A Brief History of British Kings and Queens cover art

A Brief History of British Kings and Queens

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A Brief History of British Kings and Queens

By: Mike Ashley
Narrated by: Roger Davis
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About this listen

Here is the whole of recorded British royal history, from the legendary King Alfred the Great onwards, including the monarchies of England, Scotland, Wales and the United Kingdom for over a thousand years. Fascinating portraits are expertly woven into a history of division and eventual union of the British Isles - even royals we think most familiar are revealed in a new and sometimes surprising light.

This edition includes biographies of the royals of recorded British history, plus an overview of the semi-legendary figures of pre-history and the Dark Ages - an easliy understandable overview for history buffs.

Mike Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books including Mammoth Book of Locked Room Mysteries, The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits, The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits and unabridged audio of The Brief History of King Arthur.

©2013 Mike Ashley (P)2013 Audible Ltd Europe Great Britain Historical Politics & Activism Royalty England King Wales Scotland Ireland France Tudor British History

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Critic reviews

"Everything its title promises. The pages are filled with ... everything anyone might ever want to know about the royals." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Highly recommended." ( Choice)
All stars
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Really enjoyed listening to this. So much so that I decided to buy a hard copy version that I can more easily dip into. There is enough information on each character to be interesting. I say character because it is not just about those who reigned but also about those who could or should have reigned but didn't for various reasons. This is a great introduction to the history of the British Isles through the monarchy, and I was very pleased that it really does cover all of Britain, particularly Scotland and also, though not in as much detail, Wales. Despite the fact that I am British I learned a great deal more than I ever learned at school from this book and will be looking for more books on the periods that particularly interested me.
My only criticism is that there were no pauses between chapters by the narrator which made it feel like a bit of a race.

Definitely recommend.

Exactly what I was looking for

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Well constructed series of cameos that gave a flavour of the history of the British monarchy. I enjoyed the book. Some of the early stories left me confused and underlined the limitations of audiobooks. It is not easy to turn back the pages and establish a sense of understanding.

A Canter thru the Centuries

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Enjoyed the organised potted historys of each king and queen and the context of each successor.

History made interesting

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learned more here than I ever did in school. very consise and informative too

apt time to brush up

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Mostly a list of dates some of the information good squeezed into the date listing

Fair

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Where does A Brief History of British Kings and Queens rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very well when compared to other historic books. Intentionally not too detailed for those wanting a more general history of the monarchy.

If you’ve listened to books by Mike Ashley before, how does this one compare?

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Which scene did you most enjoy?

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

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Any additional comments?

A nice easy listen for those wanting a general view of the British monarchy

Easy to digest

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I thought that this book gives a very good outline of the British monarchy. I liked that it branched out and looked at the Welsh leaders and the Scottish kings a little as well. It was a very interesting read, but it does leave you wanting to read other books to learn more.

Decent

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The narration could have saved this epic piece of work but it didn’t, as a text book it would be a good source- as an audiobook it was a chore .

Its dullness

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A very quick whizz through British history. To mangle a phrase from the great Churchill " Never has so much been squeezed into so smaller space". The narration was well paced and the text its self was well written and, to myself, well researched.. A book that I'll definitely read again.

Jam packed full.

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It's a book of facts and dates so it was never going to get 5 stars. There is quite a lot of repetition if you listen from start to finish due to the overlap of monarchs. But that's not all bad as it's a lot of information to take in. A very concise but detailed history that will tell you all you really need to know.

Very informative

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