The Great Republic

A History of America

By: Winston Churchill

Narrated by: Winston S. Churchill

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The Great Republic is Sir Winston Churchill's personal vision of American history, from the arrival of the first European settlers to the dawn of the Cold War, edited by his grandson, the historian and journalist Winston S. Churchill. The book is a magnificent retelling of the American story, including some of the best short histories of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War ever written. The bulk of this book, America's history up to the twentieth century, has until now been found only within Churchill's much longer four-volume A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. The chapters on America from that larger work have been knit together into a whole, and to them Winston S. Churchill has added essays and speeches of his grandfather's, many never before published in book form, to bring the book up to the mid-twentieth century.

Sir Winston Churchill's renown as a statesman has tended to overshadow his great gifts as a historian. History was the work of his heart's delight, and few subjects were dearer to him than America. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was American, and all of his life Churchill harbored a deep warmth of feeling for this country and a sense of its special destiny. With fondness, he called America "the Great Republic," and in his later years he trained all of his powers on the history this book contains. The Great Republic is stirring in its sweep and breathtaking in the flash and vigor of its insights. Only an author with Sir Winston Churchill's special perspective on America, his experience as a leader and strategist, his intimacy with the responsibilities of guiding a nation, and his great gifts as a narrative historian could have written a book that lays out America's history, character, and destiny with this book's special brilliance. Statesman and historian Sir Winston Churchill led Great Britain through the Second World War as prime minister. He was the author of forty-two books, including the six-volume history The Second World War, which was chosen by the National Review as the nonfiction "book of the century."

©1999 Winston S. Churchill (P)1999 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

In this absorbing volume, skillfully culled by his grandson from Winston Churchill's vast literary output, the greatest Englishman of the twentieth century paints with surpassing elegance his portrait of American history and the American character. This is a good book to read—and a book to savor."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

"This excellent volume gives the gist of all Winston Churchill's writings and observations about American history. It is a wonderful read for Americans, and tells them a great deal about their country which many of them do not know and ought to know."--Paul Johnson, author of A History of the American People

Churchill wonderful. Recording not.

Maybe this is an old recording but quality was awful. Music background distracting & inappropriate. Reader good. Hard to properly rate when the part that was most important was so wonderful but the quality was so poor that it ruined the message.

The Great Republic

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

A thoroughly enjoyable collection of essays and articles, from the greatest man of the 20th century. In a time when unfairly bashing and distorting all things American is fashionable, The Great Republic is refreshing. The world today needs another Churchill more than ever. Somebody to remind everyone that not only is America not the problem, but is the only one capable of fixing them. Churchill understood this and is evident in this book.

Great audiobook, great audio quality

It is clear that Churchill loved his time spent in the United States; the letters at the end of this audiobook make clear joys found along a drive through California. The short histories of the US Revolutionary and Civil Wars are well rated and worth your time; the perspective of an enthusiastic outsider provides interesting views. Large sections of US history are compressed into few words, and relatively large word counts are spent on fine turns of history.

Overall, the balance is respectable. Audio quality ranges from good to excellent; however, one section at the end has quite a bit of static in the background.

Exceptional Insights and Magnificent Prose

Winston Churchill combines his astute political, historical and military perspectives with his superb abilities at both writing and oratory. As one historian said of Churchill.."he writes his speaches and speaks his writings". Certainly with his grandson as narrator, one has the uncanny feeling of Winston Churchill himself through the earphones. The compilation of letters and speaches inserted by his grandson at the end of this volume are worth the price all by themselves. The history of America up to and including Teddy Roosevelt is perhaps aimed more at a British audience than an American one, however, his British perspective and keen insights are worthy of study by any American. A joy to listen to and absorb!