AMERICAN CREATION Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic

The Founding Fathers were living, breathing, complex, sometimes very flawed individuals who lived in extraordinary times. With an upbeat, intelligent, and conversational tone, narrator John Mayer takes listeners on an eye-opening, anecdote-filled journey through America’s political beginnings by examining the evolving philosophies and swaying alliances of five key players—Washington, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, and Jefferson. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joseph Ellis finds their efforts often brilliant (the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the balance between state and Federal sovereignty) and sometimes devastatingly tragic (their inability to abolish slavery and unwillingness to treat Native Americans fairly). In these essays we learn that history is an entertaining, informative, ongoing conversation. B.P. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 08]