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A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses
- Brief Histories
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
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A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses
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Summary
A classic account of the bloody rivalry between the dynasties of York and Lancaster for the throne of England. During the 15th century England was split in a bloody conflict between the Houses of York and Lancaster over who should claim the crown. The civil wars consumed the whole nation in a series of battles that eventually saw the Tudor dynasty take power.
In A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses, Desmond Seward tells the story of this complex and dangerous period of history through the lives of five men and women who experienced the conflict firsthand. In a gripping narrative the personal trials of the principal characters interweave with the major events and personalities of one of the most significant turning points in British history.
Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at St Catherine's College, Cambridge. He is the author of numerous studies and biographies.
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What listeners say about A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 29-11-23
Fascinating and informative
Recommended to those already familiar with the history of the Wars of the Roses. Biographies and analysis of 5 key figures of the period. Excellent - with perfect narration.
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1 person 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
- Colboysigma
- 29-11-22
Recommended
Well presented well written and packed full off interesting incites bring the history of the wars of the roses to life.
Highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 11-10-22
A good, engaging listen
Great to dip in and out of and has definitely given me a more well-rounded understanding of the period.
Loved the reader as well! Some of his voices were a little OTT (for instance giving people who were probably only in their 30s or 40s typically 'old man/woman voices) but his reading style was bright and varied and helped to make what could have been quite dry and hard to follow quotes engaging. A great listen for history fans interested in that period.
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1 person 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
- susanne H
- 12-02-18
Stodge
I found this indigestible . The silly voices used by the narrator were very irritating.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. Catherine A. Bellis
- 28-06-16
good book ruined
great book ruined by narrator's irritating use of irritating voices
buy the paper back instead
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Michydog
- 26-03-14
Almost unintelligable as an audio book
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
If you sit down with this and a family tree of the British monarchy of the period you might have a chance of grasping it but if like me you like to walk around pruning roses and listening it's just too complicated to grasp. I suspect the hard copy book is quite interesting as it might be easier to flick back and see the family tree and refer to earlier incidents with the same cast of characters. I was inspired to 'read' the book by the White Queen on TV which I also found hard to follow because we watched it spaced over a long period of time.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Hard copy of the family tree and a note pad to write some sort of diagram of what's going on!
How could the performance have been better?
It was a bit flat in the way it was narrated almost suggesting the narrator didn't get it either. I am reminded of a great review of a book that I read which basically said a great narrator can turn a poor book into a good one; this one didn't really give a great contribution.
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Not for me
Any additional comments?
None
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4 people found this helpful