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Stalin
- The Court of the Red Tsar
- Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
- Length: 27 hrs and 50 mins
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Publisher's summary
Fifty years after his death, Stalin remains a figure of powerful and dark fascination. The almost unfathomable scale of his crimes - as many as 20 million Soviets died in his purges and infamous Gulag - has given him the lasting distinction as a personification of evil in the 20th century. But though the facts of Stalin’s reign are well known, this remarkable biography reveals a Stalin we have never seen before as it illuminates the vast foundation - human, psychological and physical - that supported and encouraged him, the men and women who did his bidding, lived in fear of him and, more often than not, were betrayed by him.
In a seamless meshing of exhaustive research, brilliant synthesis and narrative élan, Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicles the life and lives of Stalin’s court from the time of his acclamation as “leader” in 1929, five years after Lenin’s death, until his own death in 1953 at the age of 73. Through the lens of personality - Stalin’s as well as those of his most notorious henchmen, Molotov, Beria and Yezhov among them - the author sheds new light on the oligarchy that attempted to create a new world by exterminating the old. He gives us the details of their quotidian and monstrous lives: Stalin’s favorites in music, movies, literature (Hemingway, The Forsyte Saga and The Last of the Mohicans were at the top of his list), food and history (he took Ivan the Terrible as his role model and swore by Lenin’s dictum “a revolution without firing squads is meaningless”). We see him among his courtiers, his informal but deadly game of power played out at dinners and parties at Black Sea villas and in the apartments of the Kremlin. We see the debauchery, paranoia, and cravenness that ruled the lives of Stalin’s inner court, and we see how the dictator played them one against the other in order to hone the awful efficiency of his killing machine.
With stunning attention to detail, Montefiore documents the crimes, small and large, of all the members of Stalin’s court. And he traces the intricate and shifting web of their relationships as the relative warmth of Stalin’s rule in the early 1930s gives way to the Great Terror of the late 1930s, the upheaval of World War II (there has never been as acute an account of Stalin’s meeting at Yalta with Churchill and Roosevelt) and the horrific postwar years when he terrorized his closest associates as unrelentingly as he did the rest of his country.
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar gives an unprecedented understanding of Stalin’s dictatorship and, as well, a Stalin as human and complicated as he is brutal. It is a galvanizing portrait: razor-sharp, sensitive, and unforgiving.
Critic reviews
“Terrific... Montefiore’s portrait of Stalin and his circle is a deeply researched and wonderfully readable accomplishment - scholarship as a kind of savage gossip...its sensationalism redeemed by Montefiore’s deep grounding in the facts.” (Lance Murrow, Time)
“Montefiore’s superb book offers a closer look at this personal side of Stalin and his top collaborators. Indeed, no Western writer has got as close. He trawled through newly opened (and often subsequently closed) Soviet archives, which brought some astonishing material to the surface... [A] dark and excellent book.” (Ian Buruma, New York Review of Books)
“Mr. Montefiore draws upon new archival material, unpublished memoirs and interviews with survivors of that era (including many children of Stalin’s associates and underlings) to create a harrowing portrait of life in the dictator’s inner circle. In doing so, he gives us an intimate look at Stalin himself and the culture of sadism, ruthlessness and dread that flourished around him, fueling a murderous regime that would leave tens of millions of people dead.” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times)
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 12-28-19
Stalinist Tyranny
Reading this book was an ordeal. Montefiore left nothing to the imagination in the massive destruction/dislocation of the many states of the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin and his cohorts. The irony of Stalin's death was appropriate. When Stalin had a massive stroke, the doctor who could have mitigated his condition, was being interrogated as an enemy of the state. In addition, his staff were afraid to even wake him in fear of being shot. This type of problem was endemic problem with military offices arrested and/or shot, professional people arrested and/or shot. This was a massive breakdown of society vulnerable to a military invasion by Germany. I find no redeeming qualities of a government that deliberately destroyed Ukrainian farmers by taking their harvests triggering a massive famine. The crimes of Stalin and his cohorts were staggering and they were nonstop even in the face of a massive invasion, . One story that Montefiore strongly discounts is when Stalin fakes collapse after learning about Hitler's invasion. This was the type of game Stalin played to determine those supporting him. Stalin would not hesitate to destroy even when the "innocent" party was pursuing legitimate purposes. This Russia was an insane asylum run by a mad man.
15 people found this helpful
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- brian
- 08-06-19
Been looking for this one for a while.
A well researched book from the author who's written a few books on Stalin. His finest work, if I do say so myself.
11 people found this helpful
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- Timothy
- 08-31-19
Excellent
Excellent
Three areas stand out
1. The Kirov murder. The author points out evidence that Stalin and his team may have played some role in his death. He doesn't draw any conclusions but leaves the reader with much to think about
2. The book is not a biography of Stalin or a history of Stalinism. It is the story of how Stalin's inner circle developed, how they enabled the transition from oligarchy to autocracy and the role they played in facilitating Stalinist terror.
3. The role Khrushchev played in the purges
A good companion to Stephen Kotkin's biography of Stalin
9 people found this helpful
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- James Walker
- 12-22-20
A hard to follow account of Stalin with some periods of enthralling storytelling
This is honestly my least favorite history audiobook I have listened to yet. Most of the book is mired in Russian politics, which is fine, but with little to no illustration of most figures. Names blend together, and there are countless Russian words inserted that if you don’t know Russian or Stalinist history by heart are lost upon you. I was hoping for an enthralling and truly engaging introduction to the understanding of Stalinist Russia, and instead I got something rather dry and without much focused narrative.
8 people found this helpful
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- Buretto
- 09-18-19
Engrossing and thoroughly entertaining
I did not expect what I heard. I might have expected "engrossing", but I never would have thought that "entertaining" would be my reaction to a book about Josef Stalin. The best thing about this audiobook is an aspect which at first I was hesitant to mention. But this book humanizes Stalin in a way that I don't think I've ever read or heard before. That is not in any way a mitigation of the atrocities committed by the man, but rather an insight into the motivations and twisted emotions that lead to the evil. Not evil from some supernatural fairy tales, but evil, like good, that exists in all humanity. And here was a man more paranoid than most, with a myriad of experiences to exacerbate that paranoia, given power in the right time and right place to create a perfect storm of barbarity. Nothing can excuse it, but this book brilliantly portrays the nuts and bolts of how this heinous period of history could have happened.
The author creates a terrifically engaging story, at times scornfully dismissive of the rationalizations of the man and his regime, at other times playfully sardonic at the absurdity of the times. One point which may have been problematic for some readers/listeners, but I believe turns out to be a strength, is the liberal usage of nicknames for the title character and the various underlings. Whether referred to as "the Vozhd", or "Koba" or "Supremo" or "Generalissimo", it all works to define the numerous facets of the man.
And last, but certainly not least, the narration is fantastic. This is a rare case when a narrator doing voices nails it perfectly. The expression of Stalin is perfectly evil, or doltish, or pathetic, as is appropriate in the story. And with a British narrator, it's more than bit humorous to hear the various Soviet thugs and henchmen become increasingly cockney in their speech. 28 hours absolutely flew by with this audiobook.
8 people found this helpful
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- roy jensen
- 12-27-21
chapter 40?
loved it but I believe the last part of part 2 which is chapter 40 is unavailable. it is listed as 0000 seconds long and skips to next part. what gives?
4 people found this helpful
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- philip
- 12-09-19
Great History that Reads Like à Novel
Very very good. Lots of excellent and diligent research. Montifiore is also an outstanding writer. Stalin was a strange character, very crude but one of the most well read world leaders ever. He could show tender kindness one moment, and then have the same person shot for a trifle. Mintifiore paints a highly negative portrait of Khrushchev . Surely K was no saint, he was involved in Stalin’s purges, as were all the others. However Khrushchev led the Soviet Union’s Great Thaw, released nearly a million political prisoners, and outside of Beria (who was a very real grave threat to the entire inner circle) never purged his political opponents. In all, this is a great book though. Anybody with an interest in history will live it. In my top 10 list for books I’ve read this year.
3 people found this helpful
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- James C. Kraft
- 01-23-22
Fun tidbits, weirdly antisemitic
For some reason every Jew mentioned is “a Jewish doctor” or “a Jewish social democrat” etc. This is virtually the only mention of religion or ethnicity in the book, and it’s like, every few pages. It’s weird. It’s not that he says anything directly antisemitic, but like . . . He keeps mentioning it. And then not addressing it. Nobody is ever “a catholic ballet dancer” or “an Azerbaijani dentist,” but it’s always “a Jewish family” or “a Jewish tea pot” or whatever.
2 people found this helpful
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- Greg
- 10-21-22
Average Book
This book was a bit of a chore. This was my first bio of Stalin. It is not a great history. There were no surprising insights. It reads like a review of his calendar.
1 person found this helpful
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- albert
- 08-02-21
Must listen
Everyone who is championing Marxist ideals must experience this audiobook. It’s prof of the evils people are capable of doing. This type of person still exists among us. Don’t think history is an account of how time was, it’s also an account of what will be.
1 person found this helpful
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Story
This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries, and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin.
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Scholarly but gripping
- By William on 06-16-16
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Jerusalem
- The Biography
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 25 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilizations. From King David to Barack Obama, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the epic history of three thousand years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem, and the only city that exists twice - in heaven and on earth.
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In-depth and gripping history of 3,000 years
- By A reader on 12-16-11
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Stalin
- The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives
- By: Edvard Radzinsky
- Narrated by: David McCallum
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Kremlin intrigues, the private worlds of the Soviet Empire's ruling class, Radzinsky thrillingly brings them to life. And the riddle of that most cold-blooded of leaders, a man for whom nothing was sacred in his pursuit of absolute might, and perhaps the greatest mass murderer in Western history, is solved.
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A Great Book About a Great Tyrant
- By Moon Man on 05-01-05
By: Edvard Radzinsky
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Young Stalin
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Young Stalin tells the story of an exceptional, charismatic, darkly turbulent young man born into obscurity, fancying himself a poet and a priest, and finally embracing revolutionary idealism as his Messianic mission in life. Equal parts scholar and terrorist, a mastermind of bank robberies, extortion, piracy, and murder, he was so impressive in his brutality that Lenin made him, along with Trotsky, his chief henchman.
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Really Good Read/Listen
- By Jim on 02-20-11
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Stalin
- New Biography of a Dictator
- By: Oleg V. Khlevniuk, Nora Seligman Favorov - translator
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 18 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This essential biography, by the author most deeply familiar with the vast archives of the Soviet era, offers an unprecedented, fine-grained portrait of Stalin, the man and dictator. Without mythologizing Stalin as either benevolent or an evil genius, Khlevniuk resolves numerous controversies about specific events in the dictator's life while assembling many hundreds of previously unknown letters, memos, reports, and diaries into a comprehensive, compelling narrative of a life that altered the course of world history.
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Loved it, but wouldn't want to live it
- By Neil on 01-12-20
By: Oleg V. Khlevniuk, and others
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Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
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Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
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The Romanovs
- 1613-1918
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Beale
- Length: 28 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries, and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin.
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-
Scholarly but gripping
- By William on 06-16-16
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Jerusalem
- The Biography
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 25 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilizations. From King David to Barack Obama, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the epic history of three thousand years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem, and the only city that exists twice - in heaven and on earth.
-
-
In-depth and gripping history of 3,000 years
- By A reader on 12-16-11
-
Stalin
- The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives
- By: Edvard Radzinsky
- Narrated by: David McCallum
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kremlin intrigues, the private worlds of the Soviet Empire's ruling class, Radzinsky thrillingly brings them to life. And the riddle of that most cold-blooded of leaders, a man for whom nothing was sacred in his pursuit of absolute might, and perhaps the greatest mass murderer in Western history, is solved.
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A Great Book About a Great Tyrant
- By Moon Man on 05-01-05
By: Edvard Radzinsky
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Titans of History
- The Giants Who Made Our World
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this inspiring, horrifying, and accessible collection of short, entertaining, and vivid life stories, Simon Sebag Montefiore - one of our preeminent historians and a prizewinning writer - presents the giant characters who have changed the course of world history.
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Party line history
- By Narada on 11-24-18
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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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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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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Lenin
- The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror
- By: Victor Sebestyen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Drawing on new research, including the diaries, memoirs, and personal letters of both Lenin and his friends, Victor Sebestyen's unique biography - the first in English in nearly two decades - is not only a political examination of one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century but a portrait of Lenin the man. Unexpectedly, Lenin was someone who loved nature, hunting, and fishing and could identify hundreds of species of plants, a despotic ruler whose closest ties and friendships were with women.
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Lenin totally took an extra piece of that cake.
- By John Gathly on 05-14-19
By: Victor Sebestyen
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Mao
- The Unknown Story
- By: Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, this is the most authoritative biography of Mao ever written.
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Fills many gaps! Very good..but!
- By Jene on 08-07-06
By: Jung Chang, and others
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Sashenka
- A Novel
- By: Simon Montefiore
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the best-selling tradition of Dr. Zhivago, Sophie's Choice, and The Island, this is an epic story of revolution, passion, and betrayal - and one woman whose extraordinary secret lies hidden for half a century.
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Historical Novel That Touches Your Soul...
- By DR on 02-20-09
By: Simon Montefiore
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Stalin
- Breaker of Nations
- By: Robert Conquest
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall