Eminent Victorians Audiobook By Lytton Strachey cover art

Eminent Victorians

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Eminent Victorians

By: Lytton Strachey
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey's wonderfully witty and Wildean quartet of biographies, stands out as one of the most radical and groundbreaking works of its genre. With relentless precision, Strachey explores the lives of four exemplars of the Victorian age: Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold and General Gordon, irreverently bringing to light the flaws, strengths, ambitions and hypocrisies of these treasured legends.

The combination of thrilling and imaginative narratives with Strachey's ironic reckoning shocked many contemporary readers of the time, and even altered the course of biography, making a powerful case for its elevation to high art.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2020 Naxos Audiobooks Art & Literature Authors World Witty
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Learn about the heroes of the Victorian period. Very well written and read. I enjoyed this book.

Great Biographic Writing

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Perhaps the most celebrated early 20th century biographies of British heroes, this revisionist collection of short profiles retains its charm. The last profile of General Gordon, the English martyr of Khartoum, depicts his military career and religious zeal.

As religious wars continue across the Mideast, this retelling of the battle between a 19th jihadist - the Mehdi - and a British imperialist - General Gordon- seems exceptionally poignant. It goes far beyond the 1965 Hollywood film “Khartoum” in providing the historical context and odd personal obsessions of Chinese Gordon.

Strachey, a gifted, sarcastic writer, highlights revealing details to both celebrate and mock Gordon. Perhaps the least traditional of the four biographies, it’s also the most satisfying in this audiobook.

A Cynical, Witty Critique of Four Victorian Heroes

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… because Keeble’s narration brings what is often a fairly dry book to life. It’s a brilliant performance.

Strachey’s writing is elegant, sharp, and occasionally funny. I’d been under the impression that this book mocks its four eminent subjects, but that turns out not to be so; the first portrait, of Cardinal Manning, is definitely waspish, sometimes nearly sneering, but the one of Florence Nightingale is almost wholly admiring, and the final one, of “Chinese” Gordon, is also quite sympathetic and, in sheer suspense, much the best of the bunch. I knew how things would end with him (and remembered the Charlton Heston movie), but nonetheless the final hour of this audiobook was quite gripping. The third mini-biography, that of Dr. Arnold, is basically hostile and also rather dull. But God knows, on all of these, Strachey really did his homework.

One interesting phenomenon that the book brings to light is how, in the Victorian era, important developments were often slowed or even stymied by the inefficiency — sometimes deliberate inefficiency — of sclerotic bureaucracies. Letters and messages fail to get delivered on time; key figures go on vacation. Manning’s rival Cardinal Newman is informed of a possible appointment in Ireland as the head of a new college, but then hears nothing further from the authorities for years (and is too proud to pursue the issue); Florence Nightingale tries for years to effect reform in the armed forces but is largely thwarted through deliberate bureaucratic inaction; an expeditionary force is put together to come to the rescue of General Gordon, but each stage of the force’s creation takes so long that in the end the troops arrive too late. No doubt developments get held up, and initiatives get set aside and deliberately forgotten, today as well, but at least communication between the parties involved is speedier and more certain.

Lytton Strachey should thank Jonathan Keeble...

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