John Adams: Revealing Relationships of a Founding Father
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
John Adams: Revealing Relationships of a Founding Father
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jim D. Johnston
-
By:
-
Jack Johnson
About this listen
John Adams didn't cut a dashing figure like George Washington. He was not the darling of France, as was Benjamin Franklin. He was not a wealthy and statuesque plantation owner like Thomas Jefferson. Adams was highly opinionated, blunt, and often tactless in his social interactions. To top it off, he was short, fat, and awkward. This does not sound like the description of a Founding Father we should want to know any better - but that's where you're wrong.
Adams, perhaps more than any other Founding Father, was a driving force that pushed America to declare its independence from Britain. It was Adams who supplied the raw ideas of what a new government should look like. He always represented the larger public good in all of his public service, even when buffeted by the forces of antagonistic party politics during his tenure as the second president of the United States. The details and legacy of his life's work are best viewed through the lens of his relationships with people, places, and ideas.
In John Adams: Revealing Relationships of a Founding Father, you will learn how Adams was frustrated with France, jostled by Jefferson, aided by Abigail and flummoxed by Franklin as well as how he masterminded his son's success in politics with Monroe and was often perplexed by politics.
©2016 Jack Johnson (P)2016 Jack JohnsonListeners also enjoyed...
-
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,706
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,894
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,853
In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day
- By Darwin8u on 11-14-12
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
-
Franklin Roosevelt
- A Captivating Guide to the Life of FDR
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 22
As the 32nd president of the United States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a common household name in both his home country and the world. Known as the man who led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, Roosevelt was a leader and a statesman, a scholar, and a politician. Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only president to have served for three consecutive terms and voted in for a fourth, a fact that allows him to stand out among the long list of American presidents.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The top book, I love Franklin.
- By Elizabeth on 11-04-17
-
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,298
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,100
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,095
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
-
Founding Brothers
- The Revolutionary Generation (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 904
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 802
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 800
An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic - John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great!
- By Gotta Tellya on 08-10-16
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Historical Biographies of Presidents - Books 1 and 2
- Abraham Lincoln: Freedom Fighter and Teddy Roosevelt: The Soul of Progressive America (Historical Biographies of Presidents, Book 4)
- By: J. R. MacGregor
- Narrated by: Kevin Kollins
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
No two men are more responsible for the shaping of American than these two powerhouses. From "trust-busting" and the "square deal" to abolishing slavery so that all Americans can enjoy the freedoms of this country, these two embody exactly what it means to be “American”. In this two-book set, you'll learn not only what made them legends, but also what shaped their early years and made them who they are - from their childhood struggles and what kept them moving forward to their early years in politics and the personal battles they fought. It’s all here.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing!
- By Noah K Wright on 01-01-22
By: J. R. MacGregor
-
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,706
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,894
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,853
In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day
- By Darwin8u on 11-14-12
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
-
Franklin Roosevelt
- A Captivating Guide to the Life of FDR
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 22
As the 32nd president of the United States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a common household name in both his home country and the world. Known as the man who led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, Roosevelt was a leader and a statesman, a scholar, and a politician. Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only president to have served for three consecutive terms and voted in for a fourth, a fact that allows him to stand out among the long list of American presidents.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The top book, I love Franklin.
- By Elizabeth on 11-04-17
-
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,298
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,100
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,095
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
-
Founding Brothers
- The Revolutionary Generation (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 904
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 802
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 800
An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic - John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great!
- By Gotta Tellya on 08-10-16
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Historical Biographies of Presidents - Books 1 and 2
- Abraham Lincoln: Freedom Fighter and Teddy Roosevelt: The Soul of Progressive America (Historical Biographies of Presidents, Book 4)
- By: J. R. MacGregor
- Narrated by: Kevin Kollins
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
No two men are more responsible for the shaping of American than these two powerhouses. From "trust-busting" and the "square deal" to abolishing slavery so that all Americans can enjoy the freedoms of this country, these two embody exactly what it means to be “American”. In this two-book set, you'll learn not only what made them legends, but also what shaped their early years and made them who they are - from their childhood struggles and what kept them moving forward to their early years in politics and the personal battles they fought. It’s all here.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing!
- By Noah K Wright on 01-01-22
By: J. R. MacGregor
-
Thomas Jefferson
- By: R. B. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". It is in this simple epitaph that R. B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder - not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again". In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American - the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
In-Depth and Interesting
- By Sarahi Nieves on 04-24-19
By: R. B. Bernstein
-
The Quartet
- Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 751
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 683
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 683
From Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
bias is not good history
- By Craig on 01-24-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
American Sphinx
- The Character of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Susan O'Malley
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight. Historian Joseph J. Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams".
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Jefferson, As Seen By Big Government
- By FredZarguna on 06-01-23
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
The Lost Founding Father
- John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics
- By: William J. Cooper
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Why has John Quincy Adams been largely written out of American history when he is, in fact, our lost Founding Father? Overshadowed by both his brilliant father and the brash and bold Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams has long been dismissed as hyper-intellectual. Viciously assailed by Jackson and his populist mobs for being both slippery and effete, Adams nevertheless recovered from the malodorous 1828 presidential election to lead the nation as a lonely Massachusetts congressman in the fight against slavery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Edifying
- By Jean on 01-15-18
-
Henry Clay
- The Man Who Would Be President
- By: James C. Klotter
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 47
Charismatic, charming, and one of the best orators of his era, Henry Clay seemed to have it all. He offered a comprehensive plan of change for America, and he directed national affairs as Speaker of the House, as Secretary of State to John Quincy Adams - the man he put in office - and as acknowledged leader of the Whig party. As the broker of the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, Henry Clay fought to keep a young nation united when westward expansion and slavery threatened to tear it apart. Yet, despite his talent and achievements, Henry Clay never became president.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book by a talented writer and historian
- By Timothy on 08-24-18
By: James C. Klotter
-
Revolutionary Characters
- What Made the Founders Different
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
Gordon Wood's wondrous accomplishment here is to bring these men and their times down to earth and within our reach, showing us just who they were and what drove them. In so doing, he shows us that although a lot has changed in two hundred years, to an amazing degree the virtues these founders defined for themselves are the virtues we aspire to still.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Wood clearly dislikes Adams
- By Michael on 01-15-07
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
The Birth of Modern Politics
- Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828
- By: Lynn Hudson Parson
- Narrated by: Milton Bagby
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political resume were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
a very good popular history book
- By D. Littman on 01-29-10
-
The Problem of Democracy
- The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality
- By: Nancy Isenberg, Andrew Burstein
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth-tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results; and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. When John Adams succeeded George Washington as President, his son had already followed him into public service and was stationed in Europe as a diplomat.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very insightful and rewarding adding understanding
- By William on 05-12-19
By: Nancy Isenberg, and others
-
Friends Divided
- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 447
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Great Read
- By Jean on 12-22-17
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
A Leap in the Dark
- The Struggle to Create the American Republic
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
It was an age of fascinating leaders and difficult choices, of grand ideas eloquently expressed and of epic conflicts bitterly fought. Now comes a brilliant portrait of the American Revolution, one that is compelling in its prose, fascinating in its details, and provocative in its fresh interpretations.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved every minute!
- By Richard on 03-03-15
By: John Ferling
-
Alexander Hamilton: A Captivating Guide to One of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 12
Alexander Hamilton is one of the most extraordinary figures in American history. A deep thinker, a military leader, and a political dynamo, he was George Washington's right-hand man and perhaps the most important figure in the shaping of the Constitution. His policies and practices in government set the United States down a path of commercial wealth and economic stability. His ideas still resonate in the powerful nation he helped create. During his time, Hamilton was a divisive figure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Alexander Hamilton has inspired me
- By Randall Torrez on 04-25-18
-
The Duel: A Captivating Guide to the Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 15
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr lived very similar lives. They were both orphaned at an early age. Both were excellent students who attended college and studied law. Both were young staff officers under General George Washington, and both became war heroes. They were both drawn to politics, and each served in the newly formed government of the United States. How was it then that these two men ended up in the most famous duel in American history?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Franken-book, but ok...
- By Danyel Allen on 01-03-21
Related to this topic
-
The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
-
The Quartet
- Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 751
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 683
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 683
From Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
bias is not good history
- By Craig on 01-24-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
American Sphinx
- The Character of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Susan O'Malley
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight. Historian Joseph J. Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams".
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Jefferson, As Seen By Big Government
- By FredZarguna on 06-01-23
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
The Lost Founding Father
- John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics
- By: William J. Cooper
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Why has John Quincy Adams been largely written out of American history when he is, in fact, our lost Founding Father? Overshadowed by both his brilliant father and the brash and bold Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams has long been dismissed as hyper-intellectual. Viciously assailed by Jackson and his populist mobs for being both slippery and effete, Adams nevertheless recovered from the malodorous 1828 presidential election to lead the nation as a lonely Massachusetts congressman in the fight against slavery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Edifying
- By Jean on 01-15-18
-
Henry Clay
- The Man Who Would Be President
- By: James C. Klotter
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 47
Charismatic, charming, and one of the best orators of his era, Henry Clay seemed to have it all. He offered a comprehensive plan of change for America, and he directed national affairs as Speaker of the House, as Secretary of State to John Quincy Adams - the man he put in office - and as acknowledged leader of the Whig party. As the broker of the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, Henry Clay fought to keep a young nation united when westward expansion and slavery threatened to tear it apart. Yet, despite his talent and achievements, Henry Clay never became president.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book by a talented writer and historian
- By Timothy on 08-24-18
By: James C. Klotter
-
Thomas Jefferson
- By: R. B. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". It is in this simple epitaph that R. B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder - not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again". In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American - the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
In-Depth and Interesting
- By Sarahi Nieves on 04-24-19
By: R. B. Bernstein
-
The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
-
The Quartet
- Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 751
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 683
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 683
From Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
bias is not good history
- By Craig on 01-24-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
American Sphinx
- The Character of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Susan O'Malley
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight. Historian Joseph J. Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams".
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Jefferson, As Seen By Big Government
- By FredZarguna on 06-01-23
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
The Lost Founding Father
- John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics
- By: William J. Cooper
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Why has John Quincy Adams been largely written out of American history when he is, in fact, our lost Founding Father? Overshadowed by both his brilliant father and the brash and bold Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams has long been dismissed as hyper-intellectual. Viciously assailed by Jackson and his populist mobs for being both slippery and effete, Adams nevertheless recovered from the malodorous 1828 presidential election to lead the nation as a lonely Massachusetts congressman in the fight against slavery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Edifying
- By Jean on 01-15-18
-
Henry Clay
- The Man Who Would Be President
- By: James C. Klotter
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 47
Charismatic, charming, and one of the best orators of his era, Henry Clay seemed to have it all. He offered a comprehensive plan of change for America, and he directed national affairs as Speaker of the House, as Secretary of State to John Quincy Adams - the man he put in office - and as acknowledged leader of the Whig party. As the broker of the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, Henry Clay fought to keep a young nation united when westward expansion and slavery threatened to tear it apart. Yet, despite his talent and achievements, Henry Clay never became president.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book by a talented writer and historian
- By Timothy on 08-24-18
By: James C. Klotter
-
Thomas Jefferson
- By: R. B. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". It is in this simple epitaph that R. B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder - not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again". In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American - the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
In-Depth and Interesting
- By Sarahi Nieves on 04-24-19
By: R. B. Bernstein
-
Revolutionary Characters
- What Made the Founders Different
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
Gordon Wood's wondrous accomplishment here is to bring these men and their times down to earth and within our reach, showing us just who they were and what drove them. In so doing, he shows us that although a lot has changed in two hundred years, to an amazing degree the virtues these founders defined for themselves are the virtues we aspire to still.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Wood clearly dislikes Adams
- By Michael on 01-15-07
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 267
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 228
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 227
Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12
-
The Birth of Modern Politics
- Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828
- By: Lynn Hudson Parson
- Narrated by: Milton Bagby
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political resume were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
a very good popular history book
- By D. Littman on 01-29-10
-
The Problem of Democracy
- The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality
- By: Nancy Isenberg, Andrew Burstein
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth-tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results; and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. When John Adams succeeded George Washington as President, his son had already followed him into public service and was stationed in Europe as a diplomat.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very insightful and rewarding adding understanding
- By William on 05-12-19
By: Nancy Isenberg, and others
-
Friends Divided
- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 447
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Great Read
- By Jean on 12-22-17
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
A Leap in the Dark
- The Struggle to Create the American Republic
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
It was an age of fascinating leaders and difficult choices, of grand ideas eloquently expressed and of epic conflicts bitterly fought. Now comes a brilliant portrait of the American Revolution, one that is compelling in its prose, fascinating in its details, and provocative in its fresh interpretations.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved every minute!
- By Richard on 03-03-15
By: John Ferling
-
Decision in Philadelphia
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787
- By: James Collier, Christopher Collier
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 274
Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world: the Constitution. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. Decision in Philadelphia is the best popular history of the Constitutional Convention; in it, the life and times of 18th-century America not only come alive, but the very human qualities of the men who framed the document are brought provocatively into focus - casting many of the Founding Fathers in a new light.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book
- By Josh on 09-13-12
By: James Collier, and others
-
Adams vs. Jefferson
- The Tumultuous Election of 1800
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 297
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 179
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 177
Award-winning author John Ferling is a leading authority on the American Revolution. His entertaining and enlightening histories have greatly improved our understanding of early America and the Founding Fathers. Now Ferling opens a window to the past and explores the contentious presidential election of 1800.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding work of interpretive history
- By D. Littman on 11-01-04
By: John Ferling
-
Jefferson
- Architect of American Liberty
- By: John B. Boles
- Narrated by: Michael Johnson
- Length: 24 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
From an eminent scholar of the American South, the first full-scale biography of Thomas Jefferson since 1970. Not since Merrill Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation has a scholar attempted to write a comprehensive biography of the most complex Founding Father. In Jefferson, John B. Boles plumbs every facet of Thomas Jefferson's life, all while situating him amid the sweeping upheaval of his times. We meet Jefferson the politician and political thinker - as well as Jefferson the architect, scientist, bibliophile, paleontologist, musician, and gourmet.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Makes Jefferson Human
- By MichaelBuffalo on 06-23-20
By: John B. Boles
-
Washington's Farewell
- The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
- By: John Avlon
- Narrated by: John Avlon
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 281
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 248
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
George Washington's Farewell Address was a prophetic letter from a "parting friend" to his fellow citizens about the forces he feared could destroy our democracy: hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars. Once celebrated as civic scripture, more widely reprinted than the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Its message remains starkly relevant. In Washington's Farewell, John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our first president and his battle to save America from self-destruction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very well written and performed
- By Michael Reading on 03-02-17
By: John Avlon
-
James Madison
- A Life Reconsidered
- By: Lynne Cheney
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 723
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 652
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 647
A major new biography of the fourth US president, from New York Times best-selling author Lynne Cheney. James Madison was a true genius of the early republic, the leader who did more than any other to create the nation we know today. This majestic new biography tells his story. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution. His visionary political philosophy was a crucial factor behind the Constitution’s ratification, and his political savvy was of major importance in getting the new government underway.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Great man, great ideas, muddling book
- By NDFletch on 06-13-15
By: Lynne Cheney
-
John Quincy Adams
- American Visionary
- By: Fred Kaplan
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 27 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 245
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 228
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
In this fresh and lively biography rich in literary analysis and new historical detail, Fred Kaplan brings into focus the dramatic life of John Quincy Adams - the little known and much misunderstood sixth president of the United States and the first son of John and Abigail Adams - and persuasively demonstrates how Adams's inspiring, progressive vision guided his life and helped shape the course of America.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Destined by birth, mentored by greats...
- By Jonathan Love on 03-04-16
By: Fred Kaplan