A Great and Terrible King cover art

A Great and Terrible King

Edward I and the Forging of Britain

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A Great and Terrible King

By: Marc Morris
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

This is the first major biography for a generation of a truly formidable king. Edward I is familiar to millions as 'Longshanks', conqueror of Scotland and nemesis of Sir William Wallace ('Braveheart'). Edward was born to rule England, but believed that it was his right to rule all of Britain. His reign was one of the most dramatic of the entire Middle Ages, leading to war and conquest on an unprecedented scale and leaving a legacy of division that has lasted from his day to our own.

In his astonishingly action-packed life, Edward defeated and killed the famous Simon de Montfort in battle, travelled across Europe to the Holy Land on crusade, conquered Wales, extinguishing forever its native rulers and constructed - at Conwy, Harlech, Beaumaris and Caernarfon - the most magnificent chain of castles ever created. After the death of his first wife, he erected the Eleanor Crosses - the grandest funeral monuments ever fashioned for an English monarch.

©2008 Marc Morris (P)2021 Penguin Audio Europe Great Britain Historical Medieval Politics & Activism Royalty England Middle ages Scotland War United Kingdom

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All stars
Most relevant  
The book is very detailed but sustains interest to the last. Excellent.
The inability to even pronounce Llewelyn and Dafydd correctly is unforgivable. Many Welsh places names are also mispronounced. The pronunciation of Dolwyddelan many me laugh out loud. The narrator also miprounced the English town of Alnwick.
Some basic research before launching into narration would have been good.

A comprehensive review of the reign and legacy of Edward 1st but very poor pronunciation of many Welsh names.

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Would someone please tell the narrator that Alnwick is pronounced with a hard "A", like "Alpine" or "Alex" or "Alice" and to be less Home Counties. It's genuinely painful. otherwise good so far

good stuff mostly

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Fascinating book on Edward I. Quite unique among Kings of our Islands. Well worth a listen. The fact that (as this books tells us) that Edward was the most travelled Ki ING until modern times gives you an inkling of the extraordinary life he led.

A Great and Terrible King indeed

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A great listen about a formidable medieval monarch, not frightened to take on all comers. Certainly more authentic than Braveheart!

Great story

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One of the best books I have listened too! Brilliantly read I totally recommend this book.

Great stuff

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More detail than most, but never boring, very informative, will now be able to bore my grandchildren even more; hopefully some of it will sink in.

Great Detail

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A balanced and extremely well researched work. If only Mel Gibson could have listened to this book before he made Brave Heart, in the unlikely event he was interested in history!

Entertaining and informative

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Fantastic biography of a legendary King. The narration is okay. This genre of audiobook tend to have boring monotonous narrators and while not the most thrilling of voices to listen to, it was okay.

Surely there is a market for better narrator’s of history titles?

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This has been the most enjoyable listen, and I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of our early monarchy.

it is well researched and explains the highs and lows during the latter part of Henry III and his son Edward, who would become King Edward 1st.

From his teens until death, the story explains the struggles of Edward, his constant taxes, and personal ambitions.

Failure seems to be the recurring pattern, and his leadership was to be challenged on numerous occasions.

This is a magnificent story, and I was left questioning if he was a Great or Terrible King. The self-imposed power hungry King certainly attempted to be great, but history tells us a different story.

To date, this has been the best book I have listened to. it is told as a life story and was easy to follow and made for very easy listening.

Was he such a Terrible King

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This is a thorough and detailed account of Edward I's life and rule. It is well-narrated and fairly well-balanced, although no doubt Welsh and Scottish historians would cast Edward in a slightly less favourable light.

Thorough and detailed

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