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  • Queens of the Conquest

  • By: Alison Weir
  • Narrated by: Julia Franklin
  • Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (139 ratings)
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Queens of the Conquest cover art

Queens of the Conquest

By: Alison Weir
Narrated by: Julia Franklin
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Summary

In the first volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir strips away centuries of romantic mythology and prejudice to reveal the lives of England's queens in the century after the Norman Conquest.

Beginning with Matilda of Flanders, who supported William the Conqueror in 1066, to the turbulent life of the Empress Maud, who claimed to be queen of England in her own right and fought a bitter war to that end, the five Norman queens emerge as hugely influential figures and fascinating characters.

©2017 Alison Weir (P)2017 W.F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Known for best-selling historical biographies, Alison Weir is in command of her detail." (Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail)
"Weir has a shrewd sense of what will seize the imagination of the keen historical amateur." ( The Independent)

What listeners say about Queens of the Conquest

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating book but at times difficult to listen

The narrator chops the phrases with strong accent on some syllables and sharp unmelodic intonation. This could be irritating and distracting at times... Towards the end I wasn't noticing this as much but found it difficult to immerse into the story because of this.

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17 people found this helpful

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

EXCELLENT ENJOYABLE HISTORICAL MEDIEVAL QUEENS

This is an excellent book for anyone who loves English history and as usual is based on the primary source materials Weir researches for the backgrounds of these UK Queens. Narrated clearly and pleasing which helps to keep the interest flowing.

A book for both those with an interest in royal history and whom are academic. Enjoyable and written with a storyline not just a book of historical information.

A long book; so be prepared for weeks of pleasurable informative listening. I love it.

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13 people found this helpful

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

good story

Despite there being little historical information Alison Weir manages to bring to life some of the strong women behind the thrones in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Alison Weir writes very well but the audible version relies heavily on the skill of the narrator. Unfortunately in this instance I found it was marred a little by the reader who paused in some very strange places mid sentence and either read without inflection or contrarily read as if it were a schoolboy's adventure novel. I found myself focusing on this and missing whole paragraphs some of the time. But apart from that I found it an absorbing and informative book.

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12 people found this helpful

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

Great writing, terrible performance

I agree with the other reviews - love Alison Weir’s material but can not tolerate the narration on this edition. This is the first time I’ve had to give up on an audiobook because of the narrator :(
If it is ever rereleased with a different performer, I would love to continue listening to it.

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10 people found this helpful

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

Bizarre narration

Only half an hour into this and I'm giving up, due to the strange stilted , clipped diction of the narrator. It's a pity because the story is interesting and the narrator has a warm tone of voice but speaks like an automaton

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9 people found this helpful

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

Importance of narrator

What disappointed you about Queens of the Conquest?

The style of reader delivery was so irritating that I abandoned this book
Very disappointing

Has Queens of the Conquest put you off other books in this genre?

No

What didn’t you like about Julia Franklin’s performance?

Staccato, jerky, irritating

What character would you cut from Queens of the Conquest?

N.A

Any additional comments?

No

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5 people found this helpful

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

Breathy delivery but engrossing content

I loved the content of this book, as I have done with all those by Alison Weir. However my enjoyment was a little spoiled by Julia Franklin’s breathy and sometimes disjointed delivery of the text. I found it tended to disrupt the meaning of the narrative and made the sequence of events a struggle to follow.

On the whole I would still recommend this book on the content alone which seemed very thoroughly researched and authoritative.

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4 people found this helpful

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

A great book spiled by indadequate narration

Where does Queens of the Conquest rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pretty high in the Historical Non - Fiction Genre.

What did you like best about this story?

Ms. Weir's unmistakeable style of providing hard information and putting it into context.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Julia Franklin?

Juliet Stevenson can do no wrong.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It's a history, so not really

Any additional comments?

Ms. Franklin's narration was both stilted and gushingly over - acted. This book is the first in a series and if Ms. Franklin is to narrate the rest of the series, then I shall regretfully pass over it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

A Difficult Period

The concept of a multiple biography of the early Norman Queens sounds an interesting one, the problem is that the material the author has to work on is very limited. She could have gone down the road of reciting the Primary Sources (charters signed, donations to the Church etc.) or she could have gone down the road of unsubstantiated speculation. Unfortunately she opted for both. So we are left with often tedious lists of charitable giving spiced up with often groundless speculation about when Royal couples might have ceased conjugal relations.
I was often reminded of those TV documentaries on archaeology that attempt to reconstruct sculptures of faces from half a skull.
Nice try, but she falls between the two stools of academia and pop history. It's not helped by a very strange reading. Someone clearly "got at" the script and placed random full stops and colons in the middle of sentences. Very odd.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • H
  • 10-03-21

The narration is unbearable

It’s the way she pauses at..... random..... You think it’s going to be at the end of a sentence......and sometimes she does........But mostly it......’s when she takes a.....breath.......Annoyed that you don’t get......a discount.......on the book if you own the audiobook.


Avoid....... this for the sake of .......your own sanity.

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2 people found this helpful