Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Last of the Wine cover art

The Last of the Wine

By: Mary Renault
Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Bull from The Sea cover art
Funeral Games cover art
The Mask of Apollo cover art
The King Must Die cover art
Fire from Heaven cover art
The Persian Boy cover art
The Charioteer cover art
The Praise Singer cover art
Sons cover art
The Golden Fleece cover art
Count Belisarius cover art
Dragon Seed cover art
Eleanor the Queen cover art
The Course of Honour cover art
Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle cover art
The Virtues of War cover art

Summary

Alexias, a young Athenian of good family, grows up just as the Peloponnesian War is drawing to a close. The adult world he enters is one in which the power and influence of his class have been undermined by the forces of war, and more and more Alexias finds himself drawn to the controversial teachings of Sokrates.

Among the great thinker's followers, Alexias meets Lysis, and the two youths become inseparable, wrestling together in the palaestra, journeying to the Olympic Games, and fighting in the wars against Sparta. On the great historical canvas of famine, siege, and civil conflict, their relationship captures vividly the intricacies of classical Greek culture.

©1956 Mary Renault (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about The Last of the Wine

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    62
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    61
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    59
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Unforgetable Novel

What did you like most about The Last of the Wine?

This book sparked my interest in Classical Greek history. Since subsequently studying the period in some depth the novel's greatest use is that it fleshes-out the various important events and characters and helps establish a mental map of the period. While Renault uses artistic license the actual bits of history taken from primary texts remain untampered (at least to my basic understanding). The novel certainly brings to life this amazing period and helps colour the fragmentary texts time has left us.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Last of the Wine?

I find many parts of the novel evocative, one example being the opening. Her imagery is powerful enough to engage all your senses so you can feel the morning air and smell the baking bread. Indeed, despite my numerous readings, the book still has the power to move me. For someone who had never visited Greece (so I believe), Renault does an amazing job taking the reader there. And as a bonus, all those terms you're never sure how to pronounce are rendered for you.

What does Barnaby Edwards bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Undoubtedly, the fact he is so 'invisible.' He has the ability to give each character their own voice without putting himself between reader and character.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I remember exactly when and where I was when I first picked up this book - RAF Gatow junior ranks mess, 1983. And the edition I was reading was a yellow covered one. (I've since bought other copies.) I was playing at the Berlin Musical Pageant at the time but the book had such an impact on me that the following year I composed an orchestral suite based on it. It remains the only decent piece of music I composed.

Any additional comments?

As a young gay man in the military, the book probably had a greater appeal and fascination to me. The world of Alexis and Lysis was quite the opposite of the British military of the early 80's where we had to hide our sexuality and were subject to scrutiny if suspected. I like the fact Renault leaves the steamier side of physical relationships to your imagination and quite a few of my straight friends were able to enjoy the book without being put off by sexual details (gay or straight!) For me at least, Last of the Wine joins novels such as Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ode to Billy Joe and The Front Runner, all of which had a profound effect on me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

27 people found this helpful

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

Expertly written and beautifully read.

An interesting account. Renault writes brilliantly and the novel is beautifully read, with the many characters nicely distinguished.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

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

Sparta vs Athens, Sokrates, Alcibiades and more

This is a great story. The book is packed with historical incident and gives the reader a great feel for life in contemporary Athens.
So why not 5 stars. The narrator is not quite top draw. Also, I thought that the first half of the book was a bit dull and maybe the writing style a little dated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Superb rendition of a brilliant book

Beautifully read, with sympathy, colour and character.
An authentic account of this period, and frequently moving even in its understatement.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Really good.

As it happened I’d been reading about Ancient Greek history of the classical period and about Socrates and his fate. From my lay persons point of view this seems so well researched and of the time. I doubt you’ll find a better experience of what life might have been like in Ancient Greece for an average citizen class male, in particular.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

A book to change your soul

Read at your own risk - this book will haunt your dreams and make your soul grow.

Meticulously researched, written in beautifully stark English, Renault brings to life a time and place long gone in a way that will make you smell the food, feel the cloth on your skin and make you swear that, yes, you have walked the streets of ancient Athens yourself!

Set during the Peloponnesian war, the story follows Athens’ struggles in that bitter conflict in a way that makes it more vivid than many current events. It also acquaints you with Socrates and his circle.

Is there no flaws then? Well, sometimes Renault’s Platonic concepts are a bit esoteric. But that is a very minor complaint.

Very nicely preformed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Fantastic way to learn Greek History.

the story is a little slow & pedestrian at the beginning. It gets better when the political intrigue begins towards the end of the war and the clash between the Democrats and the Oligarchs.

We can see how Plato & Socrates diverged in their political views.

if you want to understand better the time period of history from the big issues to everyday life in 440BC, with a more human and realist approach, Renault has given us a method to absorb often dry heavy history in a sometimes gripping and digestible style.

Narrator does a good job, although he crafts the protagonist a little too milksoppish and effete for my liking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Kάλλιστος

A beautiful book, and a perfect performance. The more I come back to it the better it gets.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A classical journey

I haven’t read this one so listened to the audible as we are doing it in an online group. As usual an excellent education in the classics I didn’t do at my school in an interesting and thrilling way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!