Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different Audiobook

" Michael's book that I picked up and lost before finishing. Interesting particularly in how it goes into the ways in which modern politicians use the images of the founders. Annoying in the old curmudgeonley tone of the author. "

" Solid, but brief look into a half dozen or so of the key American founding fathers that excels in tying the Revolution to the Enlightenment period. Too often though, the individual parts never seem to tie together to make a cohesive whole other than consistently pointing out the fact that these great "indifferent" men were eventually expendable by their condescension of making a government empowered by those who before then had no control at all. A similar anthology book that centers on events instead of individuals by Joseph Ellis entitled "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" would be the one to read first, but one would certainly not waste any time spent on these tales. "

" I listened to this one in the car, though it was sometimes a bit dense (or I was a bit dense) during my 6:00am commute. I consider myself a history nerd, so this fit. I think I can look at the presidential (and vice-presidential) roles with more insight after hearing Wood's interpretation of the original roles of them. There's also a lot more complexity to the US founders than the brief overview we get in 5th grade. "

" Started strong, ended downright boring. "

" Great book about the character of many of the Founding Fathers of America. "

" fascinating book on the founding fathers exposing them from youth to their elder years with a lot of view on what they believed they fought for and what in fact the achieved. very very good read. "

" A collection of sketches portraying the Founders as generally populist-leaning. Wood seems to be reluctant to point out any of their shortcomings, but he assumes a earnest and genuine tone in stripping them of the patrician - and partisan- trappings that seem to have clogged up a more realistic view of who they were. A mostly introductory work. "

" I have two suggestions for the author. The first is to find a good editor. Grammar should matter. The second is to write more than a summary of other biographies. This was a poor effort. "

" A collection of excellent short biographical sketches of the founders. "

" It was not worth finishing. Read 100 pages and was bored. Going to the used bookstore that one is... "

" Interesting look at the founding fathers. They were human and were very different from each other. Amazingly, we came out with a great constitution in spite of their differences. "

" What a hypocrit Thomas Jefferson was! No wonder modern Americans love him so. "

" Wood is one of the most readable historians anyway, so when he writes a book for the Borders/Waldenbooks crowd, it's pretty much a breeze to get through. A great book about the founders. "

" Great read, but doesn't contain much unique information that is not contained in other Founder books. "

" A nice summary of biographies from the Revolutionary Generation. "

" Carl really enjoyed this on our last trip to and from Mammoth. There were some interesting anticdotes, but I get to choose the next book. "

" Great analysis of what made the founders were different from modern politicians, and why we can never go back to that "ideal." Loved the chapter on Aaron Burr as the anti-founder! "

" Good overview of Founders...worth the effort for someone who doesn't what to plow through a long biography "

" Very interesting...He seems to love all the villains: Hamilton, Paine and Burr. "

" A wonderfully researched look not just at the Founders, but inside them. A personal look at the personality traits that each brought to the Constitutional Congress and the debate and discussion that created the most important single document in US History "

" Great book about the character of many of the Founding Fathers of America. "

" Great book. I wish this is how we were taught about the founding fathers in school. It just reinforces how far we haven't come in our political and personal hangups. It might be time for the next Revolution... "

" A wonderfully researched look not just at the Founders, but inside them. A personal look at the personality traits that each brought to the Constitutional Congress and the debate and discussion that created the most important single document in US History "

" I sort of wish I had this book as a companion when reading the dreaded history textbooks in high school. The founding fathers were ballers. This book is a great introduction. I'll be sure to follow up with Franklin's autobiography. "

" The author spends a chapter on each of five of the founding fathers. His perspective on each is blended with cited history and his own opinion. Although I didn't agree with all of Wood's opinions I still found his perspective interesting. "