In Freedom's Cause

A Story of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce

By: George Alfred Henty

Narrated by: Jim Hodges

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Bring history back to life through Jim Hodges' historically accurate, exciting, and edifying audio recordings.

Liberty or death - this was the choice the people of 14th-century Scotland faced if they rose up against their English ruler. Most would say it was no choice at all. Many of the Scottish nobles were English supporters. Few could be expected to rise up against the numerically overwhelming English army. The hero of the story, Archibald Forbes, joins the struggle for Scottish freedom led by the valiant Sir William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. The extraordinary valor and personal prowess of these men rival the deeds of the mythical heroes of chivalry. Henty weaves a wonderful story around the actual events of 1314 at Bannockburn.

The Henty Historical Novel Collection, written by George Henty in the 1800s, covers many time periods in history throughout the world. In this collection, you will learn history, geography, and vocabulary while also discovering hero characters for your children to emulate.

Public Domain (P)2004 Jim Hodges Productions

Two boys listening

My 11 year old son said he likes the story because it's similar to the American revolution.A bunch of rag tag soldiers Defeat an unbeaten army.He said it is Especially amazing in the last chapter. My two sons really like the Reader.

Fabulous book about direct ancestor!

Great GAHenty book. Told in such a way that anyone Jr High age and upward could understand. I think specifically young men would enjoy this book. GAHenty is known for being historically accurate and does not offer revised modern history.

I thought Scotch was a drink

As a Scotsman, I’ve always been told that “we are not Scotch, Scotch is a drink”…
This was a wonderful story to satisfy those that want to continue where BraveHeart left off. My only real complaints by is that the author uses the term Scotchmen for the people of Scotland. If you can’t get past that, it’s a good descriptive tome.

Not the best story teller

Very good story though of the Scots escaping the English, and is very well worded

Great Story

This is a fine story interlacing history with a moral fictitious character to guide the story.
I agree with other reviewers though, that the narration leaves a lot to be desired. Although he reads the story at a great pace, his interpretation and inflections don’t quite match the feel of the book in my opinion.

Excellent

I grew up listening to this book on tapes. I love this book! It is what got me into audio books! Highly recommend!

excellent and accurate story of Wallace and Bruce

the story is old, written over 100 years ago and the historical elements took place many hundreds of years before that.
the history is accurate and the fiction feels real, as it was written by a noted historian. The reader is less than perfect, it sound like your uncle is reading the book instead of the protagonist or even a profesional story teller, but don't think it's too distracting.
if you'd like to learn more about the events that surrounded the character of Braveheart (William Wallace), or the war of the many against the few, I'd highly recommend it.
ps. the stone of scone that is mentioned in the story was recently recovered by Scotland and has helped them make great strides in the battle to becomes an independent nation.

Great story, could use better reader.

This is an excellent historical fiction by a real historian, that really could use a reader who sounds more like Gerard Butler than Pewee Herman.

The book follows the fictional Sir Archibald Forbes on a detailed journey through the Scottish war of independence, as he meets, befriends, fights, and rescues any number or real historical figures and participates in the real historical events surrounding them.

The performance, however, is by an American who doesn't know how to pronounce a lot of Scottish names, and I think a lowland Scot accent would have added immensely to the atmosphere of the audiobook.

good story, but the player keeps cutting out.

good story, but the player keeps cutting out. follows the Henty outline and is a little predictable, but otherwise it's a good listen

Great story, but unfortunately bad narration!

Ugh, this story was so engaging, but the narration was so poor! Occasionally it was so bad that I had to laugh out loud... the narrator has a Mr. Rogers quality that just makes him a very bad fit for the storyline. It's too bad a great British performer who can swing the Scottish and occasional Irish brogue couldn't have taken this on! I'm just glad this was was free of charge to listen to.