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English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
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Summary
Here at last is a history of England that is designed to entertain as well as inform and that will delight the armchair traveler, the tourist, or just about anyone interested in history.
No people have engendered quite so much acclaim or earned so much censure as the English: extolled as the Athenians of modern times, yet hammered for their self-satisfaction and hypocrisy. But their history has been a spectacular one.
The guiding principle of this book's heretical approach is that "history is not everything that happened but what is worth remembering about the past". Thus its chapters deal mainly with "Memorable History" in blocks of time over the centuries. The final chapter, "The Royal Soap Opera", recounts the achievements, personalities, and idiocies of the royal family since the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066. English History will be a welcome and amusing tour of a land that has always fascinated Anglophiles and Anglophobes alike.
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What listeners say about English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable
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- Joe W
- 19-08-21
Good narrator and content
Pretty good detail without dragging it out too much, and a good narrator. Slightly monotonous after a while but I suppose that’s to be expected when we’ve had so many kings & queens over the years! Recommended.
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- Ms. G. Hanson
- 19-08-21
It is appropriately titled.
I found this interesting & quite entertaining, so it was engaging. However, probably not surprisingly considering how little written records of ordinary folks lives, and where the drama was , it is heavy on the history of the monarchy & the most of the rest of the history is religion or politics. It has helped fill in some of my knowledge & understanding which somehow bypassed me in school & since. But I will probably need to listen again, as while the narration is clear it's relatively fast, & between that, the Author skipping forwards or going back a couple of generations, and there being lots of Edwards, Charles (in two countries) & George's it can be tricky to remember who's the subject matter @ any given moment & when/where in timeline you are.
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- Mrs L.
- 19-09-21
Not Quite What It Says On The Tin
Now, this started very well, living up to the title until, oh, part-way through Elizabeth I. Thereafter the remit was discarded - a pity; I was eager for a different approach to the wars in Europe and the interminable bickering of Gladstone and Disraeli. Alas, no. I was tempted to archive it unfinished, but stuck with it because Peter Noble was making a reasonable fist of his job. 20th century was brief, though. The book ends in around 2007, so I suppose it's brief in that way...
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- PK
- 27-03-24
What an incredible piece of work!
I learned so much listening to this book, and enjoyed doing so all the way.
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- John Hanna
- 14-08-21
Fantastic
I have been wanting a general overview of British history for some time now and this book sums it up very well.
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- A. T. Durell
- 17-03-22
Mildly entertaining but
I gave up when all the Romano and Dark Age history seemed to be just closed over pop history without any actual evidence based conclusions.
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- Anonymous User
- 20-05-23
Brilliantly Irreverent
Exactly what it says on the tin, but very informative and insightful into the fallacy that is Great Britain, the conceit that was the British empire and quite possibly, the ‘own goal’ that is Brexit.
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- Carôle
- 10-08-21
An interesting look back. Suitable for non History buffs
I don’t like History, it was one of my least favourite subjects at school. I’m older now and more interested and tolerant of what happened around me and before me, to shape the country of my birth, so this is a good book to play catch-up with.
I’m enjoying it thus far. I may even be learning things as well! I have yet to finish it. I’m taking a break.
Too much history can’t be good for me! 😉 But I’ll be back, because it’s rather intriguing.
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- Some Guy Called Guy
- 06-03-23
Mediocre history.
The history itself is a bit all over the shop. Jumping back and forth sometimes and sometimes a bit inaccurate. Also manages to somehow give a biased opinion while appearing to not, particularly when it comes to recent history.
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- Anonymous User
- 15-09-21
Interesting
Interesting listen… I didn’t much of anything about the British monarchy cept for what we know now and a few of the popular names so it was good it listen to a few stories which has encouraged me to search for mire
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