LIBERTY'S TORCH The Great Adventure to Build the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was unveiled 128 years ago, and since then she has been a symbol of American freedom. Andi Ackerman narrates this fascinating account of Liberty's birth, adding a bit of jauntiness for some intriguing characters who are central to her existence. Ackerman provides a serviceably mild French accent for the voice of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the arrogant sculptor who first tried to sell Liberty as a gigantic Egyptian slave for the entrance to the Suez Canal. Ackerman seems to scoff slightly as she reveals Bartholdi's desperately creative fundraising methods. Though the American people of 1886 were perhaps gullible to believe Liberty was a "gift" from France to celebrate shared freedoms, today the statue is a stalwart symbol of American patriotism. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2014]