Written by Jeremy Paxman
Format: MP3 Written by: Jeremy Paxman
Narrated by: Roy McMillan, Jeremy Paxman
Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins Format: Unabridged Release Date:10-03-13 Audible Editor Reviews
Praise for Empire: "Paxman is witty, incisive, acerbic and opinionated... In short, he carries the whole thing off with panache bordering on effrontery" (Sunday Times)
"He writes with wit and penetration, and every page can be read with relaxed pleasure" (Spectator) Publisher's Summary Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Jeremy Paxman's Great Britain's Great War. Read by the actor Roy McMillan, this magnificent history of the First World War tells the story of the war in one gripping narrative from the point of view of the British people. We may think we know about it, but what was life really like for the British people during the First World War? The well-known images - the pointing finger of Lord Kitchener; a Tommy buried in the mud of the Western Front; the memorial poppies of remembrance day - all reinforce the idea that it was a pointless waste of life. So why did the British fight it so willingly and how did the country endure it for so long? Using a wealth of first-hand source material, Jeremy Paxman brings vividly to life the day-to-day experience of the British over the entire course of the war, from politicians, newspapermen, campaigners and Generals, to Tommies, factory workers, nurses, wives and children, capturing the whole mood and morale of the nation. It reveals that life and identity in Britain were often dramatically different from our own, and show how both were utterly transformed - not always for the worst - by the enormous upheaval of the war. Rich with personalities, surprises and ironies, this lively narrative history paints a picture of courage and confusion, doubts and dilemmas, and is written with Jeremy Paxman's characteristic flair for storytelling, wry humour and pithy observation. Jeremy Paxman is a renowned broadcaster, award-winning journalist and the bestselling author of seven works of non-fiction, including The English, The Political Animal and Empire.
"A good book about a Great War" Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not? Yes. The easily digestible journalistic prose makes it easy to listen to in long chunks. Paxman has managed to debunk numerous myths about this turning point in British history while supplying a host of human interest stories from the time. What was one of the most memorable moments of Great Britain's Great War? Each chapter was memorable but the introduction stands out most because Paxman himself reads it. I can see how time constraints may have prevented the author from narrating the entire book. McMillan gives a commendable, professional voice to the text but let's face it, when you're listening to a celebrity tome, you want the celebrity to deliver it. What does Jeremy Paxman and Roy McMillan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book? Both have excellent narrator's voices. McMillan supplies a variety of accents to quotations without sounding like a cliche or parody. Do you think Great Britain's Great War needs a follow-up book? Why or why not? Yes, let's have a similar study of WWII. Any additional comments? This is usually a book that I'd read in order to additionally access tables, photos and bibliography. I wonder if such a tie-in might be considered by the publishers in the future? Paxman is a trained journalist and has thus written a journalistic survey of aspects of this complicated event. It's not clear what his methodology is. Where did he get his material from and what material did he leave out? Has he uncovered previously unreleased material? These questions might not have been asked after reading the work of a professional historian. Also, as for Paxman's thesis of writing a sympathetic understanding of Britain's greatest folly, I'm not sure if this has been achieved. I finished the book sympathetic for those who suffered in the conflict but unable to sympathise with a nation and a people with such a hubristic and elevated opinion of itself, as Britain clearly had at the time. But as Paxman says at the end, it took this war to hammer this fact home.
"Made me cry" Where does Great Britain's Great War rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far? Up in the top three What did you like best about this story? Easy listerning at the right level Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you? I went on tour of trenches and the cemeteries and was emotionally moved I finished the book when I got back from Belguim and it made me cry no one around so it was fine.