informative, holds your interest throughout

very informative, crash course on the sequence of events during that time giving a detailed insight to the landscape, the individuals involved and the suffering of the people

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Fabulously Told, Humanising History

An entertaining and informative testimony of the age, explored largely through the point of views of those who lived through it. As a historian, I already knew a fair bit about the time, yet I found myself frequently listening to details I'd never known. It takes us on a journey into the streets - and often living rooms - of Londoners dealing with changing mores in the arts and science, as well as the honeymoon uncertainty of a restored monarch. Then war, plague, more war, fire and yet more war, alongside resilience, lessons learned and rebuilding. I felt like I knew the individuals personally as their stories interwove into the whole telling. No dry history this, but an engaging one doing its job of testifying to tumult that unfolded and the changes that resonate to this day.

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1 person found this helpful

Dramatic, personal, illuminating

A very interesting book, filled with personal and specific details which enable one to get a sense of 'what it was like' to live in 1666. This book is, however, very highly dependent on the diaries of Pepys and Spencer, making much of the text a retelling of their recollections rather than anything broader. As a result of the sources used (and, no doubt, the author's interest), this is not so much a history of 1666 in England as of 1666 in London specifically; the plague as it effected the rest of the country is mentioned only in passing and the economic and social effects of the war and fire outside of London are not discussed. This is disappointing. Nonetheless, this is a very interesting book to which I enjoyed listening, and one read well and intimately by Fullford-Brown. (I don't echo the criticism in other comments regarding her performance.)

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Great History

Brilliant and full of detail. So many facts about the time and so illuminating.

Recommended

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3 people found this helpful

Evocative

This book was evocative of time and place with suitable quotation from contemporaries.

I found the narration very accomplished and appropriate conveyance for the content.

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Brilliant

love this book! it's so dense in detail I've listened 3 times and still hear new things. The Plague bit is really harrowing. Beautifully read.

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London, England

1066, 1666 dates that most English schoolchildren remember - the Battle of Hastings and the Great Fire of London. This book puts the fire into context of the times: the continual wars with the Dutch, alliances and conflicts with other European neighbors, the plague and finally from the ashes the Phoenix of the new London of bricks and mortar, a skyline dominated by Wren’s St Paul’s and his other churches which are still part of the fabric of London.

The story is a bit dry to begin with but soon becomes an absorbing tale of naval battles, the mounting numbers of plague deaths and the the great fire that for four days was master of the great city with extracts of eye witness accounts of these events including the inimitable Samuel Pepys.

I am not sure that it should have been a woman narrator, but it did remind the listener that the author was a woman with a scholarly but woman’s point of view of this period.

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4 people found this helpful

I can’t find fault

Very well read and even well written but I came away thinking, did I actually hear anything I didn’t already know? All the usual ground was covered with the same characters, but nothing new seemed to be deduced. Perhaps the ideal book for the casual history buff. I think the title is a little off as at least a third of the events occurred in 1665 but I doubt the author had much to do with that, on the whole a good listen.

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2 people found this helpful

Loved it

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It took me a while to get into but once I did I was hooked. There's enough detail for me to feel I got a good idea of what was going on, but not so much that I felt bogged down in names and dates. The bits about the plague were shockingly relevant to the state of things today, right down to pubs closing! I bought this as a kindle book as well and will get a paperback copy too at some point so that I can lend it to everyone I know.

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1 person found this helpful

An enjoyable swing though the year.

I really enjoyed this. Just the right balance of detail and pace to keep you interested.
Vivid descriptions, good characterisation & geopolitical background. An enjoyable day trip though an historic year.

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