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The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations
The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations
The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations
Audiobook14 hours

The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations

Written by John McCain and Mark Salter

Narrated by John McCain and Beau Bridges

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“History matters to McCain, and for him America is and was about its promise. The book is his farewell address, a mixture of the personal and the political. ‘I have loved my life,’ he writes. ‘All of it.’ The Restless Wave is a fitting valedictory for a man who seldom backed down.” —The Guardian (US)

“A book-length meditation on what it means to face the hard challenges of long life and the sobering likelihood of imminent death…A reflection on hardship, a homily on purpose, a celebration of life — and a challenge to Americans to live up to their values and founding principles at a time when both are in jeopardy.” —The Boston Globe

In this candid political memoir from Senator John McCain, an American hero reflects on his life and what matters most.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here. Maybe I’ll have another five years…Maybe I’ll be gone before you read this. My predicament is, well, rather unpredictable. But I’m prepared for either contingency, or at least I’m getting prepared. I have some things I’d like to take care of first, some work that needs finishing, and some people I need to see. And I want to talk to my fellow Americans a little more if I may.”

So writes John McCain in this inspiring, moving, frank, and deeply personal memoir. Written while confronting a mortal illness, McCain looks back with appreciation on his years in the Senate, his historic 2008 campaign for the presidency against Barack Obama, and his crusades on behalf of democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Always the fighter, McCain attacks the spurious nationalism and political polarization afflicting American policy. He makes an impassioned case for democratic internationalism and bi-partisanship. He recalls his disagreements with several presidents, and minces no words in his objections to some of President Trump's statements and policies. At the same time, he tells stories of his most satisfying moments of public service and offers a positive vision of America that looks beyond the Trump presidency. The Restless Wave is John McCain at his best.

Editor's Note

A maverick…

In his frank and moving memoir, Senator John McCain urges his fellow Americans to “recover our sense that we are more alike than different.”

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 22, 2018
ISBN9781508244479
Author

John McCain

Senator John McCain (1936—2018) entered the Naval Academy in June of 1954. He served in the United States Navy until 1981. He was elected to the US House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982 and to the Senate in 1986. He was the Republican Party’s nominee for president in the 2008 election. He is the author of Faith of My Fathers, Worth Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, Character Is Destiny, Thirteen Soldiers, and The Restless Wave.

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Reviews for The Restless Wave

Rating: 4.045454488636364 out of 5 stars
4/5

88 ratings16 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    While I consider myself a liberal leaning independent I have always had an admiration for the Reagan conservative, John McCain. This book gave me a deeper understanding, appreciation and respect for this man and this country by seeing it through his eyes. I was fascinated to learn about his work abroad and how he reached out to promote human freedoms in hot spots around the world. The most important part of the book was his signature straight talk about “thuggish” Vladimir Putin and the chilling warning and failure of his beloved Republican Party to effective respond to this dictator under Trump. It is also a warm hearted story of a restless military man who survived torture to ultimately be blessed to find fulfillment blessed with family and place in nature. Thank you for your service to your country, John McCain.

    4 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    great job with the first time since I've been here for readers.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    He sucks, the book sucks. He's a Traitor to the USA!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bo Bridges does a wonderful job narrating John McCain's life, which is well written and touching.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent piece of writing by a man who used his time here well - The Maverick!
    Rest well John Sidney McCain III.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This is a Self serving, selfish, egotistical and totally uninteresting

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A remarkable book written by a remarkable man. A must read for every American!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is John McCain's opinion on many issues that America is dealing with today. It is his swan song about various topics that he wants to let the reader are important him. I thought that chapter 6 was interesting, in this chapter he deals a little about immigration.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    McCain's last book (with Mark Salter), in which his disappointment with the way things were going is quite evident.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I only read the first chapter of the book that dealt with the 2008 election so my rating is incomplete. I was impressed with his analysis of his Presidential run. He did not blame Sarah Palin and he was very complimentary of President Obama and the campaign that the Democrats ran. He was right in his analysis that the failing economy and financial crisis doomed his campaign.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Best to use John McCain’s own words and Hemingway’s:

    Before I leave I'd like to see our politics begin to return to the pur poses and practices that distinguish our history from the history of Other nations. I would like to see us recover our sense that we are more alike than different. We are citizens of a republic made of shared ideals forged in a new world to replace the tribal enmities that tormented the Old one. Even in times of political turmoil such as these, we share that awesome heritage and the responsibility to embrace it. Whether we think each other right or wrong in our views on the issues of the day, we owe each other our respect, as long as our character merits respect, and as long as we share, for all our differences, for all the rancorous debates that enliven and sometimes demean our politics, a mutual devotion to the ideals our nation was conceived to uphold, that all are created equal, and liberty and equal justice are the natural rights of all. Those rights inhabit the human heart, and from there, though they may be assailed, they can never be wrenched. I want to urge Americans, for as long as I can, to remember that this shared devotion to human rights is our truest heritage and our most important loyalty.

    "The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it," spoke my hero, Robert Jordan, in For Whom the Bell Tolls. And I do, too. I hate to leave it. But I don't have a complaint. Not one. It's been quite a ride. I've known great passions, seen amazing wonders, fought in a war, and helped make a peace. I've lived very well and I've been deprived of all comforts. I've been as lonely as a person can be and I've enjoyed the company of heroes. I've suffered the deepest despair and experienced the highest exultation. I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times.


    Best to finish with Shakespeare:

    “He was a man, take him for all in all,
    I shall not look upon his like again.”
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It pains me to say this, but I found much of "The Restless Wave" incredibly boring. It pains me because I've always had great respect for McCain (even though our ideologies have often clashed). I eagerly awaited my number to come up on the library wait list. I was ultimately disappointed. The author tends to ramble, offer way too many details for even an engaged reader and focuses on sagas that have been exhaustively chronicled or some foreign policy anecdotes that only the "inside baseball" folks would appreciate. It's rare when I skip through chapters -- especially political books. But I found myself racing through sections at least a half-dozen times. Still, there were sections that fascinated me. I was especially interested in McCain's insights into his decision to select Sarah Palin as his running mate in his ill-fated bid for president.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was expecting a philosophical summary of a life well lived and Senator McCain's views on American values. In that area I was not disappointed. His views on current events from immigration to Putin are worth evaluation. The writing could have been more concise. The details of names, dates and locations are overwhelming. And the rehashing of his 2008 president-elect campaign was needlessly long. Worth the read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I didn't grow up in a political household, politics, world views were rarely discussed. At least not in front of us children. Remember my mom swooning over the Kennedy's like many parents. That may be why I don't really affiliate with any political party. I tend to vote the issues and the person, their characters, their experience. In this way over the years I have come to admire John McCain. I didn't agree with all his views, all his stances, but I did recognize his grace, his strength, his integrity, his love for his job and his country, the people. He is now fighting a battle that may be his last, and the words in this book is what he wants to impart to those remaining. I knew I had to read them.His book covers much, his career, his positions on various issues, leaders and the decisions he agreed and disagreed with, his family, his feelings, his diagnosis, and his hopes for the future, even if he is not there to see them. They are not written particularly well, but they are written with honesty, and wisdom. They are touching and stirring in their simplicity. The likes of men that this in our government, men who dedicate themselves to public service because they feel they can make a difference, not for vainglory, but for love of country, is near its end. The old vangaurd, I believe they call McCain, the lion of the Senate, is being replaced with people with little or no political experience, with millionaires and billionaires that can now buy our highest offices, at a state and federal level. How can the country I live in still be considered a democracy? I fear when these elder stateman are gone, so too is the wisdom, the caring, and the dedication they provided.His own words, "Above all else, we must stand in solidarity with the imprisoned, the silenced, the tortured, and the murdered because we are a country with a conscience."I fear Senator McCain even before you leave this Earth, we are no longer that country. I want to thank you for your long service, and can do nothing but wish there were more men and women with a conscience leading our country today.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In the spirit of transparency, I did not support John McCain when he ran for president. However, over the years I have become a fan of his, despite not always agreeing with every policy position he has taken throughout his long career in government. This book describes perfectly why John McCain is a man to be respected, trusted and emulated in so many ways. He discusses the importance of working across the aisle to get things done for the American people, the importance of the United States supporting human rights worldwide as a way for us to be more safe and secure, as well as his hopes for our future, despite the lack of effective leadership in the White House right now. McCain, who is facing a difficult medical situation, should never fear that he has not left a lasting legacy in our nation's history, much like the one left by his friend Ted Kennedy. He is a true American hero, for both his military service and government service, as well as being an example for all to emulate.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I like John McCain; I voted for him in 2008. (In 12 other presidential elections I voted democrat 11 times). I respect him, I think he’s a hero. I believe he is truthful and loyal and a genuine patriot. I am disappointed in “The Restless Wave”; I was expecting better. It rambles a lot and spends lots of time on some very old issues while revealing very little that is new. In the opening chapters, there is a rehash of the 2008 campaign and election and then an awful lot about the mid-East including Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. Later there’s a good deal about Syria. McCain AND SALTER give lengthy summaries of these conflicts, and McCain is interjected into these chapters as a frequent visitor to the scene, a presence for a day or two every six months perhaps. Did he make a difference in any of these conflicts? Based on what I read here, not as much as I thought…..There are chapters and passages though that are five star. He tells of battling with Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor then walking out together arm in arm, enjoying a laugh. He shares stories about Putin and pulls no punches, but then rambles into other areas. McCain shares some very touching, emotional moments, participating in a memorial service at Pearl Harbor and attending services and celebrations at some of our foreign bases when our guys re-up for another two years. He describes how the Senate really works, something that Barack Obama apparently didn’t understand in the early days and consequently was lectured not politely by some of the old pros, namely Kennedy and McCain. There is an especially good chapter on American exceptionalism. Those are great moments in the book; there just aren’t enough of them. Surprisingly there is very little about Trump, and practically nothing on Russian interference in the 2016 election. A big disappointment for me. There are a lot of very good memoirs, histories, and bios (by Meacham, Albright, Comey, Zito, Haas, Clapper) out right now and McCain’s book suffers by comparison. Not what I was expecting.