A Godly Hero, Michael Kazin
A Godly Hero, Michael Kazin
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A Godly Hero
The Life of William Jennings Bryan

Author: Michael Kazin

Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner

Unabridged: 15 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/22/2022

Synopsis

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: THE WASHINGTON POST, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, LOS ANGELES TIMES, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.

Politician, evangelist, and reformer William Jennings Bryan was the most popular public speaker of his time. In this acclaimed biography—the first major reconsideration of Bryan's life in forty years–award-winning historian Michael Kazin illuminates his astonishing career and the richly diverse and volatile landscape of religion and politics in which he rose to fame.

Kazin vividly recreates Bryan's tremendous appeal, showing how he won a passionate following among both rural and urban Americans, who saw in him not only the practical vision of a reform politician but also the righteousness of a pastor. Bryan did more than anyone to transform the Democratic Party from a bulwark of laissez-faire to the citadel of liberalism we identify with Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1896, 1900, and 1908, Bryan was nominated for president, and though he fell short each time, his legacy–a subject of great debate after his death–remains monumental. This nuanced and brilliantly crafted portrait restores Bryan to an esteemed place in American history.

About Michael Kazin

Michael Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University and has been coeditor of Dissent since 2009. He is the award-winning author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918; American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation; A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan; America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (with Maurice Isserman); The Populist Persuasion: An American History; and Barons of Labor. In addition, he is editor-in-chief of The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History, coeditor of the anthology Americanism, and editor of In Search of Progressive America. Michael has contributed to the Washington Post, the Nation, Democracy, the New York Times Book Review, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications and websites. He lives in Washington DC and is married to Beth Horowitz. They have two grown children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Steven

William Jennings Bryan is often portrayed as something of a naive fool. The Scopes Trial, to a large extent, defines what people think about Bryan. And, he is also defined as a "loser," having failed in his presidential bids. This book is a welcome corrective. Despite what some reviewers have said o......more

Goodreads review by Christopher

Michael Kazin's A Godly Hero reconsiders the life of William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate and lifelong progressive tribune in turn-of-the-century America. A man of humble origins in Nebraska, Bryan possessed boundless energy and an unmatchable oratorical gift that catapulted him......more

Goodreads review by Al

WJB is the most famous person to come from my hometown and there's not a lot of books out there about him, so I had to pick this up. It starts on page 1 describing his birth town(he didn't stay long) and says you have to drive 25 miles to go to the nearest movie theater. Ouch! WJB probably doesn't g......more

Goodreads review by Luke

A lot of mixed reviews on this one and I don't get it. Maybe people just want something different from a historical biography than I do. I suppose Kazin could have developed some grand thesis and flimsily connected it to modern politics in a complicated fashion. I'm sure if this book was written pos......more

Goodreads review by Andy

This is a well researched, well written biography of William Jennings Bryan that shows him to be a more complex and more influential man than history typically gives him credit for. The author, Michael Kazin, notes that most of today's perception of him stems from the depiction of his role in the Sco......more

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