The extraordinary story of Andrew Jackson - the colorful, dynamic, and forceful president who ushered in the Age of Democracy and set a still young America on its path to greatness - told by the best-selling author of The First American.

The most famous American of his time, Andrew Jackson is a seminal figure in American history. The first “common man” to rise to the presidency, Jackson embodied the spirit and the vision of the emerging American nation; the term “Jacksonian democracy” is embedded in our national lexicon. With the sweep, passion, and attention to detail that made The First American a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a national best seller, historian H.W. Brands shapes a historical narrative that’s as fast-paced and compelling as the best fiction.

He follows Andrew Jackson from his days as rebellious youth, risking execution to free the Carolinas of the British during the Revolutionary War, to his years as a young lawyer and congressman from the newly settled frontier state of Tennessee. As general of the Tennessee militia, he put down a massive Indian uprising in the South, securing the safety of American settlers, and his famous rout of the British at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 made him a national hero. But it is Jackson’s contributions as president, however, that won him a place in the pantheon of America’s greatest leaders.

A man of the people, without formal education or the family lineage of the Founding Fathers, he sought as president to make the country a genuine democracy, governed by and for the people. Jackson, although respectful of states’ rights, devoted himself to the preservation of the Union, whose future in that age was still very much in question. When South Carolina, his home state, threatened to secede over the issue of slavery, Jackson promised to march down with 100,000 federal soldiers should it dare.

In the best-selling tradition of Founding Brothers and His Excellency by Joseph Ellis and of John Adams by David McCullough, Andrew Jackson is the first single-volume, full-length biography of Jackson in decades. This magisterial portrait of one of our greatest leaders promises to reshape our understanding of both the man and his era and is sure to be greeted with enthusiasm and acclaim.

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Listening Length	25 hours and 57 minutes
Author	H.W. Brands
Narrator	John H. Mayer
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	September 30, 2005
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B000CQK03O
Best Sellers Rank	#11,210 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #46 in Biographies of Presidents & Heads of State (Audible Books & Originals) #100 in Biographies of Politicians #134 in US Presidents

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Clem

Very well written and well balanced

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2016

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"Let politicians handle politics. An honest man has real work to do - Andrew Jackson”

If you’re like me, you’ve probably sat through countless, idiotic meetings at your place of business because you were required to do so. Quite often, these asinine gatherings were led by the leader of your organization. Had Andrew Jackson been alive and worked for 21st century Corporate America, he would probably stand right up in the middle of one of these meetings and walked out the door. If the CEO asked him why he was doing so, he would probably look them right in the eye and say something like “Because, sir/madam, you are one of the most boring human beings on the planet and are wasting my valuable time.”

This man did not suffer fools gladly. He was definitely one of the most colorful presidents our nation has ever had, and it’s always quite a nice change to read about a president who never really wanted to be <president. Such creatures are rare. This was a man who had a very rough life. His parents, who were always struggling, moved to the frontier (now Tennessee) to try to make a living and yet both died leaving Andrew Jackson as a young orphan. From there, he plowed on doing anything he could do to survive.

Although known as the hero for the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812, Jackson’s military career was quite limited. The battle was a whopper, though, and he quickly becomes a national hero. Jackson (so he says) never wants to be President, but war heroes have a way of garnishing attention. He’s happy to oblige the will of the people, so he serves two terms as President before retiring to his native Tennessee.

This is the second biography I’ve read by H.W. Brands, and he’s slowly becoming one of my favorite biographers. He manages to keep his readers interested without a lot of bloated jargon and keeps the narrative going in a quick, yet leisurely fashion. I never felt bogged down by the details. Brands also understands that many of his readers may be unfamiliar with many of the current events, so he also carefully gives his readers helpful background information surrounding many of the events. Example: One thing we read about a lot in this book is the practice of “dueling” – you know, when two men stand back to back, take ten paces, and then turn around and shoot. Well, Jackson participated in many of these events as did others close to him, so H.W. Brands spends just the right amount of time giving his reader a primer on some of the lesser known aspects of the practice.

Currently, Andrew Jackson seems to receive quite a bit of heat because of his outdated racist beliefs (I believe he will shortly be taken off the face of the $20 bill). We must remember, however, that these views were quite common because of people’s surroundings. Perhaps the author gives him too much leeway, but Jackson didn’t come across as particularly harsh when compared to many of his contemporaries. Other than John Quincy Adams (the man who Jackson succeeded as President), you rarely find people that had acceptable attitudes towards race and gender equality up until the late 20th century.

I learned a lot from this book. I liked the man’s attitude, his unwavering stances, and his determination to do whatever it took for his young country to succeed and stay on track. I also found it quite interesting that partisan politics is definitely something that is not new. Despite what many people will tell you, our country isn’t really getting “worse” when it comes to arguing politics. You see this behavior just as fervent in Jackson’s day. It’s just that people didn’t have twitter accounts nor the ability to generate hateful memes to distribute across the virtual galaxy in a matter of minutes.

I sure would like to see someone like this as President again – someone that truly doesn’t want the job, but the majority of people convince him/her that their country needs them.

51 people found this helpful

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Daniel Putman

Jackson and his view of life as constant struggle

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017

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The major impression I had after finishing H.W. Brands’ biography of Andrew Jackson was the often mind-bending harshness for all concerned of what was then Western life. Just like in his great biography of Benjamin Franklin, Brands puts the reader in this case into both the mind of Jackson and into the raw, unvarnished often deeply disturbing reality of life at that time. The brutality of Jackson’s life, both what he experienced and what he caused, comes home to the reader. Jackson’s presidency changed the face of democracy in this country; his military exploits from the Battle of New Orleans to his invasion of Florida changed the country’s destiny. Jackson had a trait that comes through clearly in many places. It was his incredible ability to lead his men and the trust and respect that his men had for him which filtered down to the country as a whole. The precariousness and struggle that dominated frontier existence was a thread that permeated Jackson’s life. It led to the defense of the Union at all costs for the sake of security and to acts, some of them truly brutal, that Jackson justified based on that same need – security. Some of these acts he rationalized as “humane” when they were the opposite. As Brands notes, struggle was the norm for Jackson ever since his parents died when he was young and a British soldier in the Revolutionary War sliced the boy’s head open with his sword for being what the soldier considered insubordinate. The book transports the reader into the early 19th century and into the reality of life for Jackson and the people around him.

As many already know, Brands is a terrific writer. The book flows smoothly, details are spelled out with just the right balance of narrative and quotes, and the pace is never too slow or too fast. Brands gives us the Andrew Jackson that people both loved and detested. I highly recommend this portrait of a man who changed America, for better and for worse.

24 people found this helpful

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Kindle CustomerTop Contributor: Baseball

Excellent Biography

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2018

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This is an excellent biography written by H.W. Brands. It is a very thorough book as he details Jackson's life from his beginnings to his military career and then presidency. Brands does a great job of putting you in the times and trying to give you the reasons of the times and how people felt then. It was certainly a different time. Some of the things people thought then are aborrent to us now but Brands gives us a good idea why certain things were done the way they were. I think its a necessity to try to think along with the times you are reading about and put your self in their position. What someone did like Jackson may not be right but you have to try to see why he thought and acted on certain things the way he did. If you like American history and want to read a biography of Jackson this would be the one to read as it is exhaustive and you really do feel like you know the man much better after reading it.

6 people found this helpful

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Jbaki

An unbiased view of a great American

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2018

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If you are a student of history, then read this book. The current politically correct take on President Jackson is simply wrong. H. W. Brands takes you into the historically accurate times, thoughts and words of one of Americas greatest heroes. I found this book to be extremely well written and researched. Learning about Andrew Jackson in the context of the times, was extremely valuable to understand the man, his actions and decisions.

7 people found this helpful

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Drew

Incredible writing, story-telling, and humanization of the subject.

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2019

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I've read a few Jackson bios, but HW Brands' is by faaaaar the best. It's a shame that he didn't choose a more catchy title. "His Life and Times" sounds like a academic snoozefest, but in reality, Brand's bio is highly compelling and excellently written . I'm sure some would say that Brands isn't sufficiently critical of Jackson's controversial decisions , but what Brands does is arguably more appropriate to biographical writing: Brands contextualizes Jackson's decision making based on the environment that Jackson actually lived in, the experiences that Jackson actually had, and the principles he espoused. Not only do I think this is probably the best Jackson bio available, I think it is one of the best written bios I've ever read.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Jim Bowen

A Decent to Good Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2016

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This book is about Andrew Jackson the 7th President of the United states, and it wasn't a bad book. I covers the early part of Jackson's life thorough, and left me feeling as if I had learned a lot about the guy's upbringing.

My grumble is that having been thorough about his upbringing, I felt that the details about his presidency were less fulfillingly detailed, at least to my mind. It read more as a list of escapades that Jackson got involved in.

The Jon Meacham biography of Jackson only covers Jackson's Presidency, but felt more focused, because of the limits that Meacham had imposed. That made Jackson's Presidential years feel more thoroughly covered.

So in short, I would recommend this book, but I suspect it would read better if read in conjunction with the Meacham book.

10 people found this helpful

HBH

An Excellent Biography of the First Democratic President

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2017

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Andrew Jackson by H.W. Brands is a very good book about one of the great icons of American history. It is well-written, informative and opinionated.

It puts Jackson's life in the wider context of the history of the United States and charts the unlikely rise of this most extraordinary character from an orphan without any formal education, to a much feted military hero and ultimately, to President.

Overall, an excellent biography.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

always a sign of a good book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2016

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A well written 'good read'.Not only informative and balanced about Jackson but also early American politics and society. This could whet your appetite for more about this period ,always a sign of a good book.

One person found this helpful

Europa45

Well worth reading. An illuminating slice of earlier American ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2017

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Well worth reading. An illuminating slice of earlier American history.

Marc Ranger

He died at the right time

Reviewed in Canada on October 6, 2015

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I must admit, Andrew Jackson was instrumental to what the United States are today. He invaded and almost single handedly gained Florida for his country. He defeated a British/Indian coalition in New Orleans. He was the force behind the annexation of Texas. He believed in the principle that people should and could govern themselves. All of those are great achievements.

However, he was a brute, a fierce individual whose only response to any percieved challenge was violence. Thoughout his life, he associated himself with cruel individuals, men like Roger Taney, the man responsible for the Dred Scott decision. A slaveholder and trader, a duelist, a murderer, a deporter of Indians, nothing was too harsh for Jackson to reach his goal.

His mission in life was to preverve the Union, at all cost. Even more so when the cost was carried and assumed by others. Jackson died when Texas was finally annexed by Polk. The result was the 1850 Compromise, and ultimatly, the long-overdue Civil War. He did died at the right time, because he was spared the most difficult decision he would ever have made.

The Union, or slavery?

You know the answer as well as I do.

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