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A Short History Of Ireland

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A Short History Of Ireland

By: Jonathan Bardon
Narrated by: Frances Tomelty
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About this listen

From The Ice Age to Northern Ireland's Peace Settlement and everything in between, the acclaimed academic Dr Jonathan Bardon presents a history of Ireland spanning 10,000 years.

Beginning with the Ice Age and Ireland's first plants and wildlife, this history encompasses the arrival of Christianity, the age of the Celts, the Viking era, Brian Boru, the Norman invasion, the plantation and the famine through to rebellion, partition and the creation of the Irish Free State.

Recorded to mark BBC Radio Ulster's 30th birthday, this landmark series gets behind the historical headlines to produce a marvellous mosaic of Ireland's rich and turbulent history, delivered with clarity and narrative skill.
Each programme was read by local actors Frances Tomelty, James Greene and Richard Dormer, who interweave eye-witness accounts, letters and diary extracts from the times with the historical facts.

 Europe World Thought-Provoking Funny
All stars
Most relevant
this is one of my favourite audiobooks. I particularly like to choice of narrators.

Great intro to irish history

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introductions for radio every few minutes very annoying, but the book itself is really fantastic, concise and insightful, everything you could want from an introductory text on the entire history of a nation, interspersed with worthwhile dramatic illustrations that bring some sections to life, especially the old songs. I'm actually going to get the abridged version to make up for my mistake, worth getting again!

Excellent, but abridged version would be better

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Absolutely fantastic production - I learned so much. I am not strictly Irish but have some Irish ancestry (among plenty of other mongrel elements) so this helped explain some aspects of my ancestry, but also provided an incredible context for the troubles which, growing up on the mainland during the 70s and 80s, I’d never fully understood. The packaging of this history is so engaging and easy to follow that it’s a revelation. Recommended to all with even a passing interest in Irish and British history.

Brilliant history

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Unreservedly, it revolutionised my understanding of Anglo-Irish politics.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely not - over twenty two hours - it could leave you permanently intellectually impaired - too much information absorbed too quickly.

Any additional comments?

Technically and artistically superb - the listeners learns while being entretained - the best way to learn.

A great overview of Irish history

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Light and in depth at the same time, well balanced. As a bbc NI production it was NI heavy but that was a benefit to me as other Irish history books lacked detail from Northern Ireland. Covered a lot interesting pieces about life during the time as well as the chronological history. Informative and enjoyable.

Five stars

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