Very interesting subject, but the presenter’s singsong vocalization really distracts from the information. I stopped 4 episodes in because it couldn’t stand it any more.

The detail and sheer longevity of this podcast are staggering!

Excellent

Sharyn does a wonderful job of writing and producing her podcasts. Crusades and Reconquista are both interesting, well presented, and steadily published. Thank you for all your efforts.

This is an amazingly wonderful work of art!

I swear peninSHOEla almost made me scream and ragequit. Don’t give up, run it at 1.25-1.5 and her voice is less robotic and the content is good. Dear author…re-record this well researched work. May i ask what accent peninSHOEla is?

It is good the voice is just so robotic and the narrative never gets that exciting the voice just stays the same.

The voice is the biggest challenge, but better if sped up. Interesting history.

Sharon‘s voice is monotone, or has a “read along” quality to it, but I encourage you to get past that and it’s great. She has gotten a little bit more animated with time. As a Spanish major I have thoroughly enjoyed some “easy listening“ in English and the Iberian peninsula that Sharon explores would make George R Martin run for his money, it is a real life Game of Thrones. Vikings fighting Moores, Charlemagne’s paladins against the Basque, the rise of Portugal and golden age Arab Muslim Spain, wow. There are moments where she is very secular and doesn’t explore the Catholic, or Muslim etc. events from their cultures perspective i.e. she just describes the martyrs of cordoba as upstart rebels, or describes Muslims celebrating Christian holidays as a progressive, ideal way to be rather than Haram, those interruptions are minimal however and don’t distract too much. Overall don’t miss this podcast. After I catch up I will check out the Crusades and will probably be subscribing to her Patreon.

Solid history podcast that gives a great accounting of the early history of Spain and how it went from a Muslim to Christian territory. Informative and highly detailed, the only downside is that the narration is a bit dry, even if it is cleanly told and easy to follow. Great listen for history fans.

I love Sharyn’s voice, style, humor and content. She is soothing yet always engaging. This and History of the Crusades are my two favorite podcasts of all time.

I was really excited to listen to this podcast, but I really just can’t get into the narration. The story is interesting enough, but I’m writing this review based on how good of a podcast it is, and trust me, this is really not fun to listen to. The narrator is boring and monotonous, and it makes it impossible to get invested in anything that’s going on. It’s a shame really, because I really really wanted to like this podcast. Literally the only thing they need to do is put some life or even just a little bit of passion into the narration, but no. I was hoping it would get better with time, but I am of 50 episodes in and honestly right now I’m listening to it at one .25 times speed because I just can’t wait for this to end already. It really seems like the narrator is just bored to death, and if that’s the case, it makes the listener bored as well

This lady speaks like a robot with a cadence that makes the show unlistenable. Makes me wonder if it’s actually a robot speaking or if this is a real human being.

I loved the Crusades podcast. Unfortunately the host has developed a weird sing song cadence in her voice that’s unlistenable.

So stoked to see a new series! Loved the crusades and the 100 years war podcasts. Btw I find your tone / voice lovely.

One of several scholarly and entertaining podcasts by Sharyn Eastaugh.

I would not have assumed this much history existed on one topic. I happen to enjoy deep dives in many topics and I honestly had no idea you could find this much source material on the history of the crusades.

I could really listen to her talk about anything. The super interesting history pits it over the top.

The content of the show is excellent, but the host constantly raises and lowers her volume every few seconds, I had a lot of trouble listening on 1.5 speed.

If you have listened to her slanderous podcast on the Crusades you wouldn’t waste the time to listen to this. This woman should be banned from the internet for her lies.

Sharon always does a great job with this and her history of the crusades podcast. Highly entertaining and well researched. Well worth your time to listen.

I respect people like Sharyn and Mike Duncan who are providing detailed, researched and even handed narrative history to the WORLD.

The content is wonderful. But just as the narrator is irritated with lack of research content I am irritated by her lack of tamber. Please focus on your flow. I’ve noted that you end most sentences as though you are ending a paragraph or thought. This makes creates a flow which is rigid or quite stop/go. I understand You are English and I American, there are differences. Listen to the pro David Attenborough. A proper English flow. I deeply appreciate what you deliver, don’t stop!!,

What a great podcast!

Not only is this podcast extremely through the host tells the story in an amazing way.

Well researched podcast, with odd robotic pronunciation. But the systemic and emphasized peninSHOEula (peninsula) enunciation is an eccentricity that I can’t get over, almost seems like an elaborate prank.

Have to admit that this lady synthesizes, organizes, and presents information in a pretty lucid and easy to follow way, making a complicated story easy to follow. I’ve never listened to her other pod. I’m in the taifa period of my own personal journey through history and was looking for more information, which is sparse online, to say the least. I found this pod and that’s exactly where she’s at, in the taifa period, so I gave her a listen. Despite my agreeing that her inflection takes a bit of getting used to, her obvious knowledge and ability to lay out her research into a good story makes this podcast a pretty good listen. 3.5/5. Round up to 4.

I was pretty interested in this podcast when I initially stumbled upon it;I LOVE history&am subscribed to several podcasts that are about different periods of history. However, this one is gonna be a challenge to remain subscribed too I can forgive her pronunciation BUT her monotonous up and down BOOOORING tone comes across as unprofessional,fake,forced and just completely goofy. Her friends have to be the ones who gave the honey glazed reviews bcuz they’re lying about it being so enjoyable. I’m only 10minutes into the first episode and it’s painful to listen to!!!! I don’t know if she’s going to pay attention to the reviews but if she does I PRAY she takes this constructive albeit harsh criticism to heart and fixes this. If she wants her podcast to gain popularity and subscribers this HAS2be rectified..... like, yesterday. Don’t make any more episodes like this -PLEASE. Why would you think sounding like this is enjoyable or tolerable??? Ugh I apologize, I’m just annoyed.... I hope you change your reading voice or get someone else to read for you....

To say I enjoy this podcast… is an understatement

I only wish more was available.

Great narration. I have a crush on her.

This podcast and her previous podcast on the history of the crusades are truly some of the best podcasts out there. She does her research very thoroughly and present it in a way we can all understand. I love it!

Great job, accurate and instructive.

If you can stick with it and see your way past the speech impediment and odd inflection (it takes about 3 episodes) - the podcast is very well researched and presented. As good as any history podcast currently in production.

No podcast since 12/10. Hope you are well or recovering miss you

I could listen to her say peninsula all day ❤️❤️❤️

Im so happy to have one of my favorite podcasters tackling another of my favorite subjects. Fantastic! This lady rules.

I would expect nothing less from SE. She’s the best. A voice that is pleasant to listen to and injects just enough humor to keep your attention but not be obnoxious. Excellent new show.

i have been on crusade with Sharyn since the early days. i simply cannot say enough about her work. it is well thought out and researched. it sheds light on the smaller often overlooked stories and events. she breathes life into, and gives substance to, people who are usually just names on a page. it has provided me with countless hours of thought in my otherwise glum life, and led me to research topics i had forgotten or overlooked. were i to sum up her podcast in a word...splendid. in grad school i slightly fell in love with the much overlooked Cathars...how i wish this podcast had been around in those days. she took what was at times very dry reading and threw buckets of paint onto the subject. and the baltic crusades...also overlooked by many...are an excellent way to understand the middle ages on the continent and how they played a role in europe as we know it today. her treatment of the wars of the roses is the most followable i’ve encountered...and that includes numerous books. the one thing all these events have in common is an overwhelming number of moving parts. it is a credit to her mind and ability to coalesce these into a manageable and fluid format. usually weekly. well done!

This podcaster is a fantastic researcher, presenter, and funny presenter. Hours of college commutes have become not awful with this creator’s content. Excited to learn about this time period.

I am so glad Sharyn is back. I have always liked her sense of humor. Look forward to listening to this series of podcasts.

I got so impatient waiting for the Reconquista, I started back from the beginning of History of the Crusades. When it was time to put the last episode in the "Play Next" queue, I thought, "I should check for Reconquista again". Lo, and behold, it was Friday afternoon (in the US), and the first episode was up! Perfect timing! Sharyn Eastaugh's historical perspective and eye toward the humanity of subjects of history really brings the events and politics to life. My only concern is, as a late-comer the first time through and my recent relisten, I'm spoiled by binging!

Couldn’t wait for Ms. Eastaugh to return to her history podcast!

Sharyn is one of the best history podcasters out there. She has the ability to blend complicated history into an interesting and captivating narrative. She’s also a master of pointing out the hilarious bits, like why you shouldn’t pack only beans when preparing for a siege. I loved the history of the crusades podcast and I’m looking forward to this new series.

Good honest history!

Was excellent. I’m sure this will be also

Having listened to the entirety of Sharyn’s History of the Crusades, I can’t wait to hear the Reconquista as well! And so far I’m 100% confident it’ll be exactly as good as her previous podcast work.