On the Road cover art

On the Road

Adventures from Nixon to Trump

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

On the Road

By: James Naughtie
Narrated by: James Naughtie
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

 The acclaimed author and BBC broadcaster on US politics and the American dream, from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump.

James Naughtie, the acclaimed author and BBC broadcaster, now brings his unique and inquisitive eye to the country that has fascinated him and drawn him across the Atlantic for half a century. In looking at America, from Presidents Nixon through to Biden, he tells the story of a country that is grappling with a dream. What has it come to mean in the new century, and who do Americans now think they are?

Drawing on his travels and encounters over forty years in the ‘Land of the Free’, On The Road is filled with anecdotes, memories, tears and laughter reflecting Naughtie’s characteristic warmth and enthusiasm in encountering the America of Washington, of Broadway, of the small town and the plains. As a student, Naughtie watched the fall of President Richard Nixon in 1974, and subsequently as a journalist followed the story of the country – its politicians, artists, wheeler-dealers and the people who make it what it is, in the New York melting pot or the western deserts. This is a story filled with encounters, for example with the people he has watched on every presidential campaign from the late 1970s to the victory of Joe Biden in 2020.

This edition is fully updated to include Naughtie's fascinating insights on the controversial presidential election battle in 2020 between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.©2020 Jim Naughtie. All rights reserved (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, UK. All Rights Reserved. Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government United States World Richard Nixon Thought-Provoking Dwight Eisenhower

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Making of Modern Britain cover art
A Year at the Circus cover art
Killers of the King cover art
UnPresidented cover art
The Road Taken cover art
Incomparable Grace cover art
A Long Time Coming cover art
Keep Talking cover art
A Certain Idea of France cover art
After the Fall cover art
The Luckiest Man cover art
The Fall of Boris Johnson cover art
The Promise and the Dream cover art
Charles Wheeler cover art
What Just Happened?! cover art
The Fate of Abraham cover art

Critic reviews

'Everything you would expect of a James Naughtie book - droll, absorbing and wonderfully perceptive.' (Bill Bryson)
'Naughtie has been there, done that and got the bumper sticker. Now 50 years of adventuring is distilled into a revealing and at times spellbinding tapestry of a nation in all its glories and complexities…This is the rarest of reads, a book that makes you ache to hop on a plane and sample this extraordinary country for yourself. It is thought-provoking, constantly surprising and hugely entertaining. Sublime stuff.’ (Michael Simkins)
'It's a fascinating pleasure to encounter an outsider who sees America clearly with fresh eyes.' (P.J.O'Rourke)
'This book is first a memoir of his experiences which have included covering every Presidential election from Reagan to Trump... There are lively descriptions and acute observations of politicians in action... Delightful and always informative... This is an illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable book.' (Allan Massie)
'An insightful account of living through momentous times...much to enjoy in Naughtie's astute memoir.' (Martin Chilton)
All stars
Most relevant  
James Naughtie brings his charismatic style in a personal journey of American politics and their increasingly divisive effect on the American homeland and their political establishment. The effect of Trump and the stark contrast with previous political crisis is interesting. The greatness and political acumen of pre and post Obama and his own research into Lincoln fascinating. Compelling and brilliant narration by James...wish he would do more

Warm, incisive and compelling journey of America

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So good to hear the familiar dulcet tones of James Naughtie reading his own memoirs. These cover some four decades+ of reflections on, and recollections of, the USA. The chapter on Venus and Mars - divided America - is the outstanding one for me. Disappointed not to have had more on the Obama years. Superb context for this year’s Presidential election dramas. Not quite Alistair Cooke but close. Michael.

Venus and Mars

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this tale of James Naughtie's relationship with America and it's Presidents over 6 decades. I particularly enjoyed hearing it read by James.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of my favourite political historical books ever with the narrator describing everything in such a subliminal way

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Naughtie’s atmospheric evocation of everyday America digs deep beneath the surface. It is elegant and elegiac, suffused with melancholy and a sense of loss of a USA now just out of reach. You get a feeling for the country and its people but also a sense the America visited in earlier years is a ghostly echo of the country it has become. I am left feeling less hopeful about the future of the USA but with a much greater understanding of how we have arrived at this point.

Elegant and enlightening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I could listen to James Naughtie reading the weather forecast and be entertained. There is more than just a wonderful speaking style to this book though, so much more. It is packed with illuminating facts and sometimes hilarious anecdotes that leave the reader wanting for more. Cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A simply wonderful book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent insightful writing and superb presentation. must be Non Fiction Book of the Year. IMHO.

Superb storytelling .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An excellent, interesting analysis. James Naughtie travels the US to speak to its citizens and also gives a well- considered analysis of the presidencies. I really enjoyed the book.

Loved it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you are an admirer of Donald Trump this is not a book for you. Mr Naughtie excoriates Trump so completely that at times I wanted to look away. The old lefty does not pull his punches, yet there is more to this book than a Liberal rant, there is poetry in his description of small town America. A train journey to New Orleans, a late night walk in George Town and, best of all, a Thanksgiving in New England immediately after 9/11. Those who loved (as I do) this pen portraits of American campaigns on the Today program will enjoy this book

James does not like the Donald

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed listening to this, I didn't really know who James Naughtie is and picked this up on a bit of a whim but very much enjoyed the meandering path through politics and American culture over the past few decades. Well narrated with plenty of personality and history and a great read in the backdrop to the 2020 election.

Truely charming book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews