Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation (Hardcover)

by Cokie Roberts (Author) "FOR THE FIRST TIME, Americans mourned as one..." (more)
Key Phrases: orphan asylum, joshua johnson, Dolley Madison, New York, Louisa Adams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In Founding Mothers, Cokie Roberts paid homage to the heroic women whose patriotism and sacrifice helped create a new nation. Now the number one New York Times bestselling author and renowned political commentator—praised in USA Today as a "custodian of time-honored values"—continues the story of early America's influential women with Ladies of Liberty. In her "delightfully intimate and confiding" style (Publishers Weekly), Roberts presents a colorful blend of biographical portraits and behind-the-scenes vignettes chronicling women's public roles and private responsibilities.

Recounted with the insight and humor of an expert storyteller and drawing on personal correspondence, private journals, and other primary sources—many of them previously unpublished—Roberts brings to life the extraordinary accomplishments of women who laid the groundwork for a better society. Almost every quotation here is written by a woman, to a woman, or about a woman. From first ladies to freethinkers, educators to explorers, this exceptional group includes Abigail Adams, Margaret Bayard Smith, Martha Jefferson, Dolley Madison, Elizabeth Monroe, Louisa Catherine Adams, Eliza Hamilton, Theodosia Burr, Rebecca Gratz, Louisa Livingston, Rosalie Calvert, Sacajawea, and others. In a much-needed addition to the shelves of Founding Father literature, Roberts sheds new light on the generation of heroines, reformers, and visionaries who helped shape our nation, giving these ladies of liberty the recognition they so greatly deserve.

About the Author

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and a senior news analyst for National Public Radio. From 1996 to 2002, she and Sam Donaldson coanchored the weekly ABC interview program This Week.

In addition to broadcasting, Roberts, along with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, writes a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. Both are also contributing editors to USA Weekend, and together they wrote From This Day Forward, an account of their now more than forty-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto the New York Times bestseller list. Roberts is also the author of the bestsellers Founding Mothers and its companion volume Ladies of Liberty. A mother of two and grandmother of six, she lives with her husband in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006078234X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060782344
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,141 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #17 in	Books > Nonfiction > Women's Studies > History
  #21 in	Books > History > United States > 19th Century > Antebellum
  #95 in	Books > History > United States > Revolution & Founding

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My wife was right! (again)., April 9, 2008

By	Joe Grundig "Analyst" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not a big reader of nonfiction, and when I saw the cover of this book it made me yawn. My wife really wanted me to read it though so I was forced to give it a try. I was familiar with Cokie Roberts as a Political commentator but not an author, so first let me say Cokie has an engaging writing style that brought the stories of these women of history to life. Cokie is a gifted story teller and these true stories about the Ladies of Liberty had me turning the pages faster then I imagined. The stories of Martha Jefferson, Dolly Madison, Abby Adams, Eliza Hamilton, and even Sacajawea fascinating and I was enlightened to learn of there accomplishments through many difficulties. We have all heard the stories of the founding fathers, but here is the story of the founding mothers. Along with Across the High Lonesome my favorite book so far of 2008! (and both books were recommend by my wife!).

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Founding Fathers' "Significant Others", April 12, 2008

By	Bart King (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed Cokie Roberts' earlier book, Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, and on the basis of that, I gave LADIES OF LIBERTY a spin.

While I know a little bit about US history, Roberts' new book contains material that is a revelation. The letters of former First Ladies and other women who were on the scene at the founding of our nation provides the primary source material. Their takes from yesteryear on topics as diverse as infant mortality, foreign policy, and hats (!) gives a new and much-needed perspective on life and culture in early America.

While women are obviously and profoundly influential on historical events in America, Roberts had to closely study their correspondences to learn how. (In other words, "traditional" histories aren't necessarily helpful in this regard.) While perusing the letters of an age gone by, the author shows her eye for the telling (and juicy) anecdote, and she does an excellent and witty job of putting these words from yesteryear into context for the contemporary reader.

As what I've written so far reads like well-meaning blather, the best way to share my thoughts is this way:

Highly recommended!

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A DAME !, April 22, 2008

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

As fascinating as a today tell-all Ladies of Liberty is full of vignettes and episodes that reveal the strength, courage and perseverance of America's early heroines. Not only are there personal revelations regarding many of these women but also reminders of how a young country struggled to grow.

Sometimes with only a few pages acclaimed journalist/commentator Cokie Roberts captures the essence of the women who played such an important role in our history. Among those included are Abigail Adams, Martha Jefferson, Dolley Madison, Martha Washington, Theodosia Burr, and Sacajawea.

Strength was the hallmark of many in this sisterhood as we are reminded that for five years Boston born Abigail Adams was separated from her husband, John, while he attended to matters in France, Holland and England. As always during that period he relied upon her to be his faithful reporter of doings at home. Not only that but it was also her task to support their family by tending to their farm, selling whatever John sent from abroad, raise their young children, and care for ailing relatives.

Of that period in his mother's life John Quincy Adams later wrote, "My mother with her infant children dwelt, liable every hour of the day and night to be butchered in cold blood, or taken and carried to Boston as hostages."

It is quotations such as the above taken from journals, diaries, and personal letters that make the stories of these women so vivid as they fulfilled both their personal and public roles.

Reading the words of Cokie Roberts is very much like listening to her - she is a marvelous storyteller, casting a spell with her words and drawing us in. Ladies Of Liberty is a remarkable work and a valuable contribution to the annals of our history.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke