Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times

Abridged
Author: H.W. Brands
Narrator: Chuck Montgomery
Genres: History, Biographies, Politics, Political, United States, Biography
Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group
Date: October 2005
Length: 8 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

The extraordinary story of Andrew Jackson--the colorful, dynamic, and forceful president who ushered in the Age of Democracy and set a still young America on its path to greatness--told by the bestselling author of "The First American.
The most famous American of his time, Andrew Jackson is a seminal figure in American history. The first "common man" to rise to the presidency, Jackson embodied the spirit and the vision of the emerging American nation; the term "Jacksonian democracy" is embedded in our national lexicon.
With the sweep, passion, and attention to detail that made "The First American a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a national bestseller, historian H.W. Brands shapes a historical narrative that's as fast-paced and compelling as the best fiction. He follows Andrew Jackson from his days as rebellious youth, risking execution to free the Carolinas of the British during the Revolutionary War, to his years as a young lawyer and congressman from the newly settled frontier state of Tennessee. As general of the Tennessee militia, he put down a massive Indian uprising in the South, securing the safety of American settlers, and his famous rout of the British at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 made him a national hero.
But it is Jackson's contributions as president, however, that won him a place in the pantheon of America's greatest leaders. A man of the people, without formal education or the family lineage of the Founding Fathers, he sought as president to make the country a genuine democracy, governed by and for the people. Jackson, although respectful of states' rights, devoted himself to the preservation of the Union, whose future in that age wasstill very much in question. When South Carolina, his home state, threatened to secede over the issue of slavery, Jackson promised to march down with 100,000 federal soldiers should it dare.
In the bestselling tradition of "Founding Brothers and "His Excellency by Joseph Ellis and of "John Adams by David McCullough, "Andrew Jackson is the first single-volume, full-length biography of Jackson in decades. This magisterial portrait of one of our greatest leaders promises to reshape our understanding of both the man and his era and is sure to be greeted with enthusiasm and acclaim.

Reviews (1)

Old Hickory

Written by DJG on May 12th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This book was well written and enlightening. It paints a very clear picture of the distinction between the political parties and at the same time brings a lot of US history to light. The great different between John Quincy Adams, the Federalist, and Jackson the Democrat is so clearly shown. The preserve the Union and balance “States Rights” was a great problem. How history repeats itself.

Author Details

Author Details

Brands, H.W.

H.W. Brands is Distinguished Professor and holder of the Melbern G. Glasscock Chair in American History at Texas A&M University. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller The First American, an acclaimed biography of Benjamin Franklin, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Biography, as well as T.R., a celebrated biography of Theodore Roosevelt. He lives in Austin, Texas.