Listeners who know England's King Henry V primarily through Shakespeare's history plays will be enlightened and only a little disappointed with this authenticated, unromanticized biography of the storied "warrior king." With urbane ease and a gift for telling detail, British popular historian Dan Jones guides listeners through the tangled histories of the Hundred Years War, the War of the Roses, and the internecine Plantagenet family. In this latest Jones focuses not on Henry's great victories over France, but on the grubby, decidedly unromantic business of transporting and maintaining a fifteenth-century army and the even trickier business of negotiating a peace settlement with the medieval French court. It's not Shakespeare, and it's not poetic. But it's every bit as compelling.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
Duration: 14 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593915615
Publisher: Penguin Audio
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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