The Conquering Family

By: Thomas B. Costain

Narrated by: David Case

Thomas B. Costain's four-volume history of the Plantagenets begins with The Conquering Family and the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, closing with the reign of John in 1216.
The troubled period after the Norman Conquest, when the foundations of government were hammered out between monarch and people, comes to life through Costain's storytelling skill and historical imagination.©1983 Thomas B. Costain; (P)2008 Books on Tape

Entertaining History

TBC writes well and easily of any historical period and the Plantagenets give him lots of scope for his sort of fireside depiction of historical events. David Case as a narrator can be hard work as he often seems to read without understanding and has an unlikeable accent and a grating edge to his voice.

Thrilled to see Costain's series on Audible BUT...

I have loved the Plantagenet saga from Thomas B Costain since I was a child, so I was happy to see them offered on Audible. However, the narrator's voice is so *affected*, it is difficult to enjoy this classic. It puts me in a quandary as to whether to purchase the next three books. I am very disappointed in the reader, but not in the book itself. The book itself is delightful, bringing personality to what may have otherwise been stale old history.

Good treatment of pivotal characters

The Plantagenets were some the greatest figures of the West in a critical period. They stretched from Henry II to Henry V--a period of nearly 500 years that included not only the Henry's but the Richard's and the early Edward's, and that saw the development of much of the foundation for Western Democracy. Costain's writing is vivid and always interesting. Great history

Importance of the voices

While the book is a great introduction to British history, I find David Case's voice unappealing. I have had a hard time trying to cope with it.

Very entertaining history!

This book is well written and well-performed! I knew that George RR Martin used the War of the Roses as a basis for his Song of Ice and Fire series, e.g. Stark = York and Lannister = Lancaster, but I didn't realize how much more history from the Plantagenets he pulled. For example, William Longchamps was a scheming dwarf that acted as "Hand of the King" for Richard the Lionhearted. In fact, Mr. Martin cited Mr. Costain's series as inspiration for his "Fire and Blood" history of the Targaryens! I will listen to the rest of this series!