Christopher

A great book, beautifully written by an author at the top of her game. What is utterly striking is the way that some of the most dramatic events in history are portrayed through everyday life seemingly without the curse of hindsight. You feel like you are really living the events side by side with Cromwell.

Simon slater must be one of the best narrators anywhere, his staging,voice and delivery are beyond gorgeous.i loved every minute of his performance.

Clever, empathetic and intriguing

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes- they are both brilliantly observed memoirs that utterly capture the essence of youth and early love affairs. Sweet Tooth is, however, vastly superior in my opinion with a more interesting story.

The ending is superb.

I couldn't/ wouldn't.

Great narration and delivery and a thoroughly enjoying listen. Just the right length, tense, taught and interesting.

Not a chance

He has a very annoying accent but I guess that is not his fault.

It is an interesting story and all points of view are valid- he is a credible insider to a world that is unfairly reviled by mainstream society.

I am not an investment banker, but I do know some, have worked with some and considered becoming one when I left Oxford. Let us be under no illusions, investment banking is not exactly a client focussed game, nor does it give a lot back to society but it is far from the evil that society (especially Brits) seem to suggest these days.

Greg Smith is obviously very smart, probably credible and he has definitely been close to the centre of one the greatest/ largest investment bank in the world during some pretty major events. However, boy does this guy love himself. Some of the quotes and passages are just cringe worthy- apparently he never put a foot wrong, or if he did it was only once and he learnt from his mistakes. He was the 'go to guy' for just about everything and the greats within the bank showed him enormous respect. I'm just not sure I believe all of that. He just doesn't come across as very likeable.

Not coming across as very likeable would be fine if the book were a well written, well argued insight into the real workings of Goldman Sachs. Sadly, it isn't. The book is basically a life story, rarely exciting, occasionally interesting but mostly just one low level guy's story of working in an investment bank. Most of the book seems to state the obvious- would you have guessed that the recruitment process is tough and stressful for a job that pays 250k a year to 22 year olds or that once you get said job you would be expected to work long hours or pass exams first time?

This book could have been so much more, an academic, well reasoned argument about why Goldman Sachs is bad/ evil/ changed from good to bad. What you get is mostly a whinge from a low level guy who didn't make it. He is clearly in love with the bank and fell out of love when it didn't give him exactly what he wanted.

He maybe right- I just don't know but after sitting through 10 hours of the book, I'm not sure I care. Greg may have a wonderful future ahead of him, he may even be a great guy but he certainly doesn't have a future in writing.

Terrible narration, sounds like a robot- hated it. However, the content is so good it is worth dealing with.

Really well written, thoroughly enjoyable and clear style. The writer has amazing credibility and has really been there. This has helped me enormously, a superb book.

I don't really like his politics or what he seems to represent in terms of the Bush administration but he is clearly an incredible man, an incredible leader and a brilliant role model. This is an inspirational and uplifting book from someone who has really done a lot in life and got there through hard work and decency. Highly recommended.