Heaven's Command

Jan Morris acknowledges that this opening volume of her Pax Britannica Trilogy, a history of Britain's empire building from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Winston Churchill, is at first too positive in its attitude toward the colonizers. As listeners hear the first section, full of heroic battles read in an excited voice by Roy McMillan, they might agree. However, Morris doesn't avoid British atrocities like the "Devil's Wind" reprisals for an uprising in India or the murderous violence toward native Tasmanians. McMillan's reading of this volume captures the energy of battle and the optimism that Britons in the Victorian Age felt toward their expansion and technological feats. McMillan's reading is well done; however, for additional perspective, listeners may also want to read a history of the Empire in the twentieth century, perhaps Morris's final volume, FAREWELL THE TRUMPETS (coming on audio this spring). J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine


Roy McMillan narrates this sprawling history of the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1897). Morris fills this study with small details and sweeping discussions of all the lands of the empire on which the sun never set. With warm, fluid tones, McMillan's voice takes the listener to small and large cities around the world. The material is organized around a series of vignettes that bring the period to life, and colorful descriptions capture one's attention. McMillan uses subtle modulations of voice when delivering direct quotations and interrupts his narration to include all the footnotes, which are digressions and authorial comments rather than explanations. HEAVEN'S COMMAND is the first of the three audiobook volumes in Morris's Pax Britannica. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine