American Sirens is about Freedom House, a Black ambulance service from Pittsburgh that set worldwide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) standards and revolutionized pre-hospital care. It also describes Freedom House’s eventual collapse in the face of overwhelming racism.
One Mighty and Irresistible Tide is about how immigration law has changed over the decades, primarily between 1924 and 1965 but also more recently.
Jia Lynn Yang studies the men in positions of power that determined what American immigration law should resemble. She shares their upbringing, private letters, and the context in which they acted.
Ronald White recounts the president’s life chronologically, drawing upon personal correspondence, newspaper articles, reports, and other biographies and memories to inform his work.
As an audiobook, the piece flows easily. One can follow the narrative and get a feeling for the principal figures without strain. For the chapters dedicated to the civil war a map could be useful. In that way, the audiobook may compare unfavorably to the printed version (assuming there are some maps there.)