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Crown and Country

A History of England through the Monarchy

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Crown and Country

By: David Starkey, Jim Norton
Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith, Jim Norton
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About this listen

An exploration of the British monarchy from the retreat of the Romans up until the modern day.

The monarchy is one of Britain’s longest surviving institutions – as well as one of its most tumultuous and revered. In this masterful book, David Starkey looks at the monarchy as a whole, charting its history from Roman times, to the Wars of the Roses, the chaos of the Civil War, the fall of Charles I and Cromwell's emergence as Lord Protector – all the way up until the Victorian era when Britain’s monarchs came face-to-face with modernity.

This brilliant collection of biographies of Britain’s kings and queens provides an in-depth examination of what the British monarchy has meant, what it means now and what it will continue to mean.

©2010 David Starkey (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Europe Great Britain Medieval Politics & Activism Royalty England War Monarchy King

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Critic reviews

‘Excellent…the really crucial events in the history of the British Monarchy…are assessed with authority, wisdom and wit…This is Starkey at his fluent and entertaining best.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘This book…is vivid, lucid and engaging…his judgements delivered with quasi-Pontifical assurance are often acute…a very enjoyable book.’ Daily Telegraph

‘David Starkey tours England's monarchical horizon with gusto.’ Sunday Times

‘Starkey brings the past to vivid life.’ Daily Express

‘Combines compelling narrative and lucid analysis to guide us with a sure hand…Starkey’s book will undoubtedly make him and his publishers a tidy profit.’ Spectator
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if you're after a complete British history then this is both concise and detailed at the same time. I love a good Starkey and this is right up there with the best.

another Starkey master piece!

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Beautifully written. Keeps you interested and educated from start to finish. A fascinating and invaluable subject matter, knowledge of which helps us understand this wonderful country.

Comprehensive and entertaining

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If anything i wish it were longer with more detail i could have listened for a week!

Fabulous

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Love everything David Starkey has written. Other reviews refer to a second narrator, which is actually David Starkey himself. Not sure why he took over half way through but it didn't make a difference. Great stuff as usual.

Starkey at his best

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A wonderful book that takes you on a journey through English kings and queens starting long before 1066 and the battle of Hastings. I only wish David Starkey had narrated the whole thing but very good nonetheless.

A wonderful historical journey

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Why was the Saxon invasion so earth shattering? Why did the pope deny Henry VIII request? What lead to Charles being beheaded? Who are responsible for the current state of monarchy? Why this strange love hate of the Dutch?
It has become my hook into uk history as dates tell me little but stories do.

The story of the facts.

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I think that the measure of this book is that I know a lot more now than I did before I listened to it - but then, I started from a pretty low base!

The audiobook tells the story of Monarchy from Claudius' Roman occupation through to Elizabeth II. Perhaps the title is a little misleading - for example there is not a great deal of coverage of the two twentieth century World Wars.

Personally, I didn't enoy this book as much as some ot the other history texts I have downloaded. The reason for this is not the quality of Mr. Starkey's writing, which is very good indeed. I struggled to keep track with events at times, just because there are so many monarchs. At times they seem to blur into each other a little.

Oh, and the changing narrators jar a little.

That said, this is a very good audiobook and I would definitiely reccommend it. No longer am I slightly ashamed of my lack of knowledge of monarchy and indeed English history. There's still a lot more to know but this book has given me a pretty good grounding. Thanks.

Informative and Interesting

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Interesting from a timeline view but the modern monarchy was very much skipped over. The end summary of the future of the monarchy failed to raise any of the difficult questions regarding Prince Charles and his friendships with some very worrying people and verged into the sycophantic. Starkey comes across as a very much an establishment, C of E centric monarchist, which devalues the historical credentials and balance of this book.

An establishment history.

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I loved this at first, but then it changed without warning to a new narrator with a truly awful voice, weird random rhythm and horribly grating intonation. I don’t think I can finish!

Second narrator ruins it

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