Review
I have always believed that one thing that exemplifies a high-quality book is that it teaches under the guise of being a book just for pleasure. I love it when my children learn history, geography, and godly character traits all while reading for fun. G. A. Henty books accomplish just this. He is called the Prince of Storytellers, and rightly so. Henty books are filled with adventure and excitement and his characters offer excellent role models for the entire family.
Under Drakes Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main, (which teaches about Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe) is a well known favorite among Henty fans. The story is of the young hero, Ned Hearne, who is privileged to serve on Sir Francis’ expedition to the Americas in 1580. It is an exciting account of the harsh, seafaring life, unexplored lands, and dangerous missions.
This complete and unabridged recording of Under Drake’s Flag is read by Jim Hodges. Jim Hodges Audio Books have been in business since 1999. They currently offer sixteen Henty titles, with two more to be released soon. This makes it the most complete collection of unabridged recordings of G.A. Henty novels available.
Both of my boys listened to the audio, and both offered different feedback. My 15 year old son (who is a dramatized audio fan) said the audio sounded monotone and had a computer generated feel. My 8 year old loved the audio and would ask to listen to it during quiet time and at bedtime. Hodges voice was not distracting to him which enabled him to focus upon the story and create descriptive pictures in his mind. I understood both perspectives and overall enjoyed the book.
This story is 10 hours and 9 minutes. My only complaint is the MP3 format it comes in. The audio does not play on a regular CD player. Our favorite listening time is on the go and in the car, and we were not able to listen to it there. So we downloaded it onto the computer and put it on our MP3 players. Hodges addresses this on his website explaining,
“Technology is advancing so quickly, and becoming so affordable, that I thought I’d drag my customers along into the 21st century and produce the recordings on MP3.”
For more information about Jim Hodges and his G.A. Henty audio books visit, http://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com.
About the Reviewer
From the website: Jim Hodges began by recording With Lee in Virginia in 1999 and produced 500 copies, which looked very nice all neatly stacked in his garage. But what to do with them? He started by contacting everyone he could find that sold the Henty books and offered them free samples. Everybody wanted that, and many became customers. And then Little Bear Wheeler called and asked if Jim had recorded In Freedom’s Cause. He had, but had not produced it yet as he still had 500 copies of With Lee in Virginia unsold. Little Bear Wheeler listened to a sample of Lee, and ordered 500 copies of In Freedom’s Cause. After faithfully recording and producing audio books for five years part time, Jim went full time in April 2004.
Jim Hodges Audio Books was founded 1999. The business started because I always thought recording books would be a fantastic job, and in an effort to assist parents in the training of their children in character, history, language, and geography by being the first ever to produce unabridged recordings of the G. A. Henty historical novels. I have since branched out into children’s books, reissuance of educational Old Time Radio Shows, and WWII related materials.
My reader son *loves* this book. My ‘read if I have to’ son would love it too, especially if he could download it onto his mp3 and listen to it! Bonus, sometimes the dramatized productions are a bit much for this child, so the calm reading voice will be perfect for him! Bet my growing little man will want it next. Thanks for the great review!
I agree, while our family likes the dramatized productions, sometimes they take away from the story. I’m sure your children would enjoy this very much. Blessings!
We LOVE Jim Hodges’ work! My son has all of the Henty MP3s, we’ve been collecting them for 7 or 8 years (he just turned 14). “Under Drake’s Flag” is one of his favorites – he was just listening to it (again) a few days ago. I can honestly say he has learned more history from these stories than any other source – and he loves listening to them. They’re very, very worth it!
Jim Hodges readings are a perfect complement to CM method. We really like these audios!