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How to Ruin a Queen
- Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
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How to Ruin a Queen
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Publisher's summary
In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace.
Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen? The revelations from the trial would bedevil the French monarchy as the country descended into a bloody revolution.
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Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,184
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,002
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 991
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
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Mary Queen of Scots
- The True Life of Mary Stuart
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 25 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 301
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 271
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 269
In the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than 30 years, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history's most famous women, depicting her world and her place in the sweep of history with stunning immediacy. Bringing together all surviving documents and uncovering a trove of new sources for the first time, Guy dispels the popular image of Mary Queen of Scots as a romantic leading lady - achieving her ends through feminine wiles - and establishes her as the intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Horrible narration - don’t purchase
- By ballymerrigan on 12-27-18
By: John Guy
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Elizabeth
- The Forgotten Years
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Elizabeth was crowned at 25 after a tempestuous childhood as a bastard and an outcast, but it was only when she reached 50 and all hopes of a royal marriage were dashed that she began to wield real power in her own right. For 25 years she had struggled to assert her authority over advisers who pressed her to marry and settle the succession; now, she was determined not only to reign but also to rule.
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5 out of 5 stars
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worth the credit
- By Lesley on 04-19-17
By: John Guy
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The Dreyfus Affair
- The Scandal That Tore France in Two
- By: Piers Paul Read
- Narrated by: David Pevsner
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
On October 13, 1894, Captain Dreyfus was summoned by the General de Boisdeffre to the Ministry of War. Despite minimal evidence against him he was placed under arrest for the crime of high treason. Not long afterward Dreyfus was incarcerated on Devil's Island. But how did an innocent man come to be convicted? And why was he kept locked up for so long? The Dreyfus Affair uniquely combines a fast-moving mystery story with a snapshot of France at a moment of great social flux and cultural richness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping look at an important moment in history
- By W. Brian Hall on 10-27-13
By: Piers Paul Read
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Thomas Cromwell
- The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant
- By: Tracy Borman
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 485
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 441
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 440
Thomas Cromwell has long been reviled as a Machiavellian schemer who stopped at nothing in his quest for power. As Henry VIII's right-hand man, Cromwell was the architect of the English Reformation, secured Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and plotted the downfall of Anne Boleyn, and upon his arrest, was accused of trying to usurp the King himself. But here Tracy Borman reveals a different side of one of the most notorious figures in history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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narration is very well done & book is quite good
- By horoscopy on 02-18-15
By: Tracy Borman
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Young and Damned and Fair
- The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII
- By: Mr. Gareth Russell
- Narrated by: Jenny Funnell
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 317
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 285
Written with an exciting combination of narrative flair and historical authority, this interpretation of the tragic life of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, breaks new ground in our understanding of the very young woman who became queen at a time of unprecedented social and political tension and whose terrible errors in judgment quickly led her to the executioner's block.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Magnifent scholarly work
- By Linda Erlich on 08-08-17
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God's Traitors
- Terror & Faith in Elizabethan England
- By: Jessie Childs
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
For many Catholics, the Elizabethan "Golden Age" was an alien concept. Following the criminalization of their religion by Elizabeth I, nearly 200 Catholics were executed, and many more wasted away in prison during her reign. Torture was used more than at any other time in England's history. While some bowed to the pressure of the government and new church, publicly conforming to acts of Protestant worship, others did not - and quickly found themselves living in a state of siege.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Well-researched, well-written
- By Charles on 03-23-15
By: Jessie Childs
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Catherine de Medici
- Renaissance Queen of France
- By: Leonie Frieda
- Narrated by: Sarah Le Fevre
- Length: 21 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 465
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 395
Poisoner, despot, necromancer - the dark legend of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds - from a troubled childhood in Florence to her marriage to Henry, son of King Francis I of France; from her transformation of French culture to her fight to protect her throne and her sons' birthright. Based on thousands of private letters, it is a remarkable account of one of the most influential women to wear a crown.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator didn't get one name right
- By Georgina García- Menocal on 09-15-19
By: Leonie Frieda
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The Six Wives of Henry VIII
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,630
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,609
This acclaimed best seller from popular historian Alison Weir is a fascinating look at the Tudor family dynasty and its most infamous ruler. The Six Wives of Henry VIII brings to life England’s oft-married monarch and the six wildly different but equally fascinating women who married him. Gripping from the first sentence to the last and loaded with fascinating details, Weir’s rich history is a perfect blend of scholarship and entertainment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Overview AND Sordid Details
- By Troy on 10-29-13
By: Alison Weir
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The Rival Queens
- Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal That Ignited a Kingdom
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 795
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 717
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 714
Catherine de' Medici was a ruthless pragmatist and powerbroker who dominated the throne for 30 years. Her youngest daughter, Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Definitely not a dull bio!
- By Nella on 07-04-15
By: Nancy Goldstone
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The Duchess
- By: Amanda Foreman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774 Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying William Cavendish, fifth Duke of Devonshire, one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats. She became the queen of fashionable society and founder of the most important political salon of her time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Better than the movie!
- By Sarah on 07-31-17
By: Amanda Foreman
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City of Light, City of Poison
- Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
- By: Holly Tucker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 696
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 621
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Story4 out of 5 stars 619
Appointed to conquer the "crime capital of the world", the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches, and renegade priests.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great historic non-fiction
- By Josette Luvmour on 07-01-17
By: Holly Tucker
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The Turbulent Crown
- The Story of the Tudor Queens
- By: Roland Hui
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 103
Ten remarkable women. One remarkable era. In the Tudor period, 1485 to 1603, a host of fascinating women sat on the English throne. The dramatic events of their lives are told in The Turbulent Crown: The Story of the Tudor Queens.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a very good listen
- By Evil Guppy on 09-21-19
By: Roland Hui
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To the Scaffold
- The Life of Marie Antoinette
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
To this day Marie Antoinette remains one of history’s most misunderstood heroines. How she triumphed over the petty jealousies and backstairs rivalries of the court, how she sustained a good-hearted but malleable king, and how she was transformed from French queen to Austrian “whore,” is the story told with skill and fascinating detail.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Davina Porter is a treasure!
- By Missee on 04-08-19
By: Carolly Erickson
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Queen Anne
- The Politics of Passion
- By: Anne Somerset
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 28 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 106
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Story4 out of 5 stars 104
Queen Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1702. By the end of her comparatively short 12-year reign, Britain had emerged as a great power. But while the queen's military was performing dazzling exploits on the continent, her own attention rested on a more intimate conflict: the female friendship on which her happiness had for decades depended and which became, for her, a source of utter torment.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Spoilt by a poorly edited, inadequate narration
- By Lesley on 04-01-17
By: Anne Somerset
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What listeners say about How to Ruin a Queen
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kathy
- 12-31-14
A History Buff's Guilty Pleasure
WOW!!!! Just finished this amazing tale, and once again truth is stranger than fiction. It's got everything--treachery, venality, ambitious nobles, conniving commoners, royals and rascals, daring escapes, amazing twists, foreign intrigue and diamonds. Carefully researched, clevarly written, and beautifully read. If I could give it 6 stars, I would:)
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Florence Whitehill
- 10-18-23
Wild story
The story was a real page turner! Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. 4 stars because the narration was a little stiff but overall well done.
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