AUDIO

Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832

by Antonia Fraser
10 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 11¾ hrs. Recorded Bks. 2013. ISBN 9781470395100. $123.75; digital download. HIST
COPY ISBN
In the early years of the 19th century, Britain's ruling class, anxiously aware of the revolutionary fervor that had swept America, France, and Belgium and facing growing popular unrest at home, was forced to consider a choice between civil chaos and the prospect of revising the structure of a corrupt and manifestly unrepresentative parliament. In a remarkably detailed and insightful evocation of the era and the personalities involved, Fraser (Love and Louis XIV) drew on parliamentary minutes, contemporary newspaper accounts, and personal letters to create a lively chronicle of the political maneuvers that led to the passage of the Great Reform Bill of 1832. The narration by actor Mike Grady is spot-on, with confident reproductions of various geographic and class accents.
VERDICT Because of the narrowness of the topic, this audiobook will work best with specialist audiences. ["The subject will not necessarily draw readers in as much as a royal biography, but the book is recommended for Fraser's fans and for British history enthusiasts," read the review of the Public Affairs hc, LJ 6/1/13.]
Reviewed by Forrest E. Link, Coll. of New Jersey, Ewing Twp. , Apr 01, 2014
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