American History on Audio
Listen to the stories that make up the history of our nation from its founding through modern times.
Manhunt: the 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson (364.152 SWANS)
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history – the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry troops on a wild, 12-day chase from the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland and into the forests of Virginia.
Cold War: On the Brink of Apocalypse by David Painter (909.82 PAINT)
Moving beyond earlier controversies over responsibility for the Cold War, this path-breaking volume from the Modern Scholar series focuses on the interaction of geopolitics, technology, ideology and political economy.
First Ladies by Margaret Truman (923 TRUMA)
The women who occupy the White House with their husbands are a varied, interesting, often enigmatic group. Amid constant comment and the relentless glare of the media and public, the First Lady's role has been interpreted colorfully and widely throughout our history. Note: this audio book is currently only available on cassette.
D-Day: June 6, 1944 by Stephen Ambrose (940.54 AMBRO)
Historian Stephen Ambrose reveals the startling fact that the intricate plan for the invasion of France in June 1844 had to be abandoned before the first shot was fired. This history of D-Day reveals the story of brave citizen soldiers – junior officers and enlisted men – who took the initiative to act on their own to penetrate Hitler's Atlantic Wall when they realized than nothing was as they were told it would be. Also try Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers and To America.
Fighting for America: Black Soldiers, the Unsung Heroes of WWII by Christopher Moore (940.54 MOORE)
The African-American contribution to winning World War II has never been celebrated as profoundly as in Fighting for America. In this inspirational and uniquely personal tribute, the essential part played by black servicemen and -women in that cataclysmic conflict is brought home.
Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign by Evan Thomas (940.542 THOMA)
Thomas does not attempt to present a history of the entire Japanese-American naval war. Instead, he does something more adventurous and more revealing; he views that conflict of nations through the prisms of four naval commanders, two from each warring nation.
A Treasury of Great American Scandals by Michael Farquhar (973 FARQU)
In our present era of tawdry sex scandals and cheap political shots, as we cling to our sense of patriotism and our national unity soars, we long for the good old days of good, old-fashioned American values: a more dignified, genteel time, when honor and decency were prized above all. Alas, a history lesson is in order.
1776 by David McCullough (973.3 MCCUL)
With this book, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough does for George Washington (and surprisingly enough, George III) what he did for John Adams, Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. He sets the grassroots fervency of the outnumbered colonists against the mighty United Kingdom, the world's only superpower.
The American Revolution by Gordon Wood (973.3 WOOD)
The story is a dramatic one: 13 insignificant colonies, 3,000 miles from the centers of Western civilization, fought off British rule to become, in fewer than three decades, a huge, sprawling, rambunctious republic of nearly 4 million citizens.
Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis (973.4 ELLIS)
Ellis’s Pulitzer Prize winning book is 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.
Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power by Gary Wills (973.4 WILLS)
In 1800 Thomas Jefferson won the presidential election with Electoral College votes derived from the three-fifths representation of slaves – slaves who could not vote but were still partially counted as citizens. Wills probes the heart of Jefferson's presidency and political life, revealing how the might of the slave states remained a concern behind his most important policies and decisions.
The American Heritage Short History of the Civil War by Bruce Catton (973.7 CATTO)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton brings power and drama to this tightly packed chronicle of the struggle of the blue and the gray; a superb introduction to the events, the people and the politics that shaped this war.
The Road to Appomattox by Robert Hendrickson (973.7 HENDR)
Hendrickson's account will appeal to general readers through his use of well-known first-person accounts to convey the human dimension of the fighting: the ferocious hand-to-hand combat in the Wilderness, the doomed charge at Cold Harbor, the fiasco at the Battle of the Crater.
Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (973.7092 GOODWIN)
With a deep understanding of how power works, Goodwin couples the story of Lincoln's rise to the presidency with the stories of Lincoln's "team of rivals," the remarkable men he defeated and then drafted into his cabinet. Utilizing thousands of primary documents, Goodwin masterfully reveals the growth of Lincoln's political genius within the context of his times. This meticulously researched, 10-year labor of love is a joy to read. Note: this audio book is divided into part one and part two.
A House Reunited: How America Survived the Civil War by Jay Winik (973.738 WINIK)
In this course from the Modern Scholar series, history professor Jay Winik examines the dramatic events leading up to April 1865 and ponders some of the unthinkable alternatives, that, had they occurred, would have surely prevented the formation of the country we know today.
Kennedy and Nixon: the Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America by Christopher Matthews (973.922 MATTH)
John Kennedy and Richard Nixon shared a dream of being the great young leader of their age. Starting as congressmen in the class of 1946, the two men developed a friendship and admiration for each other that would last for more than a decade. But what drove history was the enmity between these two towering figures whose 1960 presidential contest would set the nation's bitter course for years to come.
A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan by Michael Deaver (973.927 DEAVE)
Michael Deaver's relationship with Ronald Reagan far exceeded his White House job title of deputy chief of staff. For 35 years, Deaver was a selfless friend and close-mouthed confidant of the Great Communicator. His memoir highlights the spiritual and human aspects of Reagan's presidency but includes some fascinating insights into his policies, as well.
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester (979.4 WINCH)
The international bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa vividly brings to life the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake that leveled a city symbolic of America's relentless western expansion. Simon Winchester has also fashioned an enthralling and informative look at the tumultuous subterranean world that produces earthquakes, the planet's most sudden and destructive force.