or

Special Offer

Download for Free with
Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Start your free trial at Audible.co.uk
Alistair Cooke's Letters From America: The Elections (Unabridged)
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Alistair Cooke's Letters From America: The Elections (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

by Alistair Cooke (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
List Price: £9.71
Price:£5.09, or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial membership
You Save:£4.62 (48%)
At Audible.co.uk, you can choose to download any of 60,000 audiobooks and more, and listen on your Kindle™, iPhone®, iPod®, Android™ or 500+ MP3 players.
Your exclusive Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial membership includes:
  • This audiobook free, or any other Audible audiobook of your choice
  • Save up to 80% off the price of the CD equivalent
  • Members-only sales and promotions

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £8.99   -- --
Hardcover, Audiobook --   -- --
Paperback £5.99   -- --
Audio, CD, Audiobook £9.06   -- --
Unknown Binding --   -- --
Audio Download, Unabridged £5.09 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Product details

  • Audio Download
  • Listening Length: 1 hour and 17 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Unabridged
  • Publisher: AudioGO Ltd.
  • Audible Release Date: 25 Nov 2008
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002SQ57L6
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

    •  Would you like to give feedback on images?

Product Description

Five specially selected letters from American election years, based on the BBC Radio 4 series 'Cooke's Elections'.

Starting with Truman's surprise victory in 1948 and concluding with another surprise win, that of George W. Bush in 2000 - he comments on opinion polls, democracy, the difference between Democrats and Republicans, Bill Clinton's fashion sense and what Clinton's symbolic rejection of 'the blue blazer' meant to the American political system. In each letter his unique style of expression and analysis shines through.

Also includes an introduction by Justin Webb and links.

©1948 The Estate of Alistair Cooke; (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customer Reviews

3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I left England to live in the United States for one year last August, there was only one book I took with me - Alistair Cooke's 'Letter From America'. What else could I have taken? Cooke saw into America like no other Brit (or no other non-American, for that matter).

Starting at the mid 1940s, the book winds its way through post-war America nearly right up until the authors death in 2004, picking out the best of his weekly broadcasts. The subject matters range from politics, history, current affairs, entertainment and topics from the New England fall, jazz, Robert Kennedy's assassination (which he witnessed first-hand) and the O.J Simpson trial.

But it is not the subject matter that makes this book so special (for we already know about most of them anyway) it is none other than Cooke's insight and writing style. The articles flow like the finest novel or poem (which is probably attributed to Cooke's background in theatre). Each time you come back to read the book again it feels as though you are receiving the opinions of a familiar friend, and not some distant journalist.

There are drawbacks. Cooke was often criticised, and quite rightly so, for ignoring the darker side of the American dream. The other possible drawback, depending on your viewpoint, is that Cooke was a committed conservative, particularly in the latter half of his career. Many of the final articles from the late 90's and early 00's lament the current position of America and (what he saw as) the sliding standards of journalism. Maybe, but you also can't help feel that by this point he was slightly out of touch.

These minor quibbles, however, cannot undermine Cooke's overall achievement of helping us better understand this important nation, which could more accurately be described as love letters to America.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. N. Morgan VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ah! That voice! Alistair Cooke had the voice that could be listened to for hours on end i.e. a sort-of cool, mellow, slow-burning voice. In fact he was one of the few people I've ever heard who could spend 15 minutes telling you almost nothing - and yet make it sound interesting!

The collection includes letters broadcast from the late 40s right through to the last few he wrote... but there's a caveat: and that is, that a lot of the letters are not the ORIGINAL recordings, but they were re-recorded (by Cooke himself of course) I would guess sometime during the late 80s/early 90s.

The collection loses one star for this... shame on you BBC! I know the original recordings still exist as a fair few of these letters were broadcast just after his death earlier this year in the BBC's "Letter From America - A Celebration" series, so why the original recordings weren't used I don't know. The sound quality was considered too poor I suppose. To me this does detract from the enjoyment as I would have liked to have heard again how his voice sounded all those years ago (I remember several of the 1960s letters that are featured very well).

But don't let this put you off buying the set, it's still a very good "listen" and it IS the voice of the man himself!

The collection also contains a bonus: Alistair Cooke at the BBC. I haven't listened to this yet, but it's contents look promising.

Recommended.

Was this review helpful to you?
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By G. Wake VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I have been listening to Alastair Cooke's broadcasts for many years, always finding something rewarding in them: a reference to an age before I was born, a different view point about an issue or something everyone else appeared to have missed. Cooke brought the ordinary into the major world events, showed the human side to many a major story and gave others the chance to see a perspective only obtainable through many years of hard work and intelligent inquiry. This book only contains a tiny number of the vast quantities of Letters from America but they are worthwhile letters; reading these samples of nearly sixty years of broadcasting provides a special insight into many issues, historical events and people largely forgotten or interpreted differently by a modern audience. Much of the most interesting content of the book is simply that of an old man explaining how the world changed in his lifetime: Cooke tells of the constants that he believed would last forever that new generations have never even heard of. It's worth reading for that warning alone. Regardless of the fading of the world Cooke knew his letters are both timeless reflections on people's nature and historically important records of a not so distant past. Some of the letters are included in the BBC audio CD collection but most are not so even if you have those recordings this book is still a worthwhile read. It's a different kind of America to that seen on the TV and movie theatre screens.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Exellent
Sublime!!! The master at work. Effortlessly.. Every story a pleasure. all set around the events of their time.
Listen and learn ... He's the voice...
Published 1 month ago by Paul
Letter from America - Alastiar Cooke
Very pleased with prompt delibery and price - excellent service. I would have no hesitation in using this seller again.

B McGonigal
Published 13 months ago by B. McGonigal
FIRST CLASS DELIVERY
Here are 102 of the 2869 letters for over fifty years presented by Alistair Cooke until weeks of his death at the grand old age of 95. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. D. L. Rees
An Inspiration
Wishing to take a break from just listening to music, I was looking for something different to load onto my MP3 player. Read more
Published on 13 April 2010 by John Russell
Fascinating
It's taken me the better part of 5 months to read this book, it really isn't the kind of thing you sit down and read in large chunks. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2009 by Sulkyblue
Stirring
The doyen of radio broadcasting does not disappoint on this collection of some of his earlier letters from America. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2009 by Turner
Iconic
Sadly, many of the great icons of broadcasting in the twentieth century are slipping away from us, but at least we have their broadcasts and their work to remember them by, and to... Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by Emanon
An Alistair Cooke fan since the 1950s is delighted
Having listened to A. Cooke, bought his book America, this collection
completes my pleasure at this genius's style, language and poetry.
Published on 4 April 2009 by Wilson Barrie
Perfection
Its not too much of an exageration to say that this book is an oversight of 20th century usa. Alistair Cooke's letter is something i came too only a few years before his death and... Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2008 by Mark42
Wonderful; Touching; Wise
"A post mortem collection of the famous "Letter from America" series written and broadcast on the BBC over a staggering period of 58 years and 2,869 broadcasts. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2006 by Philip Mayo
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Look for similar items by category


Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2012, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates