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A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons
- Brief Histories
- Narrated by: Eleanor David
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
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Summary
Starting AD 400 (around the time of their invasion of England) and running through to the 1100s (the 'Aftermath'), historian Geoffrey Hindley shows the Anglo-Saxons as formative in the history not only of England but also of Europe. The society inspired by the warrior world of the Old English poem Beowulf saw England become the world's first nation state and Europe's first country to conduct affairs in its own language, and Bede and Boniface of Wessex establish the dating convention we still use today. Including all the latest research, this is a fascinating assessment of a vital historical period.
About the author: Geoffrey Hindley is an acclaimed Medievalist. His many books include The Shaping of Europe, Saladin: a Biography, The Book of Magna Carta, and A Brief History of the Crusades.
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- Ace
- 22-04-21
excellent narrative
this is a brilliant book - excellent detail and easy to follow. would highly recommend this book
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- Jim
- 23-11-13
A bit "listy"
The topic is fascinating; Saxons dominated large part of England for well over 500 years; they had a strongly creative culture, sophisticated political systems and let's be honest, they were cool. Thousands of guys who look like Robert Plant weilding battle axes; how can that be anything other than a good listen. The problem in this instance is that we get a very comprehensive picture of the Saxons in England from their arrival here to just after 1066 but it began to feel like a survey and I found myself periodically getting a bit bored. It's not a bad book, the author really knows his stuff and it's well produced but it just didn't come to life for me
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10 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 24-11-20
History as told by an Alfred the Great fanboy!
A decent synthesis marred by a frustrating insistence on “English” exceptionalism, which weakens explanations of the cultural complexities of the age and its nation-making projects.
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- AMD
- 15-10-20
irritating
excellent book marred by truly awful narration. very frustrating. very detailed history of a fascinating subject
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- caterine riley
- 29-10-17
very good
an in-depth history of British history of Saxon times an enjoyable book. over quite a few hours good it has chapters to stop and restart.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Gen
- 07-03-20
My first audiobook
loved it. My first audiobook and loving history, this is a great book. Could not rate it enough.
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1 person found this helpful
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- DJ Clifton
- 12-04-21
Heavy at times, plenty of detail
Great narration, found Eleanor very clear and easy to listen to. While the subject matter is excelleny it is very date and name heavy and requires a good deal of concentration and several times I needed to re-listen to parts I missed. Chapters are bases on subjects rather than being in a chronological order so there is a lot of jumping back and forth.
My biggest critisism would be the lack of any content on the day to day life or practices of the Anglo-Saxon people; obviously history is centered on Kings, Queens, wars, politics and religion, but there is a wealth of archaelogical findings to be able to include some detail on this subject in order to tie in the comings and goings of history's famous personages with the not-so-famous ones.
Over all an excellent book and one I have listened to three times already and will continue to do so.
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- Joy
- 02-01-16
What it means to be English
What did you like most about A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons?
This is a period of history about which I know little. This book certainly changed that! Very well written based on meticulous research.
What did you like best about this story?
It shows that Britain has always been subject to people of different cultures coming to settle in these islands. We have for centuries been a multi-cultural society. Despite the sweeping changes the Norman invasion brought to Saxon England - still traditional 'Saxon' practices were not completely wiped out. For example, farm tenancies in Kent were based on Saxon law until the 1920s! This book has a lot of lessons for the UK today.
What does Eleanor David bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Ms David has a very nice voice to listen to. This cannot have been an easy book to read out loud and she did an excellent job - although she mispronounces some Dutch words!
Any additional comments?
I liked this book so much I'm going to buy the hard copy.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Ambrose Duffy
- 29-08-20
Tough going.
Comprehensive but very academic and dry. It covers many of the key aspects of the time period but the writing is very dense and the narrator's monotone delivery is also difficult.
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- J L Walton
- 14-07-20
excellent. succinct account of our history
excellent
succinct account if our history. well read. easy to follow.
thanks. I enjoyed it
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