The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England

Unabridged
Author: Antonia Fraser
Narrator: Wanda McCaddon
Genres: History, Biographies
Publisher: Audio Partners
Date: January 2005
Length: 12 hours, 14 minutes
Ratings:
Formats:
  • CD

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Overview

The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England surveys the epic saga of England's monarchs, spanning ten great dynasties, from the invading Normans of 1066 to the House of Windsor today. Edited by noted historian Antonia Fraser, the book features eight-specialist contributors exploring the complex characters of many royal figures, including Victoria and the enigmatic Richard III. Vividly narrated by stage and screen veteran Wanda McCaddon, this is a glittering celebration of almost 1,000 years of English history, told through the lives and deeds of England's kings and queens.

Selected Reviews

Kings and Queens of England

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 3/5

Superficially Deep

by Paul Crabtree
  • Book Rating: 3/5

More...

Read All 6

Reviews (6)

Kings and Queens of England

Written by Anonymous on January 16th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 3/5

This was not a really bad book, but it didn't go into detail as much as I would have liked. But, it did cover a lot of history.

Superficially Deep

Written by Paul Crabtree on August 2nd, 2006

  • Book Rating: 3/5

Excellently read skim through the history of the British monarchy. If you need some basic knowledge for cocktail conversation, this is your book.

Lives of the Kings and Queens of England

Written by Anonymous on May 11th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. An in-depth history, it's not, but it's a great overview of how ambition, skill and serendipity shaped the formation of a kingdom and empire. The narration is almost uniformly excellent, and the involvement of several contributors to the substance of the text kept the perspectives fresh and interesting.

Too boring to listen to

Written by Anonymous from Turlock, CA on March 2nd, 2006

  • Book Rating: 1/5

I could only stand to try and listen to cd 1 of this set.....unfortunately I had been sent all of them.

Boring Book

Written by Anonymous on January 31st, 2006

  • Book Rating: 1/5

I removed the second set of CD's from my rental list (this was a two-part set) because this book was too boring. Each of the monarch's lives were basically reported as a series of dates.

More than just dates and facts

Written by Robin Fingerson on November 29th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Studying history can be dry, boring, and full of dates to memorize along with lists of people's names and places. This audiobook is anything but that -- each section (dynasty) is written by a different author, which gives each section a slighly different feel, but the vivacious narration brings the highlights of each monarch's reign to life, focusing on perceptions of the kings and queens as people. There are dates aplenty in the text, but they are secondary to discussions of the long-term affect of each king/queen, and their legacy to modern-day Europe. A very fast-moving and interesting version of "history" told as biography.

Selected Reviews

Kings and Queens of England

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 3/5

Superficially Deep

by Paul Crabtree
  • Book Rating: 3/5

More...

Read All 6