
All the Great Prizes
The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
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By:
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John Taliaferro
About this listen
If Henry James or Edith Wharton had written a novel describing the accomplished and glamorous life and times of John Hay, it would have been thought implausible - a novelist’s fancy. Nevertheless, John Taliaferro’s brilliant biography captures the extraordinary life of Hay, one of the most amazing figures in American history, and restores him to his rightful place.
John Hay was both witness and author of many of the most significant chapters in American history - from the birth of the Republican Party, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War, to the prelude to the First World War. Much of what we know about Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt comes to us through the observations Hay made while private secretary to one and secretary of state to the other. With All the Great Prizes, the first authoritative biography of Hay in 80 years, Taliaferro has turned the lens around, rendering a rich and fascinating portrait of this brilliant American and his many worlds.
Hay’s friends are a who’s who of the era: Mark Twain, Horace Greeley, Henry Adams, Henry James, and virtually every president, sovereign, author, artist, power broker, and robber baron of the Gilded Age. As an ambassador and statesman, he guided many of the country’s major diplomatic initiatives at the turn of the 20th century: the Open Door with China, the creation of the Panama Canal, the establishment of America as a world leader.
Hay’s peers esteemed him as “a perfectly cut stone” and “the greatest prime minister this republic has ever known”. But for all his poise and polish, he had his secrets. His marriage to one of the wealthiest women in the country did not prevent him from pursuing the Madame X of Washington society, whose other secret suitor was Hay’s best friend, Henry Adams.
With this superb work, Taliaferro brings us an epic tale.
©2013 John Taliaferro (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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If you could sum up All the Great Prizes in three words, what would they be?
This is a good description of a pretty remarkable man. But it is the person inter-twinings that make it fascinating.Any additional comments?
However, the third download is damaged. I will never finish it because every time I pause my iPhone5 (iOS7.0.2), doing something else for any length of time and go back to listen, I watch that little marker always (and I do mean always) slowly slide back to about 4 minutes from the beginning. Very disappointing. If iPhones supported Whisper Sync, I would have said this Whisper had Sunk. Shame because the 3rd volume was the most interesting.Interesting view of the way things were (done)
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A must read book for history buffs
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Great bio of a great statesman
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Excellent biography
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But, more than the politics, I found the narrative describing the time that Hay lived in fascinating. He came of age during a period of great upheaval and chaos, yet he spent most of his adulthood among the upper class, moving in circles that remained constant to tradition and resistive to change. He followed the norm for his class and married for money and position yet he and his wife seemed to genuinely care for each other. He very much cared for his position in society, yet his closest friends were either snidely critical of society or secretly flaunted its tenets. And he lived through several scandals that might have brought others down. The writer does a good job of moving between the distinctions in his life, allowing us to see Hay change and grow gradually through the years.
Hay knew essentially everyone worth knowing during the last half of the 19th century and seemed to maintain good relationships with them all. The author spends quite a bit of time addressing his relationship with Henry Adams, and after this book, I am now willing to try and retackle The Education of Henry Adams.
His experiences and adventures through the Civil War were told in an engaging and easily readable fashion. The details of the crisis he dealt with during his years as Secretary of State were a little harder to get through. The writing seemed to slow down and become heavier, as Hay aged.
My only complaint had to do with the discussion of her personal life. I understand that this is a serious biography and the focus is not on his personal life. And it is difficult to prove the accuracy of personal stories relayed 100 years later. But the author skimmed over his adult relationships so fleetingly, that what was said didn't jive with the public persona the author spent most of his time portraying. Hay was hyper critical, and made derogatory statements about his oldest son, yet was devastated by his death. The loss of a child would be devastating regardless of your relationship with that child, but he has Hay doing such a 360 degree change in his feelings and emotions, it doesn't make sense.
The author makes it sound as though Hay was fascinated by the woman he eventually married. He at least a crush on her. But there is no explanation why a 30+ year old man who had avoided commitment, fell at least temporarily in love with a woman that no one describes as attractive. I have to assume it was money. Then once they are married, even though they have four children, she is seldom mentioned.
I also found it odd that a 60+ year old man who essentially serves as the Premier of the United States, conducting multiple complex treaties at one time, still maintained a decades-long school-boy crush on a woman considerably younger than him, a woman that his best friend also loved, who, based on what I read, had no interest in him.
A little more backfill on his personal life might have made these discrepancies in his behavior and actions a little more understandable.
However, my overall impression of the book was very favorable. The narrator did a good job. I highly recommend.
Almost a Five Star
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All the Great Prises
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This book actually gave me an understanding of some actions the American government took in the early nineteen hundreds that are still have reverberations all these decades later. It begins slowly like most biographies, but give it time, it is well worth it.
History on a Very Personal Level
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A Wonderful Biography
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Reading in many voices and accents was helpful.
History through biographies of important but modestly known people
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I have one comment about this book: Read it. John Hay was a fascinating character - not as well known as some "first string" historical characters, but he should be. With a career spanning Brown University to President Lincoln to President Roosevelt, Mr. Hay is nothing short of impressive. A gentleman of great refinement and style, a scholar of great intellect and wit, and a socialite with vast connections and not a few catty comments, Mr. Hay is a person you should meet.An under-publicized influential American
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