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A Brief History of Roman Britain
- Brief Histories
- Narrated by: Lisa Coleman
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
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A Brief History of Roman Britain
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Summary
The rise and fall of Roman Britain, how they lived and what they left behind...
In 55 B.C. Julius Caesar came, saw, conquered and then left. It was not until A.D. 43 that the Emperor Claudius crossed the channel and made Britain the western outpost of the Roman Empire that would span from the Scottish border to Persia. For the next 400 years the island would be transformed. Within that period would see the rise of Londinium, almost immediately burnt to the ground in A.D. 60 by Boudicca; Hadrian's Wall, which was constructed in A.D. 112 to keep the northern tribes at bay, as well as the birth of the Emperor Constantine in third century York. Interwoven with the historical narrative is a social history of the period showing how Roman society grew in Britain.
Joan Alcock is a fellow of the University of South London. She is also the author of A Social History of Roman Britain, as well as A Social History of Ancient Rome.
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What listeners say about A Brief History of Roman Britain
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Maurice Hawthorne
- 10-09-19
Interesting content made unbelievably boring.
This was fascinating facts delivered in a way to cure the worst insomniac through monotonous delivery.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr Andrew J Walley
- 07-03-18
Superb collation of facts
Great insights into all aspects of the Roman period in Britain . Intriguing details of everyday living , food , home decor , religion ,all covered in fluent style .
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- patrick oakley
- 20-01-23
Informative but Dry
I’m very impressed regarding the level of information the author had crammed into this one book. I personally would have preferred the information spread a bit thinner and more emphasis on style and dare I say it, entertainment.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 03-03-21
Bland delivery of one fact after another
I never thought I would encounter a history book that I found boring but ....here you have it. A previous reviewer states that the narrator may as well have been reading the phone book and I concur with this assessment. It is not really the narrator's fault as the "story" about existence in Roman Britain is presented in a one-fact-after-another style that leaves her with little room for developing listener engagement. If you want to know what this book is like then imagine a Bettany Hughes TV series, where Bettany Hughes and her narrative have been replaced with a robot who reads aloud factual sentences that have been written by an accountant.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Darren Bradshaw
- 09-04-21
A list of basic school level facts, mispronounced!
Overall this is very disappointing! It is a list of facts we were taught at school which are blandly listed to you. The narrator mangles and mispronounces both roman and modern names which make it a cringe fest from start to finish.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Gus Honeybun
- 30-12-13
An exercise in tedium
What disappointed you about A Brief History of Roman Britain?
An appallingly dry and boring book. It is a simple listing of facts with absolutely nothing whatsoever to hold your attention. I literally couldn't believe that a) someone had written something so utterly devoid of interest and b) someone chose to publish it.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The reading was fine, but she might as well have been reading the phone book.
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22 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- The Lit Doctor
- 20-01-22
Not Great
I'm not sure who this book is aimed at. It has some interesting nuggets, but for the most part lacks detail, and for the whole part lacks any insight. Some terminology is deployed without definition, and it's safe to say that anyone who understands the terminology will already be more than familiar with the limited content of the book. On the other hand, anyone happy with such a brief overview of the subject is likely to be baffled by the terminology, and no one wants to listen to a glossary on an audiobook, even if it was included.
A bigger problem is the narration. The narrator deploys an almost robotic approach to word emphasis. It's unclear whether this is due to a lack of narration experience or a refusal to engage with the text. In any case, it's a dry, unpleasant listen. One particular error on word emphasis had me laughing out loud, so unintentionally hilarious was the way it diverged from the intended meaning into something scientifically impossible. To be fair, this error could be down to a missing hyphen in the script, but it was unintentionally entertaining, regardless.
There must be better books in this vein out there.
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