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The Last Founding Father
- James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
In this lively and compelling biography, Harlow Giles Unger reveals the dominant political figure of a generation. A fierce fighter in four critical Revolutionary War battles and a courageous survivor of Valley Forge and a near-fatal wound at the Battle of Trenton, James Monroe (1751 - 1831) went on to become America's first full-time politician, dedicating his life to securing America's national and international durability.
Decorated by George Washington for his exploits as a soldier, Monroe became a congressman, a senator, U.S. minister to France and Britain, governor of Virginia, secretary of state, secretary of war, and finally America's fifth president.
The country embraced Monroe's dreams of empire and elected him to two terms, the second time unanimously. Mentored by each of Americas first four presidents, Monroe was unquestionably the best prepared president in our history.
Like David McCullough's John Adams and Jon Meacham's recent book on Andrew Jackson, this new biography of Monroe is both a solid listen and a stellar scholarship history in the grand tradition.
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- Unabridged
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A Wicked War presents the definitive history of the 1846 war between the United States and Mexico - a conflict that turned America into a continental power. Amy Greenberg describes the battles between American and Mexican armies, but also delineates the political battles between Democrats and Whigs - the former led by the ruthless Polk, the latter by the charismatic Henry Clay and a young representative from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. Greenberg brilliantly recounts this key chapter in the creation of the United States authority and narrative flair.
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Rubbish Historical Work, Lots of Fake Stuff
- By Jose on 04-28-17
By: Amy S. Greenberg
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John Quincy Adams
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- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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John Quincy Adams was the last of his kind - a Puritan from the age of the Founders who despised party and compromise yet dedicated himself to politics and government. The son of John Adams, he was a brilliant ambassador and secretary of state, a frustrated president at a historic turning point in American politics, and a dedicated congressman who literally died in office - at the age of 80, in the House of Representatives, in the midst of an impassioned political debate.
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Best narrator of all the audio books I've listened
- By grimm79 on 12-12-17
By: James Traub
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Washington and Hamilton
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In the wake of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers faced a daunting task: overcome their competing visions to build a new nation, the likes of which the world had never seen. Washington and Hamilton chronicles the unlikely collaboration between two conflicting characters working together to protect their hard-won freedoms. Yet while Washington and Hamilton's different personalities often led to fruitful collaboration, their conflicting ideals also tested the boundaries of their relationship - and threatened the future of the new republic.
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Biography
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By: Stephen F. Knott, and others
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For Liberty and Glory
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On April 18, 1775, a riot over the price of flour broke out in the French city of Dijon. That night, across the Atlantic, Paul Revere mounted the fastest horse he could find and kicked it into a gallop. So began what have been called the "sister revolutions" of France and America. In a single, thrilling narrative, this audiobook tells the story of those revolutions and shows just how deeply intertwined they actually were.
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Excellent presentation
- By Hal on 08-20-12
By: James R. Gaines
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George Washington
- The Wonder of the Age
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- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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As editor of the award-winning Library of America collection of George Washington's writings and a curator of the great man's original papers, John Rhodehamel has established himself as an authority of our nation's preeminent founding father. Rhodehamel examines George Washington as a public figure, arguing that the man - who first achieved fame in his early twenties - is inextricably bound to his mythic status.
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Not what I expected for an unabridged book
- By David Osborne Jr. on 04-13-17
By: John Rhodehamel
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Alexander Hamilton
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Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.
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An Outstanding & Riveting Book!
- By Kevin on 03-04-05
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George Washington: The Founding Father (Eminent Lives)
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
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By far the most important figure in the history of the United States, George Washington liberated the 13 colonies from the superior forces of the British Empire against all military odds, and presided over the production and ratification of a constitution that (suitably amended) has lasted for more than 200 years. Yet today, Washington remains a distant figure to many Americans, a failing that acclaimed author Paul Johnson sets out to rectify with this brilliantly vivid, sharply etched portrait.
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Ideology interferes with story line
- By Miranda on 05-01-15
By: Paul Johnson
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Revolution Song
- A Story of American Freedom
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
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From the author of the acclaimed history The Island at the Center of the World, an intimate new epic of the American Revolution that reinforces its meaning for today. With America's founding principles being debated today as never before, Russell Shorto looks back to the era in which those principles were forged. Drawing on new sources, he weaves the lives of six people into a seamless narrative that casts fresh light on the range of experience in colonial America on the cusp of revolution.
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An inspiring book
- By Frank on 08-27-18
By: Russell Shorto
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Excellent story, the narration ruined it for me
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Lafayette
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In this gripping biography, acclaimed author Harlow Giles Unger paints an intimate portrait of the heroic young French soldier who, at 19, renounced a life of luxury in Paris and Versailles to fight and bleed for liberty - at Brandywine, Valley Forge, and Yorktown. A major general in the Continental army, he quickly earned the love of his troops, his fellow commanders, and his commander in chief, George Washington, who called him his "adopted son".
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WE GET IT! HE'S A "KNIGHT"
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What listeners say about The Last Founding Father
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Aaron Janz
- 03-15-17
Excellent, but biased
While this book was very well written, informative, and entertaining, it becomes clear within the first few sentences that Unger idolizes Monroe and that the book will continuously praise and deeply discuss all of his positive aspects, while ignoring or brushing off some of his more negative ones. He largely discounts the accomplishments of many of the other founding fathers in an effort to make Monroe stand out as their superior. All that being said, it is still a very good book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Marianne
- 04-21-17
Over generous biography of a 2nd rate president
Would you try another book from Harlow Giles Unger and/or Michael McConnohie?
Unger is a good writer but this book is not as good as his biography of John Marshall.
He tries to make Monroe into a greater man then he was. Monroe was a very poor man's Madison, who's hero and mentor was Jefferson.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
The most interesting was Monroes relationship to Jefferson and Madison.
The least interesting is Monroe the man.
Did Michael McConnohie do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
Not really, he is a very ordinary reader who I would not necessarily choose to hear again
Do you think The Last Founding Father needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Not unless Unger takes a more critical view of Monroe and a less antagonistic one to his enemies in the Federalist party
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- Stuart
- 11-06-21
Excellent
Fascinating look at one of the early presidents and his astonishing impact on the development of the United States.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-05-21
An Excellent Selection
Well written and superbly narrated this book will be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates history.
I learned a many facts about Mister Monroe and his family.
Mister Monroe, an amiable man, used his love of family and quest for truth to guide him through out his life and to our highest elected office.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-26-21
Greatest President Ever!
This book opened my eyes to period of American history not often discussed. This man tripled the size of the US by diplomacy.
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- M. Kearn
- 10-26-22
highly recommend this title!
wonderfully written and easy to follow along. I also love the narrator, very easy to understand and follow!
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- Jean
- 02-07-15
Compelling story of an under estimated president
I have read Unger’s biographies of John Quincy Adams, Patrick Henry and George Washington and have enjoyed his writing style.
The author does a good job telling the story of the pre-presidential years in a fast paced informative succinct manner. In the book Unger claims Monroe alone wrote the Monroe Doctrine. Yet in his biography of John Q. Adams he implied John Q. helped Monroe author the document. Unger states that Monroe was not a strategic thinker but he describes him as hard working, observant and popular. Madison had the advantage of being president during the post war economic boom. He was the first president to do away with taxes including property taxes as the government was making a good income from other fee such as tariff fees.
Unger does go into the role and contribution of Monroe’s wife Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, who revealed great courage in obtaining the freedom of Lafayette’s wife Adrienne and her family from prison during the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. James Monroe was the Ambassador to France during the Reign of Terror. Elizabeth Monroe was considered to be an outstanding First Lady even as she struggled with rheumatoid arthritis. I have read bits and pieces of this daring, courage act by Elizabeth Monroe in facing the prison officials holding a peerage family being held for the guillotine and rescuing them. I wish someone would write a book about this feat of Elizabeth Monroe. I think this would make a good doctoral thesis as little has been written about the event.
In 2014 I read two different biographies about James Madison, and they differ a bit from the figure that Unger paints in this book. I noted in the other biographies that Madison bought Monroe’s dishes and furniture to help him feed his family when Monroe fell into financial problems.
The author points out that Monroe was the only early president other than George Washington to be elected to two terms unopposed. Monroe was the only early president other than George Washington to tour the country while he was president. The book was well written, meticulously research and a delight to read. For those who love trivia the book has lots of trivia facts. The book was narrated by Michael McConnohie.
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4 people found this helpful
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- grimm79
- 11-22-17
Excellent, Engrossing, Satisfying
The narration was mildly growly and affected at moments, yet I consider his performance one of the best I've heard in an audio book. Excellent. subject of this book was quite an honorable man, and learning how he deported himself was inspiring. Very well-written book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mike Dies
- 01-17-19
Lacks Objectivity
Unger seems so taken with Monroe that he is unable to give objective commentary. He seems desperate to put him on equal footing (at least) with Madison and Jefferson. To this end Unger makes the laughable assertion that all of the presidents between Washington and Monroe were merely caretaker presidents. A lot if good information in this book, but given its near worshipful tone, I do not recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with the period.
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- Dave Heywood
- 01-29-19
Slightly biased?
Very good book and excellent presentation of the material, but it came across as if the Monroe was the greatest president ever other than Washington. Other sources put him in the top half, but where this book portrays Madison's administration as a total disaster, and Monroe's as saving the nation from that disaster, other sources I seen show the both ranked fairly equally as effective presidents. Regardless, I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
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