-
The Lost Letters of William Shakespeare
- The Undiscovered Diary of His Strange Eventful Life and Loves
- Narrated by: Terry Tamminen
- Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Could a treasure trove of 400-year-old letters constitute a previously unknown "diary" written by William Shakespeare? After 25 years of research, I believe the astonishing answer is yes. The Lost Letters of William Shakespeare: The Undiscovered Diary of His Strange Eventful Life and Loves reveals vibrant details from Shakespeare's arrival in London to the premiere of Titus Andronicus, his first play to be staged, along with political commentary on Elizabethan of England (and surprising insight into how it affects us today), as well a magnificent but tragic love story.
In 1989, I performed a one-man play about the life of William Shakespeare in London. "Miss B", an elderly woman was apparently sufficiently impressed by my impersonation of the Bard that she offered to show me some old, never-published letters that she believed were written by William Shakespeare. Although I was initially skeptical, it was an offer too good to pass up. What I discovered in these letters began to unravel almost everything I thought I knew about the great poet and playwright. My Prologue to The Lost Letters describes our meetings, more about my mysterious benefactor, and how - throughout my subsequent careers in business and public service - I spent over two decades decoding and researching what these letters had to say, in order to adapt this true story for the modern listener.
Overall, these remarkable letters represent a wealth of as-yet-undiscovered knowledge about Shakespeare's relationships, personality, and career as he carved out his place in the chaotic world of 16th-century London. Whether you are a Shakespeare scholar, merely a fan, or even if you have never read any of his works, the stories of the The Lost Letters will enthrall you with their fascinating and true tale.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen Fry - introductions
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 71 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since he made his first appearance in A Study In Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes has enthralled and delighted millions of fans throughout the world. Now Audible is proud to present Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, read by Stephen Fry. A lifelong fan of Doyle's detective fiction, Fry has narrated the definitive collection of Sherlock Holmes - four novels and four collections of short stories. And, exclusively for Audible, Stephen has written and narrated eight insightful introductions, one for each title.
-
-
Chapter Guide!
- By Katya Rice on 05-25-18
By: Arthur Conan Doyle, and others
-
Don Quixote
- Translated by Edith Grossman
- By: Edith Grossman - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 39 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteenth-century Spanish gentleman Don Quixote, fed by his own delusional fantasies, takes to the road in search of chivalrous adventures. But his quest leads to more trouble than triumph. At once humorous, romantic, and sad, Don Quixote is a literary landmark. This fresh edition, by award-winning translator Edith Grossman, brings the tale to life as never before.
-
-
My Fourth Try at an Audible Quixote
- By James on 12-24-12
By: Edith Grossman - translator, and others
-
Wolf Hall
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of 20 years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
-
-
Superb narration, but keep a character index at hand
- By Oculus on 12-27-20
By: Hilary Mantel
-
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Keith Moore, Toby Leonard Moore, Colin McPhillamy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.
-
-
WOW
- By Mitchell Drimmer on 02-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexandre Dumas, William Robson - translator
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.
-
-
terrible narrator. every comma is a 3 second pause
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-21
By: Alexandre Dumas, and others
-
The Long Ships
- By: Frans G. Bengtsson, Michael Meyer, Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bengtsson's hero, Red Orm-canny - courageous and above all lucky - is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies.
-
-
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful story
- By Kindle Customer on 08-28-18
By: Frans G. Bengtsson, and others
-
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen Fry - introductions
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 71 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since he made his first appearance in A Study In Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes has enthralled and delighted millions of fans throughout the world. Now Audible is proud to present Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, read by Stephen Fry. A lifelong fan of Doyle's detective fiction, Fry has narrated the definitive collection of Sherlock Holmes - four novels and four collections of short stories. And, exclusively for Audible, Stephen has written and narrated eight insightful introductions, one for each title.
-
-
Chapter Guide!
- By Katya Rice on 05-25-18
By: Arthur Conan Doyle, and others
-
Don Quixote
- Translated by Edith Grossman
- By: Edith Grossman - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 39 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteenth-century Spanish gentleman Don Quixote, fed by his own delusional fantasies, takes to the road in search of chivalrous adventures. But his quest leads to more trouble than triumph. At once humorous, romantic, and sad, Don Quixote is a literary landmark. This fresh edition, by award-winning translator Edith Grossman, brings the tale to life as never before.
-
-
My Fourth Try at an Audible Quixote
- By James on 12-24-12
By: Edith Grossman - translator, and others
-
Wolf Hall
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of 20 years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
-
-
Superb narration, but keep a character index at hand
- By Oculus on 12-27-20
By: Hilary Mantel
-
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Keith Moore, Toby Leonard Moore, Colin McPhillamy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.
-
-
WOW
- By Mitchell Drimmer on 02-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexandre Dumas, William Robson - translator
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.
-
-
terrible narrator. every comma is a 3 second pause
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-21
By: Alexandre Dumas, and others
-
The Long Ships
- By: Frans G. Bengtsson, Michael Meyer, Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bengtsson's hero, Red Orm-canny - courageous and above all lucky - is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies.
-
-
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful story
- By Kindle Customer on 08-28-18
By: Frans G. Bengtsson, and others
-
Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
-
-
More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
-
Julius Caesar
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Andrew Buchan, Sean Barrett
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling Roman plays. The plot against Caesar and the infamous assassination scene make for unforgettable listening. Brutus, the true protagonist of the play, is mesmerizing in his psychological state of anguish, forced to choose between the bonds of friendship and his desire for patriotic justice.
-
-
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
- By David on 04-05-14
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
-
-
An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
Super-Infinite
- The Transformations of John Donne
- By: Katherine Rundell
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling, John Donne was incapable of being just one thing. In his myriad lives he was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, a priest, an MP—and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. Along the way he converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, was imprisoned for marrying a sixteen-year old girl without her father’s consent, struggled to feed a family of ten children, and was often ill and in pain.
-
-
Oh but the narration…
- By David Benjamin on 01-01-23
-
Coriolanus
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Richard Burton, Jessica Tandy
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic performance of one of the Bard's classics.
-
-
Amazing
- By Fificat on 04-01-18
-
The Nectar of Angels
- The Arrowsmith Saga, Book 1
- By: Dane St. John
- Narrated by: R. D. Watson
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the chaos of 14th-century England and France, wine is the nectar of angels - a valuable commodity buttressing kingdoms and vaulting vast fortunes. A mysterious old archer named David Arrowsmith recounts his tale to an eager French chronicler, Jean Créton, when the latter learns that his mission to Scotland seems a failure. The burden of Arrowsmith's story rests with Créton, who suddenly finds himself writing about a seemingly cursed infant that barely escapes the grip of the Black Death in rural Wales when his family dies.
-
-
Really? Where are the honest reviews?
- By julie on 03-26-14
By: Dane St. John
-
Caleb's Crossing
- A Novel
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure. The narrator of Caleb's Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex....
-
-
Sadly, I can't go on listening.
- By Susan C. S. on 06-22-11
By: Geraldine Brooks
-
Four Arthurian Romances
- By: Chrétien de Troyes
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes form the wellspring of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Stories of knightly valour in the Welsh Marches had existed before the 12th century, but it was the magnificent poetry and imagination of Chrétien, the 12th century French poet and trouvère, which brought alive the great characters of Arthur, his wife Guinevere, Lancelot and others.
-
-
Ukemi Audio: Doing the Lord’s Work
- By John on 09-29-17
-
Julius Caesar
- A Fully-Dramatized Audio Production From Folger Theatre
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection, brings Julius Caesar to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition.
-
-
good play, difficult to distinguish characters
- By Christian R. Unger on 05-17-18
-
Falstaff
- Give Me Life
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.
-
-
Falstaff brooks no rebuttal.
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Harold Bloom
-
Don Quixote (Adapted for Modern Listeners)
- By: Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quixotic is a word that the dictionary defines as "extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary...." and that is a fitting definition, indeed, for this charming retelling of Don Quixote, the 17t- century Spanish classic by Miguel de Cervantes, now updated for the modern listener. The gallant and fragile Quixote will touch listeners, as will his faithful squire Sancho Panza and the tragically beautiful heroine of the gentle Don’s chivalries, the fair Dulcinea.
-
-
Great way in
- By pxriver on 07-12-18
-
Elizabeth I
- A Novel
- By: Margaret George
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 31 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author Margaret George captures history's most enthralling queen-as she confronts rivals to her throne and to her heart. One of today's premier historical novelists, George dazzles here as she tackles her most difficult subject yet: the legendary Elizabeth Tudor, queen of enigma - the Virgin Queen who had many suitors; the victor of the Armada who hated war; the gorgeously attired, jewel-bedecked woman who pinched pennies.
-
-
A different view of Elizabeth
- By Sarda on 05-10-12
By: Margaret George
Related to this topic
-
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Keith Moore, Toby Leonard Moore, Colin McPhillamy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.
-
-
WOW
- By Mitchell Drimmer on 02-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Don Quixote (Adapted for Modern Listeners)
- By: Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quixotic is a word that the dictionary defines as "extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary...." and that is a fitting definition, indeed, for this charming retelling of Don Quixote, the 17t- century Spanish classic by Miguel de Cervantes, now updated for the modern listener. The gallant and fragile Quixote will touch listeners, as will his faithful squire Sancho Panza and the tragically beautiful heroine of the gentle Don’s chivalries, the fair Dulcinea.
-
-
Great way in
- By pxriver on 07-12-18
-
Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
-
-
More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
-
King John: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Michael Feast, Michael Maloney, Eileen Atkins
- Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
King John of England is pitted against the united powers of France, Brittany, Austria, and the Papacy. Will England be destroyed by his fatal indecision? As alliances are made, broken, and remade, the paranoid and erratic John reveals his weakness and reliance on those around him - including his powerful mother, Queen Elinor, and Faulconbridge, the cynical and witty bastard son of the dead King Richard I.
-
-
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale
- By Darwin8u on 05-08-17
-
Falstaff
- Give Me Life
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.
-
-
Falstaff brooks no rebuttal.
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Harold Bloom
-
Gargantua and Pantagruel
- By: François Rabelais
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
-
-
The king of all the narrators
- By amazon on 02-13-20
-
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Keith Moore, Toby Leonard Moore, Colin McPhillamy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.
-
-
WOW
- By Mitchell Drimmer on 02-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Don Quixote (Adapted for Modern Listeners)
- By: Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quixotic is a word that the dictionary defines as "extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary...." and that is a fitting definition, indeed, for this charming retelling of Don Quixote, the 17t- century Spanish classic by Miguel de Cervantes, now updated for the modern listener. The gallant and fragile Quixote will touch listeners, as will his faithful squire Sancho Panza and the tragically beautiful heroine of the gentle Don’s chivalries, the fair Dulcinea.
-
-
Great way in
- By pxriver on 07-12-18
-
Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
-
-
More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
-
King John: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Michael Feast, Michael Maloney, Eileen Atkins
- Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
King John of England is pitted against the united powers of France, Brittany, Austria, and the Papacy. Will England be destroyed by his fatal indecision? As alliances are made, broken, and remade, the paranoid and erratic John reveals his weakness and reliance on those around him - including his powerful mother, Queen Elinor, and Faulconbridge, the cynical and witty bastard son of the dead King Richard I.
-
-
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale
- By Darwin8u on 05-08-17
-
Falstaff
- Give Me Life
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.
-
-
Falstaff brooks no rebuttal.
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Harold Bloom
-
Gargantua and Pantagruel
- By: François Rabelais
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
-
-
The king of all the narrators
- By amazon on 02-13-20
-
King Lear
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Paul Scofield, Rachel Roberts, Cyryl Cusak, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I am a man more sinned against than sinning.
-
-
A true classic
- By Stanley Hauer on 07-09-08
-
The Autobiography of Henry VIII
- By: Margaret George
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 41 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret George's novel brings into focus the larger-than-life King Henry VIII, monarch of prodigious appetites for wine, women, and song.
-
-
Perfection!
- By Amy M. Walts on 10-20-07
By: Margaret George
-
The Queen's Bastard
- A Novel of Elizabeth I and Arthur Dudley
- By: Robin Maxwell
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Historians have long whispered that Elizabeth "the Virgin Queen's" passionate, lifelong affair with Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, may have led to the birth of a son, Arthur Dudley. In this exquisite sequel to The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, Robin Maxwell fashions a stunning fictional account of the child switched at birth by a lady-in-waiting who foresaw the deleterious political consequences of a royal bastard.
-
-
Story? what Story?
- By A User on 06-08-13
By: Robin Maxwell
-
Don Quixote
- By: Miguel de Cervantes, Gerald J. Davis - translator
- Narrated by: John Hanks
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, a hidalgo who reads so many chivalric novels that he decides to set out to revive chivalry, under the name Don Quixote. This is the story that a Nobel Prize Committee survey of one hundred of the world's best writers named "the greatest book of all time."
-
-
A wonderful, magical listen
- By K on 12-01-13
By: Miguel de Cervantes, and others
-
Candide (AudioGO Edition)
- By: Voltaire
- Narrated by: Jack Davenport
- Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When first published in 1759, Candide became an instant best seller and is now regarded as one of the key texts of the Enlightenment. Voltaire’s preoccupations with evil and with various kinds of human folly and intolerance found a perfect vehicle in this philosophical tale. A master storyteller, he combined often wildly entertaining action with profoundly serious sense, parodying the traditional chivalric and oriental tales with which his public was more familiar.
-
-
Guaranteed to keep you smiling if not LOL
- By Robert on 08-09-12
By: Voltaire
-
Mark Twain - The Complete Novels
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Lee Howard
- Length: 58 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here you will find the complete novels of Mark Twain: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Starts at Chapter 1, 2. The Prince and the Pauper Starts at Chapter 37, 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Starts at Chapter 70, 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Starts at Chapter 113, 5. The American Claimant Starts at Chapter 158, 6. Tom Sawyer Abroad Starts at Chapter 184, 7. Pudd'nhead Wilson Starts at Chapter 197, 8. Tom Sawyer, Detective Starts at Chapter 219, 9. A Horse's Tale Starts at Chapter 230, 10. The Mysterious Stranger Starts at Chapter 245.
-
-
Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
- By brian deis on 01-09-20
By: Mark Twain
-
Blindspot
- By a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise
- By: Jane Kamensky, Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: John Lee, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in boisterous, rebellious Boston on the eve of the American Revolution, Blindspot ingeniously weaves together the fictional stories of Stewart Jameson, a Scottish portrait painter and notorious libertine, and Fanny Easton, a fallen woman from one of Boston's most powerful families who disguises herself as a boy to become Jameson's defiant and seductive apprentice. Together with an African-born doctor, they investigate the death of the famous revolutionary leader Samuel Bradstreet.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Cariola on 03-06-09
By: Jane Kamensky, and others
-
The Dark Angel
- By: Mika Waltari
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ancient Constantinople, the glorious capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over 1,000 years, and the jewel of Christendom, is the setting for this incredible historical novel. No other city in the world could compare with it in grandeur, splendor, and wealth. And when it fell to the Turks in 1453, it must have seemed like the end of the world to Christians. Famed author Mika Waltari takes us into the last months of this dying city as revealed in the diary of John Angelos, a strange man hopelessly in love with the daughter of an eminent Byzantine official.
-
-
Great until the end
- By Barton on 07-12-19
By: Mika Waltari
-
The Arabian Nights
- By: Andrew Lang - translator
- Narrated by: Suehyla El Attar
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Scheherazade, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Scheherazade always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever.
-
-
Not unabridged Burton--this is Lang
- By Richard and Diana Chicago on 06-25-12
-
The Nectar of Angels
- The Arrowsmith Saga, Book 1
- By: Dane St. John
- Narrated by: R. D. Watson
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the chaos of 14th-century England and France, wine is the nectar of angels - a valuable commodity buttressing kingdoms and vaulting vast fortunes. A mysterious old archer named David Arrowsmith recounts his tale to an eager French chronicler, Jean Créton, when the latter learns that his mission to Scotland seems a failure. The burden of Arrowsmith's story rests with Créton, who suddenly finds himself writing about a seemingly cursed infant that barely escapes the grip of the Black Death in rural Wales when his family dies.
-
-
Really? Where are the honest reviews?
- By julie on 03-26-14
By: Dane St. John
-
Ophelia
- By: Lisa Klein
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this re-imagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queens most trusted lady-in-waiting. She catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, and their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and ultimately, Ophelia must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life.
-
-
nice idea, poorly executed
- By Darryl on 06-11-16
By: Lisa Klein
-
Tristram Shandy
- By: Laurence Sterne
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laurence Sterne’s most famous novel is a biting satire of literary conventions and contemporary 18th-century values. Renowned for its parody of established narrative techniques, Tristram Shandyis commonly regarded as the forerunner of avant-garde fiction. Tristram’s characteristic digressions on a whole range of unlikely subjects (including battle strategy and noses!) are endlessly surprising and make this one of Britain’s greatest comic achievements.
-
-
Like discovering Frank Zappa in 250 years
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-14
By: Laurence Sterne
What listeners say about The Lost Letters of William Shakespeare
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Terry Tamminen
- 01-19-19
Shakespeare revealed!
I hope you enjoy listening to the audiobook as much as I enjoyed producing it with a team of outstanding actors in Portland Oregon. As much as the letters illuminated corners of Shakespeare's life and loves, much never before known, hearing them read aloud breathes ever more nuance and vibrancy into this amazing tale.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dodes
- 03-11-20
Fascinating look into Shakespeare's background
If the story of the letters is true, then this is a pretty amazing find... As such I proceed as if it is true... more fun that way!
My only criticism is the editing - occasionally the audio feels rushed from one paragraph to another as if the copy/paste was done without adding a second in between. I also listened while reading the book so I did notice small parts of the text removed, reordered or altered. This didn't really take anything away from this overall, but fur purity's sake...
Otherwise I was ever enthralled. The stories in each letter are fascinating but for me, a history teacher, getting a sense of the time and place was just brilliant. I felt emersed in the battle between Church of England and Catholicism, Britain and Spain, the desire to emigrate to the New World to seek fortune... The spy networks, the matters and intrigues at court, the toothless sailors spinning wild yarns... The crude humour mixed between sonnets and poetic language... The joys and sorrows he experiences certainly worked to inspire Shakespeare... again... if it's indeed true! One way or another, can't wait for book two!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Indrek Kaing
- 10-04-19
“The Lost Letters...” review by Indrek Kaing
This book is for people who enjoy mental time-travel. By the time when Terry’s journey with the plot of this book started, I was a 10-year-old boy, growing up in Estonia, a part of former Soviet Union. Under the regime, I did not understand why we lived as we did. Why we could not think and act freely. I did not understand it at all until we managed to restore our independence in 1991. Frankly, I still cannot believe that we had such a regime as the Soviet Union for 50 years, but that is totally another story. The reason I had to start my review like this was that my only rescue from this insanity was reading the books. The lively stories from history became my favorites. I guess that from that period of my youth the storytelling bug grew on me and that is why I enjoyed Terry’s book so much. I really do not need any proof if it is all 100% truth as the story itself is an adventure on many levels to enjoy.
As I have mentioned my interest towards time-travel, my most enjoyable nuances were the detailed descriptions of the atmosphere where the situation was taking place: the politics at the time, the environment and architecture, indoors and outdoors elements, temperatures at the location, time of the day, season, weather, fashion, lights, smells, tastes, feelings of happiness, success and sorrow – all of it. One of my most favorite writers is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his series of “Sherlock Holmes”. When most of the people tend to concentrate on the criminal case of those stories, for me it is the least intriguing part. For me, each time I open one of his books, I disconnect myself from this world and travel into London in the years of 1878-1903, where Sherlock Holmes adventures are described. I can breathe and smell those houses and places, feel the temperatures and lights. The lit fireplace in the dark room, where Sherlock was analyzing his next challenge while smoking his pipe. It takes talent to write like Doyle. But as this example does not match up with William Shakespeare story, I bring you a better one:
In 1844 a French writer Alexandre Dumas senior published a story of “The Three Musketeers” with the lead character named d’Artagnan, who was a poor young man leaving his home to go to Paris to join the elite guard of musketeers. Everyone who has read the book knows what I’m talking about, but if you have not, please do and you shall not regret. Those stories helped me to learn about France and Paris. The living standards, cuisine, fashion, ethics of the time. Again, an absolutely superb piece of writing.
What is the most magnificent part of this example regarding to the book review in question, is the timing. "The Three Musketeers” original story took place in years 1625-1628, even though it was finally published more than 200 years later. Why is this important? William Shakespeare lived in 1564-1616 and not that far away in England.
One might say that this period in history had a significant matter to the literature as such in several places around the world, certainly regionally in Europe for some reason.
“The Lost Letters of William Shakespeare” took me on a journey which is really difficult to describe, but as you’ve just read about my passion for such historical literature, you can imagine my satisfaction from reading it. What makes it even better is the author's Terry Tamminen´s personal story within the main story and frankly, I cannot say if one is more important than the other because they complement each other. Terry’s contact with mysterious Miss B, who lend him the letters, is something that gives me the chills even when I am writing this review right now. You will have a chance to learn how big and long term has Terry Tamminen’s passion for William Shakespeare actually been. But foremost I am extremely grateful for the letters itself. I don’t want to give the readers any wrong expectations that this book would be one long continuous adventure, building up excitement towards the end of the book. No, this is a book which actually contains personal letters from William Shakespeare to his best friend in his hometown Stratford - John Combe, “Coz”. While mainly sharing his events of the journey and rich experiences of a different kind, his dreams and goal to reach the land of gold, he is constantly asking his best friend to watch over and take care of his family left back home, in case anything should happen to him on his journey. As in Alexander Dumas “Three musketeer’s” d’Artagnan left home to go to Paris, so did the young William Shakespeare, leaving home to go to London in order to earn some money for the boat ticket that would take him to the promised land America with an expectation to return wealthy.
Being myself now 40 years old and a father of 4 children, I can honestly relate to the feelings that honorable William has shared privately to his friend in those letters. I can imagine myself into that period, and you know what, life is not that much different from today from the perspective of human behavior, emotions, ambitions and existence. Today we use computers instead of paper to write to our friends, and we move around on electric vehicles instead of horse carriages, but deep inside of our hearts and minds we have remained pretty much the same. We want to love and be loved in return while being able to take care of our dear ones in peace.
As this was the first bunch of the letters described in one book, I am looking forward to the next ones, to continue my journey in William's shoes in the late 1500s.
Dear Terry, I honor your passion and commitment of 30 years of stubborn work to be able to share this story with us. I do keep my hopes up that one day we will find out who was this mysterious Miss B and the background of the secrets of those letters.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Indrek Kaing
Founder of www.circleofkindness.org
Pringi, Viimsi, Estonia
PS! I have read the book and also listened to the audiobook as my eyesight is not the best those days and the most comfortable time to read/listen to this book is either in commute or gym. The audiobook is as lively as the book, so I can recommend both without hesitation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!