A Brief History of the World
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A Brief History of the World
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Narrated by:
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Peter N. Stearns
About this listen
The construction of the great pyramids of Egypt, the development of democracy in ancient Greece, the glories of ancient Rome - these stories are familiar to students of history. But what about the rest of the world? How do the histories of China and Japan, or Russia, India, and the remote territories of Sub-Saharan Africa and South America fit in with commonly known accounts of Western traditions?
Learn the rest of the story with these 36 riveting lectures that survey the expanse of human development and civilization across the globe. From the invention of agriculture in the Neolithic era to the urbanized, technologically sophisticated world of the 21st century, you'll apprehend "the big picture" of world history. You'll examine and compare the peoples, cultures, and nations of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas to understand how, throughout history, peoples all over the world have connected and interacted, traded goods and technology, and conquered and learned from each other.
As you travel around the world and through time, Professor Stearns provides surprising insights that will overturn many of your assumptions about history. For instance, you'll see how the invention of agriculture brought with it a number of drawbacks, such as a new inequality between men and women and greater exposure to epidemic diseases. Fascinating episodes like these will give you a deep appreciation for the human experience as it was lived throughout the centuries.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2007 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2007 The Great CoursesWhat listeners say about A Brief History of the World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- supermum
- 10-02-2016
Great start to learning history
The only problem with this course is how it makes me want to know more about so many other parts of history that are only just touched on in the course. This is my second one going for a third ... just have too choose.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stan
- 08-12-2016
World history thematic success
I liked this course. I like history and the broad brush strokes by way of theme spanning cultures and eras was an interesting approach.
I don't know precisely when these lectures were written, but late 2016 offers some interesting additional hindsight.
Stearns' performance is good. His voice is clear and easy to listen to.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew
- 14-10-2016
Interesting approach to history
Surprisingly interesting and novel approach to history. Told in an engaging manner, with bite-sized, 30 minute chapters.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Icarus
- 11-01-2021
Pair with Decisive Battles of World History
I strongly suggest pairing this book with the Decisive Battles of World History, another Great Courses audiobook. Most societies have engaged in warfare, thus world history is very much the history of warfare. I find that the Brief History of the World gives you the overall context needed, while Decisive Battles of World History covers more of the granular aspects and sheds light on the lesser-known battles of history.
The narration is also superb. You will be hard-pressed to find any hesitation or mistakes despite the narration sounding very natural.
It will take a considerable amount of time to simultaneously complete both books, though I highly recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hayden M
- 11-12-2022
Loved it
I was pleased that he neither bashed nor embellished the "western" civilisations. If only I could follow this up with a version 4 times as long so that he could go into more detail in each section (details being the price paid for a global history framework)
On a negative note however, I do wish he wouldn't say "pun not intended" for puns that were clearly intended.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Heidi
- 15-11-2021
Fascinating, but so broad it’s hard to keep track
A massive subject, and well dealt with by the author. But despite its length it is a very high level summary of EVERYTHING, so you don’t get much detail on anything.
Did feel like I learned a lot, but now want to delve into the million smaller topics in more detail!
The speaker had some catch phrases and ticks in speaking (clarifications and limitations) that were a bit distracting, but once you get used to them are easy enough to ignore.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-07-2019
Fascinating and relevant
Not just a chronology of historical events, but rather an analysis and comparison of multiple contemporary civilisations. My favorite Audible history!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Thomas
- 17-03-2019
A Magnificent Overview of World History
Just fantastic. These lectures are crammed full of so much information that I'm now looking forward to re-visiting them. I also love the inclusion of the PDF reading material which accompanies the audiobooks in The Great Courses series.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Alicia
- 14-10-2021
Not good for broad audiences
I’ve listened to a number of these types of lecture series, and I feel like this speaker spends more time speaking of technicalities than he does on good, useable content. Perhaps it is better for those more advanced learners, but for people just hoping to understand a bit more on the brief history of the world, I do not suggest this audiobook, as it does not engage a listener in the broad sense. The speaker does speak clearly, and I’m sure is very knowledgeable, but perhaps is a bit uncharismatic in his delivery of the information, which really narrows the listeners. History has many story elements, and I feel like when teaching this kind of content, one really needs to paint a picture for audiences to really engage. However, this felt more like listing facts. And again, he spends a bit too much time going over technicalities than he does really explaining the premises behind them.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-02-2021
Great book, awful voice
Please get someone else to record this, it would be a fantastic listen with a better voice talent
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