These United States cover art

These United States

A Nation in the Making, 1890 to the Present

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

These United States

By: Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, Thomas J. Sugrue
Narrated by: William Hughes
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $44.99

Buy Now for $44.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

A powerful history of the making and unmaking of American democracy and global power, told in sweeping scope and intimate detail.

In the winter of 1936, Franklin Roosevelt remarked in a fireside chat, "I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making." Certainly apt in the midst of the Great Depression, the idea of a nation in the making still resonates today as we measure the achievements and shortcomings of our democracy. Over the 20th century, Americans have worked, organized, marched, and fought to make the nation's ideals a reality for all. This shared commitment to achieving an American democracy is the inspiring theme of These United States.

Acclaimed historians Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore and Thomas J. Sugrue forge the panoramic and the personal into an authoritative narrative. They give us insightful accounts of the century's large events - war, prosperity, and depression; astute leadership and arrogant power; the rise and decline of a broad middle class. And they ground the history in the stories of everyday Americans such as William Hushka, a Lithuanian immigrant who makes and loses an American life; Stan Igawa, a Japanese-American who never doubts his citizenship despite internment during World War II; and Betty Dukes, a Wal-Mart cashier who takes on America's largest corporation over wage discrimination.

The history begins and ends in periods of concentrated wealth, with immigration roiling politics and racial divisions flaring. Its arc over those 100-plus years raises key questions: How far has our democracy come? Were the postwar decades of middle-class prosperity and global power a culmination of the American Century or the exception in a long history of economic and political division? Gilmore and Sugrue frame these questions by drawing the illuminating connections characteristic of the best historical writing.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2015 Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore and Thomas J. Sugrue (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
United States

What listeners say about These United States

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.