Tudor

Passion. Manipulation. Murder. The Story of England's Most Notorious Royal Family

By: Leanda de Lisle

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The Tudors are England's most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle's gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew.

The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family's obscure Welsh origins and the ordinary man known as Owen Tudor who would fall (literally) into a queen's lap - and later her bed. It passes by the courage of Margaret Beaufort, the pregnant 13-year-old girl who would help found the Tudor dynasty, and the childhood and painful exile of her son, the future Henry VII. It ignores the fact that the Tudors were shaped by their past - those parts they wished to remember and those they wished to forget.

By creating a full family portrait set against the background of this past, de Lisle enables us to see the Tudor dynasty in its own terms and presents new perspectives and revelations on key figures and events. De Lisle discovers a family dominated by remarkable women doing everything possible to secure its future; shows why the princes in the Tower had to vanish; and reexamines the bloodiness of Mary's reign, Elizabeth's fraught relationships with her cousins, and the true significance of previously overlooked figures. Throughout the Tudor story, Leanda de Lisle emphasizes the supreme importance of achieving peace and stability in a violent and uncertain world and of protecting and securing the bloodline.

Tudor is bristling with religious and political intrigue but at heart is a thrilling story of one family's determined and flamboyant ambition.

©2013 Leanda de Lisle (P)2016 Gildan Media LLC

Entertaining and filled with Information

Well written history of the most influential Royal family in History. One of my favorite periods in History. This book covers all aspects of the Tudor family in an entertaining and knowledgeable ways.

Not finished yet but....

The narrator is American (so am I), and she slightly mispronounces some of the words. She has a fine voice, and reads well, but I picking up on some slight mistakes. I wish someone had told her.

Clear and detailed

A straightforward and engaging history, mostly sympathetic, starting with (the sometimes neglected) Owen Tudor and ending with Elizabeth. Hillary Huber's narration is clear and steady. The final picture of Elizabeth is painful to listen to: old, toothless, forgetful, and alone: and it was found afterwards that she wore a ring that secretly contained a portrait of her executed mother. I found this book preferable to the one by GJ Meyer: de Lisle treats the Tudors as human beings without soft-pedaling the brutality of the politics. (Meyer's book at times seems more like a prosecutor's brief.) Would definitely be interested in more books from either author or narrator.

Great book, terrible narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

For historical purposes, I would recommend this book. The account is well documented and laid out in an interesting way.

Would you be willing to try another one of Hillary Huber’s performances?

Definitely not. She cannot pronounce English words properly. Her constant mispronunciations are very irritating. While some of this is forgivable for a non-English person, her failure to pronounce simple words like "priory", which in her tongue became "preory" took away from the author's excellent work.

Any additional comments?

I would advise the author to use an English narrator....at least one who is familiar with the pronunciation of titles and place names.

Impossible to put down!

Kept my interest from the beginning to the end!
Worth rereading over, and over again.

Good. I wish the narrator had better pronunciation

This was published in the US as "Tudor: The Family Story".
More enjoyable, to me, than Ackroyd's "Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I".
A broader history than Borman's "Private Lives of the Tudors".

Thorough research

A great overview of the Tudor family. Well written and researched. It was an enjoyable read.

Great book , horrible narration

The narrator is rolling her “Rs” in words that there is no “r “ even present 😂. Very disturbing . Pronunciation of may names are twisted . I wish they chose a better narrator :( . She may be good one for some adventure American books to read .

Poor Narration Spoils A Good History Read

Thankfully, I have this book on my Kindle to enjoy. And it's an excellent popular history, though unlike another reviewer I actually prefer G.J. Meyer's "The Tudors" as a fuller, more in-depth history. The Meyer history also has an excellent English reader which enhances rather than detracts from the listening experience, as in this case. I found this narrator's performance full of inaccuracies in pronunciation and her "voice" monotone and un-engaging. She did not draw me in; I heard her listening to the sound of her own voice, rather than giving the text its emotional due. Maybe she reminds me of someone and it's totally an arbitrary dislike on my part. What isn't arbitrary is my preference to have my English history delivered with an English accent. Why oh why was an American chosen to narrate this book?