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Title details for Four Princes by John Julius Norwich - Available

Four Princes

Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe

by John Julius Norwich
Julian Elfer
Audiobook
28 of 28 copies available
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28 of 28 copies available
John Julius Norwich—who the Wall Street Journal called "the very model of a popular historian"—has crafted a big, bold tapestry of the early sixteenth century, when Europe and the Middle East were overshadowed by a quartet of legendary rulers, all born within a ten-year period:
  • Francis I of France, the personification of the Renaissance, who became a highly influential patron of the arts and education

  • Henry VIII, who was not expected to inherit the throne but embraced the role with gusto, broke with the Roman Catholic Church and appointed himself head of the Church of England

  • Charles V, the most powerful and industrious man at the time, was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor

  • Suleiman the Magnificent stood apart as a Muslim, and brought the Ottoman Empire to its apogee of political, military, and economic power

    • Against the vibrant background of the Renaissance, these four men laid the foundations for modern Europe and the Middle East, as they collectively impacted the culture, religion, and politics of their respective domains.

    • Creators

    • Publisher

    • Release date

      April 4, 2017

    • Formats

      • OverDrive Listen audiobook

        • ISBN: 9781541420496
        • File size: 229012 KB
        • Duration: 07:57:06

    • Languages

      • English

    • Reviews

      • AudioFile Magazine
        Did you know that Henry VIII; Francis I of France; Charles the V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; and Suleiman the Magnificent were born within 10 years of one another and that their lives intertwined? Julian Elfer's melodic voice is perfect as narrator of this sweeping history of sixteenth-century Europe. Elfer's unemotional narration flows steadily through political intrigue and religious changes and conflicts, dynastic marriages, military campaigns, and international explorations that bring Europe into the early modern period. He shifts accents effortlessly between English, French, German, and Turkish. Footnotes are read sotto voce, never breaking the steady narrative. Back and forth across Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and the western realms of the Ottoman Empire, this history sheds light on a familiar yet complex period. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
      • Publisher's Weekly

        January 9, 2017
        Norwich (Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History), a British popular historian descended from royalty, regales readers with tales of the exploits, speculations on the psyches, and anecdotes from the eventful lives of the title’s four rulers. The quartet of the title, who were born within a decade of one another and ruled contemporaneously during the first half of the 16th century, were larger-than-life leaders who collectively created the political geography of their era. Each leader came to see his crown as a crushing burden and agonized over his succession; Henry VIII famously changed the course of history in his quest for an heir, but even Holy Roman Emperor Charles V for decades longed for the freedom to abdicate, and would have, except that “Charles’s only legitimate son had been something of a disappointment.” The tales are frequently punctuated by what today might be called the rulers’ failures of cultural sensitivity, and though entertaining, the book has a disconcertingly indifferent attitude toward accuracy. Those able to overlook faults in terminology and interpretation will be rewarded with tales of the rivalries and tortured friendships of the four rulers. Agent: Felicity Bryan, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.).

    Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

    subjects

    Languages

    • English

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