christopher clark the sleepwalkers summary

I find all of this a tragedy because the content of the book is so well written, has such a level of detail and research, and is brought together with powerful analysis by Prof Clark. it is so badly done it almost sounds like listening to a telephone call or a radio programme where different speakers voice each new line. Most frequent is the ever so subtle edits dropped in to the prose. Sound quantity changes, sometimes the narrators voice sounds fuzzy, other times a little disembodied. The production and editing are to blame too.

However the narrator is not alone in ruining this masterful volume. His failure to pronounce even simple words is astonishing. Instead this appears to be read by a man who has never confronted anything more than a basic reading level. Overall I felt I had gained a more detailed understanding of the last century's fundamental catastrophe.Īlbeit that Christopher Clark is identified as the narrator, no blame should be laid at the author's feet. Sometimes we had Paléologue, other times Pa*êologue, other times, Paléo*ogue.

Sometimes the pronunciation of one name varied widely from sentence to sentence.

The pronunciation of some foreign names and terms was such that sometimes I could even after repetition not work out who or what was being referred to. Sometimes the fluctuation was within a sentence. The level of the volume fluctuated a lot, especially in the first half. The performance is the first Audible one which has disappointed me. That for me could not compare with the assassination of two Austrian aristocrats. I missed a mention of the 1999 context of ethnic cleansing and genocide being practised by Serbia. Comparing the NATO Rambouillet ultimatum to Serbia in 1999 with the July 1914 ultimatum to Serbia drew too long a bow for me. Yet does knowing that Poincaré's boat sailed through a quiet sea on the Baltic add to our understanding? I found some of the detail did not for me contribute to much understanding of the issues. The scholarship is exhaustive in its detail as one would expect. This book did not for me match his previous works. I have read several of the author's other books and watched his TV programmes as well.

Christopher clark the sleepwalkers summary