100 Turning Points in American History

by Alan Axelrod Narrated by Richard Ferrone

Overview

Arnold J. Toynbee, the most famous professional historian of the twentieth century, is widely quoted as having declared that “History is just one damn thing after another.” This book argues that history is not about “things” at all but is all about turning points-the decisions, acts, innovations, errors, ideas, successes, and failures on which the shape of a nation's life-our lives-depends. It presents the one hundred points at which America's path decisively turned on its way to where we find ourselves today.

Columbus arrives in the New World

The first slaves arrive in America

Independence is declared

Female suffragists meet in Seneca Falls

Fort Sumter falls

A transcontinental railroad is completed

Edison lights his first electric lamp

FDR offers a “New Deal”

The B-29 Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima

Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon

President Nixon creates the EPA

9/11, Obama, Sandy Hook, Russian election “meddling,” and the Age of Trump

These and many more are the crucial “plot points” in our grand national story, and bestselling historian Alan Axelrod presents them here.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

About Miracle at Belleau Wood (Lyons Press, 2007): “Axelrod is one of America’s great military historians. He’s done it this time with riveting non-stop action that reads like the best of Hemingway’s frontline reports plus the Marine Corps novels of W. E. B. Griffin. Axelrod pushes you right into the action, onto the battlefield, and never lets up. You become a firsthand witness to one of the world’s great battles, proud and heart-pounding as the elite force, the Devil Dogs, are born in a small forest outside Paris. This is one book I wish I’d written!” —Paul B. Farrell, JD. PhD, syndicated columnist for DowJones’s MarketWatch and former staff sergeant, USMC “Alan Axelrod has perfectly captured the embodiment of U.S. Marines and their unparalleled esprit de corps … As a former Marine, I find Axelrod’s descriptions of the combat in that bloody battle for which the Corps became legendary—and which is the foundation of its mythic lore—compelling and gut-wrenching. Miracle at Belleau Wood puts the reader in the front row, witness to the heroism and ups and downs endured by the Marines as they defeated the Germans at overwhelming odds. A must read!” —Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman, USMCR (Ret.), best-selling author of From Baghdad with Love “Axelrod brings us back vividly to the shocking casualties of ‘the war to end all wars,’ opening up fresh insights into the nature of the fighting and the decisions that shaped a generation.” —Bing West, correspondent for The Atlantic, award-winning author of ten bestselling books on the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, former Marine, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense In ‘‘Miracle at Belleau Wood: The Birth of the Modern U.S. Marine Corps,” Alan Axelrod has demonstrated his mastery at portraying battle at its most brutal and bloodiest. The fight for Belleau Wood is like a bayonet in the belly every step of the way. The distant mirror that Alan Axelrod shows us reflects the fearful face of life and death in World War I. —Paul Weishaupt, Marines: The Corps’ Official Magazine, October-December 2007 About Patton’s Drive: The Making of America’s Greatest General (Lyons Press, 2009): “Like Patton at his best: [Alan Axelrod’s writing is] polished, precise, and persuasive.”—Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175172943
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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