Simon Prebble musters the perfect haughty English voice for this astonishing catalogue of lust and intrigue. He announces grandly, for instance, that the King celebrated his sixth marriage--to a Protestant--by "having three Protestant heretics burned to death in the great park." What Henry wanted, Henry got. England broke with Rome. Two wives were beheaded, and one, Anne of Cleves, rejected, because he didn't like the way she looked, or smelled. The man who tried so desperately to produce a male heir ended by fathering one of England's great queens. Elizabeth would never marry. Perhaps she remembered the price her mother, Anne Boleyn, had paid for giving herself to a man.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 22 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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