Saturday, 16 October 2021

The History of London by Walter Besant | Full Audiobook


I have listened - twice -  to this entire audiobook written by Walter Besant, brilliantly and dryly read by Ruth Golding - all eight hours of it - sometimes fully awake and sometimes properly asleep.

Take my recommendation: If you cannot sleep, have an enquiring mind and an inherent interest in history - particularly of London - then you will learn to love this, even when you are unconscious.

I almost recommended that it should be played to patients in a coma, but I think that could constitute torture in some cases.

I just cannot get my head around how some old academics could fill their own with so many facts and dates, and how learning and teaching has been so degraded since Walter Besant filled his own to overflowing.

What gifts we have been given. 

Take your time.
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16 comments:

  1. Joanne Noragon16 October 2021 at 18:16

    We are the books we have listened to twice or more. Perhaps we should compile lists and post them on our CV's.

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    1. Tom Stephenson17 October 2021 at 03:56

      When I was a kid I read a lot of gothic horror. That could explain a few things.

      Delete
  2. Rachel Phillips16 October 2021 at 22:36

    Couldn't sleep last night?

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    1. Tom Stephenson17 October 2021 at 03:57

      I have been listening to this for over a year.

      Delete
    2. Rachel Phillips17 October 2021 at 04:22

      Personally I didn't find her voice very nice.

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    3. Tom Stephenson17 October 2021 at 14:34

      It is nice and dry, which is all that is required. You don't want an actor for this job.

      Delete
  3. thelma17 October 2021 at 01:23

    I wonder when we fall asleep to the sound of an Audio story, it has a subliminal affect on our consciousness?

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    1. Tom Stephenson17 October 2021 at 03:58

      Definitely. I sometimes dream that someone is talking incessantly to me and just won't shut up. I can get angry with them, which is not too good for sleep quality.

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  4. The bike shed17 October 2021 at 03:37

    I have recently taken to audiobooks. The length is at times extraordinary but then I guess we read more swiftly than we speak. Next up... The unbearable lightness of being.

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    1. Tom Stephenson17 October 2021 at 04:00

      I like having stories read to me. Sometimes even reading out loud is too fast. I want them to stop so I can fully take on some subtleties.

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  5. Susan17 October 2021 at 08:06

    This sounds excellent and I'll also recommend it to my son, a history buff as well.

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  6. Sansthing17 October 2021 at 14:47

    Thank you Tom, I have added it to my 'favourites' list and shall enjoy listening to it

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  7. Pipistrello17 October 2021 at 17:57

    What a great channel, thanks for the link! So much good stuff to listen to there. I've a few on the go at the moment, including working my way through the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian. Just the abridged versions read by the actor Robert Hardy, as the unabridged run to around 18 hours each and there are too many books to get through!

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