Queens of the Conquest by Alison Weir
Queens of the Conquest by Alison Weir sounded like a book I would enjoy. This is not the first book I read by Weir. I’ve read Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen a few months ago. I gave it 4 stars because Weir relied on works of fiction too much.
I wasn’t sure I would want to read books by her again, despite seeing so many 5 stars ratings for them. Until I saw this audio book. I wanted to try to see if I would like an audio book, for those moments when I can’t read. After this book I don’t think I’m going to borrow/buy an audio book again nor one of Weir’s books.
The narrator was making funny voices for letters. It was just annoying. The book is not aimed at 5 year olds who need a bit of storytelling to make them pay attention. It is a non-fiction history book and I would have appreciated listening to the book narrated in a clear way. Not sure if this is the norm, so I’m not risking it again, too annoying.
It was obvious that Weir did extensive research, but I don’t understand why she felt the need to share it all. Charters are mentioned so many times that it gets repetitive and makes you lose track. It might have been a downside of being an audio book though. Even so, I still don’t understand the need to share all those details. I would have preferred some statistics, like she signed x number of charters, without lists after lists.
The best thing about the book was the part on the civil war between Empress Matilda (Maud) and Stephen. I’ve seen The Pillars of the Earth series, but that was fiction. So, I’ve enjoyed that part of the book.
Queens of the Conquest by Alison Weir
Details about the picture: –
My rating: 3/5 Stars.
Would I recommend it: No, if you are keen on learning facts. Yes, if you are not bothered by assumptions in a non-fiction book. I wouldn’t recommend the audio book though.
Published by: Clipper Audiobooks
Year it was published: 2017
Format: Audio book
Genre(s): Non-fiction. History
Pages: 16 CDs. Approx. 17.5 hours. The book has 496 pages.
About the author: Alison Weir is a historian. She was interested in history as a teenager and she went on to study history at North Western Polytechnic of London. Alison published her first book in 1989, after many years of trying to get her books published. Now she is a well known history writer. In 2006, she published her first novel.
Weir is an honourary Life Patron of Historic Royal Palaces, Patron of the Thames Valley History Festival, and Patron of Anne of Cleves’ House, Lewes.
This book was narrated by Julia Franklin.
Website & Social Media Links: www.alisonweir.org.uk