Alistair Cooke's America

Sep 29, 2024 9:18 AM

Author:Alistair Cooke,Peter Marinker

For years legendary broadcaster Alistair Cooke brought America to the rest of the world with incomparable wit and wisdom. This is his classic "personal history" of America, guiding us through centuries of changing life in the USA. Beginning with his own arrival in America as a graduate in the 1930s, Alistair Cooke discusses the explorers who put their new-found land on the map, the pioneers who tamed the Wild West, the soldiers who fought for independence and the tycoons who built fortunes. From the Mayflower to the gold rush, the jazz age to Pearl Harbour, with figures as varied as Buffalo Bill, John D. Rockefeller and Martin Luther King, here is the defining portrait of America.

Reviews

one of the most enjoyable Who stories from the Second Doctor’s era, and a worthy addition to the range of novelisation audios

—— http://www.wisbechstandard.co.uk

A heartwarming story and a reminder that in the crazy world of showbiz, anything is possible ... one of the most incredible showbiz tales of our time

—— Heat

A refreshing revelatory and spirit-moving memoir which reads as beautifully as she sings...

—— Irish Independent

Hard to put down

—— The Sunday Times

A revealing portrait of an often misunderstood woman

—— OK!

Movingly told

—— The Times

Grant has approached a well worn topic in a lively and different way... Ever alert to Jamaica's adage that "there is no such thing as facts, only versions," he gives space to the ambiguities surrounding the Wailers' story without forcing conclusions, which bestows a rich sense of the mix of truth and fiction constantly at play in Jamaica... The bigger picture is painted in rewardingly colourful, often revelatory detail

—— Metro

The myth-making that surrounds the memory of Bob Marley has largely obscured the contribution of his fellow Wailers, Neville "Bunny" Livingston (later Bunny Wailer) and Peter Tosh. I and I restores these two to their rightful position

—— New Statesman

Grant...is skilled at peeling away layers of history

—— Observer

There are illuminating details and fresh revelations

—— Independent

This intelligent study...offers something more than the usual story of rags-to-riches and ganja-fuelled Rasta-speak. This book is full of...insights and revelations

—— James Ferguson , Times Literary Supplement

The three pillars - Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer - occupy equal roles in this illuminating study from the cross-roads of music and society

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent, Books of the Year

Utterly riveting

—— Rob Fitzpatrick , Sunday Times

Vivid biography...This brilliant book is not just about Jamaica, but also about ourselves, no longer the country of The King's Speech but a post-imperial nation, many of whose citizens have a buried history of slavery

—— Maggie Gee , Guardian

Masterful biography...It is utterly riveting, taking in, as it does, true crime, West African folk magic and deeply corrupt politics

—— Rob Fitzpatrick , Sunday Times

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