David Rintoul narrates with remarkable skill and charm, treating the historical references in this audiobook like allusions to old friends. This long, complex, and desultory account of one of Henry VIII's chief ministers, Thomas Cromwell, is thick with references to hundreds of people and places, many obscure. Sadly, Rintoul's familiar chatty style applied to people the listener has likely never heard of plays to the audiobook's faults, emphasizing its frequent obscurity to all but those already steeped in the period. Still, Rintoul, who has a fine voice and likable accent, narrates with great intelligence and feeling, providing character voices and drama where appropriate--as in quotations--and making the parts of the book that are not a wilderness of obscure references into a pleasure that compensates, somewhat, for the work's many frustrations.
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
Duration: 26 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525641483
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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