Reagan

The Life

By: H. W. Brands

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

From master storyteller and New York Times best-selling biographer H. W. Brands, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, comes the first full life of Ronald Reagan since his death.

Ronald Reagan today is a conservative icon, celebrated for transforming the American domestic agenda and playing a crucial part in ending communism in the Soviet Union. In his masterful new biography, H. W. Brands argues that Reagan, along with FDR, was the most consequential president of the 20th century. Reagan took office at a time when the public sector, after a half century of New Deal liberalism, was widely perceived as bloated and inefficient, an impediment to personal liberty. Reagan sought to restore democracy by bolstering capitalism. In Brands' telling, how Reagan, who voted four times for FDR, engineered a conservative transformation of American politics is both a riveting personal journey and the story of America in the modern era.

Brands follows Reagan as his ambition for ever-larger stages compelled him from a troubled childhood in small-town Illinois to become a radio announcer and then the quintessential public figure of modern America, a movie star. In Hollywood, Reagan edged closer to public service as the president of the Screen Actors' Guild before a stalled film career led to his unlikely reinvention as the voice of General Electric and a spokesman for corporate America. Reagan follows its subject on his improbable political rise, from the 1960s, when he was first elected governor of California, to his triumphant election in 1980 as president of the United States. Brands employs archival sources not available to previous biographers and dozens of interviews with surviving members of the administration. The result is an exciting narrative and a fresh understanding of a crucially important president and his era.

©2015 H.W. Brands (P)2015 Random House Audio

A straight forward account of Reagon's life, his p

If you could sum up Reagan in three words, what would they be?

optimistic, principled, sincere.

Would you recommend Reagan to your friends? Why or why not?

The book is recommended to friends, because of its honesty appraisal of Reagan. It remains focused on the man himself and the issues of his time.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I am always moved by the speech following the Space Shuttle disaster, in which all crew died.

Any additional comments?

The book discusses at length Reagan's foreign policy. As a New Zealand however, I was disappointed that it was not seen as significant the antinuclear policy which banned United States warships from visiting our ports. Fundamentlaly altered relationships throughout the South Pacific and created a long period of diplomatic and military tension.

Enjoyable

The context is great. A look behind the curtain. The narration is a bit annoying but anymore that loves and admires Reagan will enjoy this book.

Excellent, informative & engaging.

It’s a great book! Well written, engaging & informative. Insightful into the life & times of one our Nation’s greatest Presidents!

Nothing Intimate.

I am disappointed in the lack of personal details. The book is an overview of things going on/ politics/ history and Reagan was there. I would like to know more of what he was thinking and feeling and more personal details.

Superb... And I'm not even a fan of his politics!

Reagan fans will love this, but even those who are not from as far to the right as he was will appreciate this incredible story of an actor who turned into a union leader and changed from being a Democrat to Republican then eventually President. He had an incredible life and this book honours his memory.

Better to Read This One...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book. A wonderful, in depth look at the Reagan presidency. It is, however, long, long, long; over 31 hours. Had the narrator been better it would have been thoroughly enjoyable--but the narration made it difficult to listen. Perhaps reading this book would have been better for me.

Did Stephen Hoye do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The narrator has a clear voice and reads well, but I struggled listening to him. He comes across as snarky; where he places emphasis on words bothered me.

Any additional comments?

Reagan's second term was dysfunctional (lots of internal power plays), I think partly because Nancy was controlling and made the staff on edge--She was getting her cue from an astrologer in California. People who believe the Reagan presidency was a Christian one are mistaken. Nancy wielded a lot of power. During his second term, people were beginning to notice faint signs of dementia. Nevertheless, Reagan knew how to communicate and inspire. He was a good morale builder and made people feel good about their country--something we could use more of today.

Great book, well done.

This was very well done, there are some points that were not covered but overall it was extremely thorough.

Great book, terrible performance

Super annoying voice of the performer, hard to get over it, does a great disservice to this super book.

A Great Listen!

A Great Listen, about a Great but Human Man! I’m great full to have served under President Reagan.

Very little about Reagan

I thought I was going to hear a bio of President Reagan, but surprisingly, this is not the case. The author continually drifted into historical tangents with nothing to do with Ronald Reagan. I understand some background needs to be included to let the reader understand the subject but there is more written about others than the subject.
I enjoy history so it was not painful and sometimes even enjoyable but I just don't feel like I know President Reagan better than I knew before the book.