Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Charles I: An Abbreviated Life
- Penguin Monarchs, Book 4
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Charles I: An Abbreviated Life
Buy Now for £7.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Charles I: An Abbreviated Life by Mark Kishlansky, read by John Sackville.
The tragedy of Charles I dominates one of the most strange and painful periods in British history as the whole island tore itself apart over a deadly, entangled series of religious and political disputes. In Mark Kishlansky's brilliant account it is never in doubt that Charles created his own catastrophe, but he was nonetheless opposed by men with far fewer scruples and less consistency who for often quite contradictory reasons conspired to destroy him. This is a remarkable portrait of one of the most talented, thoughtful, loyal, moral, artistically alert and yet, somehow, disastrous of all this country's rulers.
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Charles I: An Abbreviated Life
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- P.
- 29-05-22
An excellent summary!
A really good summary and starting point for people who want to learn more about Charles I.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- michael Billington
- 25-06-22
Brilliant from start to finish
This a part of the penguin monarchs series which consist of concise biographies of all the Kings and Queens of England from Athelstan in 939 right up to Elizabeth II in our present day.
This series often will use a historian who maybe is a specialist on one monarch and ask them to write on the predecessor of successor of said Monarch which I think is a good idea. The author of this work is clearly a revisionist when it comes to Charles I and as such makes for a refreshing change of emphasis when it comes to this most controversial of our kings.
Charles I the only King of England to be put on trial and publicly executed after losing a civil war which devasted not only England but Scotland and Ireland has traditionaly been seen as a man unfit to be King. And while the author does not go so far as to absolve Charles of the mistakes and terrible decisions which destroyed not only himself but the institution of Monarch, he does show that the parlimentary oppostion to the king was far from being blamless and without its own share of culpability in the descent into the war which was far more brutal than is often imagined.
A well written and narrated short biography of the king who could be so kind and decent in personal relationships and yet present such a cold and remote presence to his people that they could imagine him capable of anything and Charles gave them good reason to do so at times. A great intoduction to the life of a fascinating figure in our history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful