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Title: 101 Amazing Facts About the Royal Family

Author: Jack Goldstein, Frankie Taylor

Narrator: Jason Zenobia

Format: Unabridged

Length: 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-13-17

Publisher: Andrews UK Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

Are you a fan of the modern generation of royals? How much do you know about the lives of Prince William; his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge; and the rest of the royal family?

In this fascinating audiobook, narrator Jason Zenobia talks us through over 100 facts about royals both past and present, covering areas such as traditions of the monarchy, kings and queens from history, the royal family today and much more. So no matter how much or how little you currently know, this is the perfect book for you.

Members Reviews:

Not that interesting

Was curious to learn the human side of the Royal family. It appears these facts can be found through other media venues. Not original.

Interesting!

If these are true, it makes them more "real". I like to think of that. Always love trivia, fascinating stuff.

A let down!

I was hoping to learn new things about the Royal Family but it was a rehash of commonly known facts that are already known. Don't waste you money!!!

101 things you wanted to know about the Royal Family

I found the little snatches of Royal personalities interesting. It is a quick read and fun. Nothing we did not already know, but fun to read.

101 Amazing Facts about the Royal Family

I enjoyed the book. I a big fan of the royal family. This book is a must read if you follow the royal family like I do.

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Title: Vikings: A Concise History of the Vikings

Author: Stephan Weaver

Narrator: Mike Norgaard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-17

Publisher: Stephan Weaver

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

From the invasion of Britain to the siege of Paris, the Viking age is indeed one of the most tumultuous and formative periods of European history. But what of the forces behind the seismic raids and explorations? What of the ingenious craftsmanship behind the longboats that were beyond their time? Often, a farrago of myths and facts continues to portray a rather foggy image of the Vikings; but could the Vikings truly be the savage seafarers that history condemns them to be? Inside you will learn about:

This book provides a balanced and riveting account of the Viking agefrom its dawn to dusk. Without white washing the savagery of the Vikings, it chronicles the many raids that were undertaken. It also presents another view point of these fascinating people. Employing the latest archaeological finds and various sources, it paints a different yet factual picture of the Vikings. The book delves into the many cultural aspects of the society: religionthe Nordic godssocial structure, cloth, house and much besides. Their celebrated ship architecture is discussed at length, myths are debunked, legends are deliberatedmany facets of this epoch are dilated in detail.

Members Reviews:

Don't waste the money

Anyone with internet access could write this. There were lots of typos, few details, no references. I was hoping for a more detailed, and longer, book. If you want to k n ow about Ragnar--there were about 5 paragraphs on him and his deeds. But don't worry! The book does say Vikings did not wear horned helmets. Thank goodness they clarified!

Junk attempt at a college thesis from a student who probably failed and now is that guy that smells a little iffy

JUNK JUNK JUNK JUNK!!!!! Some grad student wrote this as a failed attempt to graduated with this as their thesis...Come one there is miss spelled words!!! Damn, I am a college educated dyslexic idiot and I caught those. This makes my Honor's these look like it was written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Look it up. Seriously. Right now.

Okay

I felt that this book mainly focuses on the negative aspects of the Vikings, the aggressive pillaging of neighboring coastlines. Most the historical stories written about them were written by their victims Yes, they were aggressive, But they were also way ahead of their time with navigation and exploration and several other aspects of life. I wish they'd stop teaching that "Columbus discovered America". The Vikings were there hundreds of years before Columbus and that is a verified fact. I wish the book had been more balanced in its overall view and that it was less of a "book report" style.

A good introduction

I'm just starting to learn about Vikings and I think this book is great for that. It is the perfect book to discover Vikings. If you are interested but don't want to spend or have a lot of time this book is just the thing. The book is illustrated and easy to read and absorb. No, you won't be an expert but it's a great place to start.

Hoping for more!

This book is a brief overview. Was expecting more but still informative! I should have paid closer attention to description.

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Title: Ragnarok: The Origins and History of the Apocalypse in Norse Mythology

Author: Charles River Editors, Andrew Scott

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-09-17

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

Brothers shall fight /and fell each other,

And sisters sons /shall kinship stain;

Hard is it on earth, /with mighty whoredom;

Axe-time, sword-time, /shields are sundered,

Wind-time, wolf-time, /ere the world falls;

Nor ever shall men /each other spare.

One of the most fascinating elements of Norse cosmology is the fact that its end is foretold in crushing detail. This end of times will come about in a mighty battle called "Ragnarök", an event translated as either "the Fate of the Gods" or (in Richard Wagner's re-imagining) "the Twilight of the Gods." Moreover, not only is the event foretold, but the characters of this drama seem to know of its coming.

The actual description of Ragnarök appears best in the medieval prose text, the Gylfaginning, and the prophetic poem the "Völuspá", but Ragnaröks antecedents are equally fascinating and present a catalog of crimes and errors that led to the fated twilight of the gods. This idea of destiny, of fate, is key to understanding the culture behind these strange tales.

Many of the allusions to characters, objects, and events in the sources available today are still mysterious to historians. Much has been lost to the abyss of time, but, although these references and connections often bemuse people, there is still enough poetic majesty in the sources that have survived to captivate readers and give a sense of what the medieval Scandinavian mindset was. Many people today believe that the Ragnarök is the tale of where all good fails, ushering in a future devoid of hope in which the gods, the supposed progenitors of goodness, ultimately lose. However, an analysis of the legend and its origins makes this viewpoint less tenable.

Ragnarök: The Origins and History of the Apocalypse in Norse Mythology looks at the story and the legendary Norse mythology behind it. Depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Ragnarök like never before.

Members Reviews:

Stuff of apocalytpic prophecies and end times -- most gripping

This book was a very good introduction to Ragnarok and the Norse culture and mythology behind it. Helps me follow the Hollywood movie, THOR RAGNAROK, although the movie really warps the myth. It's neat to place the legend in other medieval accounts--adds a good history to the movie. And I love the ancient-sounding and terrifying poetry, something like prophecy:

âBrothers shall fight

and fell each other,

And sistersâ sons

shall kinship stain;

Hard is it on earth,

with mighty whoredom;

Axe-time, sword-time,

shields are sundered,

Wind-time, wolf-time,

ere the world falls;

Nor ever shall men

each other spare.â

Are there hints of the Christian-Judeo Armageddon? Ragnarok is heading to the "Twilight of the Gods." This idea explores the theme of fate and destiny. The possible end of these gods, and humans associated with them, is most interesting but frightening.

IS RAGNAROK THE END?

No more than 2012 was the end.

To understand a story you must first understand the culture. This book spends quite a bit of time on the various Norse deities and has a lot of poetic predictions.

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Title: Loki: The Origins and History of the Famous Norse Trickster God

Author: Andrew Scott, Charles River Editors

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-07-17

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

Much of what is known of the Norse myths comes from the 10th century onwards. Until this time and, indeed, for centuries afterwards, Norse culture (particularly that of Iceland, where the myths were eventually transcribed) was an oral culture. In fact, in all Scandinavian countries well into the 13th century laws were memorized by officials known as "Lawspeakers" who recited them at the "Thing." The Thing was the legislative assembly in Scandinavia "held for judicial purposes".

One of the most famous of these Lawspeakers was the Icelander Snorri Sturluson, a masterful writer who wrote the Prose Edda in the 13th century. There are other sources for the Norse myths, namely the later "Poetic Edda", a collection of poems and prose work, and other sagas but the Snorri's Prose Edda is the most complete work whose attribution is known to modern scholars.

It is believed that Snorri, a Christian, recorded these pagan beliefs so as to preserve and explain the stylistic poetry of Iceland, particularly the popular descriptive devices known as kennings. A kenning is made up of a base word and a modifying word that is used to describe a separate object. For example, "Gold" had a great many kennings, one of which was "Sif's Hair". If, however, the memory of Loki cutting off Sif's hair and replacing it with gold were lost, then this kenning would make no sense to later generations. There are many of these allusions to the myths and it is thanks to them that the myths have survived.

Members Reviews:

Sooo dry

This recording was so bland I just could not focus. I wanted to enjoy it but oh my goodness. I'm not even sure if the book itself is any good or now, by how awful the recording was. Also I had to slow it way down to hear clearly with how fast he spoke...

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Title: Terms and Conditions

Subtitle: Life in Girls' Boarding Schools, 1939-1979

Author: Ysenda Maxtone Graham

Narrator: Christine Kavanagh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-02-17

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

When I asked a group of girls who had been at Hatherop Castle in the 1960s whether the school had had a lab in those days they gave me a blank look. 'A laboratory?' I expanded, hoping to jog their memories. 'Oh that kind of lab!' one of them said. 'I thought you meant a Labrador.'

As we discover from Ysenda Maxtone Graham's quietly hilarious history of life in British girls' boarding schools between 1939 and 1979, this was a not untypical reaction. Today it's hard to grasp the casual carelessness and even hostility with which the middle and upper classes once approached the schooling of their daughters. Education, far from being regarded as something that would set a girl up for life, was seen as a handicap which could render her too unattractive for marriage, and, with some notable exceptions such as Cheltenham, schools went along with the idea.

While their brothers at Eton and Harrow were writing Latin verse and doing quadratic equations, girls were being allowed to give up any subject they found too difficult and were instead learning how to lay the table for lunch. Fathers tended to choose schools for arbitrary and often frankly frivolous reasons. Hatherop, for example, was popular with some because of its proximity to Cheltenham Racecourse. One girl's parents chose Heathfield 'because none of the girls had spots'. Not surprising, perhaps, that many of them left school without a single O-level.

Harsh matrons, freezing dormitories and appalling food predominated, but at some schools you could take your pony with you, and occasionally these eccentric establishments - closed now or reformed - imbued in their pupils a lifetime love of the arts and a real thirst for self-education.

In Terms and Conditions, Ysenda speaks to members of a lost tribe - boarding school women, now grandmothers and the backbone of the nation - who look back on their experiences with a mixture of horror and humour.

Members Reviews:

Shocking, enlightening, Mallory Towers it was not.

The sheer physical, emotional, and mental pain that was endured in the name of boarding school education, is really shocking.

But its fascinating to see just how tough those girls could be.

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Title: Tower Blues

Subtitle: Solving the Riddle of Confinement

Author: Inga Wiehl

Narrator: Heather Wilds

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-17

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

On August 16, 1661, Leonora Christine Ulfeldt, daughter of King Christian IV and half-sister of the reigning king, Frederik III, is arrested and brought to the Tower on unspecified charges. Unwilling to offer potentially incriminating information about herself and her husband, Corfitz Ulfeldt, Leonora eventually forces the team of high-ranking men sent for questioning to reveal the grounds on which she is held captive: She is suspected of complicity in her husband's acts of high treason against the Danish crown.

Leonora is sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment in a damp, filthy, rat-infested cell that's lit only by a small mesh-covered window just below the ceiling. Given nothing with which to occupy her mind or hands, she must rely on herself for continued survival. As she agonizes about the whereabouts of her husband and seven children, she suffers through the dark night of the soul to wrestle from nothing a life she may sustain. Her well-trained mind and skillful hands find work, and her reborn faith in God straighten her shoulders for the cross she imagines herself to be carrying.

Tower Blues is the story of a woman who, from the beginning and all the days to follow - in castles and in prison - remained interested in the world around her, no matter how sordid or trivial.

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Title: Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy

Author: Arthur Hassall

Narrator: Charlton Griffin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-17

Publisher: Audio Connoisseur

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

Louis XIV, known as the Grand Monarch, or the Sun King, was a sovereign of the House of Bourbon who reigned as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years is the longest recorded of any monarch in European history. In the age of absolutism, Louis XIV's France was the leader in the growing centralization of power.

Louis began his personal rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin. An adherent of the concept of the divine right of kings, Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a centralized state governed from the capital. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and, by compelling many members of the nobility to inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the Fronde rebellion during Louis' minority. By these means Louis XIV became one of the most powerful French monarchs of all time, consolidating a system of absolute monarchical rule that endured until the French Revolution.

Louis encouraged and benefited from the work of prominent political, military, and cultural figures such as Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, the Grand Condé, Turenne, and Vauban, as well as dazzling artists like Molière, Racine, Corneille, La Fontaine, Lully, Rameau, Couperin, Marais, Le Brun, Rigaud, Bossuet, Le Vau, Mansart, Charles and Claude Perrault, Lorrain, Poussin, Le Nôtre, and the brilliant mathematician Descartes.

During Louis' reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three major wars: the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession. There were also two lesser conflicts: the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions. Warfare defined the foreign policy of Louis XIV, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, Louis sensed that warfare was the ideal way to enhance his glory. In peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats that their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military. Under the leadership of Louis XIV, France reached a pinnacle of military, political, economic, and artistic superiority which was the wonder of the world.

Members Reviews:

Where to start

I suggest listening first to The Thirty Years War by Wegwood to gain the right background for this book.

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Title: The Heart and Stomach of a King

Subtitle: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power

Author: Carole Levin

Narrator: Maggie Walsh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-17

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

In her famous speech to rouse the English troops staking out Tilbury at the mouth of the Thames during the Spanish Armada's campaign, Queen Elizabeth I is said to have proclaimed, "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king." Whether or not the transcription is accurate, the persistent attribution of this provocative statement to England's most studied and celebrated queen illustrates some of the contradictions and cultural anxieties that dominated the collective consciousness of England during a reign that lasted from 1558 until 1603.

In The Heart and Stomach of a King, Carole Levin explores the myriad ways the unmarried, childless Elizabeth represented herself and the ways members of her court, foreign ambassadors, and subjects represented and responded to her as a public figure. In particular, Levin interrogates the gender constructions, role expectations, and beliefs about sexuality that influenced her public persona and the way she was perceived as a female Protestant ruler. With a new introduction that situates the book within the emerging genre of cultural biography, the second edition of The Heart and Stomach of a King offers insight into the continued fascination with Elizabeth I and her reign.

The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

Members Reviews:

This book is very intriguing. I was looking for ...

This book is very intriguing. I was looking for a book that showed how women have handled social dynamics from a position of power. I've learned quite a bit from reading about Elizabeth I. There's a lot of power in understanding how people perceived her, how they tried to spread rumors about her several non-existent children (which tells us about humans in general - and uh makes me wonder, do pets spread rumors too?), how she molded her public persona, how she dealt with people regarding a situation she didn't want (marriage). She deals with a lot of people who all want her to do something, each one contradicting the other. The contradicting rumors fascinated me the most though because that is a dynamic women have to deal with, even today.

This isn't a bio, so if you're looking for that, you'll have to read something else.

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Title: The Essential Englishman

Subtitle: A Celebration

Author: Duncan Steen, Nicolas Soames

Narrator: Nicholas Boulton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-28-17

Publisher: Ukemi Audiobooks

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

There is no watertight excuse for this book. It strolls impertinently over ground that has been carefully mapped by the qualified authorities and elegantly appreciated by many devoted amateurs. Its purview is ludicrously broad - nothing less than an exhibition of the Englishman in his more characteristic manifestations through the ages.

It is, wriggle out of it as we would, a hopelessly, damnably patriotic book. However, it is our opinion that the evils of nationalism, cultural hostility, race hatred and fear of social change are best countered by an open regard for the values of one's own society and a cheerful celebration of its virtues - and, on this basis, an honest recognition of its failures and weaknesses.

The Essential Englishman is a fascinating portrait that seeks to define at least some of the Englishman's attitudes, to celebrate his successes, admire his strengths, to glance with understanding at his weaknesses and also to reflect the way that others see him. Recent dramatic political changes make it even more timely for the millennial Englishman to be able to gain, through looking back at history, a quirky if affectionate view at who and what he is.

The picture that emerges is rich in contradictions. The archetypal Englishman, it seems, adores animals yet has a passion for fox hunting; he has founded empires but has an inherent mistrust for anything foreign; he is suspicious of government yet trusts his (unwritten) Constitution implicitly. And while the English possess a profound scepticism about the value of creative endeavour, England has consistently given the world some of its greatest poets, writers, musicians and artists.

Authors Duncan Steen and Nicolas Soames have called evidence for the defence (and occasionally for the prosecution) from more than a thousand years of English literature, history and historical anecdote while witnesses range from Shakespeare to Bernard Shaw, from Dr Johnson to D. H. Lawrence - and a range of foreigners who are bemused yet often view their subjects with a whimsical goodwill.

By turns hilarious, sad, heroic, eccentric, maddening and oddly inspiring, here is the true Englishman - at school, in love, in battle, at prayer, at sport, abroad, or at home in the country. This entertaining and informative book is essential listening for everyone in or out of England, and especially as it forges a new identity within the geographic (if not political) environs of Europe.

Members Reviews:

A really rich listening experience

This celebration of what has characterised an Englishman over the centuries is unique. The book was first published in 1989 and the fact that it doesnt pretend to be an academic investigation gives it a straight-forward, slightly retro and charming air. What needs to be remembered (and is quite difficult to remember this in 2017) is that 1989 was pre-Internet. Today someone planning such a book would probably find the quotations online and just cobble them together.

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Title: Legends of the Renaissance: The Lives and Legacies of Ferdinand & Isabella

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-17-17

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, European

Publisher's Summary:

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? When historians are asked to pick a point in history when Western civilization was transformed and guided down the path to modernity, most of them point to the Renaissance. Indeed, the Renaissance revolutionized art, philosophy, religion, sciences and math, with individuals like Galileo, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Dante, and Petrarch bridging the past and modern society. In Charles River Editors' Legends of the Renaissance, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of the most important men and women of the Renaissance in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, given the title the "most Catholic monarchs" by the Pope during their reign over Spain, are often blamed for some of the greatest atrocities in history. Remembered primarily for commissioning Christopher Columbus's historical voyage to the New World in 1492, they have been assigned blame for the results of the Spanish Conquest, particularly the catastrophes that befell the Native Americans of the New World. But their reign also had profound influences on the European continent, including the barbarity of the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

However, while the modern world finds it hard to look favorably on Ferdinand and Isabella, in their own time they were well-respected, admired, and even presented as a model for other monarchs.

Members Reviews:

Pretty good

A rather good look at the famous monorachs. The emphasis is more on discovery of the New World, but still a rather good ebook. There is more on Isabella than on Ferdinand, but I'm not complaining