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  • The Man from St Petersburg

  • By: Ken Follett
  • Narrated by: Richard Armitage
  • Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (916 ratings)
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The Man from St Petersburg

By: Ken Follett
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
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Summary

Read by Richard Armitage (The Hobbit, Spooks)

The Man From St Petersburg is a dark tale of family secrets and political consequences. Ken Follett's masterful storytelling brings to life the danger of a world on the brink of war.

A Secret Negotiation

1914. Tensions are rising as Europe finds itself caught in a web of alliances and dangerous warmongering. To help tip the balance in their favour, Britain aims to draw Russia into an alliance with them instead of Germany. Czar Nicholas’s nephew, Prince Aleksei, is sent to London for secret naval talks with Lord Walden.

A Play for Power

Walden has a personal connection to Aleksei; his wife is Aleksei’s aunt. And they are not the only ones interested in the Russian's arrival; so too are Walden’s wilful, idealistic daughter, the head of Special Branch, and a ruthless Russian anarchist.

A World at War

With the British desperately needing a signed treaty and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the destinies of these individuals become inextricably linked, as tragedy threatens to shatter the Waldens’ complacency . . .

©2018 Ken Follett (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio

What listeners say about The Man from St Petersburg

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  • JD
  • 23-08-18

Great Read! Great Reader!

This was an enjoyable read. A book set pre WWI is not usually my novel of choice but my lack of familiarity gave me some interesting insights into both historical characters and political situations. I found it a 'page-turner' and it bowled along at a cracking pace, culminating in a great set piece which I could easily envisage because Ken Follett writes well and in exciting detail. My great-great aunt was a suffragette and so I enjoyed meeting Mrs Pankhurst, listening in on her speeches and learning about the maltreatment of the marchers and protestors. KF has us sympathising with all his characters - even the villain - because we see the world through their eyes. A satisfying ending.

The reader, Richard Armitage, was so good that I found myself binge-listening in one weekend. He has a superb voice and does some lovely accents - various cultured upper-class ones, including a youngish Winston Churchill, Cockney, Russian, Irish, Northern. Even his teenage girls sound right. I have a feeling that his reading has made the book seem better than it actually is but I shall give it 5 stars nevertheless because of the enjoyability factor.

Recommended.

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31 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

What a Great Story

I rattled through this story and found it hugely enjoyable and entertaining. I suspect that Ken Follett must have done a lot of research about the events leading up to the Great War and the Suffragette and the Russian anarchist movements before setting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard.) It certainly made for an informative read.

The story is set against the backdrop of the political situation in Europe prior to the First World War and the involvement of Winston Churchill in both the political struggle of the Suffragettes and also the British government's pre-war negotiations with Tsar Nicholas. An aristocrat and ex-politician, the Earl of Walden, is persuaded by Churchill to negotiate with the Tsar's favourite nephew Alexei in order to achieve an Anglo-French-Russian alliance against the re-arming German government. The Earl's wife, Lydia, is Russian and the Tsar's nephew also happens to be her cousin, so all seems set fair for an uneventful negotiation.

But Lydia has a secret past which is unknown to the Earl and their spirited daughter Charlotte develops a keen interest in Votes for Women and social justice when she witnesses a scandalous declaration of support for imprisoned Suffragettes during a debutante presentation ceremony at Court.

Lydia's past life in St.Petersburg comes to haunt her and the Walden family when Feliks, an anarchist sent to kill Alexei and provoke revolution in Russia, discovers her connection to the negotiations and her role in his personal and political misfortunes in the intervening years since they last met. Charlotte, in her burgeoning desire to bring about change within her privileged life and equality within society, becomes embroiled with Feliks and the scene is set for heartbreaking discoveries, fear of discovery, terrorist acts and a shocking conclusion

This was a well-plotted and beautifully characterised novel, told in a sympathetic and spell-binding voice. Richard Armitage, the narrator, has a fantastic range of voices for the male and female characters and it was deeply satisfying to sit back and listen to the story in huge chunks. Just lovely. Top marks on the narration.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, excellently read

Great story, like all Ken Follett books. Well researched. Nuanced characters. Excellently read. It's great that they finally made this unabridged version.

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12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fast-paced and exciting, with great narration

I really enjoyed this audio book. The characters were interesting and the plot bowled along like an exciting adventure, with lots of small detail that added to the sense of realism. The ending was satisfying and dramatic.
Richard Armitage’s narration was excellent, as always, bringing urgency, tenderness and fierceness to the listening experience.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

gripping stuff!

this was my first Ken Follet and I will be back for more. Fascinating interweaving of history and personal drama and Mr. Armitage never fails to do the writing justice with his narration.

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Excellent reading of a poor story

Uhm? I'm not sure what I just listened to. (Spoilers ahead.)

I picked up this book thinking it was going to be a great political thriller about the start of 1914, that usual secret history stuff. It started out like that too, with a fabulous opening scene. It went very well onwards, up to the first assasination attempt. Afterward, I felt it all became very contrived, and the storyline with Lydia so incredibly forced and dull that I wince just to think about it. The same points get repeated again and again, as if we could ever forget what had happened 19 years ago etc. and I found no sympathy for her at all. This eventually extended to Charlotte too when she got so wound up in her own silliness and supposed 'independence'. My favourite character was Lord Walden of course, and it felt very painful to watch his family turn against him. It really feels as if the women especially take so little action in their lives and just fall into the same bad habits that it pained me to my core. Their arcs were weak and predictable, and I cannot believe that the whole family puts aside Feliks' murder of their cousin with such ease at the end. The unrealistic scenarios and how much everyone seemed to fall under Feliks's spell was totally distant to me, I could not understand it. How could Lydia still be so mad for him, after everything? It was honestly really off-putting.
Finally, it must be said that I am surprised how everyone in this story is both blind and a clairvoyant. They can all work things out so clearly, as if they were the narrator themselves, but also blind to the extremely obvious. The end did not feel like closure, especially as we had an arc where the Walden parents were getting closer. It was confused, clumsy and too many 'hot topics' of the era were stuffed into it. I cannot decide who I disliked more; Charlotte or Lydia!

I have read Follett before (Pillars of the Earth) and really enjoyed that. He brought the same attention to detail to the historical reference, culture and 'set' as he did back then, which I anticipated. Richard Armitage is perfect as a narrator, but that's a given.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Historical, romance, drama... Everything you need!

Absolutely loved this book! Will be getting more of his work. Brilliantly read by Armitage as always!

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book

Very enjoyable book, difficult to put down. Little far fetched in places but good story

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4 people found this helpful

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wonderful

I absolutely loved this book. He is such a good writer and this didn't disappoint.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

Ken Follett back to his best. Fantastic listen twists right through to the end. Highly recommended

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3 people found this helpful