Skip content
Celebrate indie bookstores with our limited-time sale! Shop the sale
We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account
IBD balloon logo

Shop the sale

In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Don’t miss out—purchases support your local bookstore!

Shop now

We Were Eight Years in Power

'One of the foremost essayists on race in the West' Nikesh Shukla, author of The Good Immigrant
Due to publisher restrictions, this audiobook is unavailable for purchase in your selected country.
Narrator Beresford Bennett

This audiobook uses AI narration.

We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Learn more
Length 13 hours 38 minutes
Language English
  Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates, read by Beresford Bennett.

From 2008-2016, the leader of the free world was a black man. Obama's presidency reshaped America and transformed the international conversation around politics, race, equality. But it attracted criticism and bred discontent as much as it inspired hope - so much so, that the world now faces an uncertain future under a very different kind of US President.

In this essential new book, peerless journalist and thinker Ta-Nehisi Coates takes stock of the Obama era, speaking authoritatively from political, ideological and cultural perspectives, and drawing a sophisticated and penetrating portrait of America today.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for the Atlantic and the author of the Number One New York Times bestseller, Between the World and Me, winner of the National Book Award, and of the acclaimed essay collection We Were Eight Years in Power. A MacArthur Fellow, Coates has received the National Magazine Award, the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, and the George Polk Award for his Atlantic cover story 'The Case for Reparations'. He lives in New York with his wife and son.

IBD balloon logo

Shop the sale

In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Don’t miss out—purchases support your local bookstore!

Shop now

Reviews

Coates' always sharp commentary is particularly insightful as each day brings a new upset to the cultural and political landscape laid during the term of the nation's first black president. [A] crucial voice in the public discussion of race and equality, and readers will be eager for his take on where we stand now and why It's this timeless timeliness--reminiscent of the work of George Orwell and James Baldwin--that makes Coates worth reading again and again Fiercely passionate, intelligent and clear-eyed Across his oeuvre, Coates' prose style and literary prowess are hip-hop sharpened: he believes in the art of dexterous reference, potent, lyrical critique and political storytelling Coates's probing essays about race, politics, and history became necessary ballast for this nation's gravity-defying moment... Essential Biting cultural and political analysis from the award-winning journalist . . . His conclusions are disquieting, his writing passionate, his tenor often angry.... Emotionally charged, deftly crafted, and urgently relevant essays" Powerfully charged [R]aw and hard to read. You'll never forget his point of view, nor should you Thus, We Were Eight Years in Power serves as a clarion call for vigilance about the possible erosion of African-American advances presumed sacrosanct. Consider these riveting, well-reasoned ruminations of the most-prodigious black visionary around a must-read indeed Expand reviews
Celebrate indie bookstores with our limited-time sale! Shop the sale