
The Isles
A History
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Narrado por:
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Andrew Sachs
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De:
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Norman Davies
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Reseñas de la Crítica
"A historiographical milestone." (Sunday Times)
"If ever a history book were a tract for the times, it is The Isles: A History...a masterwork." (The Times)
"A book which really will change the way we think about our past...marvellously rich and stimulating." (Evening Standard)
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Concise Info
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A history of British Royalty
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The result is a history of the Isles that deliberately complicates supposedly simple concepts like 'British'. The best example is the way Davies insists on referring to the kings of the Isles by the names they called themselves - so you get Edouard I, Henri II, and Robert le Bruce as a constant reminder that these English and Scottish heroes spoke French. There's also an opening section on prehistory in which he refuses to call the islands 'British' until the word British has been invented, making up names (like 'The Great Isle' and 'The Green Isle' for Great Britain and Ireland).
All of this works well in an audiobook, and the always reliable Andrew Sachs is a perfect narrator. The story does seem rushed at times (especially in the 19th and 20th centuries), but there were no glaring gaps in the abridgement, except for the introduction. The history is mainly concerned with kings, prime ministers, power politics and the politics of nationhood - there isn't much social history.
This is a very good, absorbing listen, and will make you rethink your understanding of history at times. You do however need to understand the book's aims, or you might be disappointed.
Good if you know what you're getting
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Abridged
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Such is the case with referring to medieval British monarchs with their French names. Yes, Norman, we get it - Henry II spoke French and was certainly called Henri in his lifetime. But they are monarchs of an English-speaking nation that has primarily spoken English for over 600 years and your English-reading and (in this case) listening audience aren't benefited by having to play along with the petty pedantry of figuring out that Jean sans Terre is John Lackland and so forth.
Detracts significantly from the aural experience of an otherwise engaging work.
Davies is good, some of his choices here aren't
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Is there anything you would change about this book?
This was a quick pass over a topic that requires many times the length of the book. I am an American with public school training, which means I have been taught next to nothing, but have invested many thousands of hours into private history study. I will probably listen to it again down the road but am getting a 45 hour book on the same topic to better grasp the material. A stronger (less British) voice will hopefully help. I have read the author previously. In this instance, he erred on the side of factual rather than entertainment and insight, and stayed on pace to finish one of the most important segments of human history in nine hours.Would you recommend The Isles to your friends? Why or why not?
Most of my friends would have found the format dull and hard to follow.What three words best describe Andrew Sachs’s performance?
The British proper accent may not have been the best choice for this particular book--at least for Americans.Was The Isles worth the listening time?
YesAny additional comments?
Overall, I have no regrets but want greater understanding and insight than the quick pass over gave me.Not quite what I had hoped for
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good but hard to follow
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Not an introduction
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What was most disappointing about Norman Davies’s story?
Davies has done brilliant work in the past, and relishes in debunking complacent opinion. Here, instead, he has written a history for BBC TV. Britain emerges Great, triumphant, only improved by its travails. All the imperial losses - US independence, the millions dead in the partition of India, Soros (alternately "an American" and then "a Hungarian") breaking the Bank of England) are attributed to individuals' errors, none of these catastrophes sprung from social forces, economics, the national arrogance, etc.Half the book is the standard monarchical history of who begat and supplanted whom, alternating England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland to show their equivalence, but there is no sense of why and next to nothing in the way of geographical, geological, economic explanation of developments, nor any other explaining. The royal ties to Europe are cited repeatedly, with little mention of European machinations in Britain beyond the invasion attempts.
Speaking for the new British everyman, now worldly enough to enjoy Indian food, European beaches, and the Irish, Davies even brings Princess Di onstage, to warn the royals that their high-handedness will not be tolerated, in the name of the people.
What about Andrew Sachs’s performance did you like?
foreign words pronounced without ironic pauseAny additional comments?
Read Davies' wonderful history of Europe, insteadSelf-satisfied jingoist history
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Would you try another book from Norman Davies and/or Andrew Sachs?
noWhat was most disappointing about Norman Davies’s story?
superficial, didn't breathe any life into it.How did the narrator detract from the book?
too off-hand, i was looking for a meatier, more solid bookWhat character would you cut from The Isles?
not a fiction bookAny additional comments?
weak writing, indifferent narrator. Can I get a refund? I can't get past the 2nd chapter.disappointed by content and writing
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