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White King
- Charles I, Traitor, Murderer, Martyr
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
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White King
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Winner of the HWA Crown for Best Work of Historical Non-Fiction 2018
Times Book of the Year 2018
Less than 40 years after the golden age of Elizabeth I, England was at war with itself. The bloody, devastating civil wars set family against family, friend against friend. At the head of this disintegrating kingdom was Charles I. His rule would change the face of the monarchy for ever.
Charles I’s reign is one of the most dramatic in history, yet Charles the man remains elusive. Too often he is recalled as weak and stupid, his wife, Henrietta Maria, as spoilt and silly: the cause of his ruin. In this portrait - informed by newly disclosed manuscripts, including letters between the king and his queen - Leanda de Lisle uncovers a Charles I who was principled and brave but also fatally blinkered. He is revealed as a complex man who pays the price for bringing radical change; Henrietta Maria as a warrior queen and political player as impressive as any Tudor. Here too are the cousins who befriended and betrayed them: the peacocking Henry Holland, whose brother engineered the king’s fall; and the magnetic ‘last Boleyn girl’, Lucy Carlisle.
This is a tragic story for our times, of populist politicians and religious war, of a new media and the reshaping of nations, in which women vied with men for power. For Charles it ended on the scaffold. Condemned as a traitor and murderer, he was also heralded as a martyr: his reign destined to sow the seeds of democracy across Britain and the New World.
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What listeners say about White King
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 07-03-22
Fascinating History
Well read summary of the life Charles 1st. Filled in all I needed to know of his short life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alice
- 14-08-22
Excellent book - narration is fine
Excellent and interesting book showing Charles I as he appeared to himself, his motivations and understanding of the world around him.
Clear and steady narration. I don’t require a narrator to emote in reading a history book on which I wish to concentrate. There are only one or two mispronunciations, which is quite understandable given the minefield of British place names - Belvoir, for example.
Pronouncing the final t of Huguenot is not a mispronunciation, it’s an alternative.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- London reader
- 21-01-23
A right royal read!
Wonderfully written look at a formative period in the life of Britain with stockings, diamond garters, fight scenes, trials and beheadings on every other page.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-02-20
Excellent book- terrible narration
Leanda de Lisle’s book won awards when it was released a couple of years ago, with good reason. The book is a detailed and well researched biography of a King who is remembered, rather simplistically, for causing the English Civil War. The book explores the rich and complex build up to the war, explaining the rising political and religious tensions that date back to the reformation of the church in Henry the Eighth’s time. It was such a shame then, that the narrator read this exciting and dynamic book like he was reciting a primary school reading book to his teacher- wooden, uninspired and lacking all intonation. I ploughed through the audiobook because the book itself is good, but at times I found it incredibly difficult to stay focussed. Like I say, great book, terrible narration.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- roger seeney
- 08-11-20
Hugeonots!
Well it should be an interesting audible book but the narrator sounds bored and just as if he is being forced to read aloud with no interest in the subject. When he pronounced Huguenot as HugueKNOT I knew he should not be narrating this book!!!!
Not very good will check if he is on any other history book I purchase .....come on audible this is sloppy!!!! If I was the author I would not be impressed.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 05-05-20
Too pro Charles I
Very pro Charles account. Little sympathy for parliamentary activities! A little more balance would have helped.
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2 people found this helpful