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Narratives of EmpireSeries

This epic saga delves into the rise and fall of a fictional American empire. It intricately weaves together the private lives of two invented families with the public careers of historical figures and pivotal events. The narrative offers a sweeping exploration of ambition, power, and the shifting landscapes of a nation. Spanning from its dawn to its eventual decline, it provides a compelling and critical perspective on a country's historical trajectory.

Empire
Burr
Hollywood
Lincoln
Washington, D. C.
1876

Recommended Reading Order

  1. 1

    Burr

    • 576 pages
    • 21 hours of reading
    4.1(8936)Add rating

    Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to the post-World War II years. With their broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, the novels in this series present a panorama of the American political and imperial experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly, knowing, and ironic observers. Burr is a portrait of perhaps the most complex and misunderstood of the Founding Fathers. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. Burr retains much of his political influence if not the respect of all. And he is determined to tell his own story. As his amanuensis, he chooses Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler, a young New York City journalist, and together they explore both Burr's past and the continuing political intrigues of the still young United States.

    Burr
  2. 2

    Lincoln

    • 657 pages
    • 23 hours of reading
    4.1(165)Add rating

    "The portrait is reasoned, judicious, straightforward and utterly convincing." THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW In this profoundly moving work of epic proportion and intense human sympathy, Abraham Lincoln is observed by his loved ones, his rivals, and his future assassins. In this brilliantly realized, vividly imagined work of fiction, Gore Vidal gives us a portrait of America's great president that is at once intimate and public, stark and complex, and that will become for future generations the living Lincoln, the definitive Lincoln. "Richly entertaining....For the general reader the elegant explication of the issues of the day gives hearty satisfaction: history lessons with the blood still hot." THE WASHINGTON POST

    Lincoln
  3. 3

    1876

    • 436 pages
    • 16 hours of reading
    3.9(2906)Add rating

    The third novel in the chronology of Vidal's epic NARRATIVES OF EMPIRE, embodying the passage of American history.

    1876
  4. 4

    Empire

    • 592 pages
    • 21 hours of reading
    3.9(2080)Add rating

    The fourth novel in the chronology of Vidal's epic CHRONICLES OF EMPIRE, embodying the passage of American history.

    Empire
  5. 5

    Hollywood

    3.7(1215)Add rating

    Hollywood marks the 5th episode in Gore Vidal's "Narratives of Empire," his celebrated series of six historical novels that form his extended biography of the USA.It's 1917. President Woodrow Wilson is about to lead the country into the Great War in Europe. In California, a new industry is born that will irreversibly transform America. Caroline Sanford, the alluring heroine of Empire, discovers the power of moving pictures to manipulate reality as she vaults to screen stardom under the name of Emma Traxler. Just as Caroline must balance her two lives -- West Coast movie star & East Coast newspaper publisher & senator's mistress -- so too must America balance its two power centers: Hollywood & Washington. Here's history as only Gore Vidal can recreate it: brimming with intrigue & scandal, peopled by the greats of the silver screen & American politics. With a new Introduction by the author.

    Hollywood
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  6. 6

    Washington, D. C.

    3.8(1659)Add rating

    This stunning and illuminating portrait of national politics from the New Deal to the McCarthy era superbly blends historical figures with fictional characters. We follow the lives of Blaise Sanford, the ruthless Washington newspaper tycoon; his son, Peter, a liberal editor both fascinated and repelled by the imperial city; Peter's beautiful and self-destructive sister Enid; her husband, Clay Overbury, a charismatic and ambitious politician; and James Burden Day, the powerful conservative senator. With characteristic wit and insight, Vidal chronicles life in the nation's capital at a time when these men and others transformed America into "possibly the last empire on earth".

    Washington, D. C.
  7. 7

    The Golden Age

    • 467 pages
    • 17 hours of reading
    3.7(978)Add rating

    The magnificent concluding volume of Vidal's epic NARRATIVES OF EMPIRE, embodying the passage of American history. schovat popis

    The Golden Age