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Ghost Empire
- Narrated by: Richard Fidler
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
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The Book of Roads and Kingdoms
- By: Richard Fidler
- Narrated by: Richard Fidler
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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When Richard Fidler came across the account of Ibn Fadlan—a tenth-century Arab diplomat who travelled all the way from Baghdad to the cold riverlands of modern-day Russia—he was struck by how modern his voice was, like that of a 21st century time-traveller dropped into a medieval wilderness. On further investigation, Fidler discovered this was just one of countless reports from Arab and Persian travellers of their adventures in medieval China, India, Africa and Byzantium. Put together, he saw these stories formed a crazy quilt picture of a lost world.
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stunning and beautiful overview of a vast empire
- By Anonymous User on 21-11-2022
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Saga Land
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- Narrated by: Richard Fidler, Kári Gíslason
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- Unabridged
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A gripping blend of family mystery, contemporary stories and the beautiful and bloody Viking tales, set against the starkly stunning landscape of Iceland. Broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kari Gíslason are good friends. They share a deep attachment to the sagas of Iceland - the true stories of the first Viking families who settled on that remote island in the Middle Ages. These are tales of blood feuds, of dangerous women and people who are compelled to kill the ones they love the most.
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Sagas are great! But you need to FFWD a lot.
- By Lukasz Termer on 08-04-2019
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Golden Maze
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Beloved ABC broadcaster and best-selling author of Ghost Empire and Saga Land, Richard Fidler is back with a personally curated history of the magical city that is Prague. In 1989, Richard Fidler was living in London as part of the provocative Australian comedy trio The Doug Anthony All Stars when revolution broke out across Europe. Excited by this galvanising historic, human moment, he travelled to Prague, where a decrepit police state was being overthrown by crowds of ecstatic citizens. His experience of the Velvet Revolution never let go of him.
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The Golden Maze shines
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Slow Start. Curious Middle. Great Ending.
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Fintan O'Toole was born in 1958. His life covers Ireland's journey out of underdevelopment and domination by the Church, to the country's transformation into the relatively prosperous and tolerant society that it is today. But, along the way, there was a sectarian civil war in the North, which cast a dark shadow over the whole island, and bitter struggles for intellectual, civil and sexual freedoms. This is a very personal history by a writer who is considered by many to be the country's leading public intellectual.
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Great
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Essex Dogs
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July 1346. The Hundred Years' War has begun, and King Edward and his lords are on the march through France. But this war belongs to the men on the ground. Swept up in the bloody chaos, a tight-knit company from Essex must stay alive long enough to see their home again. With sword, mace and longbow, the Essex Dogs will fight, from the landing beaches of Normandy to the bloodsoaked field of Crécy.
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A terrible first novel not saved by excellent narr
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The Book of Roads and Kingdoms
- By: Richard Fidler
- Narrated by: Richard Fidler
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
When Richard Fidler came across the account of Ibn Fadlan—a tenth-century Arab diplomat who travelled all the way from Baghdad to the cold riverlands of modern-day Russia—he was struck by how modern his voice was, like that of a 21st century time-traveller dropped into a medieval wilderness. On further investigation, Fidler discovered this was just one of countless reports from Arab and Persian travellers of their adventures in medieval China, India, Africa and Byzantium. Put together, he saw these stories formed a crazy quilt picture of a lost world.
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stunning and beautiful overview of a vast empire
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Saga Land
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- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A gripping blend of family mystery, contemporary stories and the beautiful and bloody Viking tales, set against the starkly stunning landscape of Iceland. Broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kari Gíslason are good friends. They share a deep attachment to the sagas of Iceland - the true stories of the first Viking families who settled on that remote island in the Middle Ages. These are tales of blood feuds, of dangerous women and people who are compelled to kill the ones they love the most.
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Sagas are great! But you need to FFWD a lot.
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Golden Maze
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Beloved ABC broadcaster and best-selling author of Ghost Empire and Saga Land, Richard Fidler is back with a personally curated history of the magical city that is Prague. In 1989, Richard Fidler was living in London as part of the provocative Australian comedy trio The Doug Anthony All Stars when revolution broke out across Europe. Excited by this galvanising historic, human moment, he travelled to Prague, where a decrepit police state was being overthrown by crowds of ecstatic citizens. His experience of the Velvet Revolution never let go of him.
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The Golden Maze shines
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Meet Ed Kennedy - cab driving prodigy, pathetic card player, and useless at sex. He lives in the suburbs; he shares coffee with his dog, the Doorman; and he's in nervous love with Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence - until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first Ace turns up. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town, helping and hurting (where necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?
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Slow Start. Curious Middle. Great Ending.
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We Don't Know Ourselves
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Fintan O'Toole was born in 1958. His life covers Ireland's journey out of underdevelopment and domination by the Church, to the country's transformation into the relatively prosperous and tolerant society that it is today. But, along the way, there was a sectarian civil war in the North, which cast a dark shadow over the whole island, and bitter struggles for intellectual, civil and sexual freedoms. This is a very personal history by a writer who is considered by many to be the country's leading public intellectual.
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Great
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July 1346. The Hundred Years' War has begun, and King Edward and his lords are on the march through France. But this war belongs to the men on the ground. Swept up in the bloody chaos, a tight-knit company from Essex must stay alive long enough to see their home again. With sword, mace and longbow, the Essex Dogs will fight, from the landing beaches of Normandy to the bloodsoaked field of Crécy.
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A terrible first novel not saved by excellent narr
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‘The Templars’, by Dan Jones
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Brilliant!
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Publisher's Summary
Ghost Empire is a rare treasure - an utterly captivating blend of the historical and the contemporary, realised by a master storyteller.
In 2014, Richard Fidler and his son Joe made a journey to Istanbul. Fired by Richard's passion for the rich history of the dazzling Byzantine Empire - centred around the legendary Constantinople - we are swept into some of the most extraordinary tales in history. The clash of civilisations, the fall of empires, the rise of Christianity, revenge, lust, murder.
Turbulent stories from the past are brought vividly to life at the same time as a father navigates the unfolding changes in his relationship with his son. Ghost Empire is a revelation: a beautifully told ode to a lost civilisation, and a warmly observed father-son adventure far from home.
What listeners say about Ghost Empire
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Fjp
- 23-04-2017
Loved it.
We travelled through Turkey for 6 weeks in May/June 2013 with our 2 boys aged 15 & 13, it is a magical place with so much history and beauty.I wish I had of had this book before we went to Turkey , to understand a more in depth history of the place.The only thing I really knew about Turkey was about Gallipoli and our Anzacs.It blew me away how rich and interesting the history of Turkey is (I did modern history in high school which I loved, but now wish I had done ancient as well) , Richard and Joe's visit had many similarities to ours and I thoroughly enjoyed the interwoven history.Richards calm tone makes it a very easy to listen to audiobook.I am going to buy the hardback copy as well just to have it in my library. This book took me back to Beautiful Turkey and back to Byzantium.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Rodney Wetherell
- 05-09-2016
Great story of long decline
Once into this reading, I could barely stop listening. Richard Fidler has written and read superbly.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Darryl Sim
- 29-04-2018
enlightening and warm, stranger than fiction
i learnt more about the history of that region than i could have imagined. lovely father son experience.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Christaki
- 27-09-2020
I never knew how much I never knew about this amazing aspect of history
This was an eye-opening and enlightening journey through the history of the Byzantine Empire. I never knew how much I never knew.
The author takes us through an exciting chronological history of the eastern Roman and orthodox church. He brings to life the characters in a very real way. I’m not sure how much is hard fact, and where he may have improvised, but either way I am so much the wiser for having read this book.
The only aspect for which I don’t give five stars, is the actual performance of the author. A great researcher and writer, but not the best reader I’ve ever heard. A minor criticism.
I’m not sure why the author felt it necessary to proclaim himself to be at atheist. It seemed out of place. It may have simply been his way of proving his objectivity.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Sue Quin
- 19-08-2020
A fantastic Byzantine journey.
I loved the way the author presents the history of this epicentre of Byzantine culture. He effortlessly brings together the past and the present to give us the ultimate in travel books. However the big letdown was his style of narration, which became grating to listen to after a short while. He swallows and almost skips over his prepositions and pronouns and places too much emphases on other words, producing a clipped and poorly flowing narrative.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Karla
- 18-05-2019
Interesting and compelling
I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was an interesting insight to a part of history we here little about. The author re-told compelling stories of the times in a way the average person can relate to.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lyndy
- 07-04-2019
Bringing history to life with easy style
A nice side story of a father and son trip against the backdrop of Istanbul and all the history of the Byzantine Empire
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 11-12-2017
Richard and Joe
I enjoyed this journey a lot- enlightening historical anecdotes and numerous intimate moments between father and son.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kristy
- 01-08-2017
Engrossing
A brilliantly written title and performed so perfectly by the author. There is nothing better than hearing stories the way in which they were intended to be heard.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dan T
- 29-08-2016
Well put together
Places the listener into the perspective of the times. I found myself willing this ongoing line of Emperors to "get a clue", but the history is fixed with all the human flaws.
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1 person found this helpful
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- MF
- 02-01-2022
Pleasantly surprised.
Histories are very rarely my thing. This was a book club pick that I delayed starting but was pretty surprised by. The author uses a personal story as a framing for recounting an overarching history of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, especially focused around the city of Constantinople. The framing story ties together the accounting of history along with a number of interesting stories and digressions that made for an interesting read. I found it both interesting and engaging and really appreciated that the author clearly delineated when a story was mostly lore or accounts of an event were few or questionable but still telling the tales to create interesting through lines.
While I could have done without some of the personal anecdotes, I feet that the format allowed the author to show some of the correlations and contrasts to modern day society. Would recommend.
The audiobook is narrated by the author and I think his authentic enthusiasm for the topic enhances the reading.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 01-12-2022
I love two lined stories
This is an awesome tale of a father and son taking on a formative adventure while also walking the streets of Constantinople with historical powerhouse figures from a millennia ago. It has made me want to grab my kids siblings by the hand and take them on a trip through time and space
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2 people found this helpful
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- Wendy
- 30-03-2018
Great Listen
What did you love best about Ghost Empire?
Well written and read by Richard Fidler. A fascinating history of a strategic, important city, inhabited and fought for by diverse cultures.
Any additional comments?
It is such a pity that Constantinople and Byzantine are pronounced with incorrect emphasis. As they occur frequently it becomes annoying.
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2 people found this helpful
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- TAO
- 05-10-2017
Unraveled byzantine history
Very much enjoyed the exploration of an old city. The movement between the contemporary and the past was presented in a way that pulls you in. I have wanted to do something similar but Erdogan and the occasional crack downs give me pause. As does all the rest of the regional chaos. The trip to Roman ruins is on the list and this book upped the desire factor.
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1 person found this helpful
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- JL
- 11-06-2017
Interesting story by a great storyteller
Interesting history of Byzantium combined with a travelogue of Istanbul and Rome. The author is an excellent and captivating storyteller with a great ability to weave a complicated yet easy to follow story. His depiction of the Fourth Crusade is probably the best I've heard and truly captures pointless tragedy of the affair. He doesn't dive into as great of detail on some issues that other histories cover, namely the theological disputes, but that is probably for the better in keeping the story moving. Definitely recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Isobel Stevenson
- 19-01-2018
The writer isn't always the best narrator
I was very much looking forward to this book - very, very much - but the outdated gender philosophies around father/son relationships and the narrator's dull and charmless delivery made it impossible to get through chapter one. I'm going to try again in hard copy. Maybe.
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- B. Jobe
- 24-03-2017
Great presentation
The journalist Fidler does a really wonderful and entertaining presentation both in content and narration. Like an excellent song sung by the songwriter, Fidler imparts emotion at the level the text demands. There may be new things for Byzantine history buffs but mostly is is enjoyable the way he put it together. Everyone who loves history whether you care for Byzantine history or not should listen. It will grab you from the start.
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- Jack M.
- 28-02-2017
loved it
Richard Fidler is such a compelling narrator. his enthusiasm for the story behind this fascinating place is infectious.
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- David H. Cats
- 06-09-2016
Fabulous Book
A well written and well narrated book which brought history to life with a breath of fresh air and a father and son rite of passage. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Antoinette
- 24-07-2023
Ancient Civilisation Meets Modern
An excellent listen. I like the way the author wove his family story: relationship to his teenage son & wife & daughter & their relatively brief history into the centuries of trials & tribulations of humanity in the constantly shifting formation & collapse of empires that changed the course of history & shaped the politics & architecture of the modern world we are witness to now.
The author's humanity shines through in this narrative. He passes no judgement; the story he tells is that of the human condition, the triumph, the delusions & the inevitable tragedy of hubris
He passes no judgement, but through well researched history woven into his & his Ann's journey to find the lost city of Constantinople; the citadel of the ancient eastern Roman empire (i didn't know there was such a distinction until this book), he throws much light on how much better our modern world might look now, if not for the greed & opportunism of an octogenarian Venetian who engineered & exploited the farcical, corrupting zeal of the European crusades resulting in the ruin of not only Constantinople; the cultural & geographical bridge between East & West, but the influence of orthodox Christianity in the west.
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