One Hot Summer
Dickens, Darwin, Disraeli, and the Great Stink of 1858
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One Hot Summer
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Narrated by:
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Corrie James
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By:
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Rosemary Ashton
About this listen
While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence.
Ashton mines Victorian letters and gossip, diaries, court records, newspapers, and other contemporary sources to uncover historically crucial moments in the lives of three protagonists - Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli. She also introduces others who gained renown in the headlines of the day, among them George Eliot, Karl Marx, William Thackeray, and Edward Bulwer Lytton. Ashton reveals invisible threads of connection among Londoners at every social level in 1858, bringing the celebrated city and its citizens vibrantly to life.
©2017 Rosemary Ashton (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 378
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 315
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 310
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
-
The Modern Scholar
- The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
- By: Professor H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: H.W. Brands
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
This course examines the life of Benjamin Franklin and his influence on both American and world history. He remains the model of the American thinker - a man who was interested in nearly everything, and who pursued those interests with an admirable and contagious passion. To study Franklin's life is to learn not only the history of a single man, but to understand some of the most monumental changes in all of human history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love it
- By Holly on 02-20-16
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The Duchess
- By: Amanda Foreman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 137
Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774 Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying William Cavendish, fifth Duke of Devonshire, one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats. She became the queen of fashionable society and founder of the most important political salon of her time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating Biography with Outstanding Narration
- By Johanna on 05-15-16
By: Amanda Foreman
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John Quincy Adams
- A Public Life, A Private Life
- By: Paul C. Nagel
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 213
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 170
A United States minister, senator, president, and congressman in turn, John Quincy Adams was one of the most prevalent and dedicated Americans in history. Drawing from Adams' 70-year diary, author Paul Nagel probes deeply into the psyche of this cantankerous, misanthropic, erudite, hardworking son of a former president whose remarkable career spanned so many offices.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing
- By Michael Bellesiles on 02-24-11
By: Paul C. Nagel
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John Adams
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 29 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,199
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,359
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 7,342
McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An outstanding biography
- By Davis on 07-10-06
By: David McCullough
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All the Great Prizes
- The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt
- By: John Taliaferro
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 366
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 333
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 329
If Henry James or Edith Wharton had written a novel describing the accomplished and glamorous life and times of John Hay, it would have been thought implausible - a novelist’s fancy. Nevertheless, John Taliaferro’s brilliant biography captures the extraordinary life of Hay, one of the most amazing figures in American history, and restores him to his rightful place. John Hay was both witness and author of many of the most significant chapters in American history - from the birth of the Republican Party, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War, to the prelude to the First World War.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Almost a Five Star
- By Lulu on 12-22-14
By: John Taliaferro
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The Fever of 1721
- The Epidemic That Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics
- By: Stephen Coss
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 110
During the worst smallpox epidemic in Boston history, Mather convinced Doctor Boylston to try a procedure that he believed would prevent death - by making an incision in the arm of a healthy person and implanting it with smallpox. "Inoculation" led to vaccination, one of the most profound medical discoveries in history.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Glad that's done
- By GB on 04-21-16
By: Stephen Coss
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Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions?
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5 out of 5 stars
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JOHNATHAN SWIFT AND POWER OF THE PEN
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 09-30-14
By: Leo Damrosch
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Rush
- Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father
- By: Stephen Fried
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 250
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 218
By the time he was 30, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklin’s protégé, and become John Adams’s confidant, and was soon to be appointed Washington’s surgeon general. And as with the greatest Revolutionary minds, Rush was only just beginning his role in 1776 in the American experiment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The narration problem can be corrected
- By Sandra L. on 09-27-18
By: Stephen Fried
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Georgette Heyer
- Biography of a Bestseller
- By: Jennifer Kloester
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international best seller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's best-selling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was 17 in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and 90 years later it has never been out of print.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Heyer as a person
- By Jerri C on 06-15-15
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Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
-
William Wilberforce
- A Hero for Humanity
- By: Kevin Belmonte
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity is the definitive biography of the English statesman who overcame incredible odds to bring about the end of slavery and slave trade. Called 'the wittiest man in England' by philosopher and novelist Madame de Stael, praised by Abraham Lincoln, and renowned for his oratorical genius, Wilberforce worked tirelessly to accomplish his goal. Whether you are an avid student of history, a pupil of prominent leaders of the past, or simply someone who reads for pleasure, you will love award-winning biographer Kevin Belmonte's vivid account....
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Genuine Hero
- By mathmac on 09-30-17
By: Kevin Belmonte
-
A Torch Kept Lit
- Great Lives of the Twentieth Century
- By: William F. Buckley
- Narrated by: Tony Pasqualini
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
In a half century on the national stage, William F. Buckley Jr. achieved unique stature as a polemicist and the undisputed godfather of modern American conservatism. He knew everybody, hosted everybody at his East 73rd Street maisonette, skewered everybody who needed skewering, and in general lived life on a scale, and in a swashbuckling manner, that captivated and inspired countless young conservatives across that half century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent...inspiring imagery!
- By Lisa Hill on 10-14-16
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Victoria
- A Life
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 192
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 192
The longest reigning British monarch and female sovereign in history, Queen Victoria was a figure of profound paradox who has mystified historians for over a century. Now in this magisterial biography, A.N. Wilson rebukes the conventional wisdom about her life - that she was merely a "funny little woman in a bonnet" who did next to nothing - to show she was in fact intensely involved in state affairs despite a public façade of inaction.
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5 out of 5 stars
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This book has old and new info
- By Dr. A. on 10-29-14
By: A. N. Wilson
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The Bully Pulpit
- Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 36 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,355
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,915
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,906
Goodwin describes the broken friendship between Teddy Roosevelt and his chosen successor, William Howard Taft. With the help of the "muckraking" press, Roosevelt had wielded the Bully Pulpit to challenge and triumph over abusive monopolies, political bosses, and corrupting money brokers. Roosevelt led a revolution that he bequeathed to Taft only to see it compromised as Taft surrendered to money men and big business. The rupture led Roosevelt to run against Taft for president, an ultimately futile race that gave power away to the Democrats.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Makes You Forget You Live in the 21st Century Good
- By Cynthia on 01-11-14
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3 out of 5 stars
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good read, bad listen
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No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the 21st-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea: It might even have kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Wielding the wit and passion seen in How to Be a Victorian, Goodman traces the tectonic shift from wood to coal in the mid-16th century - from sooty trials and errors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the totally smog-clouded reign of Queen Victoria.
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The Great Plague
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The Titanic has often been called "An exquisite microcosm of the Edwardian era", but until now, her story has not been presented as such. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, historian Hugh Brewster seamlessly interweaves personal narratives of the lost liner's most fascinating people with a haunting account of the fateful maiden crossing. Employing scrupulous research, he accurately depicts the ship's brief life and tragic denouement and presents compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Lots of interesting details
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During her 63-year reign, Queen Victoria gathered around herself a household dedicated to her service. For some, royal employment was the defining experience of their lives; for others it came as an unwelcome duty or as a prelude to greater things. Serving Victoria follows the lives of six members of her household, from the governess to the royal children, from her maid of honor to her chaplain and her personal physician.
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3 out of 5 stars
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good read, bad listen
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Easy to listen/easy to follow
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No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the 21st-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea: It might even have kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Wielding the wit and passion seen in How to Be a Victorian, Goodman traces the tectonic shift from wood to coal in the mid-16th century - from sooty trials and errors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the totally smog-clouded reign of Queen Victoria.
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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3 out of 5 stars
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Chaucer's People
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Chaucer wrote about everyday people outside the walls of the English court-men and women who spent days at the pedal of a loom, or maintaining the ledgers of an estate, or on the high seas. In Chaucer's People, Liza Picard transforms The Canterbury Tales into a masterful guide for a gloriously detailed tour of medieval England, from the mills and farms of a manor house to the lending houses and Inns of Court in London. In Chaucer's People, we meet, again, the motley crew of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A delight
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Margot at War
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- By: Anne deCourcy
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
Margot Asquith was perhaps the most daring and unconventional prime minister's wife in British history. Known for her wit, style, and habit of speaking her mind, she transformed 10 Downing Street into a glittering social and intellectual salon. Yet her last four years at Number 10 were a period of intense emotional and political turmoil in her private and public life.
By: Anne deCourcy
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Oliver Cromwell
- Commander in Chief
- By: Ronald Hutton
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- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In 1647, the Parliamentarians were divided. They had won the first civil war and the king was in custody, but disagreements over the way forward had led to a stalemate. As the leader of one party, Oliver Cromwell found himself again at the center of events. In the second volume of his pioneering biography, Ronald Hutton traces Cromwell's career from 1647 through to his seizure of supreme power.
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The Black Prince
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 237
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As a child, he was given his own suit of armor; at the age of 16, he helped defeat the French at Crecy. At Poitiers, in 1356, his victory over King John II of France forced the French into a humiliating surrender that marked the zenith of England's dominance in the Hundred Years War. As lord of Aquitaine, he ruled a vast swathe of territory across the west and southwest of France, holding a magnificent court at Bordeaux that mesmerized the brave but unruly Gascon nobility. He was Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, and better known to posterity as "the Black Prince".
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding history
- By Scott on 02-17-19
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A Hidden History of The Tower of London
- England’s Most Notorious Prisoners
- By: John Paul Davis
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Famed as the ultimate penalty for traitors, heretics, and royalty alike, being sent to the Tower is known to have been experienced by no less than 8,000 unfortunate souls. Many of those who were imprisoned in the Tower never returned to civilization and those who did, often did so without their head! It is hardly surprising that the Tower has earned itself a reputation among the most infamous buildings on the planet.
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4 out of 5 stars
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History buffs, this is for you!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-22
By: John Paul Davis
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If Walls Could Talk
- An Intimate History of the Home
- By: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 447
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 393
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 392
Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two "dirty centuries?" Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did rich people fear fruit?In her brilliantly and creatively researched book, Lucy Worsley takes us through the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling.
- By Kirsten on 06-05-12
By: Lucy Worsley
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How to Be a Tudor
- A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life
- By: Ruth Goodman
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 579
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 497
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 488
On the heels of her triumphant How to Be a Victorian, Ruth Goodman travels even further back in English history to the era closest to her heart, the dramatic period from the crowning of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. Drawing on her own adventures living in re-created Tudor conditions, Goodman serves as our intrepid guide to 16th-century living. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the era.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent book!
- By Kathi on 02-18-16
By: Ruth Goodman
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The House of Dudley
- A New History of Tudor England
- By: Joanne Paul
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Each Tudor monarch made their name with a Dudley by their side—or by crushing one beneath their feet. The Dudleys thrived at the court of Henry VII but were sacrificed to the popularity of Henry VIII. Rising to prominence in the reign of Edward VI, the Dudleys lost it all by advancing Jane Grey to the throne over Mary I. That was until the reign of Elizabeth I, when the family was once again at the center of power and would do anything to remain there . . . With three generations of felled favorites, what was it that caused this family to keep rising so high and falling so low?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyed this book
- By Laura Lee on 07-28-23
By: Joanne Paul
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Edward III
- The Perfect King
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 358
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 316
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 314
Holding power for over 50 years starting in 1327, Edward III was one of England's most influential kings and one who shaped the course of English history. Revered as one of the country's most illustrious leaders for centuries, he was also a usurper and a warmonger who ordered his uncle beheaded. A brutal man, to be sure, but also a brilliant one.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book about Edward III
- By Kiesha on 07-05-16
By: Ian Mortimer
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The Invention of Murder
- How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime
- By: Judith Flanders
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 19 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 112
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 94
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Story4 out of 5 stars 95
Murder in the 19th century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous, with cold-blooded killings transformed into novels, broadsides, ballads, opera, and melodrama - even into puppet shows and performing-dog acts. Detective fiction and the new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other - the founders of Scotland Yard gave rise to Dickens's Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective, who in turn influenced Sherlock Holmes and, ultimately, even P. D. James and Patricia Cornwell.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent, awesome and educational!
- By Janalyn on 03-14-20
By: Judith Flanders
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Jennie
- The Life of the American Beauty Who Became the Toast—and Scandal—of Two Continents, Ruled an Age and Raised a Son—Winston Churchill—Who Shaped History
- By: Ralph G. Martin
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 26 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story5 out of 5 stars 19
Sourcebooks is bringing the internationally acclaimed New York Times bestseller back for a new generation of listeners. Jennie Churchill was not merely Winston’s mother. She was the most captivating and desired woman of her age. Originally from Brooklyn, Jennie became the reigning queen of British society. Beautiful and defiant, she lived with an honesty that made her the talk of two continents.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By appreciative reader on 02-13-23
By: Ralph G. Martin
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I Never Knew That About Royal Britain
- By: Christopher Winn
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4 out of 5 stars 11
Best-selling author Christopher Winn explores Britain's royal past, unearthing a rich legacy of castles and palaces, cathedrals and country retreats, battlefields and monuments where kings and queens lived and died. In this exploration of royal British history, discover whose heart is buried near the Tower of London, which palace was built on top of a mulberry garden, the world's oldest and largest occupied castle, and the first building in Britain to have latrines.
By: Christopher Winn
What listeners say about One Hot Summer
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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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mack Tennyson
- 02-13-19
A very good history.
Make sure you can listen in large chunks. It is easy to loose track of what is going on if you are interrupted.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- A. Taylor
- 05-30-18
More Dickens than history
While the book was interesting, it tended to focus on Dickens for long periods rather than other figures or the overall history. Since his life is well known already, this seemed unnecessary.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lavinia
- 02-19-24
British
Some of the British history was unknown to me. Made following along a little difficult.
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