Try free for 30 days
-
Lustrum
- Narrated by: Oliver Ford-Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $18.22
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
I, Claudius
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often comic tone, and is written in the form of Claudius' autobiography. This is gripping stuff, read by one of our finest actors, who also starred as Claudius in the classic television series.
-
-
well performed
- By Grant Lewis on 05-11-2023
-
The Scarlet Papers
- By: Matthew Richardson
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Lucy Scott
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only she knows the truth. Only he can tell the world. Vienna, 1946. A brilliant German scientist spirited out of the ruins Nazi Europe in search of a new life. Moscow, 1964. A rising star of the British diplomatic service whose job is not what it seems. London, the present day. A once promising academic offered an opportunity to seal his place in history. Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world, are bound by a single document: The Scarlet Papers. The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.
-
-
Fantastic tale
- By Paul Kearsley on 13-07-2023
-
Rubicon
- The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows, Tom Holland
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness - the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall. It is a story of incomparable drama.
-
-
A well narrated (hi)story
- By K-2 on 24-09-2022
-
Claudius the God
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Read in the style of a secret diary, this famous sequel to I, Claudius gives a wry and human view of the Roman world, bringing to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history. Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. He recounts his surprisingly successful rule; how he cultivates the loyalty of the army to repair the damage caused by his nephew Caligula; his friendship with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain.
-
-
fantastic opportunity for the listener of Derek
- By Anonymous User on 19-09-2023
-
Twelve Caesars
- Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern (Bollingen Series)
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book - against a background of today’s “sculpture wars” - Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the Western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the “Twelve Caesars”, from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian.
-
-
Too dry & dusty, even for a Roman history tragic
- By Gastronomix on 13-11-2023
-
A Prayer for Owen Meany
- By: John Irving
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 27 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all of John Irving's books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. In print, Owen Meany's dialogue is set in capital letters; for this production, Irving himself selected Joe Barrett to deliver Meany's difficult voice as intended. In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys – best friends – are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary and terrifying.
-
-
Out-standing novel!
- By Wendy on 18-03-2016
-
I, Claudius
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often comic tone, and is written in the form of Claudius' autobiography. This is gripping stuff, read by one of our finest actors, who also starred as Claudius in the classic television series.
-
-
well performed
- By Grant Lewis on 05-11-2023
-
The Scarlet Papers
- By: Matthew Richardson
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Lucy Scott
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only she knows the truth. Only he can tell the world. Vienna, 1946. A brilliant German scientist spirited out of the ruins Nazi Europe in search of a new life. Moscow, 1964. A rising star of the British diplomatic service whose job is not what it seems. London, the present day. A once promising academic offered an opportunity to seal his place in history. Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world, are bound by a single document: The Scarlet Papers. The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.
-
-
Fantastic tale
- By Paul Kearsley on 13-07-2023
-
Rubicon
- The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows, Tom Holland
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness - the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall. It is a story of incomparable drama.
-
-
A well narrated (hi)story
- By K-2 on 24-09-2022
-
Claudius the God
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Read in the style of a secret diary, this famous sequel to I, Claudius gives a wry and human view of the Roman world, bringing to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history. Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. He recounts his surprisingly successful rule; how he cultivates the loyalty of the army to repair the damage caused by his nephew Caligula; his friendship with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain.
-
-
fantastic opportunity for the listener of Derek
- By Anonymous User on 19-09-2023
-
Twelve Caesars
- Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern (Bollingen Series)
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book - against a background of today’s “sculpture wars” - Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the Western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the “Twelve Caesars”, from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian.
-
-
Too dry & dusty, even for a Roman history tragic
- By Gastronomix on 13-11-2023
-
A Prayer for Owen Meany
- By: John Irving
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 27 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all of John Irving's books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. In print, Owen Meany's dialogue is set in capital letters; for this production, Irving himself selected Joe Barrett to deliver Meany's difficult voice as intended. In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys – best friends – are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary and terrifying.
-
-
Out-standing novel!
- By Wendy on 18-03-2016
Publisher's Summary
Robert Harris's Lustrum is a thriller that pitches the listener into the power struggles and vicious factionalism of the Roman republic at one of its most tumultuous moments, as Cicero is alerted to a plot to overthrow the government and take over the state. The conspiracy is led by the aristocratic politician Catalina, backed by other, shadowy factions; even Julius Caesar is implicated. Undeterred, Cicero devotes himself to exposing the treachery, and after a bloody struggle, emerges triumphant.
But the gods are pitiless - and the most talented men over-reach themselves. When the sexually voracious senator and nobleman Clodius is put on trial, accused of entering a sacred women-only religious ritual in pursuit of Caesar's wife, Cicero finds himself embroiled in the case as the reluctant star witness for the prosecution. He has made many enemies, and as Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey grasp political power, he discovers that he has sown the seeds of his own downfall.
Meticulously researched and brilliantly written, Lustrum is an entirely self-contained novel, but it is also a continuation of Cicero's story as told in Robert Harris's best-selling Imperium. A third Roman volume will complete the trilogy in 2011.
Critic Reviews
"...You can see why, once he has mentally pulled on his toga and sandals, Harris communicates such a strong sense of imperial Rome - the book is awesomely well-informed about the minutiae of everyday life, but in a vivid, not a tedious way - and why the narrative verve is so infectious. This is a subject Harris has lived with for about nine years now (give or take time out to write The Ghost), and it shows." (The Guardian)
"Lustrum stands on its own merits as a thoroughly engaging historical novel. Republican Rome, with all its grandeur and corruption, has rarely been made as vivid as it appears in Harris's book. The allure of power and the perils that attend it have seldom been so brilliantly anatomised in a thriller." (The Sunday Times)
"Harris never makes his comparisons between Rome and modern Britain explicit, but they are certainly there. And that's the principal charm of his ancient thrillers - their up-to-dateness." (The Sunday Telegraph)
"Harris has taken the DNA of Cicero's great speeches and animated them with utterly believable dialogue... Harris's greatest triumph is perhaps in the evocation of Roman politics, the constant bending of ancient principles before the realities of power, and in his depiction of what it was like to live in the city: the mud, the guttering lamps, the smell of the blood from the temples. I wish I had read this book at 13, before I started ploughing through Cicero's speeches. I would take my hat off to Harris, if I hadn't already dashed it to the ground in jealous awe." (Boris Johnson, Mail on Sunday)
More from the same
What listeners say about Lustrum
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kenneth
- 27-05-2015
Magisterial
The historical research that has been done, the perspicacity with which he draws his characters, the imagination by which he constructs his stories, all these leave the reader with the conviction that Robert Harris is one of the best writers of the 20th and 21st century.
Using that unique period of time which marked the end of the Roman Republic as his framework, Harris offers us insight into the use of power as well as observing its corrupting influence in the lives of those who wield it. Cicero, Pompey, Caesar, Cato - all step from the pages of history books, and take life within our own consciousness. What is more, Robert Harris has brought the method of narration by a single character – in this case, Cicero's secretary Tiro – to a consummate art.
His first book with Cicero as the protagonist was Imperium; Lustrum continues the story. Even those who know nothing of Roman history, nor are interested in the decline of the Roman Republic, will find in these books of Robert Harris something that engages their mind as well as their eye, and will be offered insight into the grandeur and the folly of our common humanity.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!