Scottish History for Dummies

By: William Knox PhD

Narrated by: Matthew Waterson

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Want to discover how a small country on the edge of Northern Europe packs an almighty historical punch? Scottish History for Dummies is your guide to the story of Scotland and its place within the historical narratives of Britain, Europe, and the rest of the world. You'll find out how Scotland rose from the ashes to forge its own destiny, understand the impact of Scottish historical figures such as William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and David Hume and be introduced to the wonderful world of Celtic religion, architecture, and monuments.

History can help us make connections with people and events, and it gives us an understanding of why the world is like it is today. Scottish History for Dummies pulls back the curtain on how the story of Scotland has shaped the world far beyond its borders. From its turbulent past to the present day, this informative guide sheds a new and timely light on the story of Scotland and its people.

If you're a lifelong learner looking for a fun, factual exploration of the grand scope of Scotland or a traveler wanting to make the most of your trip to this captivating country, Scottish History for Dummies has you covered.

©2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (P)2019 Tantor

Scottish history with no Scottish narrator :(

There was good information, but a huge missed opportunity to highlight a Scottish narrator existed.

Great subject doesn’t translate to audiobook well

This is an example of a book that is in my opinion better read than listened to. Way too many specific details that are hard to follow in audio version.

Easy to understand, amazing details

I really enjoyed listening, I feel much more aware of the strength and intelligence of the Scottish people. I can’t wait to get there in a month to meet some of them.

Educational and entertaining.

This is a very well done history of Scotland for the average reader. Lots of great detail, written and narrated in an interesting and humorous way. Highly recommend.

Lost in detail

The author sets out to give the listener a memorable read with attention to salient facts of Scottish history. The audio book bogs down in the details with a blithering array of characters and facts. My suggestion would be to pair this down to the most important characters and stories. There are fascinating details, pearls ,located within the verbal barrage of this book. I am happy that I listened to the book but it was an experience that could have been much more memorable.

Poor performance

The reader’s constant mispronunciation of Scottish place names caused me to give up reading this book. I’d love to listen to the complete work if it is rerecorded by a competent narrator.

ruined by narrator

who cannot pronounce town and city names....I mean how hard is it to get Annan wrong. ...I hardly recognised his version of Dunfermline.

Great overview but some terrible pronunciation

Offers a great overall timeline of events and is a good introduction to the nation. However the pronunciation of place names make it seem like this narrator has never heard of Scotland!

Aaaarrgghh!

OMG! This is a work of excellent content that is absolutely ruined by the dogshit narrator who sounds like an Eton schoolboy on FM radio after his sixth cup of coffee!
More importantly, he is incompetent at pronouncing even the simplest of Scottish place names. I gave up after 2hrs of this purgatory.
It is a no-brainer that this book should be narrated by a native Scot! Shame on you Audible.
Alba gu brath!

Pronouncing name places, words and pretty much everything else.

It is amusing at first but becomes very tiresome as it goes along. Some Scottish words are easily miss-pronounced and can be forgiven. The irony is not lost that Scottish History for Dummies was read by someone who is not a native and has not been proof read by someone who is. The technical detail of the book is really good and worth a listen. If your from Scotland then prepare to shout at your listening device.

Mostly accurate(ish)

Spoiled somewhat by the narrator's inability to correctly pronounce pretty much any place name (apart from, strangely, Scone).

Hard to understand names and places.

Narrator cannot pronounce Scots names and places. Should have picked someone with a better understanding of the Scots dialect.
Disappointing.

Terrible pronunciation

The audiobook content is ok, and even much of the narration is fine, but the constant mispronunciation of people, places, and pretty much everything else really lets the audiobook down.

It's clear that there has been absolutely no effort made in this regard, and words the narrator hasn't seen before are just guessed at arbitrarily. Many, many of these are not obscure words and would have been incredibly easy to check

Awful narration ruins this audio book

The narration is absolutely awful, quite simply because the narrator has done no research on how to pronounce even the most simple of Scottish names or places. I doubt he's ever been to Scotland. Shockingly poor, I will sadly be returning the book because of this. I am around quarter way through and the content is great, so I may buy the paper or kindle version.

Let down by choice of narrator

Let down by choice of narrator, struggled through with what was otherwise an engaging and informative listen.