ALL THE KING'S MEN The British Soldier from the Restoration to Waterloo

The history of the British army may sound like dry stuff, but this one takes us from the army's reconstitution with the restoration of Charles II to its greatest success, at Waterloo. As narrator, Sean Barrett mostly stays out of the way of the stories of the great generals—Marlborough, Wolfe, and Wellington—and one not so great—Howe. Barrett never overdramatizes, no matter how intense the battle, and he voices characters only to make sure we know when we’re hearing original sources. We hear the generals and politicians but also the foot soldiers who made the British army powerful enough to defeat Napoleon and build the world's greatest empire. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2012]