Barnaby Rudge cover art

Barnaby Rudge

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Barnaby Rudge

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

For the background to this historical novel, a tale of mystery, suspense and unsolved murder, Dickens chose the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780. Mayhem reigns in the streets of London, vividly described by Dickens, and the innocent Barnaby Rudge is drawn into the thick of it. Against the public disorder, Dickens tells of the private discord within families - with fathers and sons at loggerheads - and creates a wealth of colourful characters: the sinuously evil Lord Chester; the pretty and vivacious Dolly Varden; and the host and regulars at the Maypole Inn - a symbol of security in those uncertain and violent times.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2009 Naxos Audiobooks Classics

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Pickwick Papers: Dickens on Dickens cover art
Most relevant
A superb narration. I have heard several Sean Barrett reads & this was excellent. A terrific Dickens story too. Well worth your time.

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A brilliant reading of this tremendous novel, which, strange to say, deserves to be better known..

A brilliant reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although a Dickens fan, I knew nothing about this story and found it unexpectedly moving as well as exciting. Beautifully read.

Great story, beautfully read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Was prompted to try this audiobook having listened to a programme about the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, which is the setting for this novel. And what a brilliant work it is, Dickens at his very best, establishing a strange but believable world of English characters from a previous century.

Clearly, Dickens was not a fan of the Gordon uprising which apparently caused more damage to property in London in a week than was caused in Paris throughout the French Revolution. And central within the plot is the likeable and distinguished Catholic landowner, Haredale, who suffers at the hands of the rioters and his devious arch enemy, Lord Chester.

As many other reviewers have noted, this audiobook is also much distinguished by the brilliant reading of Sean Barrett. To my mind nothing shows off more readily the skill of an actor than their ability to voice a variety of characters. And Barrett's performance is a sublime tour de force, skipping seamlessly from one character to another, whether its Barnaby himself and his raven Grip, the whining servant girl Migs, the oily Chester, Dennis the hangman or any of the other many characters Dickens portrays.

Brilliant reading, brilliant book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I wasnt familiar with this book but the narration brought it alive and it was very interesting and pacy.

Excellent performance and story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The listening of this interminably long book is eased by Dicken’s fine prose and Sean Barrett’s superb performance (rather than mere narration) making it impossible for me to give anything under a 5 star rating. It is also very interesting historically and rather chilling, to compare these riots which occurred in 1780 with those of 2011 and find that there is virtually no difference in the mindless rule of the mob.

Fine performances of Dicken's characters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I had been put off reading this because of the length but when I heard that Sean Barrett's narration was nothing less than brilliant I just had to start listening. I was delighted at his rendering of this book, his voices seemed to take on each character perfectly and it was just such a pleasure to use the new app I'd downloaded and transport myself to Dickensian England peopled by Sean's wonderful cast of characters.

What the Dickens

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A fantastic story brought to life by a truly great performance. thank you very much.

Brilliant!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Though a great enthusiast for Dickens t first I thought I was not going to like this. But everything in the early chapters makes total sense later. It is a book that makes you think. To set a novel for the most part in mob riotiing means loads of characters. Sean Barrett captures their variety wondefully and well distingyises between the caricatred characters and the others

A book that grows on you very well read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this novel deserves to be better known. I loved the historical context and rich story telling. having spent my working life in the area of education for people with learning disabilities I was particularly interested in the experiences of Barnaby and the way he is treated by his community and wider society. it is sad to think that exploitation of vulnerable people by unscrupulous people has not changed much since Dicken's time.

Well worth reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews