THE GUNPOWDER PLOT Terror and Faith in 1605

On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested in the cellars of England's Parliament House and confessed to conspiring with 12 other men to blow up the parliament, the king, and his lords. Their goal: to throw the country into turmoil and raise a new monarch who would return England to its Catholic past. What drove the conspirators to their desperate act, and why did they think they might be successful? Celebrated English historian Antonia Fraser provides the answers. Patricia Gallimore reads clearly and with evident interest, varying her intonation to match the events being described. But she reads too slowly. Her deliberate pace may be an attempt to keep the densely written story from being confusing, but it risks making a dramatic tale dull. Nonetheless, it's still worth hearing, particularly for English history fans. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]