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The Monarchy of England

The Beginnings

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The Monarchy of England

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

The thrilling launch of David Starkey's new mammoth venture – MONARCHY: three books linked to 18 hours of television on the Kings and Queens of England. Volume 1 The Early Kings covers the retreat of the Romans from Britain in 410 to the fall of the House of Lancaster in the middle of the 15th century.

MONARCHY is more than the biographies of the kings and queens of England. It is
an in-depth examination of what the English monarchy has meant, in terms of the expression of the individual, the Mother of Parliaments, Magna Carta, the laws of England and the land of England. This is the history of ideas and ideals, as well as colourful characters, brought to life by David Starkey's unique gifts as a communicator. David Starkey's scholarship combines with his engaging and popular style to produce another winner.

The importance of the rich heritage of the Anglo-Saxon kings is underlined and among the kings most heavily featured are: Alfred the Great, Canute, Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, and Henry III. The last king featured in this volume is Henry VI.

©2004 David Starkey (P)2004 Harper Collins UK Ancient Europe Great Britain Medieval

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All stars
Most relevant  
A brilliantly written book and expertly read.
This was like an exciting movie, real edge of the seat stuff only for it to end abruptly.
Why audible haven't got the other 2 volumes available I don't know.
Worth a listen though, I learned a lot.

Abrupt ending....

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loved it,very easy to listen to.Early history of the English through to the Conqueror and his sons.

Loved this book well written and well narrated.

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the book seems to stop in an odd place. I was disappointed as it sounded like it should go on longer

History listen

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It helps to re-play some chapters to absorb all the facts and names.......altogether a fascinating subject, but not to fall asleep to!

Enjoyable read about our early kings and all the mayhem and murder!

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Great text and outstanding narrator highly recommended listened in one go walking the South Downs Way and was enthralled by the drama of the story of the birth of England

Brilliant

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Brilliantly told and wonderfully narrated with a perfectly listenable, rich delivery. A pleasure from start to finish.

David Starkey at his brilliant best

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An excellently read enthralling review of early English history and the development of what the monarchy has come to mean. The characters vividly came to life and it was difficult to pause when ever anything interupted my listening. I wasn't sure how it would compare to David Starkey's excellent television programmes but it exceeded all expectations. The only problem was the story came to an end - what happens next will take me to the next book and I look forward to many hours of further listening.

A superb introduction to audible

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Listening to these words and performance provides an enjoyable and indelible learning experience for these formative periods of English history.

A Special Learning Experience

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What a great way to refresh my school history. Sure. 1066. But what happened next. Really insightful update that I never got when at school.

Great to refresh

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Starkey has a lot of technical knowledge, although a lot of it seems to have been lifted from the Anglo-Saxon chronicles.

this book gives you a good timeline of what's happened but is far too technical, he goes through the Romans the Saxons the Vikings, the Normans , but leaves you feeling as it's just a long list of kings who supplant or replace each other, without talking about the emotional side of things, or the cultural impacts of era's or Kings. history should bring things alive and make you feel as if you're living in that era and what it would be like.

the author is very interesting when you hear him speak about the Broad sweep of the development of England, but this book is not in that category and is boring. it's a pity as I had higher expectations.

Thorough but boring

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