Thomas Becket
Warrior, Priest, Rebel, Victim: A 900-Year-Old Story Retold
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Thomas Becket
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Roy McMillan
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By:
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John Guy
About this listen
From Thomas Becket's early life as a merchant's son and his time as the Archbishop of Canterbury to his assassination in the Cathedral itself, this enlightening book brings to life a colossal figure of British history.
'Lively, effortlessly readable, superb. A beautifully layered portrait of one of the most complex characters in English history' The Times
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This is the man, not the legend . . .
Thomas Becket lived at the centre of medieval England. Son of a draper's merchant, he was befriended and favoured by Henry II and quickly ascended the rungs of power and privilege. He led 700 knights into battle, brokered peace between warring states and advised King and Pope.
Yet he lost it all defying his closest friend and King, resulting in his bloody murder and the birth of a saint.
In award-winning biographer John Guy's masterful account, the life, death and times of Thomas Becket come vividly into focus.
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'Suspenseful, meticulously researched . . . however well you think you know the story, it is well worth the read' Financial Times
'Wonderfully moving and subtle. Reading of the assassination is almost unbearably intense and brings tears to one's eye' Daily Express
'Compelling, marvellously measured, entertainingly astute, and in places positively moving' The Independent
'Scintillates with energetic scene-setting, giving us a tactile, visual feel for early medieval England . . . breathes new life into an oft-told tale' Financial Times
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Would you consider the audio edition of Thomas Becket to be better than the print version?
Although this is a serious biography, Roy McMillan reads with care and sensitivity so the thread is never lost. A print version would give one the benefit of being able to flip back to check the identify of some of the characters who cross Becket's path from time to time, but perhaps it would not convey the overall sweep of his life so well.Who was your favorite character and why?
Obviously in a biography the main character is critical; and Becket is certainly a riveting figure who rose from obscurity to a position of intimacy with the king, and then to a confrontation with him. The account of the character was not always consistent: sometimes John Guy depicts him as shy and uncertain overawed by the king, whilst at other times he is presented as a subtle and skilled political operator who followed his own path. The interaction was not only between these two men (with a panoply of secondary characters), but also between the two institutions they eventually led---the church and the secular state---whose relationship remained unsettled for another 400 years until the confrontation between Henry VIII and Thomas More, which eerily echoes that between Henry II and Becket. The book provides a raft of colourful and interesting details about Becket's life and offers a plausible picture of a man who was surely one of the most remarkable of his age; and even though I was inevitably left with questions, the book sets Becket's life in the context of his times, and describes how he shaped and changed those times.What three words best describe Roy McMillan’s voice?
His voice is pleasant, well-modulated and easy to listen to. There was however a problem: there are, unavoidably in a book of this period, many many French names of places and people; and Roy McMillan's French pronunciation was bad enough to be seriously distracting. It is acceptable to Anglicise all names and pronounce them in the English fashion; but if you want to pronounce them in French, then some basic attention to the rules of French pronunciation (eg the accent always falls on the last syllable) is indispensable. I found this really grated after a while, which is a shame because fundamentally Roy McMillan is a good reader.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. It is a complex story with many subordinate characters and a good deal of detail, and I appreciated being able to pause and think.Any additional comments?
This is one of the few biographies of a man who was colourful, powerful, and unexpectedly radical in his own day, and whose influence has echoed down the ages ever since, even to today: if you see the worn stone steps in Canterbury Cathedral, you cannot help wanting to know about the man whose death so galvanised the world that millions have come to pray at the site of his shrine over the last 900 years. It is well worth a listen!A genuinely remarkable man
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The best telling of Thomas Beckett
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As a result, the author pads out his book with a host of material about Henry's predecessors which is next to irrelevant, but accounts for about a quarter of the book. Next, he gives a critical review of the accounts of Henry and Thomas's interactions. These actions fill the book out and give a worthy analysis of the reliability of 900 year-old texts, but hardly engage the listener. As an aside, the narration is polished and engaging.
The pace picks up as the narrative reaches its climax, but this is really the last 10-20% of the book. Had it not been for some very long car journeys, I am not sure I would have got there.
Hard work, and ultimately unsatisfying.
Very slow to warm up
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The story puts many fables to rights
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