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    The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism
    The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism
    The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism
    Audiobook25 hours

    The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism

    Written by Mark Zwonitzer

    Narrated by Joe Barrett

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    John Hay, Lincoln's private secretary and later secretary of state under presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, and Samuel Langhorne Clemens, famous as quot;Mark Twain,quot;#160;grew up fifty miles apart on the banks of the Mississippi River in the same rural antebellum stew of race, class, and want. This shared history drew them together in the late 1860s, and their mutual admiration never waned in spite of sharp differences. In#160;The Statesman and the Storyteller, the last decade of their lives play out against the tumultuous events of the day, as the United States government begins to aggressively pursue a policy of imperialism, overthrowing the duly elected queen of Hawaii; violently wresting Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines away from Spain; and finally supporting a revolution to clear a path for the building of the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal. Stunning in its relevance, The Statesman and the Storyteller#160;explores the tactics of America's earliest global policies and their influence on U.S. actions for years to follow. Ultimately, it is the very human rendering of Clemens and Hay that distinguishes Zwonitzer's work, providing profound insights into the lives of two men who helped define their era.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9781681681610
    The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism
    Author

    Mark Zwonitzer

    Mark Zwonitzer is a writer and director whose work appears nationally on public television. He is currently finishing up work on a documentary about the creation of the transcontinental railroad and hopes to begin working on a documentary about the Carter Family soon. He lives in Connecticut.

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    Reviews for The Statesman and the Storyteller

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    • 4/5
      Samuel Clemens is an enduring interest, and I thoroughly enjoyed this account of the final years of his life, co-mingled as it was with my first exposure to a biography of a Hay. Both biographies are worthy, and the subjects' influence on, and reactions to, the rise of American imperialism is an engrossing subject. Yet this didn't quite scratch the itch I'd hoped it would. Twain's friendship and respect for Hay, despite their substantial differences over the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations' actions in the Philippines never generates a tension in Zwonitzer's writing the way I felt it should have given the import of the subject matter, Clemens's passion on the subject, and Hay's involvement. In some respects, I think this wasn't quite what I expected is because the men, while born in the same general area of Missouri, and close for a time in their young adulthood, were not particularly close late in life, and their was never much, if any, tension between them personally. Had Zwonitzer brought more to bear on the dissonance between these hugely important characters, perhaps been more of an antagonistic narrator with regard his subjects, not only the savagery arising from the strains of white supremacy, Christianity, and oligarchy that drove the politics and policies of the era, a milieu both men were naturally soaked in, I'd recommend this more highly. For Clemens buffs, it's an essential read, I think. For me, it was also a nice buttress for my understanding of the McKinley and Roosevelt Presidencies, the former barely getting mentioned, as I recall, in my history lessons in HS and in college, so I was glad for the chance to learn more about it while reading about Clemens and Hay.
    • 4/5
      Thorough A lengthy examination of American history at the turn into the twentieth century. The author chose to narrate the period through the eyes of two American legends, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and John Hay (President Lincoln's secretary). Both men were seeking to secure their places in history, during this period, the twilight of their lives. The amount of ground covered is immense. The two main characters are sometimes tangentially connected, but the author manages to explore different viewpoints as to America's role using them as his windows into the period. The device works well, succeeding in pulling together difficult points. This is not a book to be rushed through, rather one that should be read a bit at a time, giving the reader the chance to determine his own opinions.