The Age of Revolution

By: Sir Winston Churchill

Narrated by: Christian Rodska

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

This is the third volume in Churchill's famous account. During the long period of 1688 to 1815, three revolutions took place, and all led to war between the British and the French.

Don't miss the rest of the titles in this great series!

Volume I – The Birth of Britain: A History of the English Speaking Peoples,

Volume II – The New World: A History of the English Speaking Peoples, and

Volume IV – The Great Democracies: A History of the English Speaking Peoples.

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Historical Overview of Britain

Churchill had an amazing grasp of history, and his research is thorough. It is surprising that in view of his busy and intensive political life, that he found the time to write such a detailed account of the various revolutions that took place between 1688 and 1815. His description of the American war of Independence is covered objectively and in great detail, exposing the failings of the British to subdue the colonists.
Churchill has an excellent grasp of language which flows and is easy to listen to. He brings the battles alive with his rhetoric,transferring you to the scene and making you feel involved in it. Christian Rodska reads with clarity and expressiveness that make listening enjoyable

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Bright start, but got laborious

When much younger, I started on Churchill's monumental British history and at length, bogged down and abandoned the effort, pledging to return on another day. Imagine my pleasure when I listened to the audio sample here and heard a colorful, finely etched portrait of William of Orange, thinking, now I am mature enough to really enjoy this. But then, as the narrative drew out into a long catalog of campaigns, thrusts and counter-thrusts, the punchy and colorful start seemed to ebb. Again, I found myself plodding with the umpteenth battle and iteration of backstabbing. The characters are not colorfully enough established for me to care about them. I know Churchill's relatives are here, and as a man in his self-conscious position in British history, these tableaus would obviously have been automatically gripping TO HIM. But for me, I wish he had labored a bit more on breathing life and color into these characters before the endless series of thrusts and counter-thrusts assumed a kind of tedious procession. I'll give it another ten years' pause and try again. And I'm someone who wants to know this history well. Perhaps after another ten tangential books by more artful authors I will enjoy this better.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Churchill knows his stuff but left me wanting more

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Pluses:
• Covers the Spain/War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War well
• The covering of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars had its ups and downs but did hit all of the main events

Minuses:
• At times it was difficult to listen to (flowery language obscured the meaning of what the writer was trying to convey)
• Too much time seemed to be spent on politics in England
• Too much time spent on minute details of events like the wars rather than summarize the main conclusions or how certain details related to the greater picture
• Was expecting it to be more focused on England than other countries
• Was left with a sense that the general progression of English society to a modern state was not covered or at least not summarized

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good straight forward history

What made the experience of listening to The Age of Revolution the most enjoyable?

The narrator is clear and the history is told in an easily understood, straightforward manner. Often times an historian gets sidetracked, but not Churchill. Also, its fascinating to hear the history of the American Revolutionary War from the English perspective

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

It's amazing to learn history from the English pov

Another classic by WSC. Grabbing Vol. IV as I type !! The narrator does another great job, though his voice imitations of great Americans such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were good, it was funny to hear him speaking their quotes in American English!

Audio Problems

Although this is a fundamentally interesting book, it has a jarring and crackling audio which ruins the experience. Churchill also seems to have written in a far too politically biased manner which damages the educational reliability of this book. He constantly condemns the Whig party whilst praising the Tories and seems to have some particular favourite politicians who he is unbalanced in portraying. If taken with a pinch of salt it is a decent sweeping History but it is let down by the quality of the recording.

Wars and party politics told so well, but...

A rivetting and flowing story, with little room for anything but the revolutionary wars. Not the complete history, then, but essential and accomplished. Also, casts light on Winston. Read it.