Fraser starts with James' accession to the throne and the hopes that this inspired in English catholics that they might regain some freedom of worship.

The main characters King James, Robin Catesby and Guy Fawkes (who, it turns out was a relatively junior member of the plot) are brought to life through insightful testimonies from friends, enemies and even their torturers. Overall then, this is a passable listen with an excellent narratorĪntonia Fraser tells the story of the gunpowder plot through a gripping character based piece of narrative history. Maybe this is deliberate but I found it frustrating. Although Fraser touches on the ideas of terrorism and engenders much sympathy for the wider catholic population it is never clear what conclusions she is trying to draw. Given the length of the book I would expect an exploration of wider themes or the expounding of theories and equivalents. This point about not really pulling the wider story of Catholicism in late Tudor and early Stuart England together with the plot itself plays into my second criticism as well. She provides a lot of useful and interesting context on catholic persecution of the time but this never feels properly linked into the core story. I am sure there is near endless academic analysis and discussion that can be justified by the minutiae but in trying to fill the book out it feels like Fraser is retreading the same ground or dawdling on minor elements. I think the subject, the gunpowder treason, simply doesn't have enough facets to it to justify a populist book of this length. The pace of the story and the lack of a coherent theme.

I think there were two things that stopped me engaging with the book fully. In principle everything was there for a thoroughly enjoyable listen and it certainly wasn't bad. Antonia Fraser is a well respected writer and is known for enjoyable, approachable books so why didn't this one do it for me? There is no disputing the thoroughness of the account nor the quality of the writing which is always approachable and brought to life very well by Patricia Gallimore (whose delivery reminded me a lot of Anna Massey's narration of This Sceptred Isle - a very high endorsement).

I listen to a lot of history books on Audible and was expecting to really enjoy this account of the Gunpowder Plot.

The Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser