Eric Franklin
- 4
- reviews
- 8
- helpful votes
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Crucible of War
- The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
- By: Fred Anderson
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 29 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In this vivid and compelling narrative, the Seven Years' War - long seen as a mere backdrop to the American Revolution - takes on a whole new significance. Relating the history of the war as it developed, Anderson shows how the complex array of forces brought into conflict helped both to create Britain's empire and to sow the seeds of its eventual dissolution. Beginning with a skirmish in the Pennsylvania backcountry involving an inexperienced George Washington, the Iroquois chief Tanaghrisson, and the ill-fated French emissary Jumonville, Anderson reveals a chain of events that would lead to world conflagration.
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A Detailed History
- By Daniel on 07-15-18
- Crucible of War
- The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
- By: Fred Anderson
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
Good, but not great.
Reviewed: 02-26-22
I'm a frequent listener of history titles on Audible, many of them longer than this one. I rarely write reviews, but this one left me a bit unsatisfied and I felt I should share the reasons why.
Crucible of War isn't a bad book. You would probably struggle to find a more well researched, thorough, and comprehensive single volume history of the Seven Years War.
However, the writing is dispassionate and clinical. It doesn't really have much humor or personality. The majority of the focus is on the important figures of the time, so the experience of the common soldier or civilian is largely absent. The narrator was competent, but didn't really breathe extra life into the material. The book is bloated, overlong, and dry.
It's not enough to ruin a fine piece of history, especially if you're fascinated by this period. Just don't expect a great deal of excitement.
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1 person found this helpful
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Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition
- By: Richard Wolfson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Richard Wolfson
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
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"It doesn't take an Einstein to understand modern physics," says Professor Wolfson at the outset of these 24 lectures on what may be the most important subjects in the universe: relativity and quantum physics. Both have reputations for complexity. But the basic ideas behind them are, in fact, simple and comprehensible by anyone. These dynamic and illuminating lectures begin with a brief overview of theories of physical reality starting with Aristotle and culminating in Newtonian or "classical" physics.
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Great primer for hard SF fans and physics laymen
- By David on 01-05-15
Good but a little dated
Reviewed: 11-10-20
Audio quality was good.
Speaker was engaging.
The subject matter is interesting and the lectures are well structured.
Some visual cues are referenced, as this was also recorded for video, but the instructor does a good job of describing what's happening.
This is a quickly evolving field, however, and this course is starting to show its age, being originally released around year 2000.
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Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed
- By: Edwin Barnhart, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Edwin Barnhart
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
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Centuries ago, Spanish conquistadors searching for gold and new lands encountered a group of independent city-states in Mesoamerica. Sophisticated beyond the Spaniards' wildest imaginings, these people were the Aztecs, the Maya, and related cultures that shared common traditions of religion, government, the arts, engineering, and trade. In many ways more advanced than European nations, these societies equaled the world's greatest civilizations of their time.
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Great Presentation and a Wonderful Narrator
- By Richard on 01-22-16
The Best Great Course I’ve Heard!
Reviewed: 06-17-18
I’ve listened to dozens of Great Courses, and this one is my favorite!
Part of that is because I’m fascinated with the subject. Unlike the history of more well known ancient civilizations, there are still plenty of unknowns when it comes to ancient Mesoamerica. It’s still an evolving field where many discoveries await, and many mysteries have not yet been explained. This course covers some of the unanswered questions.
The speaker has the rare combination of being very well-spoken, clear, and easy to understand, while simultaneously being very knowledgeable about the subject matter. And his knowledge is not merely academic. He routinely explains how he’s visited several of the sites in question and seen things with his own eyes. He has a sense of humor, and isn’t afraid to crack the occasional joke, which makes a subject that could easily seem dry a lot more fun.
I’ve studied a lot of history from a lot of times and places, but I was surprised how much I didn’t know about ancient Mesoamerica. This series has created a passion within me for the subject that will last for the rest of my life!
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2 people found this helpful
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The Call of the Cthulhu and Other Stories
- By: H. P. Lovecraft
- Narrated by: Gareth David-Lloyd, Ian Fairbairn
- Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The Call of Cthulhu", written in 1926, is probably Lovecraft's best-known work. Discovering notes left by a deceased relative, the narrator pieces together the whole truth and disturbing significance of the Cthulhu cult. This release also contains the shorter tales "The Festival" and "The Hound", in which gravediggers bring home more than they bargained for!
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Lovecraft, a Rare Presentation
- By David on 02-14-10
Simple but effective.
Reviewed: 01-13-15
I bought this thinking that it was going to be a larger collection of stories, and I was a bit disappointed to find that it is only three stories:
1: The Hound
2: The Call of Cthulhu
3: The Festival
The readers have a pleasant mild British accent, which suited the stories well. I did find the volume slightly lower on "Cthulhu" than on the other two tracks.
Despite the small number of stories included in this collection and the small volume issue on "Cthulhu", I feel the purchase was justified. "Cthulhu" in particular is among Lovecraft's best tales and the other two are pretty good as well.
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5 people found this helpful