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Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
We see Peter in his 20s traveling "incognito" with his ambassadors to the courts of Europe; as the victorious soldier proclaimed Emperor; as the simple workman at his forge; and as the visionary statesman who single-handedly created a formidable world power. Impetuous and stubborn, bawdy and stern, relentless in his perseverance, he was capable of the greatest generosity and the greatest cruelty.
Critic reviews
Featured Article: The Best Biography Audiobooks to Educate, Fascinate, and Inspire
The best biographies are ranked not only by the scale and skill of their writing, but also by the strength of their subjects. In the audiobook world, these selections are also judged for the quality of their narrative performances, making those that rise to the top all the more excellent. From lighthearted entertainment to inspirational origin stories, these titles represent the best biography audiobooks now ready for your listening pleasure.
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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Hitler's Hangman
- The Life of Heydrich
- By: Robert Gerwarth
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Reinhard Heydrich is widely recognized as one of the great iconic villains of the 20th century, an appalling figure even within the context of the Nazi leadership. Chief of the Nazi Criminal Police, the SS Security Service, and the Gestapo, ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and leading planner of the "Final Solution," Heydrich played a central role in Hitler's Germany.
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A different perspective on the Third Reich
- By Robyn on 11-18-16
By: Robert Gerwarth
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The First Elizabeth
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In this remarkable biography, Carolly Erickson brings Elizabeth I to life and allows us to see her as a living, breathing, elegant, flirtatious, diplomatic, violent, arrogant, and outrageous woman who commands our attention, fascination, and awe. With the special skill for which she is acclaimed, Carolly Erickson electrifies the senses as she evokes with total fidelity the brilliant colors of Elizabethan clothing and jewelry, the texture of tapestries, and even the close, perfumed air of castle rooms. Erickson demonstrates her extraordinary ability to discern and bring to life psychological and physical reality.
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Well Researched Book
- By JustBill on 03-13-15
By: Carolly Erickson
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Huey Long
- By: T. Harry Williams
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 31 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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He was one of the most extraordinary figures in American political history, a great natural politician who looked, and often seemed to behave, like a caricature of the red-neck Southern politico - and yet he had become, at the time of his assassination, a serious rival to Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency. In this "masterpiece of American biography" ( New York Times), Huey Long stands wholly revealed, analyzed, and understood.
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Stunning, Compelling and Relevent
- By Paul on 11-28-11
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The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia
- By: Candace Fleming
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr, Eugene Alper, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs - at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming (Amelia Lost; The Lincolns) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family’s extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing listen as well as a perfect resource for meeting Common Core standards.
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terrible narration
- By michael on 09-09-14
By: Candace Fleming
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Catherine the Great & Potemkin
- The Imperial Love Affair
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 27 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Catherine the Great was a woman of notorious passion and imperial ambition. Prince Potemkin was the love of her life and her co-ruler. Together they seized Ukraine and Crimea, territories that define the Russian sphere of influence to this day. Their affair was so tumultuous that they negotiated an arrangement to share power, leaving each of them free to take younger lovers. But these “twin souls” never stopped loving each other.
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Liked the book, hated the narrator
- By Michelle on 03-09-21
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The Great War
- A Combat History of the First World War
- By: Peter Hart
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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World War I altered the landscape of the modern world in every conceivable arena. Millions died; empires collapsed; new ideologies and political movements arose; poison gas, warplanes, tanks, submarines, and other technologies appeared. "Total war" emerged as a grim, mature reality. In The Great War, Peter Hart provides a masterful combat history of this global conflict.
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Horrible Listen
- By Eric Ring on 11-16-21
By: Peter Hart
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Lost to the West
- The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization
- By: Lars Brownworth
- Narrated by: Lars Brownworth
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization.
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Just a delight for anyone interested in history !
- By Cinders on 05-28-13
By: Lars Brownworth
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Clouds of Glory
- The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee
- By: Michael Korda
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 32 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee, Michael Korda, the New York Times best-selling biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, and T. E. Lawrence, has written the first major biography of Lee in nearly 20 years, bringing to life America's greatest and most iconic hero. Korda paints a vivid and admiring portrait of Lee as a general and a devoted family man
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Good But Not Great
- By David Wardell on 05-12-15
By: Michael Korda
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The Last King of America
- The Misunderstood Reign of George III
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: Phillipe Stevens
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Most Americans dismiss George III as a buffoon - a heartless and terrible monarch with few, if any, redeeming qualities. The best-known modern interpretation of him is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting, and pompous take in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of 18th-century revolutionaries. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth.
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Fantastic .. a proud defense of George III
- By Wyatt on 11-12-21
By: Andrew Roberts
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Gulag
- A History
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The Gulag - a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners - was a system of repression and punishment that terrorized the entire society, embodying the worst tendencies of Soviet communism. In this magisterial and acclaimed history, Anne Applebaum offers the first fully documented portrait of the Gulag, from its origins in the Russian Revolution, through its expansion under Stalin, to its collapse in the era of glasnost.
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Nice compliment to Solzhenitsyn
- By Thucydides on 08-03-17
By: Anne Applebaum
What listeners say about Peter the Great
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Stephen
- 02-05-18
Comprehensive, but oddly-accented narrator
Listen to the sample before buying this book. The narrator has an extremely unusual British accent, and this book is LONG, so make sure you can tolerate it. The performance isn't bad, but it's definitely different.
That said, this is a magnificent and comprehensive biography not only of Peter but also of the Europe that surrounded him. The author covers every inch of Peter's reign, from his diplomatic and military triumphs to his personal obsessions and relationships. Included for critical context of Peter's reign are deep summaries of other European rulers of the day including Louis the 14th and William of Orange, and the book essentially contains a sub-biography of Charles the 12th, Peter's archnemesis whose Swedish army nearly destroyed the Russian Empire before it started. If you are looking for not only a biography but a history of Northeastern Europe at the turn of the 18th century, it would be hard to do better.
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- Jeffrey
- 08-06-12
A full history.
The history starts before he was born. It gives a good solid history of each person that plays a meaningful role in the story of Peter. It keeps up the interest to the last minutes of the book.
My only criticism is the narrator has a lisp. It is not bad but it is noticeable.
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- Eve Howard
- 08-07-18
Superb textbook that reads like a novel
It's not just Peter's history, this fantastic book fills in the background of every important monarch in Europe in the early 18th Century. A must for Russian literature fans, it sets the stage for all the upheavals to come. If you want to know what is meant by that vague phrase, the Russian soul, Peter's life and struggles will explain that too. The book is crammed with major events, social trends, commercial enterprises, international diplomacy, embassies, inventions, institutions, characters, and above all, war, war, war. Monster or visionary? Both in abundance. You wouldn't want to be part of his family, but after experiencing all he went through, all he wrought and all he tried to do, you become almost emotionally attached to this unique individual. The perfect companion to a library filled with Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Pushin and Gogol.
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- Dan
- 10-19-21
Excellent but in desperate need of a remaster
The content is phenomenal - I've never had a 40 hour book go by so quickly. Massie did a tremendous job of painting the Russia and Europe that Peter lived in with vivid detail and anecdotes about small events that truly add color to the history. I also loved how he devoted some time to the back stories of the other important figures in the narrative, such as Charles XII, Louis XIV, and William of Orange, which added context for those like me who don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of European history. Truly one of the best biographies I've listened to.
It's not fair to knock off an entire star but this audio quality really needs work - you can tell it was recorded ages ago. I think my ears got used to it eventually, but it might have been at the cost of some of the cells in my cochleas. I don't believe the Audible app has an equalizer, which is unfortunate because I did most of my listening through headphones at work. For the few hours that I listened while in the car, I found the sound to be unbearably painful (at sufficient volume to hear the words over the sounds of the road) until I turned the treble down all the way - this made the recording much more tolerable, albeit still low quality by today's standards. I strongly recommend someone run the book through a filter - even if it doesn't become perfect, the next listeners could have a much better experience than I did, and this book deserves it.
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- Jon Olinger
- 05-07-22
Terrible presenter
The readers accent is ridiculous. It is distracting and cartoonish. Additionally he injects his own opinion into the inflection of his voice
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- Howard A. Woltermann
- 06-06-23
Great review of that era
This was a great review of that era. This includes France ,Dutch Swedish and English
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- M Grandiflora
- 01-14-24
Essential book for European History
Starting out a little daunted by the 43+ hours of life I would have to devote to the recording of this book, after not too long I would look forward each day to my time devoted to listening to this tome. Massie has done an exhaustive job of describing Peter the Great as well as Europe and the Ottoman Empire of the time. I am so glad to have listened to this book. The in depth research and writing about many other characters including Charies XII of Sweden was probably not strictly necessary in a bio of Peter the Great. However, I am glad to know so much more of the era and its players. Audio books have greatly progressed since their inception in the late ‘70s, and ‘80s. There were certain expectations in the early days about how a narrator should sound - Mr. Davidson to our current day ears for the most part does not help the book, although his ability to impeccably pronounce words regardless of their origin is admirable. I did find that I had to ignore his annoying snobby accent and got used to the lisp and the loss of audio quality especially at the end of sentences. in his day, Davidson was a prolific audiobook narrator - his Wikipedia entry is quite interesting. I think that this book justifies an audiobook re-make to better suit our modern ears and to improve its audio quality, which would probably help with sales in light of all the negative reviews about the audio. This is such an important work, and provides a lot of background into the present day, everyone should read it.
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- Abbas
- 04-17-19
That was great.
This was quite an encyclopedia on Czar Peter. It is quite long and detailed, due to that it was hard to finish. However, the info in this book was clear and easy to digest. I wouldn't recommend it if you just want a rough idea on Peter the Great, because this will give you everything.
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- Matt
- 07-31-12
Remarkable Man....Fantastic Book!
Absolutely loved this book. I read it about 10 years ago and decided to give the audio book a try as well. It is easily one of the best biographies I have ever read. You don't have to be a Russian history enthusiast to enjoy this book. Anybody who enjoys European history, sailing or military history will take something away from this book. 5 big stars on this one!!
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- Gwen McRae
- 10-08-19
Engaging history
I was intimidated by the length but wanted a deeper understanding of this period of history. The material is beautifully written even and engaging. The performance is a little annoying but the reading and execution is at a high level even so. Worth the investment.
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