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Adriatic
- A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
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Publisher's summary
“[An] elegantly layered exploration of Europe’s past and future . . . a multifaceted masterpiece.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A lovely, personal journey around the Adriatic, in which Robert Kaplan revisits places and peoples he first encountered decades ago.”—Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker
In this insightful travelogue, Robert D. Kaplan, geopolitical expert and bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts and The Revenge of Geography, turns his perceptive eye to a region that for centuries has been a meeting point of cultures, trade, and ideas. He undertakes a journey around the Adriatic Sea, through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, to reveal that far more is happening in the region than most news stories let on. Often overlooked, the Adriatic is in fact at the center of the most significant challenges of our time, including the rise of populist politics, the refugee crisis, and battles over the control of energy resources. And it is once again becoming a global trading hub that will determine Europe’s relationship with the rest of the world as China and Russia compete for dominance in its ports.
Kaplan explores how the region has changed over his three decades of observing it as a journalist. He finds that to understand both the historical and contemporary Adriatic is to gain a window on the future of Europe as a whole, and he unearths a stark truth: The era of populism is an epiphenomenon—a symptom of the age of nationalism coming to an end. Instead, the continent is returning to alignments of the early modern era as distinctions between East and West meet and break down within the Adriatic countries and ultimately throughout Europe.
With a brilliant cross-pollination of history, literature, art, architecture, and current events, in Adriatic, Kaplan demonstrates that this unique region that exists at the intersection of civilizations holds revelatory truths for the future of global affairs.
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Critic reviews
“An excellent exploration of the Adriatic’s intriguing geographic and intellectual landscapes . . . The historical scope of Kaplan’s canvas is vast, yet he works hard to bring to it the fruits of modern historical scholarship. That is rare among popular authors, and deserves much praise.”—The New York Times
“[An] elegantly layered exploration of Europe’s past and future . . . Like the best European travelogues—the wandering, inquisitive weavings of Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) or Patrick Leigh Fermor’s Between the Woods and the Water (1986)—Adriatic mimics the layered complexity of its subject. This is a multifaceted masterpiece, a glittering excavation of the glories and rubbish heaps of Europe’s past, a meditation on history and the inner journey of traveling with books in mind, a traveler’s elegy for paths taken and not taken, and a conditionally hopeful reflection on Europe’s emerging future.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A marvelous mix of history, literature, atmospherics, and personal insight . . . [Kaplan] travels to learn rather than to simply confirm, which makes him the ideal guide for readers interested in expanding their understanding rather than reinforcing their assumptions. . . . Europe is back, and Kaplan’s erudite and humane study offers an exemplary guide to it.”—The National Interest
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- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In this effortlessly erudite account, Russell Shorto traces the idiosyncratic evolution of Amsterdam, showing how such disparate elements as herring anatomy, naked Anabaptists parading through the streets, and an intimate gathering in a 16th-century wine-tasting room had a profound effect on Dutch - and world - history. Weaving in his own experiences of his adopted home, Shorto provides an ever-surprising, intellectually engaging story of Amsterdam from its golden age to the present.
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Worth Reading - Highly Recommended
- By Whit B on 05-12-14
By: Russell Shorto
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The Ornament of the World
- How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain
- By: Maria Rosa Menocal, Harold Bloom - foreword
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Widely hailed as a revelation of a "lost" golden age, this history brings to vivid life the rich and thriving culture of medieval Spain, where, for more than seven centuries, Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance, and literature, science, and the arts flourished.
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Excellent Book
- By Zahid Ahmad on 08-14-18
By: Maria Rosa Menocal, and others
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Natasha's Dance
- A Cultural History of Russia
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 29 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning in the 18th century with the building of St. Petersburg - a 'window on the West' - and culminating with the challenges posed to Russian identity by the Soviet regime, Figes examines how writers, artists, and musicians grappled with the idea of Russia itself - its character, spiritual essence and destiny. He skillfully interweaves the great works - by Dostoevsky, Stravinsky, and Chagall - with folk embroidery, peasant songs, religious icons and all the customs of daily life, from food and drink to bathing habits to beliefs about the spirit world.
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A Kaleidescopic panorama of an enigmatic culture.
- By Tarquin on 02-13-19
By: Orlando Figes
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Danubia
- A Personal History of Habsburg Europe
- By: Simon Winder
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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From the end of the Middle Ages to the First World War, Europe was dominated by one family: the Habsburgs. Their unprecedented rule is the focus of Simon Winder's vivid third book, Danubia. This is a narrative that, while erudite and well researched, prefers to be discursive and anecdotal. In his survey of the centuries of often incompetent Habsburg rule which have continued to shape the fate of Central Europe, Winder does not shy away from the horrors, railing against the effects of nationalism, recounting the violence that was often part of life.
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Magnificent history of the Habsburg Empire
- By Skeptical on 10-25-18
By: Simon Winder
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Germany: Memories of a Nation
- By: Neil MacGregor
- Narrated by: Neil MacGregor
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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For the past 140 years, Germany has been the central power in continental Europe. Thirty years ago, a new German state came into being. How much do we really understand this new Germany, and how do its people now understand themselves? Neil MacGregor argues that uniquely for any European country, no coherent, over-arching narrative of Germany's history can be constructed, for in Germany, both geography and history have always been unstable.
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Engaging and Informative
- By William on 06-15-24
By: Neil MacGregor
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Wanderlust
- A History of Walking
- By: Rebecca Solnit
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing together many histories - of anatomical evolution and city design, of treadmills and labyrinths, of walking clubs and sexual mores - Rebecca Solnit creates a fascinating portrait of the range of possibilities presented by walking. Arguing that the history of walking includes walking for pleasure as well as for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit focuses on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from philosophers to poets to mountaineers.
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Walking as politics
- By Jason V on 06-04-18
By: Rebecca Solnit
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Yiddish Civilisation: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation
- By: Paul Kriwaczek
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Tracing Yiddish civilization from its roots in the Diaspora to the present, Paul Kriwaczek combines intimate family anecdote, travelogue, historical research, and interviews with scholars to give us a rich portrait of a nearly extinguished culture as it survived across the centuries. He begins his chronicle in Jerusalem, with the destruction of the Jewish temple at the hands of the Romans in the year 70. We see the burgeoning exile population disperse, moving outward and northward throughout the following centuries, making their mark in more far flung cities under Roman rule.
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Disorganized, inconclusive and disappointing
- By Alex on 12-15-20
By: Paul Kriwaczek
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Incarnations
- India in Fifty Lives
- By: Sunil Khilnani
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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For all of India's myths, its sea of stories and moral epics, Indian history remains a curiously unpeopled place. In Incarnations, Sunil Khilnani fills that space, recapturing the human dimension of how the world's largest democracy came to be. His trenchant portraits of emperors, warriors, philosophers, film stars, and corporate titans - some famous, some unjustly forgotten - bring feeling, wry humor, and uncommon insight to dilemmas that extend from ancient times to our own.
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Great listen, the author is biased
- By Anonymous User on 02-15-19
By: Sunil Khilnani
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In Putin's Footsteps
- Searching for the Soul of an Empire Across Russia's Eleven Time Zones
- By: Nina Khrushcheva, Jeffrey Tayler
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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With exclusive insider status as Nikita Khrushchev’s great grand-daughter, and an ex-pat living and reporting on Russia and the Soviet Union since 1993, Nina Khrushcheva and Jeffrey Tayler offer a poignant exploration of the largest country on Earth through their recreation of Vladimir Putin’s fabled New Year’s Eve speech planned across all 11 time zones.
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Up to date assessment of Russia in 2019
- By Joseph C. Wilson on 04-10-19
By: Nina Khrushcheva, and others
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The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
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All of Western Philosphy Leads to Ayn Rand?!?
- By Leslie on 06-22-15
By: Arthur Herman
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Lost Enlightenment
- Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
- By: S. Frederick Starr
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.
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Subject worthwhile but repetative narrative
- By F-M on 04-10-14
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Fracture
- Life and Culture in the West, 1918-1938
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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When the Great War ended in 1918, the West was broken. Religious faith, patriotism, and the belief in human progress had all been called into question by the mass carnage experienced by both sides. Shell-shocked and traumatized, the West faced a world it no longer recognized: The old order had collapsed, replaced by an age of machines. The world hurtled forward on gears and crankshafts, and terrifying new ideologies arose from the wreckage of past belief.
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Lots of good trivia information
- By Jean on 07-23-15
By: Philipp Blom
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Known and Strange Things
- Essays
- By: Teju Cole
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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With this collection of more than 50 pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today's most powerful and original voices. Minute after minute, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and W. G. Sebald to Instagram, Barack Obama, and Boko Haram.
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A Book that Teaches and Shares
- By Carolyn J. on 10-08-17
By: Teju Cole
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Thorough History...
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The Collapse of Yugoslavia
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In 1991, an ethnically diverse and peaceful region of Europe descended into violence, lawlessness, bitter hatred and chaos, almost overnight to the bewilderment of international observers. Communities fractured along lines of ethnic and religious affiliation, and the ensuing fighting was deeply personal, resulting in horrific brutality, rape, torture and genocide, causing the deaths of thousands of people. In this book, Alastair Finlan examines the internal upheavals of the former Yugoslavia and their international implications.
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Can’t stay on Point
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Children of the Night
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The country that gave us Vlad Dracula, and whose citizens consider themselves descendants of ancient Rome, has traditionally preferred the status of enigmatic outsider. But this beautiful and unexplored land has experienced some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century. After a relatively benign period led by a dutiful king and his vivacious, British-born queen, the country oscillated wildly.
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A haunting look at Romanian history
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Girl at War
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Zagreb, 1991. Ana Jurić is a carefree 10-year-old, living with her family in a small apartment in Croatia's capital. But that year, civil war breaks out across Yugoslavia, splintering Ana's idyllic childhood. Daily life is altered by food rations and air raid drills, and soccer matches are replaced by sniper fire. Neighbors grow suspicious of one another, and Ana's sense of safety starts to fray. When the war arrives at her doorstep, Ana must find her way in a dangerous world.
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A perfectly timed departure from the predictable template.
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What listeners say about Adriatic
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- William C. Janss, Jr.
- 09-14-24
Antiques brought to life
The study of western civilization finally given relevance to modern society. Once you get through the first chapter you will be sitting on the edge of your seat as the author shines a spot light on events of the past and ties them logically to the present.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-27-22
Insightful but littered with tangents
Having read and enjoyed Balkan Ghosts, though a little turned off by the orientalism of portraying the “East” as a mysterious exotic “other,” I was happy the author actually addressed some of the criticism of that book and his attempts to do better. The discussion of East vs West in this book is much more nuanced.
That said, there are LOTS of tangents, usually almost stream of consciousness ruminations that take away from the specific location(s) discussed in a five chapter. The conversations he has with locals are not as in depth as those in Balkan Ghosts, which I think would have made this a much better book. Still found great value in the history and insights by such a well travelled and (at least in this work) self-aware author.
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- Delphine C. Lucas
- 05-11-22
Good Observations and Hidden Gems
I eagerly anticipated reading this book, as I loved reading Balkan Ghosts so many years ago. However, I was disappointed. The book for me was a long slog, even after eliminating the three chapters before the final chapter on Corfu. I liked the idea of referencing history, literature and poetry while traveling, but it was assumed that the reader had an advanced degree from an Ivy League school and pursued a life in academia. I learned a few things by listening, how could anyone not? However, so much for me was obtuse. I simply did not have the mental scaffolding for the chapters on Central Europe, so I gave up on those chapters, because they were incomprehensible. I enjoyed the chapter on Corfu as I am Greek American and knew about most of what Kaplan referenced. I liked the bold big ideas of the book, regarding nationalism and globalization. Definitely some good concepts in the book, just a difficult read for an intelligent well educated American.
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- Kriss McL
- 09-05-22
Pondering writer; ponderous narrator
A pondering narrative requires a less ponderous narrator. At times it felt like the narrator was just ... saying words.
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- Nitzan S.
- 08-06-24
Boring pile of unrelated personal notes
Hoped it would be a historical deep review of the Adriatic Sea surrounding lands, cultures, people, wars and changes of control over the years.
Instead it is a confused pile of pseudo philosophical ideas, made of tons of unrelated footnotes taken from everywhere in the world except from the Adriatic world context.
Struggled for few hours trying to find the purpose of all of it but finally gave up.
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- EJH
- 04-25-22
Disappointing
More of a bibliography of books about the Adriatic than a history or travelogue of the region. Narrator is like the most boring college professor you ever had.
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3 people found this helpful