The Breaker Audiobook By Kit Denton cover art

The Breaker

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Breaker

By: Kit Denton
Narrated by: Terence Donovan
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.49

Buy for $19.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

There was a Breaker Morant - he was executed at Pietersburg on 27 February 1902. His crime? Wilful murder of civilians. Yet to this day his guilt remains in doubt.

Kit Denton's novel, The Breaker, does more than recount the facts and mystery surrounding Morant's death sentence. Full of action and set in three continents, it covers the entire range of the Breaker's activities. We see him as a champion horseman, a likeable larrikin, a popular balladist. We see him in love and in war. Then we see him face the firing squad that will end his life. Was he a cold-blooded killer or a scapegoat?

1998, Audie Awards Fiction - Unabridged, Winner

1998, AudioFile Earphones Award, Winner

©1973 The Estate of Kit Denton (P)1997 Bolinda Publishing
Political Science

Editorial reviews

On February 27, 1902, in the waning days of the second Boer War in Africa, Harry "the Breaker" Morant, an Australian soldier, was convicted and executed on the grounds that he murdered a German missionary and several Boer prisoners. How, then, did he become an Australian folk hero?

The ponderous, convicting voice of Terrence Donovan relates a novelized account of Morant’s life in The Breaker, written in 1972 by Kit Denton. In swift accounts of action and imagined accounts of Morant as balladeer and poet, The Breaker poses the central question: Was Morant guilty of his crimes? Whether you believe he is innocent or guilty, this audiobook - performed by a master - will take you deep into the blood and sweat of a war that has passed.

Critic reviews

"An extraordinary story … gender surgery that cuts to the quick of China's double standards." (The Independent)
"Shanghai Tango is a breathtaking story... Everyone in the West should know about Jin Xing." (Xiaolu Guo, author of A Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers)
"Shanghai Tango is a fascinating insight into the changes in China over the past 40 years through its relationship with one extraordinary person." (The Spectator)
"This memoir stands out [and is] never less than gripping." (The First Post)
"A courageous memoir, Shanghai Tango is the story of prima ballerina Jin Xing's journey to international fame via the difficult route of gender transformation. One of the most promising stars of the Shanghai Ballet, Xing chose to confront communist China with her decision to become a woman. Keith Brockett tackles the sensitive role of a man becoming a woman with dramatic grace. His delivery bridges the gap between male and female, setting the perfect androgynous tone throughout. Brockett skillfully captures Xing's anguish, pain, pride, and eventual triumph as her transformation evolves. His compelling account is sweetened by his sharply accurate Chinese language pronunciations." (AudioFile Magazine)

What listeners say about The Breaker

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The Breaker.

This was a great Book. I had seen the Movie and the Book was even better. I like the fact that it was a true story. I try to listen to nothing but true stories, and this one was truely a great on. I would recommend this Book over and over again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An idealist view of The Breaker

Nicely written but does not ring true. All the characters are just that, characterisations of people who are no better than a 13 year olds view of heros and villains.
Harry Morant can do no wrong but is human enough to be a little bit of a rogue. The play is almost opposite in making characters too rough and forceful. The movie with Edward Woodward is perhaps closer to the truth, but what the truth is no one can really say. Records of the case seem to have been destroyed during the blitz. The British are not keen to dig up the past and some in South Africa see Harry Morant as a war criminal.
There is no doubt that expediency and abnormalities in the court case are evident but a good mystery needs gaps that can not be answered and this is what makes the Breaker case of killing Boer prisons and a German national so captivating.
Terence Donovan who I believe played the Breaker in the play, narrates this production very well and if you are not fussed with facts or lack of them and don't mind your characters being 'boys own adventure types' then this book is worth a listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Ugh. Utter crap.

This was complete tripe. Historical fiction. . .heavy on the fiction and light on the history. I want my money back. At least the narrator was good. It's a shame his talents were wasted on this meandering piece of garbage.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!