The Invasion: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Invasion, credited to William Le Queux, 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 The Invasion, by William Le Queux. Read by Tom Weiss. This novel, also known as The Invasion of 1910, is a 1906 novel written mainly by William Le Queux (with H. W. Wilson providing the naval chapters). It is one of the more famous examples of Invasion literature and is an example of pre-World War I Germanophobia, as it preached the need to prepare for war with Germany. The book takes the form of a military history and includes excerpts from the characters' journals and letters and descriptions of the fictional German campaign itself. The novel originally appeared in serial form in the Daily Mail newspaper from 19 March 1906, and was a huge success. The newspaper's circulation increased greatly, and it made a small fortune for Le Queux, eventually being translated into twenty-seven languages and selling over one million copies in book form. It is centered on an invasion by the Germans, who have managed to land a sizable invasion force on the East Coast of England. They advance inland, cutting all telegraph lines and despoiling farmland as they go, and the British struggle to mount a proper defense. The Germans eventually reach London and occupy half the city. A junior Member of Parliament declares that "Britain is not defeated" and organizes a resistance movement, the "League of Defenders", despite harsh reprisals by the Germans and a severe lack of arms. The Germans seem unable to combat this and tighten their control of London, and suddenly find themselves faced with a popular uprising. Eventually a newly-formed British Army marches to liberate London. The fictional war, however, is a stalemate since it appears that German forces have managed to occupy Belgium and the Netherlands. (Introduction by Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Invasion
• Author credits: William Le Queux
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 25
• Listed recording duration: 10:34:23

Catalogue topics

• adventure
• fiction
• war stories

Opening tracks: first 24 of 25

1. 01 - Preface and Book 1, Chapter 1, The Surprise — 32:02
2. 02 - Effect In The City — 18:06
3. 03 - News Of The Enemy — 25:27
4. 04 - A Prophecy Fulfilled — 15:50
5. 05 - State of Siege Declared — 23:07
6. 06 - How The Enemy Dealt The Blow — 24:46
7. 07 - Desperate Fighting In Essex — 54:37
8. 08 - Defence At Last — 31:37
9. 09 - British Success At Royston — 24:13
10. 10 - British Abandon Colchester — 19:30
11. 11 - Fierce Fighting At Chelmsford — 24:52
12. 12 - Book 2, Chapter 1, The Lines of London — 22:05
13. 13 - Repluse Of The Germans — 19:28
14. 14 - Battle of Epping — 33:20
15. 15 - Bombardment of London — 35:38
16. 16 - The Rain of Death — 26:41
17. 17 - Fall Of London — 27:40
18. 18 - Germans Sacking The Banks — 41:03
19. 19 - Defences of South London — 18:04
20. 20 - Revolts In Shoreditch and Islington — 25:28
21. 21 - Book 3, Chapter 1, A Blow For Freedom — 30:06
22. 22 - Scenes At Waterloo Bridge — 12:05
23. 23 - Great British Victory — 21:16
24. 24 - Massacre of Germans In London — 17:58

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