I won't weigh in on the merits of the work itself--it is fine for my taste, though not to others. But you ought to be warned that the narration for the unabridged edition, by Donal Donnelly, is deplorable. He reads with almost comically exaggerated vocal inflections. He often pauses after ever few words (sometimes after every single word) so that you can hardly follow the flow of the ideas. I found it so annoying that I had to stop listening, though I was engaged by the book itself. This criticism does not apply to Liam Neeson's reading of the abridged edition--I haven't heard it, but it seems to get good reviews. This is the rare instance when I wish I had bought the shorter version.