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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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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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Whilst this is a solid book about an incredibly interesting historical figure I was left a little disappointed. The narrator is ok, she gets the job done and is easy to listen to but very monotone at times.

I came across this book after finishing “The Black Prince” by Michael Jones. I knew it had a different author but I hoped it would be a similar style book as I very much enjoyed the previous book. Whilst this books attempts a similar structure I found it very clunky. Especially early on in this book, you find yourself jumping forward and back in time, often to then only have Gaunt mentions in one sentence. I don’t think it is as good as the book on the black prince but still enjoyable none the less.

However, as Gaunt ages and his father and elder brothers power and health begins to wain Gaunt comes into his own and this book finally shows what it can do. Gaunt is an incredibly interesting figure often forgotten due to the fact he was never king or heir to the throne of England. I find it interesting if people would have been so harsh on Gaunt’s character if he had been in one of those positions instead of a lesser son or uncle.

This book really shown Gaunt’s strengths (loyalty to his family and the crown) as well as his weaknesses (pride and his treatment of the lower classes). As well as showing his role in the lives of his father, brother, nephew and son.

I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys this period of history or to anyone who like interesting historical figures.

A solid book book if you are interested in this time period or interesting historical figures.

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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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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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