Revolution, Peter Ackroyd
Revolution, Peter Ackroyd
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Revolution
The History of England from the Battle of the Boyne to the Battle of Waterloo

Author: Peter Ackroyd

Narrator: Derek Perkins

Unabridged: 15 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/10/2017


Synopsis

In Revolution, Peter Ackroyd takes listeners from William of Orange’s accession following the Glorious Revolution to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was—again—at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.Late Stuart and Georgian England marked the creation of the great pillars of the English state. The Bank of England was founded, as was the stock exchange; the Church of England was fully established as the guardian of the spiritual life of the nation, and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation with responsibilities and duties far beyond those of the monarch. It was a revolutionary era in English letters, too, a time in which newspapers first flourished and the English novel was born. It was an era in which coffeehouses and playhouses boomed, gin flowed freely, and in which shops, as we know them today, began to proliferate in towns and villages. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal.

About Peter Ackroyd

Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, as well as a broadcaster, biographer, poet, and historian. He is the author of the acclaimed Thames: Sacred River, London: The Biography, and the first and second volumes of his history of England series, Foundation and Tudors. He holds a CBE award for services to literature.

About Derek Perkins

Derek Perkins is a professional narrator and voice actor. He has earned numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, as well as numerous Society of Voice Arts nominations. AudioFile magazine named him a Best Voice consecutively in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents, he has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Leanda on October 19, 2014

If you are bored of the Tudors, then the Stuarts are what you have been waiting for. With their gay lovers, horrible murders, extravagant queens, and glorious revolutions, the dynasty offers enough scandals and drama to put their predecessors in the shade. This third volume of Peter Ackroyd’s Histor......more

Goodreads review by Yzabel on October 17, 2014

(I got an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.) I like to say that you can't really go wrong with Peter Ackroyd, and it seems to be once again the case. Even though what I read of him years ago feels pretty far by now, I still stand by this o......more

Goodreads review by Kirsti on January 22, 2020

So far, I'm amused that James I referred to his heir as "Baby Charles" even when the latter was a grown man about to be married off. I really like the author's inclusion of poems, songs, pamphlets, and insults from ordinary people of the time. Otherwise I would never have known that James I's hunky......more

Goodreads review by Gintautas on July 08, 2021

Trečioji Ackroydo Anglijos istorijos knyga. Nuo Stiuartų valdymo iki nevaldymo, paskui vėl valdymo ir galiausiai nevaldymo. Kaip ir anksčiau – gana patraukliai, nuodugniai ir informatyviai. Pagavau save pasąmonėje visą tą Anglijos istoriją įvairiausiomis grožinėmis knygomis chronologizuojantį – aha,......more


Quotes

“All chroniclers of popular history should be required to study Ackroyd’s writing, his methodology, and the totality of his treatment of his subjects.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Eschews the detached third person preferred by stuffy professionals, favoring instead a more intimate ‘you’ that brings the reader into the dark alleys of industrial towns.” Times (London)

“Ackroyd continues his fast-paced overview of the tumultuous English monarchy…Ackroyd offers suitable background on the momentous events and key figures that helped create modern Britain.” Publishers Weekly