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Pearls Before Poppies
- The Story of the Red Cross Pearls
- Narrated by: Janie McKenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
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Pearls Before Poppies
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Publisher's summary
In February 1918, as the First World War was still being bitterly fought, Lady Northcliffe appealed to the women of Britain and the Empire to give a pearl from their necklaces to make a new string which could be sold in aid of the British Red Cross. Nearly 4,000 pearls poured in, from priceless heirlooms - one had survived the sinking of the Titanic - to treasured trinkets.
Working with Christie's and the International Fundraising Committee of the British Red Cross, Rachel Trethewey weaves the touching story of a generation of women who gave what they had to aid the war effort and commemorate their losses.
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-
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey
- The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle
- By: The Countess of Carnarvon
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 791
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 704
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Story4 out of 5 stars 698
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes's Emmy Award-winning PBS series, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants: Lady Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon. Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has written a transporting story of this fabled home on the brink of war.
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4 out of 5 stars
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the lowdown on Downton times
- By connie on 03-17-12
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Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter
- A Biography of Princess Louise
- By: Lucinda Hawksley
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 152
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
The secrets of Queen Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise, may be destined to remain hidden forever. What was so dangerous about this artistic, tempestuous royal that her life has been documented more by rumor and gossip than hard facts? When Lucinda Hawksley started to investigate, often thwarted by inexplicable secrecy, she discovered a fascinating woman, modern before her time, whose story has been shielded for years from public view.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Incredibly Frustrating
- By JayOne on 01-16-20
By: Lucinda Hawksley
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Those Wild Wyndhams
- Three Sisters at the Heart of Power
- By: Claudia Renton
- Narrated by: Claudia Renton
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
They were confidantes to British prime ministers, poets, writers, and artists, their lives entwined with the most celebrated and scandalous figures of the day, from Oscar Wilde to Henry James. They were the lovers of great men - or men of great prominence... They lived in a world of luxurious excess, a world of splendor at 44 Belgrave Square and later at the even more vast Clouds, the exquisite Wiltshire house on 4,000 acres, the "house of the age", designed in 1876 by the visionary architect Philip Webb - the model for Henry James' The Spoils of Poynton.
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5 out of 5 stars
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SLOW START BUT STICK WITH THIS ONE
- By The Louligan on 01-22-19
By: Claudia Renton
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The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1
- Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, and the Making of a Young Queen (1947-1955)
- By: Robert Lacey
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 173
Starring Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, Netflix's original series The Crown, created by Peter Morgan and growing out of his Oscar-winning movie The Queen starring Helen Mirren, paints a unique and intimate portrait of Britain's longest-reigning monarch. This official companion to the show's first season is an in-depth exploration of the early years of Elizabeth II's time as queen, complete with extensive research and additional material.
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5 out of 5 stars
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If you like The Crown
- By E F on 10-23-17
By: Robert Lacey
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Clementine
- The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,449
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,293
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,278
By Winston Churchill's own admission, victory in the Second World War would have been "impossible without her". Until now, however, the only existing biography of Churchill's wife, Clementine, was written by her daughter. Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine her due with a deeply researched account that tells her life story, revealing how she was instrumental in softening FDR's initial dislike of her husband and paving the way for Britain's close relationship with America.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Exasperating At Times But Very Good--
- By Gillian on 04-09-18
By: Sonia Purnell
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Victoria
- A Life
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 202
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 186
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 186
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 Sisters
- The Saga of the Mitford Family
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Annie Wauters
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 187
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Story4 out of 5 stars 189
This is the story of a close, loving family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy was one of the best-selling novelists of her day; the ethereally beautiful Diana was the most hated woman in England; and Unity Valkyrie, born in Swastika, Alaska, would become obsessed with Adolf Hitler.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great story, terrible reader
- By Victoria on 02-27-14
By: Mary S. Lovell
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George and Marina
- Duke and Duchess of Kent
- By: Christopher Warwick
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
For eight brief years, before he was tragically killed in a mysterious air crash during the Second World War, Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V and Queen Mary, and his beautiful wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, were the British monarchy's - indeed, high society's - most glamorous royal couple; and as golden royal icons, they are still remembered.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Engaging
- By Jean on 06-02-17
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The Romanov Sisters
- The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra
- By: Helen Rappaport
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 884
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 784
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 786
They were the Princess Dianas of their day—perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian Grand Duchesses—Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov—were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore and their privileged lifestyle. Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 has clouded our view of them, leading to a mass of sentimental and idealized hagiography.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Made you want to change the ending
- By MissSusie66 on 01-23-15
By: Helen Rappaport
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The Mistresses of Cliveden
- Three Centuries of Scandal, Power, and Intrigue in an English Stately Home
- By: Natalie Livingstone
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 142
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 125
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Story4 out of 5 stars 123
Overlooking the Thames, the Cliveden mansion is flanked by two wings and surrounded by lavish gardens. Throughout its storied history, Cliveden has been a setting for misbehavior, intrigue, and passion - from its salacious, deadly beginnings in the 17th century to the 1960s Profumo affair, the sex scandal that toppled the British government. Now, in this immersive chronicle, the manor's current mistress, Natalie Livingstone, opens the doors to this prominent house and lets the walls do the talking.
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2 out of 5 stars
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disappointed
- By Galina M. on 11-14-16
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Matriarch
- Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
- By: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,348
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,101
The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow! Did not want this to end!
- By Susan Nall Sheehan on 07-16-17
By: Anne Edwards
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Victoria: The Queen
- An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire
- By: Julia Baird
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 21 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would threaten many of Europe’s monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public’s expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe. In a world where women were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Masterpiece!!
- By DKSTRYKER on 01-07-24
By: Julia Baird
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Les Parisiennes
- How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
- By: Anne Sebba
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
Paris in the 1940s was a place of fear, power, aggression, courage, deprivation, and secrets. During the occupation, the swastika flew from the Eiffel Tower and danger lurked on every corner. While Parisian men were either fighting at the front or captured and forced to work in German factories, the women of Paris were left behind where they would come face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis, as waitresses, shop assistants, or wives and mothers, increasingly desperate to find food to feed their families as hunger became part of everyday life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Excellent Historical Perspective
- By Lulu on 10-28-16
By: Anne Sebba
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After the Romanovs
- Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War
- By: Helen Rappaport
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Paris has always been a city of cultural excellence, fine wine and food, and the latest fashions. But it has also been a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution, never more so than before and after the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. For years, Russian aristocrats had enjoyed all that Belle Époque Paris had to offer, spending lavishly when they visited. It was a place of artistic experimentation, such as Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. But the brutality of the Bolshevik takeover forced Russians of all types to flee their homeland.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Well written and researched- A Romanov PostScript
- By Pita on 07-24-22
By: Helen Rappaport
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Kick Kennedy
- The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter
- By: Barbara Leaming
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Story4 out of 5 stars 122
Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy was the incandescent life force of the fabled Kennedy family, her father's acknowledged "favorite of all the children" and her brother Jack's "psychological twin". She was the Kennedy of Kennedys, sure of her privilege, magnetically charming, and somehow not quite like anyone else on whatever stage she happened to grace.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not what I had hoped for.
- By Karen Vincent on 05-02-16
By: Barbara Leaming
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When Paris Sizzled
- The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends
- By: Mary McAuliffe
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
When Paris Sizzled vividly portrays the City of Light during the fabulous 1920s, les Annees folles, when Parisians emerged from the horrors of war to find that a new world greeted them - one that reverberated with the hard metallic clang of the assembly line, the roar of automobiles, and the beat of jazz. Mary McAuliffe traces a decade that saw seismic change on almost every front, from art and architecture to music, literature, fashion, entertainment, transportation, and, most notably, behavior.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Informative, but no sizzle
- By OzEnigma on 06-01-17
By: Mary McAuliffe