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The History of the Ancient World
- From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
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The History of the Ancient World
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Publisher's Summary
A lively and engaging narrative history showing the common threads in the cultures that gave birth to our own.
This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about The History of the Ancient 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
- Jason G Cody
- 31-07-2021
enjoyable
another really good book. read in an engaging and informative way. kept me and my son engaged for hours
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 11-08-2017
Great Historical Narrative
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone seeking knowledge about early High Civilisation and Empire.
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4 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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Story4 out of 5 stars
- S.B
- 12-05-2021
Must read for ‘fans’ of history.
Excellently written with an engaging narrator with an obvious love for the topic at hand. Highly recommend to anyone looking for an accessible book to provide a glimpse of the ancient past.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Bruce
- 16-10-2024
Witty and well well balanced
A sweeping tale told with humour and wonder at humanity’s ongoing wackiness. Jumps from place to place in a meanwhile way but well told overall
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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
- PAS
- 18-03-2019
Absorbing, never-dull narration of our history
Riveting collation and delightful telling of the history of the world. The performance of the narrator - with his articulation, fluency and faultless pronunciation (of some truly gnarly foreign names) - is worth the price alone. The text is made interesting by it's lens: examining archeological and literary sources, adding well founded cultural contexts and delivering it all with a sprightly licence to color in the gaps, the end result is a rich, chronological panorama of peoples, nations and empires. It does unfortunately (perhaps necessarily) depict much of the ugly details of the violence, murders, treachery and war which stain the majority of our history, so be warned. Religion, politics and key personalities are also in the mix, adding depth and showing some of the things which have shaped our race. Personally, I found human corruption to be the major character in the story, which ends up feeling like a rather sobering indictment on our days and ways. But if you're wanting a snapshot of history, look no further. This audiobook had me spellbound in its 'pages' from start to end.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Miss Amy V
- 14-10-2017
I liked it, but it's definitely not my favourite.
A well researched, and beautifully written book with an excellent narrator. I found it hard to get into though; it's certainly structured in a different way. Bauer focuses on ancient Rome, China, India and Persia, and the people who ruled these areas. I prefer my other history books, but I'm a medieval fan. I definitely suggest giving this a listen, if you love ancient civilisations. The details are amazing!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-08-2022
Really good piece of work
I Enjoyed this very much. very good narration and superb piece of writing. So many changes of rulers; nepotism galore tinged with a bit of incestuous galivanting.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-09-2020
Leans a little too heavily into biblical literalism
Overall, it was an enjoyable listen and I’d recommend it but Bauer’s insistence in including dubious Old Testament stories as historical fact and the rationale she uses to outright dismiss any skeptical view on them, as well as her almost snarky dismissal of the BCE/CE convention at the beginning is pretty vexing. Despite this objection, if you’re a history nerd, give it a listen (just be critical - as one should be always.)
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6 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
- Ed
- 15-07-2019
Great listening
A comprehensive and very readable history. Fascinating anecdotes with a terrific reader. Loved it looking for to the rest of series
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- jasper
- 29-05-2022
Good overview of ancient world
Good
- thorough focus on Mediterranean and mesapatamia
- gives some good insights on China and India to
- nice and succinct usually (for 300 years of histy)
-good humour
not so good
- bit too much of this ruler faught that ruler and then this ruler faught that ruler. for something so high level might have been better to just say they duked it out for 500 years
- very Westin and middle east focused, Feels like China and India were just token inclusions, 0 inclusion of Africa apart from Egypt (or America's etc)
still I look forward to the next one (history of mediaeval world)
I supplemented my reading with short YouTube videos of empires or rulers to help me understand what's going on and give colour, highly recommend
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1 person found this helpful