Brief Lives (Classic Literature with Classical Music) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

John Aubrey (Author), Brian Cox (Narrator)

Book Description

Series: Classic Literature with Classical Music | Publication Date: July 1995

Probably English literature's greatest collector of gossip, anecdotes and personal trivia, Aubrey's compilation of the doings and sayings of the major and minor figures of the 16th and 17th centuries has survived in popular esteem.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Aubrey (1626-1697) was a member of the Royal Society and pioneered the study of archaeology. His writings on antiquities, particularly Stonehenge and Avebury, remain of interest today, but he is best known for his Brief Lives. John Buchanan-Brown is an editor, biographer, and translator. He edited Aubrey's Three Prose Works. Michael Hunter is the author of John Aubrey and the Realm of Learning. He is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

Aubrey (1626-97) was an antiquarian and bon vivant who took little time out from his partying to finish any of his projects. So someone else had to publish Brief Lives after his death. A random sampling of interesting personages, Lives is filled with gossipy anecdotes about the famous and not-so-famousÐthe sort of thing that makes for juicy conversation with one's drinking partners. If you want the lowdown on Sir Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, Shakespeare, et al.Ðhere's the place to get it. The distinguished actor Brian Cox portrays Aubrey sitting with us before the hearth of an evening. He thus does a fine job of delivering the author's personality, but a hit-or-miss job with the content. At times he seems to cough up words without understanding them. Naxos's signature bridges of period music are, as usual, a definite plus. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks; Abridged edition (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9626345438
• ISBN-13: 978-9626345436
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,634,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique gleaning of 17th century English history and gossip, March 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Brief Lives (Modern History) (Paperback)

Because its author never completed most of the entries for this biographical work, and never published it, what he did set down about his varied noble and ignoble subjects is uncensored, gossipy, perhaps unsubstantiated, and delightful. If you like browsing in Pepys' diary, or are fascinated by English life in the 17th century, this is the book to leave about for the occasional free moment.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rambling 17th century gossip, February 14, 2001

By 

D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brief Lives (Modern History) (Paperback)

It's fun reading this collection of digressive informal anecdotes about famous (and some obscure) Englishmen. If you enjoyed "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (where some of thc characters appear) you'd like this. As a primary source for information it gets less reliable the further back it goes. Aubrey was born in 1626 so his accounts of Shakespeare and Elizathans are a generation removed, but he had met Harvey and Penn and had been through the Civil War and the rule of Cromwell.