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Claudius the God
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 19 hrs and 46 mins
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Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order.
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Approach this book with caution
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Rome's Last Citizen
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Marcus Porcius Cato: aristocrat who walked barefoot and slept on the ground with his troops, political heavyweight who cultivated the image of a Stoic philosopher, a hardnosed defender of tradition who presented himself as a man out of the sacred Roman past-and the last man standing when Rome's Republic fell to tyranny. His blood feud with Caesar began in the chamber of the Senate, played out on the battlefields of a world war, and ended when he took his own life rather than live under a dictator.
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Unfortunate
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This enthralling book charts the family's huge influence on the political, economic, and cultural history of Florence. Beginning in the early 1430s with the rise of the dynasty under the near-legendary Cosimo de Medici, it moves through their golden era as patrons of some of the most remarkable artists and architects of the Renaissance, to the era of the Medici Popes and Grand Dukes, Florence's slide into decay and bankruptcy, and the end, in 1737, of the Medici line.
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Laundry list of names
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Less than 40 years after England's golden age under Elizabeth I, the country was at war with itself. Split between loyalty to the Crown or to Parliament, war raged on English soil. Its casualties were immense. At the head of the disintegrating kingdom was King Charles I. In this vivid portrait - informed by previously unseen manuscripts, including royal correspondence between the king and his queen - Leanda de Lisle depicts a man who was principled and brave but fatally blinkered.
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worth the credit
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Narrator didn't get one name right
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The Romanovs
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Scholarly but gripping
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The Twelve Caesars was written based on the information of eyewitnesses and public records. It conveys a very accurate picture of court life in Rome and contains some of the raciest and most salacious material to be found in all of ancient literature. The writing is clear, simple and easy to understand, and the numerous anecdotes of juicy scandal, bitter court intrigue, and murderous brigandage easily hold their own against the most spirited content of today's tabloids.
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A pleasure to read...
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In 1474, a 23-year-old woman ascended the throne of Castile, the largest and strongest kingdom in Spain. Ahead of her lay the considerable challenge not only of being a young female ruler in an overwhelmingly male-dominated world but also of reforming a major European kingdom that was riddled with crime, corruption, and violent political factionism. Her pivotal reign was long and transformative, uniting Spain and setting the stage for its golden era of global dominance.
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Enlightening
- By Jean on 03-07-17
By: Giles Tremlett
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What listeners say about Claudius the God
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Alison
- 06-26-11
The story continues.
A consistent continuation of the story. Great detail and excellent characterization. A fitting second volume.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-02-15
Claudius, continued
What did you like about this audiobook?
This ties up some loose ends from I, Claudius and adds new anecdotes from the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula. (Graves seems to have had more material than he knew what to do with.) It is also a sad story, as the reader realizes that Claudius, now emperor, has some of the same character flaws as his predecessors did -- trusting the wrong people, for one. The last few chapters are heartbreaking; Claudius comes to see that despite all his efforts, his lifelong dream of restoring the Republic is not going to come true, partly because he has ruled so well but mainly because he has outlived all of the real republicans. The original accounts of the death of Claudius at the end are an appropriate conclusion.
How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?
I read the books because of my interest in the subject and they are the ones that I keep coming back to. Claudius the God goes into much more detail of the political, diplomatic and administrative culture of the Roman Empire. It isn't as character-driven as the previous volume. I probably would not have read I Claudius if I had read Claudius the God first but I am glad that I have read them both.
Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?
The reading is perfect, very smooth and paced in a way that is easy to follow without having to concentrate. He is also good at rendering conversations, by inflection alone it was clear which character was speaking, even when several of them were talking.
What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?
Nothing. I wondered about the pronunciation of some names, but that isn't a big deal.
Do you have any additional comments?
The tone of this volume is different from that of I Claudius. It covers only 14 years, not the century or so that the earlier book did, but it is just as long -- maybe longer. The amount of detail and the sheer number of characters in Claudius the God could be overwhelming for readers who just want a good, fast-moving story. I liked this book, but most of the characters just are not as compelling as the ones in I Claudius. Claudius certainly had much more affection and admiration for the people from his early life than he did for those who surrounded him when he was emperor.
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Overall
- Wolfpacker
- 07-21-08
Don't Stop With I Claudius
This is really I Claudius, Vol II. The story continues. The story moves like that of a good novel. The history is good to learn while enjoying a good read. You realize from reading between the lines and from comparing to what historians believe that this account is quite biased toward Claudius. But, this is after all written in the form of an autobiography, so what would you expect? The subplot of Herod is an interesting one.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Claire Purcell
- 03-13-18
The story continues!
I'm a lover of ancient Roman history, and I found this book wonderful. It might not be entirely accurate but it sure is fun.
We take up the story of Claudius where we left of with his miraculous and seemingly ridiculous ascension to Emperor. The story remains interesting but now we see how Claudius himself reacts to that kind of power, Spoiler Alert: it goes to his head. Claudius continues to narrate his life and give us his impressions, and the "truth".
Simply a wonderful book, I couldn't stop listing! I can't wait to listen to both them again soon.
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- isabel B.
- 03-14-21
Great ! a must read!
bought the book to highlight the soo.... wise thoughts! very well narrated! I am re-listening it to catch all the moments I lost while listening the first time.History at is best
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-01-23
a good conclusion to the story.
I like the expansion of Herod's story from the TV show but it was still a good cut to have on the show.
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- Darwin8u
- 12-27-12
The Deified King of Historical Fiction
I, Claudius and Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina are two of the greatest novels of historical fiction EVER. Probably the only writers who come close to Grave's mastery of history and literature are (in no particular order): Gore Vidal (Lincoln, Burr, etc), Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies) and Norman Mailer (The Executioner's Song, Harlot's Ghost).
Obviously, Shakespeare is the master of historical fiction/drama but he is so obviously the deified king of this that the Shakespearian 'sun needs no inscription to distinguish him from darkness'.
Grave's dilogy must be intimidating to a historian of Imperial Rome. The personality of Claudius has been so deeply set by Graves that I'm not sure any tweaking by modern historians will be able to fool with Grave's fool. The Genius of 'I, Claudius' and 'Glaudius the God' is derived from Graves' ability to create such an amazingly rich and deep literary character. The closest I've come across in recent times is Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell. Books like these are rare and seem to grow more amazing with each year.
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26 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Bruce
- 01-11-09
Must repeat- This is Fiction, This is Fiction
I really enjoyed this novel. I did keep forgetting that it was fiction. It is easy to do that with both novels. Before thinking you learned something, look it up, it may just be the Author's imagination. That isn't a flaw as long as your remember this is Historical Fiction based historical characters.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Sam Fredericks
- 12-05-15
More Claudius
On part with the first though the subject matter and supporting cast of characters are of a little lesser note. However, if you are interested in Claudius as a character then you will enjoy seeing him handle the empororship.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- BVerité
- 04-09-20
Excellent.
Fantastic sequel/rest of the story of Claudius. I’ve recently read both Margarette George’s stories of Nero, so this was a nice treat after those amazing books.
Going to stick to this author for a while and read some of histories.
Must give serious praise to Nelson Runger. He’s normally excellent, and this performance was sheer brilliance. Hated for it to end. Also loved the 3 stories at the end. They were well selected.
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