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  • Heart of Europe

  • A History of the Holy Roman Empire
  • By: Peter H. Wilson
  • Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
  • Length: 34 hrs and 3 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (87 ratings)
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Heart of Europe cover art

Heart of Europe

By: Peter H. Wilson
Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
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Summary

The Holy Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years, far longer than ancient Rome. Yet this formidable dominion never inspired the awe of its predecessor. Voltaire quipped that it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. Yet as Peter H. Wilson shows, the Holy Roman Empire tells a millennial story of Europe better than the histories of individual nation-states.

Heart of Europe traces the empire from its origins within Charlemagne's kingdom in 800 to its demise in 1806. By the mid-tenth century, its core rested in the German kingdom, and ultimately its territory stretched from France and Denmark to Italy and Poland. Yet the empire remained abstract, with no fixed capital and no common language or culture. The source of its continuity and legitimacy was the ideal of a unified Christian civilization, but this did not prevent emperors from clashing with the pope over supremacy. Though the title of Holy Roman Emperor retained prestige, rising states such as Austria and Prussia wielded power in a way the empire could not. While it gradually lost the flexibility to cope with political, economic, and social changes, the empire was far from being in crisis until the onslaught of the French revolutionary wars.

©2016 Peter H. Wilson (P)2017 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Hugely impressive...Wilson is an assured guide through the millennium-long labyrinth of papal - imperial relations." ( Literary Review)

What listeners say about Heart of Europe

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Rather plain, not going to win any converts.

This is a book written in a moderately academic manner. Not terrible, but certainly not a populist style.
The reader, although clear , does not show any warmth for the subject, and it is presented in a faintly pleasant but emotionless tone. Its not a monotone by by means, but all the facts are presented without any real emphasis.

The result is a fairly characterless listen that while not awful is rather plain. If you are specifically in need of something that covers this exact subject for a professional or academic study, you will find it useful and it certainly could be worse.

However, if you have a more general interest in either historical audiobooks or just audiobooks in general , there are large numbers of such out there that are considerably better and I would recommend trying any number of those over this.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A tragic rendition of an interesting history

This audiobook has a great, but sadly deeply unfulfilled potential. An interesting, intelligently thought out history of one of Europe's untold nation-empires, it is completely ruined by dreadful narration and voice work.

Whilst Wilson's book seems to be an accessible academic work of history, the narration by "Napoleon Ryan" is truly awful. Ryan does a worse than bad impression of Jeremy Clarkson in his delivery, putting pauses where there should be none, and overrunning them when he should not. It gives... a staccato effectthatmakes... comprehension very... difficult. Worse, and perhaps the most unforgivable sin is he clearly used a voice activated microphone, resulting in the first couple of letters or word after a pause is not audible or comprehensible. This renders the entire audiobook unlistenable, and uncomfortable to follow.

The real tragedy of this is that a very interesting work is ruined by shoddy production standards and it cannot be recommended until it is re-recorded.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Bad narator and not really suited for audiobook

Any additional comments?

Two problems:
- Narator sounds artificial like from an action movie trailer.
- Lots of jumping between names and one period to another, it's hard to keep track if you are not closely familiar with history of HRE.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

"The Holy Roman EMMMpiiire"

I really wanted to hear and absorb this audiobook, but all hope of this was cruelly obliterated by the bizarre and clumsy narration. I am fascinated by this topic and I will probably read a hard copy of the book, but I had to abandon the recording, due to the absurd, melodramatic delivery of the narrator. Once you hear his jarring overemphasis of the word "empire", you never want to hear that word again; in a book about the HRE, this becomes something of a problem!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A comprehensive history of the HRE.

What three words best describe Napoleon Ryan’s performance?

I have no idea why the narrator insists on pronouncing some words very rapidly in a mock German accent, as if he is a cartoon general. It's really frustrating when these are titles of characters and institutions as it makes it hard to understand some fairly complex German.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Probably better to read than to listen

Really fascinating and well narrated audiobook, lots of well researched information with well balanced interpretations and conclusions. However I would prefer to have read it physically I think. Because of how hard it is to flick back and forth, I find more linear history audiobooks easier to listen to, whereas this one was arranged by themes, and timelines were hard to follow at times. Still, a good book overall, well worth investing some hours into!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

confusing!

very detailed but presents a confusing picture of empire. not helped by poor and over dramatic reading.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great history, dire narration

This is a detailed and compelling history of the Holy Roman Empire, ruined by truly terrible narration. It's so bad it would be funny, except you've spent money on a performance that would shame a 12 year old's drama recital. Do yourself and favour and buy the actual book - you just can't get into it otherwise

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Stuffy and Pretentious

I love the Holy Roman Empire. It's scullduggery, and intrigue at its historical best. It is very complicated to be sure but this book makes it a snoozefest. It also jumps about a lot and does not dig into the Church enough. I returned it. Did not like the narrator either. It seemed elitist and intellectually snobbish to boot. Shame really. It is a subject much ignored and yet pivotal to European History.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Mr
  • 14-07-20

Good, however...

The story and the writing is engaging but like others have said the narrator is a bit of an oddball. But, give it time, he grows on you

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1 person found this helpful