• To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape

  • By: Charles Spencer
  • Narrated by: Richard Trinder
  • Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape  By  cover art

To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape

By: Charles Spencer
Narrated by: Richard Trinder
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.67

Buy for $24.67

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Guided by its various twists and turns, To Catch a King tells the story the manhunt for Charles II following the rebellion that spurred his father's beheading in 1649. This pause-resisting sequel to Killers of the King tells an old story with new eyes, challenging our polarised notions of royalism, nationalism and loyalty.

In January 1649, King Charles I was beheaded in London outside his palace of Whitehall, and Britain became a republic. When his eldest son, Charles, returned in 1651 to fight for his throne, he was crushed by the might of Cromwell's armies at the battle of Worcester.

With 3,000 of his supporters lying dead and 10,000 taken prisoner, it seemed as if his dreams of power had been dashed. Surely it was a foregone conclusion that he would now be caught and follow his father to the block?

At six foot two inches tall, the prince towered over his contemporaries, and with dark skin inherited from his French-Italian mother, he stood out in a crowd. How would he fare on the run with Cromwell's soldiers on his tail and a vast price on his head?

The next six weeks would form the most memorable and dramatic of Charles' life. Pursued relentlessly, Charles ran using disguise and deception and relying on grit, fortitude and good luck. He suffered grievously through weeks when his cause seemed hopeless. He hid in an oak tree - an event so fabled that over 400 English pubs are named Royal Oak in commemoration. Less well-known events include his witnessing a village in wild celebrations at the erroneous news of his killing, the ordeal of a medical student wrongly imprisoned because of his similarity in looks and Charles disguising himself as a servant and as one half of an eloping couple to escape capture.

Charles never forgot those who helped him and, when restored to the throne as Charles II, told the tale of his adventures to Samuel Pepys, who transcribed it all.

In this gripping, action-packed, true adventure story, based on extensive archive material, Charles Spencer, best-selling author of Killers of the King, uses Pepys' account and many others to retell this epic story. With bloodied feet and facing certain death if caught, Charles relied upon a patchwork of hiding places that had evolved to hide Catholics from lethal persecution. Now, in the 1650s, they saved the life of a king.

©2017 Charles Spencer (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"History with the pace of a thriller, and I learned much I never knew." (Julian Fellowes, Observer Books of the Year)
"Pacy, well-researched and beautifully written." (Andrew Roberts)
"An exceptional and highly original history book that sheds new light on one of England's bloodiest episodes." (Alison Weir)

More from the same

What listeners say about To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great listen

Wonderfully written and narated. A great insight into that time and thr events that surrounded it. Maybe the series about Charles I and II could have another book focusing on the actual Restoration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!