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The Red Prince

The Life of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster

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About this listen

Medieval history from a rising star in the field, this is a biography of one of the most important figures of the age, John of Gaunt.

John Gaunt was the son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV, and the sire of all those Tudors. He has had pretty bad press: supposed usurper of Richard II’s crown and the focus of hatred in the Peasants’ Revolt, as they torched his home, the Savoy Palace.

Helen Carr paints a complex portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, patronized the arts - and, if you follow Shakespeare, gave the most beautiful oration on England: “this sceptred isle...this blessed plot.”

The Red Prince is an engrossing drama of political machinations, violence, romance, plague, revolt, and tragedy played out at the cusp of a new era.

©2021 Helen Carr (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing Europe Great Britain Medieval England Middle Ages Royalty Tudor Shakespeare
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It is always really nice to have the author voice their creation and Helen has a lovely audio presence easy on the ear and British in accent ( because this is British history albeit probably spoken with a French accent at Court). She brings the society of the day to life with detail that is well received by the listener. This sort of thing connects today with 600 years ago and demonstrates that we are just the same as our forefathers and mother's. Perhaps more educated perhaps not.

While I was aware of "plot spoilers", the extra detail, when it came, was with the reaction " I did not know that" which made the journey through the life of a fascinating character all the more enjoyable. Thanks Helen.

A Lancastrian nicer than a Lannister

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The story is a good one, that for me was let down by flat narration. Which is sad because the author is doing the narration. Not always the most sensible choice - an Actor might potentially give a different emphasis and rhythm to the narrative. Which would I think make all the difference here - the monotone droning on for hours meant I gave up halfway through. I'd switched off to do the Ironing.

Disappointing narration

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As a non historian who lives near Aljubarrota in Portugal with an interest in 14th century history , I read the book to see how the author was going to tackle the life of John of Gaunt.
Overall, a pretty good job given that she had to make careful choices on where to focus. Personally. I would have welcomed a bit more coverage form a Portuguese perspective, especially as his daughter Filipa de Lencastre is known as the Godmother of Portugal. I'm sure the author is aware of Fernão Lopes as another contemporary source who provides information from the Portuguese perspective of the joint expedition into Castille.
Presentation is standard lecturer style. I can forgive the pronunciation of Sluis and João. but not Harwich!

Good biography of an important 14th Century figure

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very much enjoyed the overall story and in particular the fascinating details and use of sources.

fascinating details

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Loved the content and the narration both by the author. Not sure what some other people are hearing but we al have opinions and mine is that this is an excellent book and if you love history, it a must read/listen.

Great!

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