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The Dark Queens
- The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
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Publisher's summary
“A well-researched and well-told epic history. The Dark Queens brings these courageous, flawed, and ruthless rulers and their distant times back to life.” (Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times best-selling author of Hidden Figures)
The remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule.
Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet - in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport - these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe.
The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a decades-long civil war - against each other. With ingenuity and skill, they battled to stay alive in the game of statecraft and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne's empire. Yet after the queens' deaths - one gentle, the other horrific - their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend.
In The Dark Queens, award-winning writer Shelley Puhak sets the record straight. She resurrects two very real women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and striking at the roots of some of our culture's stubbornest myths about female power. The Dark Queens offers proof that the relationships between women can transform the world.
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- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
The Wars of the Roses were a complex set of battles, skirmishes, and kidnappings during the 15th century in England. They had their roots in the nearby Civil War of France, which greatly influenced English politics for years to come. Though there is no one universally-accepted start or end date for these wars, the major events throughout the wars occurred between 1455 and 1485.
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Atrocious narration, poor timing, not recommended
- By B. on 01-21-19
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The Lady Queen
- The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The riveting history of a beautiful queen, a shocking murder, a papal trial - and a reign as triumphant as any in the Middle Ages. On March 15, 1348, 22-year-old Joanna I, queen of Naples, stood trial for the murder of her husband before the pope and his court in Avignon. Determined to defend herself, Joanna won her acquittal against overwhelming odds. Victorious, she returned to Naples and ruled over one of Europe's most prestigious courts for the next three decades - until she herself was killed.
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Terrible mispronunciation of words
- By Amelie on 12-03-18
By: Nancy Goldstone
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Edward III
- The Perfect King
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Holding power for over 50 years starting in 1327, Edward III was one of England's most influential kings and one who shaped the course of English history. Revered as one of the country's most illustrious leaders for centuries, he was also a usurper and a warmonger who ordered his uncle beheaded. A brutal man, to be sure, but also a brilliant one.
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Great book about Edward III
- By Kiesha on 07-05-16
By: Ian Mortimer
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Tudor History
- A Captivating Guide to the Tudors, the Wars of the Roses, the Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Life of Elizabeth I
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Five Tudor monarchs sat on the throne of England and Ireland from 1485 to 1603. The family earned their royal rights through strategic planning and battlefield prowess, and kept them because of intellect, strength, and sheer determination. The Tudors, one of England’s most powerful and famous royal dynasties, knitted together a fragmented and small island nation that became one of the world’s financial, colonial, and technological superpowers.
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A facinating guide.
- By James Mark on 03-07-19
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The Normans
- From Raiders to Kings
- By: Lars Brownworth
- Narrated by: James C. Lewis
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Normans, Lars Brownworth follows their story, from the first shock of a Viking raid on an Irish monastery to the exile of the last Norman Prince of Antioch. In the process, he brings to vivid life the Norman tapestry's rich cast of characters: figures like Rollo the Walker, William Iron-Arm, Tancred the Monkey King, and Robert Guiscard. The Normans presents a fascinating glimpse of a time when a group of restless adventurers had the world at their fingertips.
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Norsemen in Palermo
- By Jim on 02-23-15
By: Lars Brownworth
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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
- Unabridged
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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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The History of the Ancient World
- From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled.
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An Historic Achievement
- By Ellen S. Wilds on 04-25-14
By: Susan Wise Bauer
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Henry IV
- The Righteous King
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
The talented, confident, and intelligent son of John of Gaunt, Henry IV started his reign as a popular and charismatic king after he dethroned the tyrannical and wildly unpopular Richard II. But six years into his reign, Henry had survived eight assassination and overthrow attempts. Having broken God's law of primogeniture by overthrowing the man many people saw as the chosen king, Henry IV left himself vulnerable to challenges from powerful enemies about the validity of his reign. Even so, Henry managed to establish the new Lancastrian dynasty and a new rule of law.
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Detailed and compelling
- By kayakman on 12-15-17
By: Ian Mortimer
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Princesses Behaving Badly
- Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings
- By: Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
You think you know her story. You've read the Brothers Grimm, you've watched the Disney cartoons, you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But the lives of real princesses couldn't be more different. Sure, many were graceful and benevolent leaders - but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power, and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets.
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Princesses Researched Well
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 04-14-14
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Lancaster and York
- The Wars of the Roses
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
- Length: 22 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Lancater and York is a riveting account of the Wars of the Roses, from beloved historian Alison Weir. The war between the houses of Lancaster and York was characterised by treachery, deceit, and bloody battles. Alison Weir's lucid and gripping account focuses on the human side of history. At the centre of the book stands Henry VI, the pious king whose mental instability led to political chaos, and his wife Margaret of Anjou, who took up her arms in her husband's cause and battled in a violent man's world.
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Dense, fascinating history...questionable delivery
- By kbreezy on 10-04-17
By: Alison Weir
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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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Story
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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Narrator didn't get one name right
- By Georgina García- Menocal on 09-15-19
By: Leonie Frieda
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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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Overall
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Story
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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Horrible narration - don’t purchase
- By ballymerrigan on 12-27-18
By: John Guy
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Thanks to Dan Carlin of Hardcore History podcasts.
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Daughters of Sparta
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For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships - but now it's time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology's most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister, Klytemnestra.
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At LAST!!!
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The Rising Sun
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A political as well as military history
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The Faerie Queene
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This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser's finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply-felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error....
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High Fantasy from the Renaissance
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What listeners say about The Dark Queens
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- I Scribble and Drink Tea
- 07-26-24
Suspenseful, in-depth history
It's not often that a historical narrative can hold me on the edge of my seat. The fact that this book did that is a huge tribute to Puhak's ability as a storyteller. She's not just a storyteller, though: she obviously has the academic chops to grapple with the sources and the tough questions, and she gives her conclusions in a way that always respects the reader's intelligence—I never felt talked down to or brushed off, as sometimes happens when academic historians write books for laypeople. Nor did I feel like Puhak was distorting history for the sake of a gripping narrative, as sometimes happens when fiction authors (or aspiring fiction authors) try their hand at history. This is an author who has real respect for the source material, and real respect for the reader.
Now, as to the suspense: it helps, of course, that the period (Merovingian France) is one that I have very little familiarity with so I had no idea how the story ended. But I've read plenty of new-to-me histories, and "suspenseful" is very rarely a word I can use to describe them. I'm reading a history of the Thirty Years' War right now, and while I'm fascinated by the intricacies of what's happening, I don't feel any suspense about the outcome (even though I don't know what it is).
What Puhak does is select two people from this period in history (Queen Brunhild and Queen Fredegund) and then make very real their fears, concerns, ambitions, and desires. Throughout the twisting and complex civil wars that follow, she always makes ensures that we know the stakes for Brunhild and Fredegund. What could be a rather confusing list of betrayals, battles, and royal marriages in another author's hands is instead rendered completely clear, and completely vivid, because we see them through Brunhild's and Fredegund's eyes, and we see how they fit into their calculations and anxieties. And because we see all these events through their eyes (again, in a historically respectful way—this isn't fiction) we feel the weight of how each event might affect them. The result is a surprisingly taught and suspenseful narrative.
Along the way, we get plenty of the smaller stories that pull the reader onto fascinating side-trips. I will be forever grateful to this book for introducing me to Radegund, the captive Princess of a destroyed kingdom who escaped to become an Abbess and political power-broker in her own right.
Excellent, excellent stuff, and quite possibly the best book I've read this year. Highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alicia Amerson
- 05-19-23
Loved this story!
This is a must read! I loved the story - it’s inspiring and beautiful. Hurry and download
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- Bonny
- 03-26-23
The Most Riveting History Book I've Ever Read
Genuinely one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. I was hooked from the first few sentences.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-02-23
Very well researched book! I I enjoyed it!
Very good read ! Historically interesting & informative! The story regarding this time in history was both religiously & diplomatically quite captivating.
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- kayla Haas
- 05-02-23
loved it + recommended it all my friends + family
Super interesting + well researched. It's an epic story of survival, boldness, + clever minds. I'm looking forward to reading more of Shelley's writing.
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- David Stephens
- 06-03-22
Thought about this book all the time!
Even though it was sometimes hard to catch the names of all of the kings ( I listened in my convertible with the top down), it was so fascinating that I would take the long way home. The writing wasn’t perfect, but the narrator more than made up for it.
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16 people found this helpful
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- E. P.
- 03-07-23
Meh
It was interesting but not gripping. I learned a bit but probably won’t remember much.
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- John Appel
- 06-02-23
Essential History
A well-told, well-researched, and long-overdue account of two of the most formidable women in European history.
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- Brooksie Dickey
- 08-25-23
Fascinating and compelling!
Loved this audiobook and the fascinating portrayal of Fredegund and Brunhild. I wish there was more!
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- TKPK Customer
- 12-24-23
Compelling
Excellent reconstruction of ancient lives and events using a great variety of primary materials. Told in a compelling narrative.
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