DWD's Reviews

  Published in 2008 by Random House Audio. Read by John H. Mayer. Duration: 17 hours, 16 minutes. Unabridged. In A Voyage Long and Strange Tony Horwitz set out to fill in a big gap in his understanding of American history. He vaguely knew that the Vikings arrived in the New World and did something or other and he knew about Columbus' voyage in 1492 and he knew about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock and the First Thanksgiving in 1621, but what happened in between? Also, what about the people that were already here? Horwitz decided to find out what he didn't know and this book is a combined travelogue and history lesson. He starts with the small failed Viking settlement in Newfoundland, Canada, moves on to the Dominican Republic to learn about Columbus and comes to the United States to look at the first Spanish explorers and settlements in New Mexico and Florida. He also looks at the epic and eventually tragic expeditions of exploration that the Spanish sent out. Finally, he turn...

Published in 2011 by HighBridge Audio Multicast performance Duration: 2 hours, 59 minutes Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) NPR has searched through its archives and found 29 stories that make for a very interesting listen if you are a student of the Civil War. There are interviews with historians, including James McPherson and Shelby Foote and authors like Tony Horwitz, Jay Winik and E.L. Doctorow. Sam Waterston reads the Gettysburg Address (so good!) and Hal Holbrook talks about a project of his about the impact of the Civil War on Iowa. There are also interviews with regular people, like the African American family that comes to see the original Emancipation Proclamation and turns it into a profound and moving educational event. None of it is very deep, but all of it is deeply interesting. This is a must-listen for all amateur historians of the Civil War. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. This audiobook can be found here: NPR American Chronicles: The Civil War .

A compelling look into one of America's (misunderstood?) icons Published in October 2011 by Macmillan Audio Read by Daniel Oreskes Duration: 11 hours, 9 minutes John Brown is one of those well-known yet elusive figures in history. He is literally in all of the American history books, but most people know almost nothing about him except for a few headline snippets like "Bleeding Kansas" and "Harper's Ferry" and "Slave Revolt." More knowledgeable readers may remember he used a sword to kill pro-slavery settlers in Kansas and worked with several prominent anti-slavery figures before his raid into Harpers Ferry , including Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman and that his raid on the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry was an utter failure and undoubtedly proved that he was insane. Or, was he? And, was the raid really a failure? Tony Horwitz's Midnight Rising is an excellent biography of John Brown as well a well-rounded look at the poli...