Listen Legally to Popular Titles Full Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

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Title: Governator

Subtitle: From Muscle Beach to His Quest for the White House, the Improbable Rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Author: Ian Halperin

Narrator: Greg Itzin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-12-10

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 32 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

Who is the real Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Investigative journalist and number-one New York Times best-selling author Ian Halperin reveals the true and untold story about this larger-than-life and often outrageous figure

From his childhood in Austria to his rise as a star of American conservative politics, the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger's life reads like the script of a Hollywood B-movie penned by Horatio Alger. In this exclusive peek behind the curtain, award-winning scoop hunter Ian Halperin wades through the myths and rumors to discover the real Arnold behind the icon, a man defined by unbridled ambition and an unending quest for power.

Based on extensive research, undercover forays, and candid interviews with many of the Terminator's close friends and peers, Halperin brings the myth to life with:

And finally, Halperin uncovers the never-before-told details of an incredible and audacious plan for Schwarzenegger to attempt to rewrite the Constitution and run for president of the United States.

Members Reviews:

A very interesting, well written and read story.

I really enjoyed this book. It seemed like a fair account. Even though there is quite a bit of negative controversy throughout Mr Schwarzeneggars life there is still a place for great admiration. He truly understands the secrets of success which he has applied throughout his whole life.

Balanced

A fairly balanced take on Schwarzenegger, from his childhood, bodybuilding days, to Hollywood and the Governor's mansion. Doesn't shy away from the controversies while at the same time is a bit sensationalist at times though that is probably warranted given the subject. The author's inherent fondness for his subject shines through.

Starts good, ends poorly

Good information and well-referenced. My biggest problem is that the author sometimes tries to pass speculation as truth and offers his personal, Canadian, socialist opinions to judge Arnold's political policies as tries to pass them off as main-stream American.

could not get into the story due to the narrator

What disappointed you about Governator?

the narrator had to strong of an American accent and i could not get into the story

What do you think your next listen will be?

attached

How could the performance have been better?

not as strong american accent in the narrator

What character would you cut from Governator?

none

Any additional comments?

no

Great story

Would you listen to Governator again? Why?

Great listen, covering many aspects of Arnold life not covered by his autobiography.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kurt Marnul

What about Greg Itzins performance did you like?

Enjoyable - I found his imitation of Arnold voice a little laughable, and sometimes the way he said something Arnold did - took away from the seriousness or true message of what Arnold was saying. E.g. when Arnold starts talking about first lifting weights - that moment was his "struck by lightning" moment, the liight that would drive him even until today. If u listen to Itzin, it sort of makes a mockery of this serious point.

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Title: Start the Car

Subtitle: The World According to Bumble

Author: David Lloyd

Narrator: David Lloyd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-27-10

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

David "Bumble" Lloyd is a legend in our living rooms, a genuine "good bloke" all cricket fans feel they know inside out because of his infectious, larger-than-life personality and that distinctive Lancashire burr.

Bumble has become the one constant for passionate English fans in cricket's rapidly changing landscape. He has earned cult status as a commentator and pundit, with viewers loving his unerring dedication to the game's great fables.

The World According to Bumble: Start the Car revels in the quirkier and humorous side of cricket, while offering behind-the-scenes action of Lloyd's years spent following cricket around the globe, from Accrington to Lahore.

Bumble waxes lyrical on everything from the genius of Shane Warne to the merits of a Lancashire hotpot and the delights of finishing the day with a couple of pints and a curry.

Enjoy the camaraderie that exists among the SkySports team - including former England captains Sir Ian Botham, Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, and David Gower - and laugh out loud at the stories and anecdotes which have forged Bumble's character.

Whether he is holding up play to retrieve lost balls from the top of sight-screens, or enacting mock pitch reports from car parks, Bumble is capable of stealing the limelight at all times.

Members Reviews:

Bumble Grumble

The lovely, true to Lancashire, Bumble tells a usual sports autobiog. At times, he presents an almost creepy toe-licking, obsequient acknowledgement of Sky's wonderful TV service. He is no writer. A tedious monotony of anecdote, and then poorly presented - a cliche ridden monologue. Cricket on TV is exciting to see and his apposite comments are memorable, but how dull to hear these tales and comments which are dry and lack lustre out of context.

It may be fun for him, but it does not transfer to an audience. His mates are world names, but he falls down, as many sports biographies do, on fawning to the names he drops at a regular basis. He is no Arlott, no Johnston, sadly.

A really enjoyable listen

Thought this was a book that would make me smile and it did not disappoint. Only part I did not enjoy was a bit in the middle where he read various newspaper reports but overall a fun time was had and I will be following this up with another of bumble's books.

He has a great voice to settle you down, he sounds like everyone's favourite uncle.

Bumble at his best

Where does Start the Car rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

A great listen with Bumble reading it is special for all cricket fans

What did you like best about this story?

I liked all the anecdotes

Have you listened to any of David Lloyds other performances? How does this one compare?

this is the first I have listened to, but won't be the last

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Difficult to make this into a film, but the tag would be "Bowled over"

Any additional comments?

Any cricket lover would love this

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Title: Why England Lose

Subtitle: And Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained

Author: Simon Kuper, Stefan Szymanski

Narrator: Colin Mace

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-29-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

Why do England lose? Why does Scotland suck? Why doesnt America play the sport internationally and why do the Germans play with such an efficient but robotic style?

Using insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology and business to cast a new and entertaining light on how the game works, "Why England Lose" reveals the often surprisingly counterintuitive truths about soccer.

No training in economics is needed to read Why England Lose. But the listener will come away from it with a better understanding not just of football, but of how economists think and why they know.

Critic Reviews:

"Why England Lose is an Arsene Wenger of a book - more thoughtful than most of its rivals and, by football standards, positively intellectual." (The Times)

"It is rare, even after the great leaps football literature has taken in the past two decades, to find a book that takes the breath away, but Why England Lose does. Every page engages, entertains and challenges the lazy assumptions that still dominate football, not merely in its punditry, but all too often in the way that clubs are run." (FourFourTwo)

Members Reviews:

Good, not great

What did you like best about Why England Lose? What did you like least?

a) A book of stats, tables and numbers, this does not translate very well to audio

b) Cannot fault the narrator, he does a good job

c) The content is new, fresh and innovative. A book like this should have been written a long time ago. Kuper is a legend, of course.... 'Football with the enemy' remains one of my favorite sports books.

d) The content is also the bane. I believe the authors try to say too many thing in this book. What's covered here has the material for maybe three books.... Therefore, there are individual chapters of impeccable analysis and brilliant insight, and other rather tepid ones.

As a book, it is somewhere down the middle. And for all the people who say that football (soccer) is too low scoring, too random and too fast / continuous even, to be figured out via stats, you are wrong. They said similar stuff about baseball before Bill James.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Colin Mace?

Yes.

audible spreadsheet.

This book provided me with some extremely fascinating views on football in general and make me realize that England can't win a world cup. The reading out, at length, of spreadsheets with hundreds of data entries makes this book unbearably boring in parts.

Not just why England (will) lose!

One of the best listens I've had in ages. If you like football stats or are interested in economics & how that effects football (not as boring as it sounds) get this book now.

The title of the book over emphisises the first chapter of it (it is attention grabbing though & as a Scot, quite comforting!) It covers a whole range of things from attendances per capita, judging European Cup winners on population size & type of government & how surprisingly little effect team managers have on the game! Very enjoyale & really got me thinking long after it finished.

Great analysis of the contemporary soccer world

The authors are probably right, many soccer followers are also stat nuts and table lovers. I know I am.

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Title: Blue Skies and Black Olives

Subtitle: A Survivor's Tale of Housebuilding and Peacock Chasing in Greece

Author: John Humphrys, Christopher Humphrys

Narrator: John Humphrys, Christopher Humphrys

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-01-09

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

Here is Radio 4's Today presenter and national treasure John Humphrys' funny memoir of building his home in Greece with his son, Christopher.

It was a moment of mad impulse when John Humphrys decided to buy a semi-derelict cottage and a building site on a plot of land overlooking the Aegean. A few minutes gazing out over the most glorious bay he had ever seen was all it took to persuade him. After all, his son Christopher was already raising his family there so he would help build the beautiful villa that would soon take shape. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything. John was to spend the next three years regretting his moment of madness.

Some of it had its comic side. He learned to cope with a drunken peacock falling out of his favourite tree and even a colony of rats invading his bedroom. Some of the humans proved trickier: the old man demanding payment for olive trees in the middle of John's own land; the neighbour who dragged his lovely old fishing boat onto the beach and set fire to it after a row with his wife. And, of course, the builders. Was the plumber who electrocuted him in the shower vengeful or merely incompetent?

John learned a lot about Greece in a short time. He grew to love it and loathe it in almost equal measures, but was never for a moment bored by it. And Christopher learned a bit more about John. Their shared experience revived keen memories for him of growing up with a father for whom patience was never the strongest virtue.

Here father and son capture the idyll and the odyssey as paradise is found, lost, and regained.

Members Reviews:

Very enjoyable.

Really easy to listen to. very well narrated and interesting. Took me there with them and I could picture it well. John Humphrys and his son good voices. I love Greece and listened to it whilst in Greece.

House building. Hazards,

A delightful history of the problems mer and overcome.Most of them to defeat a lesser mortal, luckily,for the reader or rather,listener,not you family. Humphries.

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Title: Vet in a Spin

Author: James Herriot

Narrator: Christopher Timothy

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-09

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

James Herriot's sixth volume of unforgettable memoirs sees him dreaming of the day when he can rejoin his wife Helen, little son Jimmy, veterinary partner Siegfried, the eternal student Tristan - and all the old Darrowby crows, both two-legged and four.

Members Reviews:

Abbreviated

I love Herriot, but abbreviations really take something out of the experience :( I would love to hear all of Herriot's books unabridged. There's something about his way of telling a story. And Christopher Timothy was just phenomenal, again.

Wonderful

can't get enough of the Yorkshire vets story.

escaping to the high Yorkshire moors, along with stories of his enlistment

Fab

Love it love it love it fab stories really entertaining will listen to all the books we listen together going along in car 1st class

I'm in Nostalgia Heaven

These wonderful books remain as brilliant as ever. Beautifully read by Christopher TImothy. Just wish they were longer.

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Title: Thanks for Nothing

Author: Jack Dee

Narrator: Jack Dee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-15-09

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 48 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

You don't just wake up jaundiced and bitter; it's taken Jack years of dedication and commitment to brew his unique cocktail of disillusionment and bile. What turned this once optimistic young man into a grumpy middle-aged git? Was it working in an artificial-leg factory? Or delivering incontinence pads for the NHS? Or was it the time when he was shunned by his peers for daring to thrash a one-armed man at tennis?

In this hilariously frank account of his life, Jack finally answers the question, 'So how did you get started in comedy then?' Along the way, he shares his blatantly unreasonable views on everything from personal trainers to boutique hotels, from the overrated moon landing to 'people who hold their cutlery the wrong way'.

Once you've listened to this book, you'll never think of Jack Dee as a smiling, happy-go-lucky, friendly face again.

Members Reviews:

Great!

Intelligent and Funny. Jack Dee is one of the funniest comedians around today. Although the book has a few slow parts, it is more than made up for by the rest.

Dee the grumps at his best

This has to be my favorite book at the moment. Jack has a knack of delivering his frustrations in dead pan funny way while telling his struggles.

Highly recommend.

great read

Any fan of Jack Dee will like this and even if you don't like him it's a good yarn.

Excellent reading..by the man himself

Any additional comments?

Very, very well read, interesting and funny.

I have listened to other interesting autobiographies where the reading was simply off-putting and disappointing.

Re-listend twice as I enjoyed this one so much.

Thanks For Everything Jack

As a visuallly impaired persoon audio books are my preferred format and really helps one get into a good book.I really enjoyed this Jack Dee title and found it a most interesting listen, and which kept with a sense of humour, that we know Jack Dee has acclaimed to.It delivers his often straight but dry-cut awareness to the realities faced in his early life.

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Title: The Salesman of the Century

Author: Ron Popeil

Narrator: Ron Popeil

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-30-09

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

Here is the rags-to-riches story of the man who sliced, diced, and julienned his way into our hearts and wallets - Ron Popeil - packed with hands-on, nuts-and-bolts guidance on how anyone with a product idea can make big money.

©1995 Ron Popeil; (P)2009 Phoenix

Critic Reviews:

"Popeil provides remarkably detailed information on product innovation and effective marketing, along with many often overlooked details of patent law, copyright, FCC regulations, manufacture at home and abroad, pricing, order fulfillment, publicity and advertising. A behind-the-scenes, fun-to-read look at the basic American business of selling." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Only six reviews? An unclaimed treasure.

Is this book some sort of secret?

This guy practically invented the infomercial. This book is the story of his life. But, more importantly, hundreds of lessens in how to sell to mass markets, and the power of a product demonstration.

The chapter The Fair Circuit is worth the price of the book alone. It describes how to sell items in quantity to groups of people, and gives some case examples of sales superstars.

If you're in any kind of sales, this book will keep you riveted. It did me.

The title is so-so, but the content is really excellent!

Popeil has been a kind of ever present personality on TV, selling us things that we have a hard time taking our eyes off of. Not because the product looks so great or we really need it, but because of Popeil himself and his hard to ignore salesmanship! This is brought out very clearly in this set of cassettes. Not only that, but, the information he provides truly is excellent and worth while to any would be inventory and/or and entrepreneur. I plan to act on most of his suggestions and hope that you will be seeing my products for sale very soon. He indeed does make it accessible to anyone, if you are willing to try and follow through, I am very sure of that! I highly recommend this learning tool. Once again, excellent job Ron, and thank you for your excellent advice.

Ron Popeil is a hero.

The best part about this book is gathering an understanding of Ron's background to sales. He succeeded from the ground up. Ron will admit in this book about his lack of formal education, which is your first signal that this is a great tool. Sales books are a dime a dozen and lay out all these rules and steps. Ron's story paints a picture of the framework and foundation of his sale methods. After reading this book, you really want to meet the guy in person.

Ron Popeil the daddy of TV sales

I happen to be a fan of ron Popeil more than the products themselves. This book is inspirational in the sense that it shows how one man busted his butt to become a success. It's a book on salesmanship and entrepreneurship. I highly reccomend it for anyone who wants to go into the retail or product design business for themselves. Or if you just need a kick in the butt!

and good quality

arrived on time, and good quality thanks

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Title: Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken

Author: Murray Walker

Narrator: Murray Walker

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-25-09

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

Murray Walker is an institution. When the man who made famous the catchphrase 'Unless I'm very much mistaken... I AM very much mistaken!!!' announced that he was retiring as ITV's Grand Prix commentator at the end of the 2001 season, the media reacted as if the sport itself was losing one of its biggest stars.

His reputation for mistakes was the making of Walker. He was the fan who happened to be given the keys to the commentary box - and never wanted to give them back. His high-octane delivery kept viewers on the edge of their seats, while his passion for talking about the sport he loved was matched by an all-encompassing knowledge gained through hours of painstaking research before every race.

In fact he's a throwback to another age who managed to survive and indeed prosper from the revolutions in motor racing. Murray writes about his childhood and the influence that his father, British motorcycle champion Graham Walker, had on his career. Failing to match his father's achievements on the track, he made a successful career for himself in advertising which catapulted him to the top of his profession.

An offer from the BBC to take over the commentary seat for their F1 broadcasts was manna from heaven for Walker, and it wasn't long before the infamous 'Murrayisms' enlivened a sport which until then had been shrouded in a cloak of unfathomable technical jargon and mind-numbing statistics. He also talks about the biggest changes in the sport over the last 50 years, in particular the safety issues which came to the fore after the tragic death of Ayrton Senna. His partnership with James Hunt behind the microphone is the subject of some hilarious anecdotes, while his views on drivers make for fascinating listening.

Members Reviews:

Excellent - cried with laughter at times

So much history and enthusiasm for the sport superbly recounted by a true legend and gentlemen. Was listening in the car and had to stop driving when Murray went over his "Murrayisums" - was literally cry with laughter. Thanks Murray for sharing you life with us.

A great listen

A great listen in his own voice well done Murry. Always entertaining and full of emotion

Wonderful to hear Murray's voice again

This is a great listen, having grown up with Murray as the voice of F1, it was awesome to hear the great man himself tell me about his early life, WWII exploits and life before the legendary commentary job took firm hold. Jumps about a little but this is endearing just like listening to his race coverage. Recommended thoroughly.

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Title: Journey of a Lifetime

Author: Alan Whicker

Narrator: Alan Whicker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-09

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

This sumptuous book, to accompany the major BBC TV series of the same name, is a glorious celebration of 50 years in front of the camera.

For as long as most can remember, Whicker has roamed far and wide in search of the eccentric, the ludicrous, and the socially-revealing aspects of everyday life as lived by some of the more colourful of the world's inhabitants. Since the late 1950s, when the long-running Whicker's World documentary was first screened, he has probed and dissected the often secretive and unobserved worlds of the rich and famous, rooting out the most implausible and sometimes ridiculous characters after gaining admittance to the places where they conduct their leisure hours.

The great man's legacy contains a number of genuine TV firsts. As well as landmark interviews with figures as diverse as Papa Doc, Paul Getty, and the Sultan of Brunei, he was a pioneer, covering subjects like plastic surgery, gay weddings, polygamy, swinging, and gun-toting cops, fly-on-the-wall style, for British screens long before anyone else.

This wonderful new book is the end product of a very personal journey. Whicker retraces his steps, catching up with some past interviewees and reflecting on how the world has changed - for good and bad - over the passing of time. Journey of a Lifetime is lyrical, uplifting, and peppered with our favourite globetrotter's brand of subtle satire.

Members Reviews:

Well worth downloading

I loved Alan Whicker's TV documentaries over the years, and this audio book brings them back to life. Some of the narration goes off on a tangent, but when Alan is talking about the highlights of his life, such as meeting Papa Doc, it is spellbinding. Well worth downloading.

Entertaining and incisive

As soon as I heard the authors voice I was taken back to my youth when my family used to watch Wickers World and be given a glimpse of other worlds. This book is a series of essays gleaned from programmes going back to the 1950s interspersed with anecdotes from his war-time experiences. The writing is like his commentaries: fluid, entertaining and non-judgemental. The latter even when recounting his meeting with the Sultan of Brunei and the obscene extravagance of him and his family. The chapters about his interactions with Papa Doc are as jaw-dropping now as they were when First broadcast. As with his programmes, there's a bias towards interviews with the rich and powerful with an undercurrent of viewing them as another species.

I enjoyed this book all the more for hearing Alan Wickers voice again: a little more gravely with age but utterly recognisable. I suspect the book will appeal more to those of us who remember his ground-breaking programmes in the 60s and 70s, though he sustained his output for Wickers World until the early 1990s.

Captures the imagination!

Poignant, understated and dignified. Last listened at length to those familiar, unmistakable tones a few decades ago! A pleasure!

Superb audiobook

I bought this book in one of Audible's sales, and am very glad I did. It is a super audiobook.

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Title: The Grimaldis of Monaco

Author: Anne Edwards

Narrator: Roddy McDowell

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-14-09

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Celebrities

Publisher's Summary:

Acclaimed biographer Anne Edwards reveals for the first time the dynamic history of the world's oldest reigning dynasty. This book ncludes little known facts and details on the deaths of Princess Grace and Princess Caroline's husband.

©1992 Anne Edwards; (P)2009 Phoenix

Members Reviews:

Good Book

Enjoyed this book very much. Love the 'historical' value and it is just very interesting. Good read for biographical fans too!

"They had endured longer than any other European monarchy"

A well-written and readable account of Monaco's royal family.

The work opens in 1990, with Princess Caroline all set to ask her ex, Philippe Junot, to have their marriage annulled - or her children would be ineligible to inherit the throne, the long Grimaldi line set to be broken .

The author then takes us back in time to look at the history. There's an awful lot to take in: in 64 pages, Chapter 2 whizzes us from their first known ancestor (a 12th century Genoese) through to 1795, so I must admit that without taking notes I was left with a rather blurry notion of Honores and Florestans, unhappy marriages, close links to the French court, the Sun King, and the fallout of the French Revolution.

Then we move on to canny consort Caroline and the establishment of the first casino, which turned an impoverished peasant economy into a classy resort. Prince Charles (after whom Monte Carlo was named), Prince Albert who was a noted oceanographer, family feuds, the War ... and the stories of Rainier and Grace...

With b/w pictures, this is interesting throughout

Monte Carlo is more than a casino

The author has previously published works on Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, and Countess Tolstoy -- but also on Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum, so the reader may be forgiven for unfounded suspicions of tabloidism. The second half of this workmanlike narrative does, in fact, concern itself mostly with the lively affairs of the current younger generation but the reader may ignore all that (or the reader may try).

For the first half details in sweeping prose the adventurous history of the Grimaldis, "an ambitious, hot-blooded, unscrupulous race, keen to plunder, swift to revenge, and furious in battle." The harbor at Monte Carlo has been strategically important since the Carthaginian fleet anchored there. The Lombards, Arabs, Guelfs, and Genoese all had their strongholds and the Grimaldi family arrived in 1162 as Genoese consuls. One night in 1297, Francesco Grimaldi (known as "the Spiteful") climbed the cliffs with his followers, disguised as monks, and overpowered the small garrison, and the family has ruled the Rock ever since. Edwards makes clear the necessary nerve and tenacity and the willingness to fight, as well as the diplomatic balancing act the princes of Monaco have had to perform in order to survive as a more or less independent state.

Living History

A great read, and an informative primer to the history of this 700+ years old dynasty. Having been to Monaco many times, I would strongly recommend this text before traveling there. Those who merely see the sites without knowing the story will only have half the experience.

The unlikely history of the per-capita wealthiest nation in the world, the oldest surviving European monarchy and one of oldest family dynasties on the planet, is sure to intrigue.