Joan of Arc
A History
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Narrated by:
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Anne Flosnik
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By:
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Helen Castor
About this listen
Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor's Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to 15th century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt - a roaring girl who, in fighting the English, was also taking sides in a bloody civil war. We meet this extraordinary girl amid the tumultuous events of her extraordinary world where no one - not Joan herself, nor the people around her (princes, bishops, soldiers, or peasants) - knew what would happen next.
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Chief minister to King Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu was the architect of a new France in the 17th century, and the force behind the nation's rise as a European power. Among the first statesmen to clearly understand the necessity of a balance of powers, he was one of the early realist politicians, practicing in the wake of Niccol Machiavelli. Truly larger than life, he has captured the imagination of generations, both through his own story and through his portrayal as a ruthless political mastermind in Alexandre Dumas's classic The Three Musketeers.
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Great story boringly told
- By pete k on 09-19-16
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The Wars of the Roses
- The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The 15th century saw the longest and bloodiest series of civil wars in British history. The crown of England changed hands five times as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. Now, celebrated historian Dan Jones describes how the longest reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors. Some of the greatest heroes and villains in history were thrown together in these turbulent times.
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No Need for a Score Card
- By Troy on 01-16-15
By: Dan Jones
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Heretic Queen
- Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion
- By: Susan Ronald
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald delivers a stunning account of Elizabeth I that focuses on her role in the Wars of Religion - the battle between Protestantism and Catholicism that tore Europe apart in the sixteenth century. Elizabeth’s 1558 coronation procession was met with an extravagant outpouring of love. Only 25 years old, the young queen saw herself as the nation’s Protestant savior, aiming to provide new hope, prosperity, and independence from the foreign influence that had plagued her sister Mary’s reign. Given the scars of the Reformation, Elizabeth would need all of the powers of diplomacy and tact she could summon.
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a thorough history of a great lady
- By Angelus56 on 07-24-18
By: Susan Ronald
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Bloody Mary
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 23 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the tragic, stormy life of Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. Her story is a chronicle of courage and faith, betrayal and treachery - set amidst the splendor, pageantry, squalor, and intrigue of 16th-century Europe. The history of Mary Tudor is an improbable blend of triumph, humiliation, heartbreak, and devotion - and Ms. Erickson recounts it all against the turbulent background of European politics, war, and religious strife of the mid-1500s.
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A good history
- By A. Barrios on 05-21-15
By: Carolly Erickson
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The Conquering Family
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Thomas B. Costain's four-volume history of the Plantagenets begins with The Conquering Family and the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, closing with the reign of John in 1216. The troubled period after the Norman Conquest, when the foundations of government were hammered out between monarch and people, comes to life through Costain's storytelling skill and historical imagination.
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An Entrancing History of the Early Plantegenets
- By Peter on 01-20-09
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Elizabeth
- The Forgotten Years
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
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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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worth the credit
- By Lesley on 04-19-17
By: John Guy
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Richard III
- England's Most Controversial King
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From acclaimed historian Chris Skidmore comes the authoritative biography of Richard III, England's most controversial king, a man alternately praised as a saint and cursed as a villain.
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Glad I read it now that it is over
- By Missee on 08-08-19
By: Chris Skidmore
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A Distant Mirror
- The Calamitous Fourteenth Century
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
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The 14th century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.
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And you thought the twentieth century was rough...
- By Rob on 03-23-06
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Four Princes
- Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe
- By: John Julius Norwich
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Julius Norwich - whom the Wall Street Journal called "the very model of a popular historian" - has crafted a big, bold tapestry of the early 16th century, when Europe and the Middle East were overshadowed by a quartet of legendary rulers, all born within a 10-year period. Against the vibrant background of the Renaissance, these four men laid the foundations for modern Europe and the Middle East, as they collectively impacted the culture, religion, and politics of their respective domains.
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For the most part, very informative.
- By Paula on 02-05-18
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Tudor
- Passion. Manipulation. Murder. The Story of England's Most Notorious Royal Family
- By: Leanda de Lisle
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
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Overall
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The Tudors are England's most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle's gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew. The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family's obscure Welsh origins and the ordinary man known as Owen Tudor who would fall (literally) into a queen's lap - and later her bed.
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Clear and detailed
- By Tad Davis on 04-13-16
By: Leanda de Lisle
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The Templars
- The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
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Performance
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In 1307, as they struggled to secure their last strongholds in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Templars fell afoul of the vindictive and impulsive king of France. On Friday, October 13, hundreds of brothers were arrested en masse, imprisoned, tortured, and disbanded amid accusations of lurid sexual misconduct and heresy. They were tried by the Vatican in secret proceedings. But were they heretics or victims of a ruthlessly repressive state?
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Unexpected
- By Protogere on 10-30-17
By: Dan Jones
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STORY TELLING IS ERRATIC
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What listeners say about Joan of Arc
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- A Texan
- 11-16-22
Good book; abysmal narrator
I am a big Helen Castor fan. She is an accomplished historian. And her writing is academic in style, but with a more readable prose than is commonly found in academic texts or articles. I enjoyed the organization here, and it fits with a thesis she has advanced elsewhere, namely, that the battle of Agincourt is the seminal event in that period of French and English history, and all other events should be considered with that context in mind. See "Agincourt or Azincourt? Victory, Defeat, and the War of 1415" (a lecture she gave in October 2015, which is available online).
I would encourage anyone to listen to her online lectures. And, frankly, I wish someone from Tantor Audio had listened. The ideal narrator for Helen Castor's excellent books is obviously Helen Castor. Her ability to engross is not limited to her books; her lectures should be required listening for new college professors. Instead, Tantor chose as narrator Anne Flosnik. In Ms. Flosnik, Tantor found a performer who should not be allowed to read aloud the daily lunch specials, let alone an entire book.
A brief look at Ms. Flosnik's resume reveals a handful of romance novels featuring ladies in various stages of undress. See "Why Dukes Say I Do." Although I might not have thought about such a narrator for a serious book about a female subject, I am open-minded. Flosnik's oeuvre might signal that she possesses a deep, sonorous voice, or that she has a capacity for expressing passion and variety. Alas, it is not so.
Flosnik is difficult to understand. On this subject, other reviewers have spoken. But I disagree with their assertions that the difficulty is merely an accent or minor speech impediment. Lucy Worsley has a similar rhotacism, yet she is an easily-understood and highly-sought-after television host. Flosnik does not enunciate, she does not vary the rhythm of her sentences, and she fails to alter her tone. No matter the content, unintelligible sentences rise and fall in the same place. The result is a grating, hard-to-decipher sing-song proceeding mercilessly for eight-and-a-half hours.
I listened to this book in its entirety--a statement which is as great a tribute as anyone hearing the narrator's voice could possibly offer the author. Because the narrator is simply the worst I have ever heard on any audiobook anywhere, I give it three stars. But I've bought the Folio Society special printing of the book itself. And I'll give it a wonderful review--it can be enjoyed silently.
To Tantor Audio: Find Dr. Castor someone new. Anyone. But, hopefully, make it Dr. Castor herself.
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- LaurenB
- 02-17-24
Breathy English accent painful
The reader’s breathy English accent is better suited to a salacious novel than a non-fiction book.
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- Tad Davis
- 06-08-15
The Maid of Orleans
Helen Castor has taken an unusual approach in structuring her biography of Joan of Arc. There's a huge amount of information about Joan in the sworn testimony of two church trials. Most writers use this information freely in reconstructing Joan's childhood; Castor has chosen to leave most of this intimate detail until the point in history when it became common knowledge - during the trials themselves.
As a consequence, Joan appears on the horizon in even more of a whirlwind than usual.
Much of the first part of the book is taken up with the history of the Hundred Years War, or at least the part of the war that began with Henry V's invasion and the battle of Agincourt. Charles VII, disinherited by his own parents, is struggling to re-establish his legitimacy as King. And there, suddenly, as if out of nowhere, is Joan.
It's a remarkable story, and Castor's book is the best one I've read on the subject. The battles and politics of this period are particularly tangled, with Armagnacs against Burgundians against English, and sieges and campaigns that seem to have no purpose other than to destroy the best fighters on all sides. Castor tells it all with such lucid balance and proportion that it all makes sense, all the better to highlight Joan's remarkable achievement and the sad unravelling of her life.
She was 19 when she died, burned at the stake. The executioner dampened the flames after her clothes had burned away, so everyone could see she was a woman; and then built the fire back up to reduce any possible relics to ash.
Anne Flosnik has an unusual voice. I can't quite articulate what's unusual about it; but it's rich and expressive and pleasing, and she does a terrific job pacing the story and giving voice to Joan. I loved it. When I want a refresher on the subject, this is the one I'll turn to.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Marcia
- 06-11-15
In depth treatment of historical context.
Helen Castor spends a great deal of time setting the stage for the appearance of The Maid, a bit too much in my view, but those with an interest in the political intrigues of 15th Century France will enjoy the scholarly narrative. The personality of Joan comes through like a beacon. Narrator was annoying when doing any voice except Joan's.
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3 people found this helpful
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- RR1990
- 06-25-20
Amazing
I’ve learned just so little about Joan of Arc in history class back in grad school. Getting her full story was absolutely remarkable. Such a beautiful well written book about the iconic Joan of Arc. Definitely recommend it. Definitely will listen to it again.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chris L
- 08-02-24
Excellent
Excellent recounting of the historical elements, excellent narration, an excellent vantage point from which the story is unfolded.
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- John Rubio
- 09-20-24
Highly-detailed historical description of times in which Joan lived and worked.
Toughest part from me was heavy accent of narrator. I was born and raised in Southern California, trained in four other languages beyond English, travelled and worked internationally in common and diplomatic circles. I struggle to understand narration at times. But the writing and research is top shelf.
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- Tessara Dudley
- 11-19-22
A brilliantly historical examination
This book sets out to tell the story of Joan of Arc by first giving a full context to the world she entered. It provides a well-researched understanding of the broader situation surrounding the war between France and England, the inner divisions that pulled France to pieces, and the unity ultimately returned. As a student historian of an entirely different part of the world, I was very grateful for this wider picture, without which I likely would have struggled to understand the events of Joan’s life and her impact on France. I went looking for a good book about Joan of Arc, and this is that, certainly, but it is also about a turning point on French history, and I’m glad to have listened to it.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-11-20
Takes awhile, but worth it
The book doesn't cover anything specifically about Joan until halfway through - literally Chapter 6 - so the first half is an intense in depth history of royalty and wars leading up to her coming onto the scene. Once the book finally started focusing on Joan and her story, though, it was everything I had wanted it to be and I learned more about Joan than I had thought imaginable. Her story is such a tragedy, and the book details how cruel and illogical the Catholic church was at that time and how poorly poor Joan was treated. I recommend if you really want to know about her story, but it's not very quick paced or overly entertaining, but very straight forward history.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Tally D Lykins
- 09-20-24
More of a period history than a Joan of Arc histor
The author spent too much time on the background surrounding Joan's entry into the events. It is well written, but much less than 50% of the book is actually about Joan. Should be retitled to more clearly reflect the content of the book.
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