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Machiavelli: His Life and Times
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 22 hrs and 58 mins
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Machiavelli: His Life and Times
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Publisher's summary
Thanks to the invidious reputation of his most famous work, The Prince, Niccolo` Machiavelli exerts a unique hold over the popular imagination. But was Machiavelli as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he not have been an infinitely more sympathetic figure, prone to political missteps, professional failures, and personal dramas?
In Machiavelli: His Life and Times, Alexander Lee reveals the man behind the myth, following him from cradle to grave, from his father's penury and the abuse he suffered at a teacher's hands, to his marriage and his many affairs (with both men and women), to his political triumphs and, ultimately, his fall from grace and exile. In doing so, Lee uncovers hitherto unobserved connections between Machiavelli's life and thought. He also reveals the world through which Machiavelli moved: from the great halls of Renaissance Florence to the court of the Borgia pope Alexander VI, from the dungeons of the Stinche prison to the Rucellai garden, where he would begin to write some of his last great works.
As much a portrait of an age as of a uniquely engaging man, Lee's gripping and definitive biography takes the listener into Machiavelli's world - and his work - more completely than ever before.
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One of the World's Great History Books.
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By: C. V. Wedgwood
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Napoleon
- Soldier of Destiny
- By: Michael Broers
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4 out of 5 stars 48
Written with great energy and authority - and using the newly available personal archives of Napoleon himself - the first volume of a majestic two-part biography of the great French emperor and conqueror.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Clarity
- By Tad Davis on 03-25-19
By: Michael Broers
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Machiavelli
- Philosopher of Power
- By: Ross King
- Narrated by: Tim Reynolds
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Machiavelli is a superb portrait of the brilliant and revolutionary political philosopher - history's most famous theorist of "warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed" - and the age he embodied. Ross King, the New York Times best-selling author of Brunelleschi's Dome, argues that the author of The Prince was a far more complex and sympathetic character than is often portrayed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome
- By Crisitna Tunon on 07-16-21
By: Ross King
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Our First Civil War
- Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not a fresh take on the Revolution
- By James on 01-05-22
By: H. W. Brands
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Hero of Two Worlds
- The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution
- By: Mike Duncan
- Narrated by: Mike Duncan
- Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,059
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,759
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,742
From the massively popular podcaster and New York Times best-selling author comes the story of the Marquis de Lafayette's lifelong quest to protect the principles of democracy, told through the lens of the three revolutions he participated in: the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Revolution of 1830.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thrillingly storytelling — brilliant narration
- By Byron on 08-24-21
By: Mike Duncan
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Francis I
- The Maker of Modern France
- By: Leonie Frieda
- Narrated by: Carole Boyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
Catherine de Medici's father-in-law, King Francis of France, was the perfect Renaissance knight, the movement's exemplar and its Gallic interpreter. An aesthete, diplomat par excellence, and contemporary of Machiavelli, Francis was the founder of modern France, whose sheer force of will and personality molded his kingdom into the first European superpower. Arguably the man who introduced the Renaissance to France, Francis was also the prototype Frenchman - a national identity was modeled on his character.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Rekindling salamandrine fires...
- By Adeliese Baumann on 09-29-18
By: Leonie Frieda
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In the Shadow of the Empress
- The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 23 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 143
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
The vibrant, sprawling saga of Empress Maria Theresa - one of the most renowned women rulers in history - and three of her extraordinary daughters, including Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen of France.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Awful narration!
- By Suanne Laqueur on 09-27-21
By: Nancy Goldstone
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Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,407
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,250
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,246
In this dynamic and engaging biography, Anthony Everitt plunges us into the fascinating, scandal-ridden world of ancient Rome in its most glorious heyday. Accessible to us through his legendary speeches but also through an unrivaled collection of unguarded letters to his close friend Atticus, Cicero comes to life here as a witty and cunning political operator.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An eloquent man, and a patriot
- By Darwin8u on 01-19-15
By: Anthony Everitt
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A History of France
- By: John Julius Norwich
- Narrated by: John Julius Norwich
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 320
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 318
John Julius Norwich - called a "true master of narrative history" by Simon Sebag Montefiore - returns with the book he has spent his distinguished career wanting to write, A History of France, a portrait of the past two centuries of the country he loves best. Beginning with Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the first century BC, this study of French history comprises a cast of legendary characters - Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Joan of Arc, and Marie Antionette, to name a few - as Norwich chronicles France's often violent, always fascinating history.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Kings and Wars
- By Awake Tex on 08-22-19
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Imprudent King
- A New Life of Philip II
- By: Geoffrey Parker
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
Philip II is not only the most famous king in Spanish history, but one of the most famous monarchs in English history: the man who married Mary Tudor and later launched the Spanish Armada against her sister Elizabeth I. This compelling biography of the most powerful European monarch of his day begins with his conception (1526) and ends with his ascent to Paradise (1603), two occurrences surprisingly well documented by contemporaries. Eminent historian Geoffrey Parker draws on four decades of research on Philip as well as a recent, extraordinary archival discovery - a trove of 3,000 documents in vaults in New York City....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great, but I jumbled
- By Missee on 03-18-19
By: Geoffrey Parker
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The New World
- A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Volume II
- By: Sir Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 733
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 524
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 525
Between 1485 and 1688, England became a Protestant country under Henry VIII. His daughter, Elizabeth I, battled for succession and supremacy at home, and the discovery of 'the round world' enabled a vast continent across the Atlantic to be explored. While this new era was spawning the beginnings of modern America, England was engaged in a bloody civil war and sustained a Republican experiment under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Churchill series
- By Elizabeth Weingarten on 08-27-08
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Napoleon
- A Life
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 520
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 466
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 464
The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-01-19
By: Adam Zamoyski
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Sicily
- An Island at the Crossroads of History
- By: John Julius Norwich
- Narrated by: Michael Healy
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
"Sicily," said Goethe, "is the key to everything." It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East. Sicily's strategic location has tempted Roman emperors, French princes, and Spanish kings. The subsequent struggles to conquer and keep it have played crucial roles in the rise and fall of the world's most powerful dynasties.
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3 out of 5 stars
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DISAPPOINTING
- By SRdto on 11-22-16
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Caesar
- Life of a Colossus
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,834
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,408
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,402
Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of Julius Caesar's life, Adrian Goldsworthy covers not only the great Roman emperor's accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters. Ultimately, Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar's character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate some 2,000 years later.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Caesar and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 08-31-15
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Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Machiavelli is a superb portrait of the brilliant and revolutionary political philosopher - history's most famous theorist of "warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed" - and the age he embodied. Ross King, the New York Times best-selling author of Brunelleschi's Dome, argues that the author of The Prince was a far more complex and sympathetic character than is often portrayed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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By: Robert C. Solomon, and others
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- Narrated by: Hannibal Hills
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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What listeners say about Machiavelli: His Life and Times
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-26-21
Fascinating
Incredibly interesting.
Written and read in a way which captivates your attention and environs you in its story.
Definitely recommend it!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Barjengo
- 03-12-23
Subtitle should be "His times and times."
This book reads at times like the minutes of a committee meeting, at other times like State Department archives, at still others like the rulebook to Risk. Mixed in with this tedium is salacious gossip that adds nothing to our understanding of the subject. Machiavelli's thought and writing is almost ignored at the expense of his political career, which is a bit like writing a biography of Paul McCartney that focuses almost entirely on his time with Wings, or maybe a bio of Michael Jordan that dwells on his baseball career. Skip this and go with "Machiavelli" by Miles Unger.
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