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A Great and Terrible King

Edward I and the Forging of Britain

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A Great and Terrible King

By: Marc Morris
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

This is the first major biography for a generation of a truly formidable king. Edward I is familiar to millions as 'Longshanks', conqueror of Scotland and nemesis of Sir William Wallace ('Braveheart'). Edward was born to rule England, but believed that it was his right to rule all of Britain. His reign was one of the most dramatic of the entire Middle Ages, leading to war and conquest on an unprecedented scale and leaving a legacy of division that has lasted from his day to our own.

In his astonishingly action-packed life, Edward defeated and killed the famous Simon de Montfort in battle, travelled across Europe to the Holy Land on crusade, conquered Wales, extinguishing forever its native rulers and constructed - at Conwy, Harlech, Beaumaris and Caernarfon - the most magnificent chain of castles ever created. After the death of his first wife, he erected the Eleanor Crosses - the grandest funeral monuments ever fashioned for an English monarch.

©2008 Marc Morris (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Great Britain Historical Medieval Royalty England King Scotland Wales War
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What listeners say about A Great and Terrible King

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Entertaining and informative

A balanced and extremely well researched work. If only Mel Gibson could have listened to this book before he made Brave Heart, in the unlikely event he was interested in history!

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Great story

A great listen about a formidable medieval monarch, not frightened to take on all comers. Certainly more authentic than Braveheart!

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2 people found this helpful

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good stuff mostly

Would someone please tell the narrator that Alnwick is pronounced with a hard "A", like "Alpine" or "Alex" or "Alice" and to be less Home Counties. It's genuinely painful. otherwise good so far

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A Great and Terrible King indeed

Fascinating book on Edward I. Quite unique among Kings of our Islands. Well worth a listen. The fact that (as this books tells us) that Edward was the most travelled Ki ING until modern times gives you an inkling of the extraordinary life he led.

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Great stuff

One of the best books I have listened too! Brilliantly read I totally recommend this book.

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5 people found this helpful

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Great Detail

More detail than most, but never boring, very informative, will now be able to bore my grandchildren even more; hopefully some of it will sink in.

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Was he such a Terrible King

This has been the most enjoyable listen, and I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of our early monarchy.

it is well researched and explains the highs and lows during the latter part of Henry III and his son Edward, who would become King Edward 1st.

From his teens until death, the story explains the struggles of Edward, his constant taxes, and personal ambitions.

Failure seems to be the recurring pattern, and his leadership was to be challenged on numerous occasions.

This is a magnificent story, and I was left questioning if he was a Great or Terrible King. The self-imposed power hungry King certainly attempted to be great, but history tells us a different story.

To date, this has been the best book I have listened to. it is told as a life story and was easy to follow and made for very easy listening.

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2 people found this helpful

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Thorough and detailed

This is a thorough and detailed account of Edward I's life and rule. It is well-narrated and fairly well-balanced, although no doubt Welsh and Scottish historians would cast Edward in a slightly less favourable light.

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Colourful and informative

Thoroughly enjoyed the narration, and found something very addictive about the overall narrative.
I would have liked a little more of the authors speculation and illustration to some key famous events, as it did get a little “fact upon fact” at times. Overall a great character and brilliant timeline construction and execution throughout.

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4 people found this helpful

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Loved it!

Great narrating and a well written, well researched book of a fascinating king. I learned much and found it very interesting. I would just disagree right at the very end about the murder of his son. This is not proven beyond all doubt that this was the case.

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2 people found this helpful