American Visions, Edward L. Ayers
American Visions, Edward L. Ayers
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American Visions
The United States 1800-1860

Author: Edward L. Ayers

Narrator: Brandon Pollock

Unabridged: 9 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/24/2023


Synopsis

A revealing history of the formative period when voices of dissent and innovation defied power and created visions of America still resonant today.

The early decades of the nineteenth century saw the expansion of slavery, Native dispossession, and wars with Canada and Mexico. Mass immigration and powerful religious movements sent tremors through American society. But even as the powerful defended the status quo, others defied it: voices from the margins moved the center; eccentric visions altered the accepted wisdom, and acts of empathy questioned self-interest. Edward L. Ayers’s rich history examines the visions that moved Frederick Douglass, Margaret Fuller, the Native American activist William Apess, and others to challenge entrenched practices and beliefs.

Through decades of award-winning scholarship on the Civil War, Edward L. Ayers has himself ventured beyond the interpretative status quo to recover the range of possibilities embedded in the past as it was lived. Here he turns that distinctive historical sensibility to a period when bold visionaries and critics built vigorous traditions of dissent and innovation into the foundation of the nation. Those traditions remain alive for us today.

About Edward L. Ayers

Edward L. Ayers, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, has won the Bancroft and Lincoln Prizes for his innovative histories of Civil War America. He is president emeritus of the University of Richmond, where he is executive director of New American History. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joseph on November 17, 2024

A crisp narrative combined with many good character sketches makes this book well worth reading. The author gives us an overview of the people and events in play leading up to the Civil War years. I found the book to be very convincing, if a bit nuanced. I would have liked to have seen more focus on......more

Goodreads review by Luke on July 26, 2024

American Visions is an accessible panorama of the colorful cast of characters that shaped American culture and politics during a formative period of the nation's growth and self-assertion. Ayers' study is a mixed bag that does certain things commendably, yet nonetheless has a number of shortcomings......more

Goodreads review by Terry on March 05, 2024

We think of our histories as linear: “A” happened, followed by “B” and “C”, leading to “D”. Professor Ayers loosely adheres to this progression, insofar as earlier chapters describe conditions of the Early Republic, while later chapters foreshadow the the Civil War. But chronology is haphazard. The......more

Goodreads review by Jay on June 01, 2024

Based on the positive review from Alan Taylor and winning the Bancroft Award, I thought this book was going to be a little more interesting than it was. It gives you a thumbnail sketch into a lot of different parts of early 19th century life, but I didn’t really get the sense of Visions(s). Felt lik......more

Goodreads review by Dan on January 02, 2024

As anyone who has enjoyed his lectures or his podcast (Back Story) already knows, Ed Ayers is a great storyteller and this book continues to show that talent. This is a great overview of American history of the 19th century prior to the Civil War and it may be the impetus I have needed to finally re......more