JBCasoria

Engaging narrator & fascinating subject

Revisado: 11-15-23

One of the better “courses”, Dorsey Armstrong captured my attention from the first sentence and kept me informed, entertained & engaged ‘til the last sentence with historical facts entertained with fun stories. Highly recommended. I will be getting her other courses as well.

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Historical fiction at its best...

Revisado: 11-08-20

John Brown may not be the most famous historical figure, but after reading this book, I wanted to find out more about him. McBride's story weaves the basic historical facts with an humorously dramatic story which keeps you both entertained, somewhat educated and enlightened all at the same time. John Brown is a a larger than life character in history and McBride does a great job of telling his story in a unique and vibrant way. Even though you know how the book is going to end, McBride, through his main character's voice and actions offers a unique twist, which may be be historically accurate, but is wholly believable.... thoroughly enjoyable book. i will be listening to more McBride in anticipation that they are as good as this one.

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Excellent version of a classic.

Revisado: 11-08-20

Kenneth Branagh brings all of his tremendous talent to reading Agatha Christie..... his Hercule Poirot is spot on. I read this book years ago.... and thought it was excellent then.... Branagh literally brings the characters to life and make the murder mystery come to life ..... it is like being in one of those Murder Mystery Dinner Theaters..... you feel like you are in the middle of the action, solving the crime with Hercule Poirot..... Branagh needs to do more of these....if not all of them.

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History that reads like a historical novel...

Revisado: 11-08-20

First the writing is first rate. The author not only gives you a historical account, he does so in a way that weaves multiple stories of both individuals and events in a fashion that the best novels provide.... drama, humor, character development, love stories, heartbreak, tragedy and the triumph of the human spirit are all present. Likewise, it is a very objective view of the historical facts.... the "white men" are not all evil and the "native americans" are not all "noble savages". The author balances the good & the bad of both sides pretty well. Very much enjoyed the book & will probably read it again.

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Historical Drama well done & Well worth the time

Revisado: 08-21-20

Having just finished Brian Kilmead's "George Washington's Secret Six" , which briefly touches on the female Revolutionary War spy "Agent 355", I decided to follow that well done history lesson with this audio book. Thinking it would be a more detailed history take on this well known but unnamed woman, I purchased the audio book and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually a 1st person dramatic take on the story told from the "Agent 355's" point of view & with her voice. The narration by Emily Rankin immediately captivated my imagination and hooked me into the story which I thoroughly enjoyed. Keeping in mimd that this is historical fiction, since the facts regarding who Agent 355 was remains a mystery, the author does a good job of making the case for the person she believes is Agent 355. I won't give away the bitter sweet ending, but the conclusion makes a convincing closing argument. The only downside is that I wish the story was longer. To listen to historical events told from a female point of view, albeit with a dramatic flare, was a breath of fresh air. Overall a well done audio book, well worth the time.

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an "almost" complete history

Revisado: 06-24-20

I visited the CHS a couple of years ago and was intrigued by the building's history as the "holiest" Christian site in Jerusalem & I was hoping that this book would expand on the information provided by the professional guide I used to walk me through the church. This book tells initial history (basically the first 800 or so years) in such an abbreviated way that it actually leaves the reader (listener) with a lot of the history of the church a mystery.... still I was able to get a basic understanding of the "when", "who", "what" "how" & "why" as well as its importance to the history of the city of Jerusalem.... but there could/should have been more detail into the history and the various personalities associated with the church, etc. Likewise, the book only carries the reader through the crusades where it abruptly ends, leaving the reader in the dark about what happened during the last 1000 years... clearly the story of this fabled place cannot be told in an hour and twenty minutes and I should have realized that when I ordered.... Be that as it may... for the price it was worth the listen.

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Tim Curry lifts this story to a new level.

Revisado: 05-18-20

Although this Jules Verne story is over 100 years old and may lack the fast moving action and excitement of a modern adventure story, the key to this version is clearly stated in the title ...."a Signature PERFORMANCE by Tim Curry." He masterfully draws the listener INTO "the journey to the center of the earth" through the voice of the narrator, capturing the personalities & relationship of both Axel and his uncle perfectly. In doing so, he breathes new life into the story telling, carrying the listener entertainingly through the story, even handling the numerous language pronunciations from scientific latin to French to Icelandic with ease making this a great listen for young and old alike. A good book with an EXCELLENT narrator.

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Disappointingly entertaining...

Revisado: 05-15-20

Let's start with the "entertaining" part....but for the narrators, who clearly did an excellent job (imho), capturing the passion of the authors in describing their experiences, observations and opinons... I would not have listened to the end....thus they are obviously deserving of the 5 stars....
The "disappointing" starts with the introduction...which states that the intent of the book is NOT to "anthropomorphize" the members of this artificially contrived "wolf pack" (human selected, reared and continually fed by humans behind high fences) and then spend the next 5 hours and 4 minutes doing just that... some of the observations were interesting...but the analogies and comparisons to the best of human behaviours (empathy and the like) while rarely offering the same analysis for the worst of human behaviours (bullying for example) seemed a stretch in most instances....real wolf biologists (which the authors are not) easily explain these behavior in real (as in wild) wolves which the authors appear to simply disregard in their advocacy to humanize the beasts. Likewise, the utter contempt, if not revulsion (specially from the female author) of hunters (ranchers, farmers) clearly demonstrate a refusal to even try to understand the underlying issues. In essence, this book is a propaganda piece on wolf conservancy... which... if THAT had been stated in the previews... would have at least given the listeners a fair shot on the story content up front. Be that as it may, there were just enough nuggets sprinkled throughout the story, mostly anecdotes about the conduct of actual wild wolves (which were not a part of the authors' grand experiment), that made slogging through the the rest of it tolerable.
I think I probably got more real information about, and empathized more with a wolf from also listening to Jack London's "White Fang," and was actually wholly entertained in the process.

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Bearskin is a great listen

Revisado: 04-02-20

As an Arizonan, originally from southern Appalachia (GA), the books main character (from AZ), story location (VA Appalachia) and base plot intrigued me enough to purchase and I am glad I did. The author not only tells a really good story but also uses rich descriptive prose which draws the listener into the settings, connect with the characters and ride along comfortably as the story unfolds. Likewise the narrator's pacing was perfect & he was able to handle not only the Southern drawls but the Appalachian nuances of multiple local characters in a convincing fashion. The story flowed well and I am looking forward to the author's next book. Highly Recommended.

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Provenance of God in world events

Revisado: 01-17-20

The author gives the reader a rather convincing dissertation on how God used the lives of Reagan, John Paul 2 & Gorbechev to change the path of human history with the fall of communism. A straight forward presentation utilizing not just evidence by the way of the written record but the testimony of those that knew them best. The narrator gives the sometimes dry wording a touch of dramatic flair, tirninh it into a story tale rather than a basic history book

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