I am always on the hunt for engaging audio stories for my children to listen to, as I feel it is imperative for them to be able to imagine a storyline and not just see it on television screen. We have listened to hundreds of hours of audio adventures on road trips, errands, and at bedtime and were thrilled to be able to review the Audio Adventure Theatre CD: In the Reign of Terror, based on the book by the great G.A. Henty. Let me be clear, it did not disappoint!

This CD dramatization is geared towards children ages 6-16, but truly can be enjoyed by adults as well. Obviously, this was a horrifying time in history and it can be a scary for younger ones. However, the way they draw God’s providence and mercy into the theme is done so beautifully and perfectly, it does not leave them scared for long at all. I am pretty sure my family experienced every emotion possible during the two hours…laughter, tears, fear, intrigue to name a few. It is tremendously engaging with adventure, war, guillotines, spies, heroes and is a great way to introduce younger students to a less than optimal time in history in a way that brings it to life at an age appropriate level. It is historical fiction at its finest. The voices, the sound effects, the characters…all done superbly. It doesn’t skirt around the bad parts, but includes God’s hand in His Story (History.)

I highly recommend In the Reign of Terror by Heirloom Audio. My kids have listened to it over and over now and love the protagonist, Harry Sandwith. The French accents are done so well that they couldn’t understand them at first, but they are able to now. We all enjoyed it, even my husband, who is a history major, found it enlightening and entertaining. We would love to be able to eventually add all the audio adventures by Heirloom Audio to our library.

-Product review by Audrey Tolle, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, April, 2017