The War for All the Oceans

From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo

By: Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Roy Adkins, with his wife, Lesley, returns to the Napoleonic War in The War for All the Oceans, a gripping account of the naval struggle that lasted from 1798 to 1815, a period marked at the beginning by Napoleon's seizing power and at the end by the War of 1812. In this vivid and visceral account, Adkins draws on eyewitness records to portray not only the battles but also the details of a sailor's life: shipwrecks, press-gangs, prostitutes, spies, and prisoners of war.

The War for All the Oceans is epic narrative history, sure to appeal to fans of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester, as well as all readers of military and social history.

©2007 Roy Adkins and Lesley Adkins (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Sumptuous storytelling." (Kirkus)
"Vivid....[A] rollicking saga." (Publishers Weekly)

Good book, terrible narration

What did you love best about The War for All the Oceans?

I've read the book, and enjoyed it enough that I bought the narration to listen to at the office. It's a good read with a mixture of big picture and local action.

How could the performance have been better?

I hate to complain, but the fact is that the narrator's performance is absolutely horrible. He seems to be American, but the book is about the Napoleonic Wars and he insists on doing accents for everyone - British, French, Scottish, etc. Someone must have thought this would help "put the listener into the story". They are almost unbearably affected, and they are both frequent and long, given the book's many quotes from original source materials. Napoleon, for example, sounds like the worst stereotype you could imagine for a Frenchman. It's so below the quality of the book itself that I can't imagine how it was allowed to happen. It's literally cartoon-ish. I may not be able to finish this one.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

As noted above - the accents are infuriating. No doubt the narrator had fun doing them all, but it's so ridiculous that I may not be able even to finish listening to a book that I loved reading.

Any additional comments?

Please re-issue this book with a new, non-childish narration!

Narration is Bad Bad!

Could NOT finish the book the narration was annoying just plain TERRIBLE!!!

How a producer could allow this to happen to a seemly good story is beyond me!

Well researched, but by God-no more accents!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

If you are looking for good battle accounts and an in depth look at the actual fighting during the age of sail, this is not your book. The book is well researched but delves too deeply into how the navy functioned as an institution. First person accounts do tend to liven the story but end up becoming just plain annoying as they are all done with accents.

How could the performance have been better?

PLEASE do not have one narrator do all of the accents for each nationality. For that matter, do not do accents period. The narrator's accents are passable at first, but severely detract from the enjoyment of the book the deeper you get into it. It was a struggle to finish an otherwise good but not great book due to the narrator.

Did The War for All the Oceans inspire you to do anything?

Not to attempt a foreign accent for several weeks afterwards!

A Wonderful Voyage

More a compilation of primary sources and first-hand accounts than a standard history book, The War for All the Oceans reads like a novel and is a very enjoyable story.

Roy and Lesley Adkins tell the story of the Napoleonic Wars from the perspectives and experiences of the men who lived and died during the conflict. While the narrative follows primary historical figures--Napoleon, Nelson, Smith--the history comes alive through voices of the ordinary men who history so often overlooks.

A highly recommended read that is skillfully narrated by Patrick Lawlor (although I don't like his American voice), The War for All the Oceans is a refreshingly different sort of history.

Amazingly boring

The book depends way too much on diary excerpts to try to link the events. Plodding narration in between

Good material, horrid narration

If any one thing detracts from the wealth of information in this classic on British naval warfare, it is Patrick Lawlor's amateurish narration. His ludicrously affected British, French, and Scottish accents, mispronunciations and sing-song prose recital should make the authors cringe.

Horribly Distracting Reader

This fine account of the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars is ruined by the worst reader I have ever heard. He uses comically awful “French” and “English” accents when reading quotations from foreign figures that sound like they belong in a middle-school production. Combined with consistent mispronunciations of European geography, this is simply the least professional audiobook that I’ve ever listened to (and I’ve listened to over 100).

Simply Dreadful

This it the first audiobook that I just plain had to stop listening to. From the hour or so that I did manage to sit through it seemed a bit anglo-centric and doted on various English heroes. It definitely did not help that the narrator used a cheesy french accent everytime he spoke quote from frenchmen. It makes them sound stupid and detracts from the overall work. I also found it a bit boring...

disappointed

I love history. I expect history to give me a good balance of the "macro" picture (the overall historical arcs in the narrative) and the "micro" picture (how individuals are recorded as living through these arcs).

I found "The War" disappointing because it did not offer a good balance of the macro and micro pictures, spending an inordinate amount of time on the micro picture. There were too many quotes and not enough analysis.