In Brief Authority: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

In Brief Authority, credited to F. Anstey, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of In Brief Authority, by F. Anstey (pseudonym of Thomas Anstey Guthrie, 1856 - 1934). Read by Anna Simon. Satiric comedy from 1915 about a nouveau riche British family and their nanny who get whisked off to Maerchenland ('the land of Fairy Tales') one evening in a car drawn by storks. The matron of the family, a thorough snob, is crowned Queen of the country by mistake. She is quick to accept her new position and is determined to introduce British social niceties in her realm. And this really is the land of Fairy Tales, with gnomes, giants, a dragon, magic, a fairy godmother and more. Trouble quickly starts to brew as the royal couple and their son introduce things like capitalism and golf. When gradually a few people find out who should actually have been the new ruler, things get more and more complicated. A bit of romance is thrown into this mixture as well. You'll have to listen to find out whether everyone lives happily ever after. In the preface and epilogue, the author won't let his audience forget the troubled times in the real world, in the heat of World War I. (Summary by Anna Simon)

Recording facts

• Recording title: In Brief Authority
• Author credits: F. Anstey
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 23
• Listed recording duration: 11:13:33

Catalogue topics

• comedy
• WWI
• Fairy Tales

Track guide

1. 01 - Chapter I. 'The Skirts of Happy Chance' — 29:45
2. 02 - Chapter II. Rushing to Conclusions — 25:54
3. 03 - Chapter III. Fine Feathers — 31:38
4. 04 - Chapter IV. Crowned Heads — 28:11
5. 05 - Chapter V. Dignity under Difficulties — 29:44
6. 06 - Chapter VI. Cares of State — 30:58
7. 07 - Chapter VII. A Game they did not understand — 28:29
8. 08 - Chapter VIII. 'A Steed that knows his Rider' — 26:09
9. 09 - Chapter IX. The Pleasures of the Table — 30:12
10. 10 - Chapter X. The Blonde Beast — 29:39
11. 11 - Chapter XI. A Way Out — 30:47
12. 12 - Chapter XII. Unwelcome Announcements — 30:25
13. 13 - Chapter XIII. What the Pigeon Said — 24:48
14. 14 - Chapter XIV. Bag and Baggage — 34:52
15. 15 - Chapter XV. 'Riven with Vain Endeavour' — 31:36
16. 16 - Chapter XVI. 'A Cloud that's Dragonish' — 34:50
17. 17 - Chapter XVII. The Reward of Valour — 35:56
18. 18 - Chapter XVIII. A Previous Engagement — 28:21
19. 19 - Chapter XIX. Servants of the Queen — 19:08
20. 20 - Chapter XX. At the End of her Tether — 35:40
21. 21 - Chapter XXI. 'Whose Lights are fled, whose Garlands dead' — 42:31
22. 22 - Chapter XXII. Squaring Accounts — 16:53
23. 23 - Epilogue — 17:18

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.