
The American Experiment
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Narrated by:
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Mark Ashby
About this listen
James MacGregor Burns’s stunning trilogy of American history, spanning the birth of the Constitution to the final days of the Cold War. In these three volumes, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner James MacGregor Burns chronicles with depth and narrative panache the most significant cultural, economic, and political events of American history.
In The Vineyard of Liberty, he combines the color and texture of early American life with meticulous scholarship. Focusing on the tensions leading up to the Civil War, Burns brilliantly shows how Americans became divided over the meaning of Liberty.
In The Workshop of Democracy, Burns explores more than a half-century of dramatic growth and transformation of the American landscape, through the addition of dozens of new states, the shattering tragedy of the First World War, the explosion of industry, and, in the end, the emergence of the United States as a new global power.
And in The Crosswinds of Freedom, Burns offers an articulate and incisive examination of the US during its rise to become the world’s sole superpower - through the Great Depression, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the rapid pace of technological change that gave rise to the “American Century.”
©1982 The Vineyard of Liberty copyright 1982 by James MacGregor Burns, The Workshop of Democracy copyright 1985 by James MacGregor Burns, The Crosswinds of Freedom copyright 1989 by James MacGregor Burns (P)2014 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Amateur hour in the production booth
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Ascent to Power
- How Truman Emerged from Roosevelt's Shadow and Remade the World
- By: David L. Roll
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning the years of transition, 1944 to 1948, Ascent to Power illuminates Truman’s struggles to emerge as president in his own right. Yet, from a relatively unknown Missouri senator to the most powerful man on Earth, Truman’s legacy transcends. With his come-from-behind campaign in the fall of 1948, his courageous civil rights advocacy, and his role in liberating millions from militarist governments and brutal occupations, Truman’s decisions during these pivotal years changed the course of the world in ways so significant we live with them today.
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Truman defeated Republican use of Dark Psychology
- By sunao mind☯️ heart ❤️ on 01-30-25
By: David L. Roll
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A People's History of the United States
- By: Howard Zinn
- Narrated by: Jeff Zinn
- Length: 34 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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For much of his life, historian Howard Zinn chronicled American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version taught in schools - with its emphasis on great men in high places - to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of - and in the words of - America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers.
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Amateur hour in the production booth
- By Thomas on 11-09-10
By: Howard Zinn
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Continental Reckoning
- The American West in the Age of Expansion
- By: Elliott West
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 23 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In Continental Reckoning renowned historian Elliott West presents a sweeping narrative of the American West and its vital role in the transformation of the nation. In the 1840s, by which time the United States had expanded to the Pacific, what would become the West was home to numerous vibrant Native cultures and vague claims by other nations.
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Great Historian, Worth Listening
- By Janice on 01-19-25
By: Elliott West
What made the experience of listening to The American Experiment the most enjoyable?
Well written and performed. Interesting and thought provoking extremely detailed history of the U.S. Keep asking myself why I was never taught much of this history either in public schools or university. I am preparing to write a family history to flesh out dry ancestry data and this book is a tremendous help.Have you listened to any of Mark Ashby’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Not sure I have listened to any other Ashby performances but will look for others. Pleasant voice that supports the narrative but doesn't "grandstand" as some do.Any additional comments?
I have purchased dozens of books from Audible. This is definitely in my top 5.Fabulous book for history addicts
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Epic History of the US by a Pulitzer-Prize Winner
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Very good sociopolitical history of the US
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This is really three quite different books, each with its own tone, outlook, and period, and they don’t quite form a coherent whole (but are a bargain at one credit). I found each book better than the prior book, as the author seems more comfortable with the modern era.
The title is a bit deceptive. I expected “The American Experience” to be about, well, the Experience of the people of the United States. Instead this is a very basic, conventional, history of the United States from the constitutional convention (after the War for Independence) up to 1980. Like many other US Histories, this focuses primarily on the presidents, and only tangentially on the historical issues each president faced, and almost not at all on the broader themes and tides of history or the minutia of real people’s lives. The books do cover all the conventional keynotes of US history very well.
The one overarching theme the books does seem to explore the meaning of Liberty, and it seems to conclude this has never been quite clear. Other than that, there is very little analysis or thematic context. Until the last book, almost all analysis is added by quoting other historians (making some point this author chooses to emphasize). This leads to a somewhat namby-pamby, term paper sounding, narrative.
Sporadically some non-political aspects of experience are mentioned (arts, crafts, technology, business, living conditions, religion, science, education, sports, etc.), but these tellings are generally in alignment with the somewhat mythical conventional US history and don’t provide enough context to provide a true slice of life.
I am always annoyed when historical spending or wages are quoted in a currency with no context or baseline conversion rate. Of course, one can’t convert historical dollars to the current rate of exchange for every reader, but a single benchmark (like 1980 dollars) can be used to place all such values in a single, more understandable, context. Then each reader can look up one exchange rate (1980 to reader-present) and have a better idea what a $1/day wage would really mean.
There are several other lack-of-scaling issues, like discussing the growth of various things in growth-rate or absolute numbers without the context of the size or growth of other related things. Like discussing the growth in the communist party without comparing it to the size or growth of other political parties. There were a few other cases where numbers where presented, but I had to bookmark the passage and later search the web for the context required to fully understand the meaning of the number.
The orthodox retelling in these books leaves out a lot of interesting aspects of US history. This history seems a bit sterile, deemphasizing the nastier bits of US history, leaving out much of the mechanics of real US democracy. The books also don’t explore the various cycles of US history (religiosity, nationalism, conservatism, isolationism, etc.) nor does it closely examine the major slow, yet steady, flows of US history (literacy, voting rights, technology, agriculture, transportation, etc.)
The narration is very good without being especially remarkable. The narrator is very clear and pleasant to listen to and he does his best to add life to somewhat lifeless text.
This book is excellent at being what it is, and is well worth the listen for anyone unfamiliar with the basics of the conventional telling of US history (which every US resident should know). Yet, this book did not deliver what I had hoped, an exploration of “The American Experience”.
American History ABCs
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If Cicero were a Republican who wanted to understand Democrats, this is the book he would read.
A Progressive view of American History
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A bast history and dicussion
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A monumental achievement.
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Timeless and needed in our MAGA society.
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The best nonpropaganda history of the United State
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From 1830-1900 he pretty much ignores presidents and great senators. Instead he focuses heavily on the social woes of the US as well as captains of industry, artists, and especially authors like Whitman and Emerson.
In the 20th century, he covers great liberal leaders like Teddy, Wilson (he loves Professor Wilson), FDR, Kennedy, LBJ and MLK. His analysis of the first three is long enough for him to properly convey his leadership ideas. He also mocks late 20th century society culture - movies, sports, tv, and radio and he mourns the decline of literature, newspapers, liberalism, intellectuals...
Burns has an unusual, interesting take on American history and presidents. I thought that some chapters were too critical of American society to be interesting. But I enjoyed most of it.
American leaders, politics, economics, liberalism
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