A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution

Carol Berkin

Mar 2017 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Jo Anna Perrin

About this audiobook

We know-and love-the story of the American Revolution, from the Declaration of Independence to Cornwallis's defeat. But our first government was a disaster and the country was in a terrible crisis. So when a group of men traveled to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to save a nation in danger of collapse, they had no great expectations for the meeting that would make history. But all the ideas, arguments, and compromises led to a great thing: a constitution and a government were born that have surpassed the founders' greatest hopes. Revisiting all the original documents and using her deep knowledge of eighteenth-century history and politics, Carol Berkin takes a fresh look at the men who framed the Constitution, the issues they faced, and the times they lived in. Berkin transports the listener into the hearts and minds of the founders, exposing their fears and their limited expectations of success.

About the author

Carol Berkin is the Presidential Professor of History at Baruch College. She is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Wondrous Beauty, The History Handbook, and Civil War Wives, and has worked as a consultant on several PBS and History Channel documentaries.

Jo Anna Perrin is an accomplished actor who has appeared in film and television, as well as on stage in New York, Los Angeles, and regionally. The narrator of numerous audiobooks, Jo Anna has garnered critical praise from AudioFile magazine, Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.