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Russka
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 47 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In this vast and gorgeous tapestry of a novel, serf and master, Cossack and tsar, priest and Jew are brought together in a family saga which unrolls through centuries of history to reveal that most impenetrable and mysterious of lands - Russia. Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping family saga from the baffling contradictions of Russia's culture and her peoples - bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears.
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History in the best way
- By Jody on 12-09-19
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The Forest
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 33 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Few places lie closer to the heart of the nation's heritage than the New Forest. Now, Edward Rutherfurd weaves its history and legends into compelling fiction. From the mysterious killing of King William Rufus, treachery and witchcraft, smuggling and poaching run through this epic tale of well-born ladies, lowly woodsmen, sailors, merchants and Cistercian monks. The feuds, wars, loyalties and passions of generations reach their climax in a crime that shatters the decorous society of Jane Austen's Bath.
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The best book I've read in years. Maybe ever.
- By fiona c cross on 28-02-19
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Dublin: Foundation
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Patrick Moy
- Length: 28 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Edward Rutherfurd's great Irish epic reveals the story of the people of Ireland through the focal point of the island's capital city. The epic begins in pre-Christian Ireland during the reign of the fierce and powerful High Kings at Tara, with the tale of two lovers, the princely Conall and the ravishing Deirdre, whose travails echo the ancient Celtic legend of Cuchulainn. From this stirring beginning, Rutherfurd takes the reader on a graphically realised journey through the centuries.
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Thoroughly enjoyable
- By Elspeth on 11-09-18
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Ireland Awakening
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Patrick Moy
- Length: 31 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Following the critically acclaimed success of Dublin, this riveting sequel takes the story of Ireland from the 17th century onwards, picking up at the Reformation, and with it the devastating arrival of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell heralds the inauguration of 200 years of Protestant dominance, throughout which many of the Irish people were impoverished and dispossessed. Dublin is made a Protestant capital, and Catholics become an underclass. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Irish political history, this powerful saga is brought to its conclusion.
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Excellent
- By joyful on 03-11-18
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London
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 49 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A wonderful, epic story that tells the history of the greatest city in the world, from Roman times to the present day. From the author of Paris, Sarum and New York. London has perhaps the most remarkable history of any city in the world. Now its story has a unique voice. In this epic novel, Edward Rutherfurd takes the listener on a magnificent journey across 16 centuries.
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Excellent
- By ms on 13-03-18
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Paris
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Jane Wymark, Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 31 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Inspired by the haunting, passionate story of the city of lights, this epic novel weaves a gripping tale of four families across the centuries: from the lies that spawn the noble line of de Cygne to the revolutionary Le Sourds who seek their destruction; from the Blanchards whose bourgeois respectability offers scant protection against scandal to the hard-working Gascons and their soaring ambitions. Over hundreds of years, these four families are bound by forbidden loves and marriages of convenience; dogged by vengeance and murderous secrets , and brought together by the tumultuous history of their city.
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A good read.
- By Jean on 07-08-13
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Russka
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 47 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In this vast and gorgeous tapestry of a novel, serf and master, Cossack and tsar, priest and Jew are brought together in a family saga which unrolls through centuries of history to reveal that most impenetrable and mysterious of lands - Russia. Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping family saga from the baffling contradictions of Russia's culture and her peoples - bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears.
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History in the best way
- By Jody on 12-09-19
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The Forest
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 33 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few places lie closer to the heart of the nation's heritage than the New Forest. Now, Edward Rutherfurd weaves its history and legends into compelling fiction. From the mysterious killing of King William Rufus, treachery and witchcraft, smuggling and poaching run through this epic tale of well-born ladies, lowly woodsmen, sailors, merchants and Cistercian monks. The feuds, wars, loyalties and passions of generations reach their climax in a crime that shatters the decorous society of Jane Austen's Bath.
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The best book I've read in years. Maybe ever.
- By fiona c cross on 28-02-19
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Dublin: Foundation
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Patrick Moy
- Length: 28 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edward Rutherfurd's great Irish epic reveals the story of the people of Ireland through the focal point of the island's capital city. The epic begins in pre-Christian Ireland during the reign of the fierce and powerful High Kings at Tara, with the tale of two lovers, the princely Conall and the ravishing Deirdre, whose travails echo the ancient Celtic legend of Cuchulainn. From this stirring beginning, Rutherfurd takes the reader on a graphically realised journey through the centuries.
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Thoroughly enjoyable
- By Elspeth on 11-09-18
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Ireland Awakening
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Patrick Moy
- Length: 31 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the critically acclaimed success of Dublin, this riveting sequel takes the story of Ireland from the 17th century onwards, picking up at the Reformation, and with it the devastating arrival of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell heralds the inauguration of 200 years of Protestant dominance, throughout which many of the Irish people were impoverished and dispossessed. Dublin is made a Protestant capital, and Catholics become an underclass. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Irish political history, this powerful saga is brought to its conclusion.
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Excellent
- By joyful on 03-11-18
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London
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 49 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
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Story
A wonderful, epic story that tells the history of the greatest city in the world, from Roman times to the present day. From the author of Paris, Sarum and New York. London has perhaps the most remarkable history of any city in the world. Now its story has a unique voice. In this epic novel, Edward Rutherfurd takes the listener on a magnificent journey across 16 centuries.
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Excellent
- By ms on 13-03-18
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Paris
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Jane Wymark, Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 31 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by the haunting, passionate story of the city of lights, this epic novel weaves a gripping tale of four families across the centuries: from the lies that spawn the noble line of de Cygne to the revolutionary Le Sourds who seek their destruction; from the Blanchards whose bourgeois respectability offers scant protection against scandal to the hard-working Gascons and their soaring ambitions. Over hundreds of years, these four families are bound by forbidden loves and marriages of convenience; dogged by vengeance and murderous secrets , and brought together by the tumultuous history of their city.
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A good read.
- By Jean on 07-08-13
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China
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Length: 35 hrs
- Unabridged
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Performance
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An epic novel of a country steeped in rich history and ancient tradition. Edward Rutherfurd, the internationally best-selling author of Sarum, London, New York and Paris, turns his pen to the bustling modern behemoth that is China - a country full to the brim with a deep, beautiful and sometimes violent heritage. Set from the 1800s onwards, Rutherfurd's beautiful novel explores the modern history of China with all the signature authenticity and interlacing personal stories that make him one of the most beloved authors of our time.
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The Love Knot
- By: Elizabeth Chadwick
- Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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1140. Oliver Pascal chances upon a village raided by mercenaries and rescues the survivors: an orphaned boy, who is the illegitimate son of the old king, and a young widow named Catrin. After escorting them to Bristol Castle, they are accepted into the household of Robert of Gloucester and while Catrin finds herself falling in love with Oliver she becomes bored with the frivolity of court life. Thus when the old midwife Etheldreda offers to teach her the secrets of her ancient art, Catrin agrees.
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A fabulous read
- By Melissa on 04-11-19
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Tidelands
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Alinor, a descendant of wise women, crushed by poverty and superstition, waits in the graveyard under the full moon for a ghost who will declare her free from her abusive husband. Instead she meets James, a young man on the run, and shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marsh, not knowing that she is leading disaster into the heart of her life. Suspected of possessing dark secrets in superstitious times, Alinor’s ambition and determination mark her out from her neighbours.
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Really enjoyed this book
- By Tanya I am very upset to tell you that I have not received these items as yet...Therefore I can not comment on them... I have friends waiting for their Christmas gifts still... Dissatisfied is all I can say!!!! on 22-08-19
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Virgin Earth
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 25 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
John Tradescant the Younger has inherited his father’s unique collection of plants along with his unerring ability to nurture them. But as gardener to Charles I, he confronts an unbearable dilemma when England descends into Civil War. Fleeing from the chaos, John travels to the Royalist colony of Virginia in America. But the virgin land is not uninhabited. John’s plant hunting brings him to live with the native people, and he learns to love and respect their way of life just as it is threatened by the colonial settlers.
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Loved every minute
- By Mrs F Barrow on 17-04-19
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Earthly Joys
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
A traveller in a time of discovery, the greatest gardening pioneer of his day, yet a man of humble birth: John Tradescant's story is a mirror to the extraordinary age in which he lives. As gardener and confidant to Sir Robert Cecil, Tradescant is well placed to observe the social and political changes that are about to sweep through the kingdom.
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An engrossing start which sadly got monotonous
- By Annie on 24-09-19
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The Huguenot Chronicles, Books 1 - 3
- Merchants of Virtue, Voyage of Malice, Land of Hope
- By: Paul C.R. Monk
- Narrated by: David Pickering
- Length: 20 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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A family torn apart. A king with an iron fist. Will their faith be strong enough to survive persecution and reunite? Jeanne is the wife of a wealthy merchant, but now she risks losing everything. Louis XIV's soldiers will stop at nothing to forcibly convert the country's Protestants to the "true" faith. The men ransack Jeanne's belongings and threaten her children. If Jeanne and Jacob can't find a way to evade the soldiers' clutches, their family will face a fate far worse than poverty and imprisonment. They may never see each other again....
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Loved this trilogy
- By Vanjazzle on 08-12-19
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Notre-Dame
- A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Ken Follett
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Born of his admiration for an an iconic cathedral and how it has influenced his own work, this short book about Notre Dame’s history is Ken Follett’s contribution to the fund created to help rebuild it, a fund that will increase with every sale that is made of the book. Ken Follett will be donating 100 percent of his royalties to the charity La Fondation du Patrimoine.
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Too Short
- By Amazon Customer on 08-11-19
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The Game of Kings
- The Lymond Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Dorothy Dunnett
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 21 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1547 and, after five years imprisonment and exile far from his homeland, Francis Crawford of Lymond - scholar, soldier, rebel, nobleman, outlaw - has at last come back to Edinburgh. But for many in an already divided Scotland, where conspiracies swarm around the infant Queen Mary like clouds of midges, he is not welcome. Lymond is wanted for treason and murder, and he is accompanied by a band of killers and ruffians who will only bring further violence and strife. Is he back to foment rebellion? Does he seek revenge on those who banished him? Or has he returned to clear his name?
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My favourite character in all of literature
- By Helen on 30-11-18
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The Stuarts
- The Epic BBC Radio 4 Drama
- By: Mike Walker
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser, Bill Paterson, Blake Ritson, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Eleven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas telling the stories of Mary Queen of Scots and the Stuart royals. Under the Stuarts, Britain entered the modern world. But with great change came turmoil, and for 111 years, the Stuart monarchs faced dynastic struggles, religious conflict, the rise of parliamentary democracy - and civil war. These dramas chart that turbulent epoch through its royal family, from Mary, Queen of Scots to the ‘last Stuart’, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s daughter Charlotte.
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Well worth buying, as were the Plantagenet series (also by Mike Walker) 5* for the story.
- By Rufus on 02-09-19
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The Mirror and the Light
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Length: 34 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere, who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.
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The Serpent's Mark
- The Jackdaw Mysteries, Book 2
- By: S.W. Perry
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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London, 1591. Nicholas Shelby, physician and reluctant spy, returns to his old haunts on London's lawless Bankside. But when the queen's spymaster Robert Cecil asks him to investigate the dubious practices of a mysterious doctor from Switzerland, Nicholas is soon embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not just the life of an innocent young patient but the overthrow of Queen Elizabeth herself. With fellow healer and mistress of the Jackdaw tavern Bianca Merton again at his side, Nicholas is drawn into a dangerous world of zealots, charlatans and fanatics.
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thoroughly enjoyable<br />
- By michael mavin on 27-08-19
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The Falcons of Fire and Ice
- By: Karen Maitland
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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1564, Lisbon. The Inquisition displays its power and ruthlessly spreads fear. Heretics are tortured and burned. Isabela, daughter of the Falconer at the Royal Court, is about to be caught in the Church’s terrifying schemes. The slaughter of two of the King’s precious white falcons sees her father arrested and imprisoned. He and his family will be killed unless the birds are replaced. Isabela decides only she can save her father. These birds are impossibly rare, and she will have to travel far to strange lands to find them.
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Incredibly Impressive
- By mollymoon1 on 30-09-13
Summary
The towering story of five families through 100 centuries of turmoil, tyranny, passion and prosperity from Edward Rutherfurd, the author of London, Russka and New York.
In a novel of extraordinary richness the whole sweep of British civilisation unfolds through the story of one place, Salisbury, from beyond recorded time to the present day. The landscape - as old as time itself - shapes the destinies of the five families.
The Wilsons and the Shockleys, locked in a cycle of revenge and rivalry for more than 400 years. The Masons, who pour their inspired love of stone into the creation of Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. The Porters, descended from a young Roman soldier in exile. And the aristocratic Norman Godefrois, who will fall to the very bottom of the social ladder before their fortunes revive.
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Helen Steele
- 19-08-19
Brilliant read, well worth the effort.
My Mum read this book years ago and she gave it to me. However as I do a lot of train travel I didn't really want to carry it around. I saved it for ages until I moved closer to Salisbury then it became available on Audible. I wasn't bored with it at all and thoroughly enjoyed all 54 hours.
I think it is definitely worth the read/listen. There were parts where I wanted more detail and not to move on. My only criticism is that towards the end it tails off very quickly.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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- Elaine Taylor
- 19-07-19
engaging read
it was very enjoyable, I found it hard to put down. they were engaging stories
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Campesque
- 04-12-19
Vintage Rutherfurd
Another brilliant journey through time from a master of his craft. I come back to Edward Rutherfurd book time and again.
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- Birgit
- 24-06-19
So dull
Having recently moved to Salisbury and knowing nothing of the area, I thought this would be the perfect listen. I wish it was the perfect listen. I read historical fiction because history text books are stodgy and dull - this is as interesting a history text book. I got 4 chapters in and just couldn't bear it - not even for falling asleep at night - so I'm going to have to return it. Shame. I'm just grateful the place isn't as dull as the book!
2 of 8 people found this review helpful
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- mntsmtl
- 22-11-19
Epic story but hard to follow - need reference mat
I enjoyed Sarum but the audiobook experience was sometimes confusing without reference materials like a family tree and a map to place all of the hundreds of characters and places. I was unable to find any such resources, short of buying a hard-copy book, which I did not do.