Which Wolf Hall recording should you buy?
Four separate Wolf Halls are on sale, ranging from two hours to twenty-five. Two of them are abridgements and one is a dramatisation.
Hilary Mantel · 4 recordings on Audible UK
Short answer
Ben Miles. He played Cromwell on stage before recording it, he reads the whole trilogy, and at 25 hours you are getting the actual book. Simon Slater is a perfectly good alternative unabridged reading if you prefer his voice.
Every recording, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Miles Our pick | 25 hrs 12 mins | Unabridged | The one to get, and it continues across Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light so the trilogy stays in one voice. |
| Simon Slater | 24 hrs 15 mins | Unabridged | The earlier unabridged reading. Complete, and fine. |
| Dan Stevens | 7 hrs 11 mins | Abridged | A third of the length. Stevens also fronts a separate full-cast dramatisation of the trilogy — a different thing again. |
| Tim Gilbert | 2 hrs 1 min | Abridged | Two hours. Whatever you are looking for, it is probably not this. |