The Burgundians

A Vanished Empire: A History of 1111 Years and One Day

By: Bart van Loo, Nancy Forest-Flier - translator

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands.

This is the story of a thousand years, a must-listen narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury, and madness. It is about the decline of knightly ideals and the awakening of individualism and of cities, the struggle for dominance in the heart of northern Europe, bloody military campaigns, and fatally bad marriages. It is also a remarkable cultural history, of great art and architecture and music emerging despite the violence and the chaos of the tension between rival dynasties.

©2019 Bart Van Loo (P)2023 Tantor

Great book but really needs a PDF companion

This is a great book but it really needs a PDF companion with maps and artwork to reference while listening. That one piece would make all the difference in making this a much richer experience.

Extraordinary story, expertly told and skillfully narrated

I bought this book because there are no good English books on the Armagnac-Burgundian civil war, so I thought a book that would have to focus a quarter of its material on John the Fearless would be a good source. In the end, this was much more fascinating and enthralling than that.
My only interaction with anything Dutch has been to pedantically correct people who refer to the Netherlands as “Holland,” and to marvel at their inability to ever win the World Cup even when they are undoubtedly the best team. Now I know how they came to be, how their identity was forged, and the accidents of history that led them to that identity.

Another commenter on this audiobook said van Loo’s personal anecdotes were unprofessional and uninteresting. That is absolute nonsense. Only in the introduction does he mention something personal, and it’s quite germane (his childhood books tell us of how long he’s been fascinated with this subject, his young daughter’s ability to identify a Burgundian Duke’s painting speaks to how this subject is more than merely academic to him, and the brief mention of his French wife tells us of his connection to France, the country the Dukes came from and the country where Burgundy lies today.) Additionally, all these comments take up about 45 seconds of your time. A chill pill for the humorless Audible commentator is in order here.

The one area where the audiobook suffers is in the discussions of art, not because the subject shouldn’t be broached, but because the names of the artists and their work (impeccably pronounced by the very skillful narrator, or so I assume, since they sound very authentic) are impossible to understand for those of us who are not of a Northern European persuasion. Who the hell is Ho-ho Vanderhose? Well, it turned out it’s Hugo van der Goes, but I had to do my own sleuthing to figure it out. Of course, this is a problem without a solution (short of me learning Dutch) since it’s not the writer or the narrator’s fault that I couldn’t figure out what that name was.
One more thing: the narration is excellent. The French is flawless, and I can vouch that the few Spanish words are also flawlessly rendered (that’s my first language.) The narrator also has a perfect tone, which doesn’t dip up or down, so you can hear everything at your preferred volume. This might seem like an obvious thing all narrators should do but, good god, it’s less obvious than you think.
Now that the ending of this book has whet my Charles V appetite, I am moving on to Geoffrey Parker’s biography of him and (happy days!) its read by this very same narrator.

Different Perspectives of Familiar Stories

This is a fascinating take on the medieval period in Europe, it's like finding new episodes of your favorite show. The narrator is fantastic.

Wonderful Narrator/ Agreat history

Exhaustive but beautifully written history of a place overlooked by many historians Burgundy and the Low countries.I learned a lot

a fascinating look at an overlooked area of Europe

I've never read anything quite like this. The author is not only a great historian but a great writer. very enjoyable, even for someone who had scant knowledge of burgundian history.

Good flow

I enjoyed the flow of the book focusing on people and connectivity of events vs traditional chronological.

Joan of arc story was a fun addition I wasn’t expecting.

Fascinating

Often overlooked due to France, England, and the HRE, Burgundy was nearly its own kingdom and this book tells of its rise and fall. I never write reviews, but this book was fascinating, well written, and easy to follow. Add to that Nigel Patterson is one of the best narrators out there this is a must read\listen to anyone with an interest in European history.

Very Entertaining Histoy

I have yet to finish it, I'm very entertained. like the time when the author said that a correspondent said that he "would be lost without his wine". Picking up other little facts too. The author started laying the foundation for the Counts of Burgundy in the first few chapters. like I said I'm not finished yet, but it's very entertaining highly recommended. Update: Well, I finished it, and I did enjoy it immensely. Highly recommended. The narrator I thought was humorous at times and easy to listen to. And he the author, does talk a little bit about things you can see today in France and Belgium etc. where these people were at. I would definitely listen to this again and I probably will.

Picked this on a whim

This turned out to be really interesting. I enjoyed every minute of it and now want to travel to all the places the author talks about. I learned so much.

A wonderful tale of Burgundy’s pivotal role

This is an engaging account of Burgundy”s rise and fall as a state and how it contributed to the emergence of early modern Europe.