THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

London slept uneasily the night of September 2, 1666, and woke to horror. Whether it was from the gale force winds blowing after an unusually dry summer, a spark from the ovens of Thomas Farynor, biscuit baker, or the deceit of the French, the city went up in flames and burned for four more days, destroying eighty percent of its structures. Drawing on personal and historical accounts, Hanson gives us a profound sense of this personal and national tragedy. Simon Prebble's clipped voice, though nearly transparent, catches easily the husky railings of the mobs, the insinuating accents of the Spanish ambassador, the mad ravings of Robert Huber, later hanged for firing the city, and blisters us with the tale's molten intensity. P.E.F. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 05]