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Æthelflæd

The Lady of the Mercians

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Æthelflæd

By: Tim Clarkson
Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
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About this listen

This Dark Ages biography chronicles the life of one of the period's most famous women: the ruler of Mercia who took England back from the Vikings.

At the end of the ninth century, a large part of what is now England was controlled by the Vikings—warlike Scandinavians who had been attacking the British Isles for more than a hundred years. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, was determined to regain the conquered lands. But when he died in 899 A.D., the task passed to his son Edward. In the early 900s, Edward led a great fight against the Viking armies, assisted by the English rulers of Mercia: Lord Æthelred and his wife Æthelflæd, who was also Edward's sister.

After her husband's death, Æthelflæd ruled Mercia on her own, leading the army to war and working with her brother to achieve their father's aims. Known to history as the Lady of the Mercians, she earned a reputation as a capable general who was feared by her enemies. In this authoritative biography, Tim Clarkson tells her remarkable life story from childhood to her vital role in saving England from the Vikings.

©2018 Tim Clarkson (P)2022 Tantor
Great Britain Royalty Women England Marriage Viking
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    5 out of 5 stars
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This book covers all aspects& history on the Anglo Saxon queen of Mercia

Great read, lots of good information
On the queen of Mercia ,
Will defo use this book for studying

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

a flat narration

the narrator may be AI? it was flat and rendered the story, a little dry, difficult to listen to. I went back over some parts several times as I kept zoning out.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent description of a remarkable life

Excellent book which is well delivered. The author is comprehensive in use of sources, noting those that are less reliable. The story is clear and easy to follow. Highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Very dryly written and awkwardly narrated

Despite my fascination with the subject matter I struggled to get through this audiobook due to the bizarre narration style that had me wondering whether it was a human or AI performance. Emphasis was routinely PUT on unexpected words.... IN sentences, as well as pauses... that made YOU think a line was finished, but it was... 'nt.

The writing itself was alright, although I'd just finished listening to Marc Morris' book on the Anglo-Saxons, which did a great job of bringing characters to life with their peculiarities and quirks, and the contrast between that and this book was significant.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slow.

The narrator was the star. A general history rather than a biography to my mind,

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not very digestible

There is an awful lot of information in this book, which is great, but the reason I got it was in the hope it would be presenting this topic in an interesting story like fashion, so I could actually take some of this history in. To me it is just an impenetrable list of names, places and dates (Very useful to some!). I thought, once I got through the intro that's when the colour and substance will kick in....nope.
Perhaps a better/more useful book in physical form rather than audio. Certainly for my mind.
This may be a hit for a different type of listener however and the reader does what she can.

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