The Best US Founding History Audiobooks of All Time

**Discover the Roots of Liberty and the Birth of a Nation**. Unlock the true essence of American democracy with The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence by Paul B. Skousen. This definitive reference work combines the complete texts of these pivotal documents that shaped the United States while exploring the profound impact of the Founding Fathers, the American Revolution, and the principles of liberty, government, and constitutional law.

Featuring a captivating foreword by New York Times best-selling author Dan Clark, this book sets the stage for an engaging and enlightening journey as you delve into the profound significance of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. With his renowned expertise in understanding and interpreting the Constitution, acclaimed Constitutional scholar Paul Skousen provides an authoritative analysis of these foundational texts. Immerse yourself in the historical context of the American Revolution, as Skousen unveils the extraordinary stories of the visionary Founding Fathers who forged a path toward liberty. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence serves as a captivating window into the birth of a nation. Explore the intricate details of these landmark documents, delving into the principles of individual liberty, the structure of government, and the profound significance of constitutional law. Skousen expertly guides readers through the texts, providing insights into the Founding Fathers' original intent while offering clarity on subsequent amendments that shaped their meaning. This comprehensive guide ensures a deep understanding of the constitutional foundations that underpin the United States. Gain a clear perspective on the relationship between government and individual rights, and explore the enduring relevance of these documents in contemporary society. Skousen's meticulous research and compelling analysis shed light on the timeless principles shaping American governance. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence is an essential resource for scholars, legal professionals, and anyone passionate about American history. It stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of these remarkable texts, serving as a guiding light for those seeking to comprehend the ideals upon which the United States was founded. Embrace the Founding Fathers' wisdom and embark on a captivating journey through American history as you unravel the intertwined stories of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the remarkable birth of a nation built on the pillars of liberty, government, and constitutional law.

New York Times Book Review ― Editors’ Choice • Chicago Tribune ― "60 Best Reads for Right Now" • St. Louis Post-Dispatch ― "50 Fall Books You Should Consider Reading". A culminating work on the American Founding by one of its leading historians, The Cause rethinks the American Revolution as we have known it. In one of the most “exciting and engaging” (Gordon S. Wood) histories of the American founding in decades, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Joseph J.

Ellis offers an epic account of the origins and clashing ideologies of America’s revolutionary era, recovering a war more brutal, and more disorienting, than any in our history, save perhaps the Civil War. For more than two centuries, historians have debated the history of the American Revolution, disputing its roots, its provenance, and above all, its meaning. These questions have intrigued Ellis―one of our most celebrated scholars of American history―throughout his entire career. With this much-anticipated volume, he at last brings the story of the revolution to vivid life, with “surprising relevance” (Susan Dunn) for our modern era. Completing a trilogy of books that began with Founding Brothers, The Cause returns us to the very heart of the American founding, telling the military and political story of the war for independence from the ground up, and from all sides: British and American, loyalist and patriot, white and Black. Taking us from the end of the Seven Years’ War to 1783, and drawing on a wealth of previously untapped sources, The Cause interweaves action-packed tales of North American military campaigns with parlor-room intrigues back in England, creating a thrilling narrative that brings together a cast of familiar and long-forgotten characters. Here Ellis recovers the stories of Catherine Littlefield Greene, wife of Major General Nathanael Greene, the sister among the “band of brothers”; Thayendanegea, a Mohawk chief known to the colonists as Joseph Brant, who led the Iroquois Confederation against the Patriots; and Harry Washington, the enslaved namesake of George Washington, who escaped Mount Vernon to join the British Army and fight against his former master. Countering popular histories that romanticize the “Spirit of ’76,” Ellis demonstrates that the rebels fought under the mantle of “The Cause,” a mutable, conveniently ambiguous principle that afforded an umbrella under which different, and often conflicting, convictions and goals could coexist. Neither an American nation nor a viable government existed at the end of the war. In fact, one revolutionary legacy regarded the creation of such a nation, or any robust expression of government power, as the ultimate betrayal of The Cause. This legacy alone rendered any effective response to the twin tragedies of the founding―slavery and the Native American dilemma―problematic at best. Written with the vivid and muscular prose for which Ellis is known, and with characteristically trenchant insight, The Cause marks the culmination of a lifetime of engagement with the founding era. A landmark work of narrative history, it challenges the story we have long told ourselves about our origins as a people, and as a nation. 6 illustrations; 7 maps.

In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character. Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble.

In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution. In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.