eyeopening History - 5 Stars PLUS
I read a lot of history and this book provided so many new contexts and nuances to a history I thought I already knew.
Most highly recommended. Marshall is second to only Washington in importance to the launching of our Great Experiment.
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