Eva March Tappan
46 episodes listed below
Antique European history, read aloud.
This LibriVox-style anthology gathers historical literature on Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France, with recent episodes centered on Granada, Columbus, Ferdinand and Isabella, and old Spanish legend. It suits listeners who like history delivered through period prose, formal narration, and dramatic moral atmosphere.
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This show presents history through narrated public-domain literature. It belongs to the LibriVox tradition, where anthology chapters are read as standalone sections rather than discussed by contemporary hosts. Recent episodes stay largely in Spain, moving through Granada, the Alhambra, Columbus in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, the Inquisition, and old ballads of Christian and Muslim conflict. The result is history with a ceremonial gait. Kings pause before towers. Soldiers defend privilege with fatal seriousness. Queens and heirs become political prizes. Exiles look back at lost cities. The show’s strongest material comes from scenes where historical memory has already become legend, as in King Roderick’s magic tower or the Cid meeting the leper on the road to Compostela. It does not flatten these pieces into modern summary. Instead, it lets the original period flavor remain: formal address, religious language, martial honor, moral judgment, and long descriptive passages. Washington Irving supplies some of the most vivid episodes, especially around the Alhambra and the surrender of Granada. Other selections bring in ballad traditions translated by J. G. Lockhart, where warriors are judged by courage, charity, and divine favor. The Columbus episode shifts the register toward discovery, skepticism, and the tension between poverty and vast ambition. The Ferdinand and Isabella material turns marriage into statecraft, with inheritance, consent, and dynastic calculation all pressing on Isabella. The Torquemada selection introduces the darker edge of religious power, though the excerpts stay more historical and reflective than sensational. This is not fast, chatty history. It is slow, text-forward, and antique in sound. Listeners who enjoy classic narration, medieval and early modern Spain, and historical literature with a moral atmosphere will find a deep archive here. Listeners looking for interviews, fresh scholarship, or casual banter may find it too formal. Its distinction is the way it preserves older historical storytelling as audio, letting conquest, legend, faith, and court politics arrive in the language of the books themselves.
Made for: Best for patient history listeners who enjoy classic prose, public-domain narration, Spanish medieval and early modern themes, and literary treatments of conquest and monarchy.
What sets it apart: Unlike conversational history shows, it foregrounds anthology readings from older writers and ballads, preserving the formal texture of the source material instead of translating everything into modern commentary.
Welcome to the fifth installment of the captivating 15-volume series, The World’s Story, expertly edited by Eva March Tappan. This volume presents a rich tapestry of history through prose, poetry, and art, offering a deep dive into the cultural and artistic heritage of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, from ancient times to the dawn of the 20th century. Explore enthralling topics such as the brilliance of Italian painters and poets, the tumultuous events of the French Revolution, the somber realities of the Spanish Inquisition, and the daring adventures of Portuguese explorers. Join us for a mesmerizing journey through time, na...
Victor Hugo brings Waterloo; Washington Irving brings a cursed tower; your history appetite gets both.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sealed tower, a king's rash hand, and black birds turn an old Spanish legend into an omen for Spain.
King Roderick's curiosity turns the sealed tower in Toledo into a dark warning about Spain's fate. Washington Irving's legend opens with ancient guardians, a portal crowded with locks, and a ruler who ignores every plea to leave the mystery alone.
Outnumbered units, remembered under fire.
Battle maps, war films, and patient context.
War news, tested against military reality.
A historical narrative describing an encounter with Christopher Columbus in Spain in 1492, focusing on his dignified yet impoverished appearance.
This episode narrates a story by Washington Irving about a strict, one-armed governor of the Alhambra fortress in Granada who rigidly enforces its royal privileges and entry rules.
This episode narrates the surrender of Granada in 1492, focusing on the final night in the Alhambra as Boabdil's household prepares to leave.
This episode recounts a legend about Torquemada persuading Queen Isabella to vow to hunt heresy, despite her and King Ferdinand's initial reluctance toward the Inquisition.
This episode recounts the political and personal circumstances leading to the elopement and marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469, which united their kingdoms.
World’s Story Volume 5, Section 97 retells the Toledo legend of King Roderick and the magic tower, credited to Washington Irving.
This is a dramatic historical narration of Napoleon's perspective during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, focusing on his observations and the unfolding conflict.
This episode details the fall of Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, focusing on the political struggle and increased executions leading to his overthrow on July 27, 1794.
This episode recounts the failed escape attempt of King Louis XVI during the French Revolution in 1791, detailing the political turmoil and his captivity in Paris.
The World's Story, Volume 5 presents Alexandre Dumas's 1648 episode about the Fronde against Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin.
This episode explores Cardinal Richelieu's political strategies as minister to Louis XIII, focusing on his efforts to centralize royal power in France and enhance its European dominance during the Thirty Years War.