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Digital Audiobook
Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey

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Eminent Victorians

Author
Lytton Strachey
Narrator
Jonathan Keeble
Publisher
Naxos AudioBooks
Publish Date
1 December 2020
Run Time
11 hours 15 minutes
Format
Audiobook
Genre
Biography: historical, political and military, True war and combat stories
$13.95

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What to expect

Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey’s wonderfully witty and Wildean quartet of biographies, stands out as one of the most radical and groundbreaking works of its genre. With relentless precision, Strachey explores the lives of four exemplars of the Victorian age: Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold and General Gordon, irreverently bringing to light the flaws, strengths, ambitions and hypocrisies of these treasured legends. The combination of thrilling and imaginative narratives with Strachey’s ironic reckoning shocked many contemporary readers of the time, and even altered the course of biography, making a powerful case for its elevation to high art.

Critics Review

  • Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award Strachey’s relatively brief lives of four prominent Victorian personalities set a new tone and standard for biography: witty, honest, and not always full of praise. Jonathan Keeble’s narration captures the wit, irreverence and drama, as well as the poetry and stylishness of Strachey’s prose. Even though Cardinal Manning and Dr Arnold are mostly forgotten now (the other two subjects are Florence Nightingale and General Gordon), their lives reveal much about the Victorian era, and this audiobook brings all four subjects to life with considerable élan. Keeble never fails to bring emotion to the text when it is called for. All in all, an admirable rendition of a fascinating book.

    D.M.H., AudioFile

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Details
Author
Lytton Strachey
Narrator
Jonathan Keeble
Duration
11 hours 15 minutes
Release Date
1 December 2020
ISBN
9781781983348
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Naxos AudioBooks
Genre
Biography: historical, political and military, True war and combat stories

Synopsis

Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey’s wonderfully witty and Wildean quartet of biographies, stands out as one of the most radical and groundbreaking works of its genre. With relentless precision, Strachey explores the lives of four exemplars of the Victorian age: Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold and General Gordon, irreverently bringing to light the flaws, strengths, ambitions and hypocrisies of these treasured legends. The combination of thrilling and imaginative narratives with Strachey’s ironic reckoning shocked many contemporary readers of the time, and even altered the course of biography, making a powerful case for its elevation to high art.

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