The Glory and the Dream

A Narrative History of America, 1932 - 1972

By: William Manchester

Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach

This great time capsule of a book captures the abundant popular history of the United States from 1932 to 1972. It encompasses politics, military history, economics, the lively arts, science, fashion, fads, social change, sexual mores, communications, graffiti...everything and anything indigenous that can be captured in print.

The Glory and the Dream chronicles the progress of life in the United States, from the time William Manchester and his generation reached the beginning of awareness in the desperate summer of '32 to President Nixon's Second Inaugural Address and the opening scenes of Watergate. Masterfully compressing four crowded decades of our history, Manchester relives the epic, significant, or just memorable events that befell the generation of Americans whose lives pivoted between the America before and the America after the Second World War.

©1974 William Manchester (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Great book - recording needs to be fixed though

Would you listen to The Glory and the Dream again? Why?

I might listen to it again in the future- as some of the details could need refreshing, and I found the experience relaxing.

What other book might you compare The Glory and the Dream to and why?

I'd compare it to the podcast "Whistlestop" from John Dickerson (of Slate's Political Gabfest and Face the Nation - I purchased this at his recommendation) - it has the same sort of appreciation of the multiple perspectives of history from the big events to the little cultural details that just belies a love of history that becomes infectious.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really enjoyed the section on the Bay of Pigs invasion - I had never understood JFK's decision until I heard the whole story here.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This is audiobook was practically it's own hobby - it's a great value for 1 credit.

Any additional comments?

There were some damaged areas of the audio files, and my attempts to address them with audible support were failures. (Support basically didn't closely read my comments after asking me where to detail the issues with the audio book

Great book but....

The narrator seemed to want to finish the book as fast as possible! It was only listenable at 3/4 speed!

10/30/13 - Simpy one of the best

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is really great. I was skeptical about some of the reviews where the listener heard audio glitches. They must have fixed that because I only ever heard one noticible glitch in a book that is two whole volumes.

I first read Manchester's The Last Lion Pt. 2 - Alone, and I thought he was a great author but this book blew me away. It is a narrivitve history and one that everyone should read and listen to.

I plan on listening to it again down the road, it was that good.

Who was your favorite character and why?

No favorites, there are hundreds.

G&D

If it were possible I would have listened to the whole book NON-STOP. How the book was written it's self is excellent and then only made better by the way it was read. Actually a 5+ in my book. The occassional insertion of interesting asides really added to how it was read.

So Incredibly interesting!

Unbiased History Lesson! Stuff you've forgotten from those Jr. High & HS lesson, recapped here. Fabulous to look back at the lives and times of leaders in years gone by. Hours and hours of interesting stories. Makes you wish, you could've lived 100 years ago to see all the amazing things that have happened over time.