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The Great Fire of Rome
- The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
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Publisher's Summary
In A.D. 64, on the night of July 19, a fire began beneath the stands of Rome’s great stadium, the Circus Maximus. The fire would spread over the coming days to engulf much of the city of Rome. From this calamity, one of the ancient world’s most devastating events, legends grew: that Nero had been responsible for the fire, and fiddled while Rome burned, and that Nero blamed the Christians of Rome, burning them alive in punishment, making them the first recorded martyrs to the Christian faith at Rome.
The Great Fire of Rome opens at the beginning of A.D. 64 and follows the events in Rome and nearby as they unfold in the seven months leading up to the great fire. As the year progresses we learn that the infamous young emperor Nero, who was 26 at the time of the fire, is celebrating a decade in power. Yet the palace is far from complacent, and the streets of Rome are simmering with talk of revolt.
Dando-Collins introduces the fascinating cavalcade of historical characters who were in Rome during the first seven months of A.D. 64 and played a part in the great drama. Using ancient sources, as well as modern archaeology, Dando-Collins describes the fire itself, and its aftermath, as Nero personally directed relief efforts and reconstruction.
The Great Fire of Rome is an unforgettable human drama which brings ancient Rome and the momentous events of A.D. 64 to scorching life.
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What listeners say about The Great Fire of Rome
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Pink Flame of Liberty
- 10-04-10
my baloney has a first name...
Awful. His complete ad-hoc fantasies over the followers of Isis in his odd zeal to prove that Christians were not persecuted in Rome are so vapid that I feel stupider after just reading it.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Christopher
- 03-22-11
Concise and Entertaining
Not a long book, and not a boring morass of dates and Latin names that all sound the same (like many popular books on classical history). It's an entertaining narrative that stays focused on a short period of time - Nero's reign and the events of that time. A very nice piece of the "puzzle" for people like me who are acquiring a detailed conceptualization of ancient Rome. It's concise, well-written, and entertaining.
4 people found this helpful
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- steve
- 05-01-12
Not bad
I am fascinated by Ancient Rome and so, I did find much of the information in this book interesting. However, there are definitely much better books out there on the subject and when it comes to Ancient times, you're dealing with a lot of names and places you are not too familiar with and thus, these books work better with actual pictures so that the reader or listener could get some kind of a visual of what and who is being discussed. Otherwise, be prepared to listen again so that you have a better chance of remembering much of this. With that said, the narrator does a good job and the ending is especially great. I would recommend this title to anyone who enjoys history and Ancient Roman Times as I do.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Matt
- 01-22-11
Richly detailed. . .amusing conjecture
Sign of a good book: You glance and the counter and are disappointed that only 30 minutes remain. So much of what we know about Roman emperors comes to us from writers who wrote with little regard for historical accuracy and with overwhelmingly political agendas. But Dando-Collins proves delightfully adept at giving honest examinations of ancient sources and piecing together some very plausible theories. The result is a meaty re-examination of the adult life of Nero, complete with some fun "what if" conjecture that intellectuals and casual fans of classical history will enjoy. Disclaimer: The previous review is quite misleading. Dando-Collins never makes the claim that Christians were not persecuted in Rome. Far from it. He does question the validity of later writers' claims that they were widely persecuted under Nero. But that's Dando-Collins' gift: separating concrete facts from supposition, popular tradition, and obvious fallacies. Well done.
3 people found this helpful
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- Acteon
- 06-26-15
Interesting and stimulating
Where does The Great Fire of Rome rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I have listened to hundreds of audiobooks, many of them excellent, so it is pointless to try to rank this. However, I can say that it definitely belongs to the top half or third, among those I would not want to miss.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
I did not like the pace (slow), and because the pronunciation of consonants is not always clear (especially in names), I could not speed it up too much (certain narrators who sound unbearable at reading speed are find when you speed up; some are clearly understandable at 3x and that is a considerable advantage).
Any additional comments?
Certain negative comments led me to expect less. I am delighted to say that I think most of the objections they express are either invalid or of little weight.
Many who disliked the book seem to be swayed mainly by their indignation at the author's revising the widespread idea that Nero made Christians the scapegoat for the fire: but there is no near-comtemporary Christian writing that mentions this, and our only source is Tacitus, which comes to us in a medieval copy that is in parts unreliable as copyists sometimes made their own additions and revisions (a Wikipedia article says that most authorities consider the passage authentic, but I find the brilliant historian Richard Carrier quite convincing in impugning its authenticity). In 64 A.D., Christians constituted an insignificant fringe sect among the many that flourished and hardly an adequate scapegoat (in the following century the situation would be different). The cult of Isis that Dando-Collins puts in place of Christians seems a far more likely target; not only was it more important by a huge margin, but Nero had himself been a disillusioned initiate.
What the book brings out was the great significance the fire had in the turn Nero took from being a largely good emperor to a monstrous one. The fire played a considerable part in creating an atmosphere of discontent and paranoia that gave the Piso conspiracy momentum and support the following year. Discovering how many supported it apparently led to Nero's increasing paranoia and appalling behavior.
The author presents a coherent and satisfying account that illuminates Nero's transformation and what happened in the earlier and later parts of his reign. Objections that much of the book is not "about" the fire are unjustified: the point is not merely to describe the fire itself but to elucidate its consequences and historical significance. Given the dearth of primary material, writing about ancient history is necessarily an attempt to weigh and make sense of what little we have. Dando-Collins may not be right on all counts, but I find him persuasive and stimulating, and his nuanced portrait of Nero seems more true than the cardboard monster associated with the name (though as in his book on Germanicus he goes a little overboard in his concluding speculations, but these few phrases I can easily overlook). I for one am grateful for a book that I found hard to put down and memorable in the insights it provides.
1 person found this helpful
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- Judith A. Weller
- 10-31-11
Totally Made-Up
This book is nothing less than historical fraud by Dando-Collins. He really indicated how puny is research truly is and how much is made up. He claims Tacitus as his source, but this is doubtful. He apparently only used translations and you ALWAYS NEED TO READ THE ORIGINAL source in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE. This failure alone condems this book to the garbage heap. I do not accept his reinterpreation of Tacitus' text in which he substitute Priests of Isis for Christians -- no historical basis other than Dando-Collins imagination for this act.
Also he is a great apologist for Nero. He tried to make out Nero as a tragic figure worth of our pity and regard. He obviously is not familar or chooses to ignore the monstrosities of Nero's reign. The facts are that Nero was quite insane and Dando Collins does not give enought credence to this well-known fact.
He does,however, give a good account of how the fire started and spread. All the rest of the book is BILGE. It is simply not worth purchasing.
What is odd is that Dando-Collins, despite his totaly disregard for correct terminology, does quite a good job on his history of the various Legions and in his source book on the Legions. He spoils all this by refusing to use the Latin Terminology but garbling up into what he considers their english Equivalent which really does not adequately describe the various officer and NCO levels and thus makes the subject quite confusing.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-17-12
Decent book, misleading title
This is a strangely-organized book. It starts out as a detailed history of the titular fire, but that has burned its way through the book by the halfway point. The second half of the book is a straight-forward biography of Nero's life from the fire onward, with some flashbacks to his earlier days. It's a little plodding in the second half, and you'll learn a lot of details about how various Roman nobles killed themselves. A lot.
The narrator is clear and easy to follow, but rather stilted and very dry. Not particularly engaging at all.
The author makes some interesting deviations from the conventional wisdom on Nero's killing of Christians. I can't judge whether or not he's likely to be right, but he weirdly places the argument for his changes in the introduction and then in the main narrative presets his version as pure fact, without reference to any debate amongst historians. I found that off-putting.
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Story
Award-winning historian and best-selling author Paul L. Maier has created a compelling style of documentary fiction. He uses what is historically known of Pilate's life, adds in the known political climate of first-century Judea, and unveils the colorful, untold story that changed history. Filling in the details of Pilate's early career in Rome, Maier captures the drama of imperial Rome under Tiberius Caesar, the plotting of his political allies and enemies, and his relationship with his beloved but ambitious wife, Procula.
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A MUST READ!
- By CHB on 11-25-22
By: Paul L. Maier
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Cleopatra
- A Life
- By: Stacy Schiff
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than 40 years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
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Approach this book with caution
- By GolfZilla on 12-02-10
By: Stacy Schiff
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The Ides
- Caesar’s Murder and the War for Rome
- By: Stephen Dando-Collins
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The assassination of Julius Caesar is one of the most notorious murders in history. Even now, many questions remain about his death: Was Brutus the hero and Caesar the villain? Was Mark Antony aware of the plot? Using historical evidence to sort out these and other puzzling issues, historian and award-winning author Stephen Dando-Collins recaptures the drama of Caesar's demise and the chaotic aftermath as the vicious struggle unfolded for power between Antony and Octavian.
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Not Good History
- By Garcia on 09-18-11
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Augustus
- First Emperor of Rome
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Caesar Augustus's story, one of the most riveting in western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. He began as a teenage warlord, whose only claim to power was as the heir of the murdered Julius Caesar. Mark Antony dubbed him "a boy who owes everything to a name," but in the years to come the youth outmaneuvered all the older and more experienced politicians and was the last man standing in 30 BC.
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You know my name...say it.
- By Steven on 12-10-14
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Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Acclaimed British historian Anthony Everitt delivers a compelling account of the former orphan who became Roman emperor in A.D. 117 after the death of his guardian Trajan. Hadrian strengthened Rome by ending territorial expansion and fortifying existing borders. And - except for the uprising he triggered in Judea - his strength-based diplomacy brought peace to the realm after a century of warfare.
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A Biography "too tall for the height of the cella"
- By Darwin8u on 08-23-12
By: Anthony Everitt
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The Death of Caesar
- The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
William Shakespeare's gripping play showed Caesar's assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals' plot put together by Caesar's disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man - Decimus. He was the mole in Caesar's entourage, one of Caesar's leading generals, and a lifelong friend.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 03-24-15
By: Barry Strauss
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Pontius Pilate
- A Novel
- By: Paul L. Maier
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Award-winning historian and best-selling author Paul L. Maier has created a compelling style of documentary fiction. He uses what is historically known of Pilate's life, adds in the known political climate of first-century Judea, and unveils the colorful, untold story that changed history. Filling in the details of Pilate's early career in Rome, Maier captures the drama of imperial Rome under Tiberius Caesar, the plotting of his political allies and enemies, and his relationship with his beloved but ambitious wife, Procula.
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A MUST READ!
- By CHB on 11-25-22
By: Paul L. Maier
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Cleopatra
- A Life
- By: Stacy Schiff
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than 40 years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
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Approach this book with caution
- By GolfZilla on 12-02-10
By: Stacy Schiff
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The Rise of Rome
- The Making of the World's Greatest Empire
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Emerging as a market town from a cluster of hill villages in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., Rome grew to become the ancient world's preeminent power. Everitt fashions the story of Rome's rise to glory into an erudite book filled with lasting lessons for our time. He chronicles the clash between patricians and plebeians that defined the politics of the Republic. He shows how Rome's shrewd strategy of offering citizenship to her defeated subjects was instrumental in expanding the reach of her burgeoning empire.
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Rome from the fall of Troy through Julius Caesar
- By Mike From Mesa on 12-11-12
By: Anthony Everitt
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Claudius the God
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 19 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Robert Graves continues Claudius' story with the epic adulteries of Messalina, King Herod Agrippa's betrayal of his old friend, and the final arrival of that bloodthirsty teenager, Nero.
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The Deified King of Historical Fiction
- By Darwin8u on 12-27-12
By: Robert Graves
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Koh-i-Noor
- The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond
- By: Anita Anand, William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On 29 March 1849, the 10-year-old Maharajah of the Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the centre of the great Fort in Lahore. There, in a public ceremony, the frightened but dignified child handed over to the British East India Company in a formal act of submission not only swathes of the richest land in India but also arguably the single most valuable object in the subcontinent: the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond. The Mountain of Light.
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Fascinating
- By Jean on 07-08-17
By: Anita Anand, and others
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The Age of Caesar
- Five Roman Lives
- By: Plutarch, James Romm - preface and notes, Pamela Mensch - translator
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Pompey, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, Antony: the names resonate across thousands of years. Major figures in the civil wars that brutally ended the Roman republic, their lives still haunt us as examples of how the hunger for personal power can overwhelm collective politics, how the exaltation of the military can corrode civilian authority, and how the best intentions can lead to disastrous consequences. Plutarch renders these history-making lives as flesh-and-blood characters.
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I came, I saw, I listened
- By Anonymous User on 05-20-23
By: Plutarch, and others
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Count Belisarius
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Laurence Kennedy
- Length: 19 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The sixth-century Roman Empire is a dangerous place, threatened on all frontiers by invaders. But soon the attacking armies of Vandals, Goths and Persians grow to fear and respect the name of one man, Belisarius: horseman, archer, swordsman and military commander of genius. As Belisarius triumphs in battles from the East to North Africa, his success causes him to become regarded with increasing jealousy and suspicion.
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Procopius can keep his cuckolded history
- By Darwin8u on 12-18-13
By: Robert Graves
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Dynasty
- The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon - his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic - with Dynasty, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors.
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Accessible, enjoyable history
- By Mary on 01-28-16
By: Tom Holland
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Ancient Rome
- The Rise and Fall of An Empire
- By: Simon Baker
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
This is the story of the greatest empire the world has ever known. Simon Baker charts the rise and fall of the world's first superpower, focusing on six momentous turning points that shaped Roman history. Welcome to Rome as you've never seen it before - awesome and splendid, gritty and squalid. From the conquest of the Mediterranean beginning in the third century BC to the destruction of the Roman Empire at the hands of barbarian invaders some seven centuries later, we discover the most critical episodes in Roman history.
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Clear and dramatic
- By Tad Davis on 08-01-17
By: Simon Baker
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Ghost Empire
- By: Richard Fidler
- Narrated by: Richard Fidler
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Ghost Empire is a rare treasure - an utterly captivating blend of the historical and the contemporary, realised by a master storyteller. In 2014, Richard Fidler and his son Joe made a journey to Istanbul. Fired by Richard's passion for the rich history of the dazzling Byzantine Empire - centred around the legendary Constantinople - we are swept into some of the most extraordinary tales in history. The clash of civilisations, the fall of empires, the rise of Christianity, revenge, lust, murder.
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I love two lined stories
- By Kindle Customer on 12-01-22
By: Richard Fidler
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Cleopatra's Kidnappers
- How Caesar's Sixth Legion Gave Egypt to Rome and Rome to Caesar
- By: Stephen Dando-Collins
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Julius Caesar was nothing if not bold. When, in the wake of his defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus his victorious legions refused to march another step under his command, he pursued his fleeing rival into Egypt with an impossibly small force of Gallic and German cavalry, raw Italian recruits, and nine hundred Spanish prisoners of war - tough veterans of Pompey's Sixth Legion. Cleopatra's Kidnappers tells the epic saga of Caesar's adventures in Egypt through the eyes of these captured, but never defeated, legionaries.
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Should be titled: The 6th Legion: Cleopatra's...
- By jv on 01-03-13
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The House of Medici
- Its Rise and Fall
- By: Christopher Hibbert
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
This enthralling book charts the family's huge influence on the political, economic, and cultural history of Florence. Beginning in the early 1430s with the rise of the dynasty under the near-legendary Cosimo de Medici, it moves through their golden era as patrons of some of the most remarkable artists and architects of the Renaissance, to the era of the Medici Popes and Grand Dukes, Florence's slide into decay and bankruptcy, and the end, in 1737, of the Medici line.