Very good in parts but editing would have helped

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Having listened to this book I know a lot more about Isabella, Mortimer and Edward II. There were times when I felt I needed to force myself to continue to listen as details of household accounts were listed and, for some reason I cannot understand, translated from pounds, shillings and pence to pounds and new pence without any attempt to account for inflation. There is little point in knowing three shillings and sixpence spent on food is equivalent to 17 pence without understanding that an annual income of ten pounds would have been considered a large amount.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Isabella?

The description of the disrespect shown to Isabella by Edward II and his infatuation and dominance by Piers Gaveston and Hugh Dispencer sticks in my mind. It showed the arrogance of absolute monarchs and the way being in the Kings favour was a route to fame and riches( not to say animosity and death)

Would you be willing to try another one of Lisette Lecat’s performances?

Other than some americanism and mispronunciations Lisette Lecat made a good job of the reading. I am sometime left wondering who actually listens to the whole of the readings before they are release and whether they don't notice the errors or si,ply let them pass.

Was Isabella worth the listening time?

About 75% of this book is interesting, well argued and very well presented. The problem is you have to listen to the other 25% to get to it.

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1 person found this helpful

Great debunking book

I've listened to many of Alison's historical novels about real figures, but this was my first factual book and I really enjoyed getting the facts that can be established as truth. When I visited Berkley Castle some years ago the hot rod was still the story told when we stood around the Kings cell.

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Educational and enlightening.

I hadn’t previously known anything about Isabella but this provides a good jigsaw puzzle piece to gaps in my historical knowledge.
Love the narrator, excellent performance. My only criticisms of the whole thing are as follows;

Equivalent modern monetary values would be useful, and I note that Alison Weir includes these in later books.

The editing is a little clipped and not smooth in places, between paragraphs and some sentences.

However, well worth a listen.

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3 people found this helpful

Thorough

Detailed, balance and clearly deeply researched.
Beautifully read.
I’m no historian but was captivated throughout.

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Disappointing

The title 'Isabella - she wolf of France' is somewhat misleading. The book is really a chronicle of her life and at the very end the author admits that Isabella did not deserve the title given to her. Her life was interesting to a degree but the book only says where she was when. Purely a record of her progress and rather dull listening. The exciting sounding title made me want to hear more of this woman who lived very close to me in a castle - now ruined. I kept waiting for something to happen but the book is lacking in drama although probably historically accurate. I was very disappointed

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19 people found this helpful

Great!

The usual story of this time but with so much extra evidence that it turns certain long thought ideas on its head.

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5 people found this helpful

Very stilted performance

The performance was distracting - felt like a 1950s BBC announcer.
It’s a cracking tale though. What a woman.

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a different queen and view of medieval life.

I enjoyed this book and the narration as I do with other Alison weir books on here. my only criticism is that it was jumpy going in to new chapters but still enjoyed learning about a queen I have never read or studied before and the politics and difficulties she faced.

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Meticulous detail, but a bit boring

Having listened to and really enjoyed Lancaster and York by Alison Weir, I very much looked forward to listening to Isabella, She-Wolf of France. This book is meticulous in its level of detail, but unfortunately in my opinion this made it rather dry and boring at times. That said, I finished it as I am very interested in learning more about this historical period. I would recommend the book in terms of increasing my knowledge - but not as a pleasurable read.

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Interesting

I learned so much. Isabella was not as bad as she has been painted, apart from those 3 years with Mortimer. She tried to free England from the rapacious Despensers only to make the same errors herself. Also fascinating the tale that Edward II may have survived as a monk or friar.
Love books by Alison Weir

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