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  • The White Ship

  • Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream
  • By: Charles Spencer
  • Narrated by: Richard Trinder
  • Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (231 ratings)
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The White Ship cover art

The White Ship

By: Charles Spencer
Narrated by: Richard Trinder
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Summary

The sinking of the White Ship in 1120 is one of the greatest disasters England has ever suffered. In one catastrophic night, the king’s heir and the flower of Anglo-Norman society were drowned and the future of the crown was thrown violently off course.

In a riveting narrative, Charles Spencer follows the story from the Norman Conquest through to the decades that would become known as the Anarchy: a civil war of untold violence that saw families turn in on each other with English and Norman barons, rebellious Welsh princes and the Scottish king all playing a part in a desperate game of thrones. All because of the loss of one vessel – the White Ship – the medieval Titanic.

©2020 Charles Spencer (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"How a drunk teenager shipwrecked the monarchy.... As colourful and racy narrative history goes, this absolutely gallops. The White Ship whips through 100 years of complex history from the Norman Conquest to Henry II." (Daily Mail

"Rooted in the medieval chronicles, but crafted like a Hollywood thriller. Spencer is one of the finest narrative historians around.... This story fairly rattles towards it terrible denouement." (Mail on Sunday

"Charles Spencer has shown himself to be a perceptive and lively historian.... A gifted storyteller.... A complex tale spanning decades, with a rich, but rarely attractive cast of characters, pivoted on one single, tragic winter evening. It is an event and a period of history that should be better known, and now it will be." (The Times

What listeners say about The White Ship

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awful narration

This clearly well researched and well written book is utterly ruined by a robotic narration. I get the impression that the narrator has no understanding of the subject and has recorded a first read-through. I wonder how it ever got past quality control! Don’t waste you money on this version, buy the book instead. Returned for a refund.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book but spoilt by the reader

Very disappointed with the reader whose voice is very flat and almost sounds like a computer! This book deserves better. Couldn’t listen for more than 10 minutes so will buy the book. Audible please do better than this! Feel like I should be refunded.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, terrible reading.

Excellent story but the reader has the dullest most wooden delivery and I couldn’t listen to anymore than an hour. I’ve bought the book instead so as not to put me off such a fascinating moment in history.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • LR
  • 12-10-20

A good overview of post-Conquest England

This book gives a great insight into how the Plantagenet kings came to sit on the English throne. It does require your attention to keep track of who is who exactly, particularly among Henry's illegitimate children, and at one point there seems to be an awful lot of Rogers doing battle with one another. But if you're into your medieval history, and want a better idea of how all those magnificent castles came to be there, you could do a lot worse that Charles Spencer's The White Ship.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Awful presentation

The reading is at speed and without much modulation. I am sure it is well researched and he normally writes well but I have given up on trying to listen to it. I suggest you buy the book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant and Enlightening

A side note of history that was indeed a massive game changer for all that followed. Its importance would be on a scale of Harold winning at Hastings or Germany winning WW1 and dictating terms to the Allies, that big a deal a real crossroads in history with consequences that changed everything. I really didn't realize the true significance of the loss of this ship and I appreciate the education.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good Hospital Reading

My father is in hospital and getting rather board. He wanted a book which was interesting, intellectually stimulating and zipped along nicely.

The White Ship fulfilled the brief rather well.

A fascinating book. Well written. Which covers a less well known period in history.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful historical detail

The whole historical content is fascinating. Enjoyed this book content very much...although the narration at times can be irksome in that it is occasionally sti-ca-t-oed...a.n.d. p.u.n.c.t.u.a.t.e.d. which may have more to do with the technical post production of the narrator's voice than his delivery but as in this (and with some other British Audible narrators on other books!), also being told to use the American pronunciation of some words!! ie in this book rouw-t instead of route(root)! etc etc..

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good historical account

I enjoyed this history lesson about post 1066 and leading up to the Plantagenets. So much to learn and I had to turn down speed of the narrator to take it all in. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book!

This work is so informative and really puts the 1066 conquest into historical context. Very fast narration but it does make for active concentration! Will listen again and again!

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1 person found this helpful