THE MEN WHO UNITED THE STATES America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible

At first, Simon Winchester’s British accent might seem an odd fit with this audiobook. It is, after all, a slice of Americana, recounting the stories of the men (yes, they’re all men) who turned the pluribus into the unum with their treks, travails, and technologies. It takes listeners from Lewis and Clark’s exploration to the building of the railways and the interstate highways, and from the telegraph to the Internet. But it’s quickly evident that Winchester—who was born and raised in England but became an American citizen in 2011 at age 66—is actually the ideal narrator. The audiobook is sprinkled with stories from his own life, and his reading sounds genuine and heartfelt, maintaining a pace that’s brisk without sounding hurried. D.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2013]