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Escape from Rome
- The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 21 hrs and 35 mins
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Publisher's summary
The gripping story of how the end of the Roman Empire was the beginning of the modern world
The fall of the Roman Empire has long been considered one of the greatest disasters in history. But in this groundbreaking book, Walter Scheidel argues that Rome's dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened, clearing the path for Europe's economic rise and the creation of the modern age. Ranging across the entire premodern world, Escape from Rome offers new answers to some of the biggest questions in history: Why did the Roman Empire appear? Why did nothing like it ever return to Europe? And, above all, why did Europeans come to dominate the world?
In an absorbing narrative that begins with ancient Rome but stretches far beyond it, from Byzantium to China and from Genghis Khan to Napoleon, Scheidel shows how the demise of Rome and the enduring failure of empire-building on European soil ensured competitive fragmentation between and within states. This rich diversity encouraged political, economic, scientific, and technological breakthroughs that allowed Europe to surge ahead while other parts of the world lagged behind, burdened as they were by traditional empires and predatory regimes that lived by conquest. It wasn't until Europe "escaped" from Rome that it launched an economic transformation that changed the continent and ultimately the world.
What has the Roman Empire ever done for us? Fall and go away.
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Five centuries of Irish history are explored in this informative and accessible volume. John Gibney proceeds from the beginning of Ireland’s modern period and continues through to virtually the present day, offering an integrated overview of the island nation’s cultural, political, and socioeconomic history. This succinct, scholarly study covers important historical events, including the Cromwellian conquest and settlement, the Great Famine, and the struggle for Irish independence.
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Accurate, concise, but lacks spark
- By lightbringer34 on 01-22-24
By: John Gibney
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The Sovereign Individual
- Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
- By: James Dale Davidson, Peter Thiel - preface, William Rees-Mogg
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the best seller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.
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Unfortunately distopian for mosty of humanity
- By Phil on 09-29-20
By: James Dale Davidson, and others
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The World
- A Brief Introduction
- By: Richard Haass
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The World is designed to provide listeners of any age and experience with the essential background and building blocks they need to make sense of this complicated and interconnected world. It will empower them to manage the flood of daily news. Listeners will become more informed, discerning citizens, better able to arrive at sound, independent judgments. While it is impossible to predict what the next crisis will be or where it will originate, those who listen to The World will have what they need to understand its basics and the principal choices for how to respond.
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Excellent Primer for young adults
- By Howells on 05-24-20
By: Richard Haass
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The Revenge of Geography
- What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Revenge of Geography, Robert D. Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries, and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at critical pivots in history and then to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of the world's hot spots by examining their climates, topographies, and proximities to other embattled lands.
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Painful to listen to
- By Bookworm on 12-27-13
By: Robert D. Kaplan
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The Ages of Globalization
- Geography, Technology, and Institutions
- By: Jeffrey D. Sachs
- Narrated by: Steve Menasche
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Today's most urgent problems are fundamentally global. They require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action if we are to secure a long-term future. But humanity's story has always been on a global scale. Sachs takes listeners through a series of seven distinct waves of technological and institutional change, starting with the original settling of the planet by early modern humans through long-distance migration and ending with reflections on today's globalization.
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Narrator.
- By ROGER QUESADA on 08-03-20
By: Jeffrey D. Sachs
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Central Asia
- A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present
- By: Adeeb Khalid
- Narrated by: Aaqil Ahmed
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Central Asia is often seen as a remote and inaccessible land on the peripheries of modern history. Encompassing Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Xinjiang province of China, it in fact stands at the crossroads of world events. Adeeb Khalid provides the first comprehensive history of Central Asia from the mid-18th century to today, shedding light on the historical forces that have shaped the region under imperial and Communist rule.
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Great History of a Forgotten Region
- By Than on 07-07-21
By: Adeeb Khalid
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A Concise History of Modern Europe
- Liberty, Equality, Solidarity
- By: David S. Mason
- Narrated by: Charles Henderson Norman
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Highlighting the key events, ideas, and individuals that have shaped modern Europe, this fresh and lively book provides a concise history of the continent from the Enlightenment to the present. Drawing on the enduring theme of revolution, David S. Mason explores the political, economic, and scientific causes and consequences of revolution; the development of human rights and democracy; and issues of European identity and integration.
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ok
- By Cassandra on 04-11-16
By: David S. Mason
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Strategic Vision
- America and the Crisis of Global Power
- By: Zbigniew Brzezinski
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1991, the United States was the only global superpower. It seemed that the 21st century, like the 20th, would belong to America. Then came the stock market bubble, the costly foreign unilateralism of the younger Bush presidency, and the financial catastrophe of 2008. Meanwhile, China was rising and the Middle East was awakening politically. Today it is clear that America is vulnerable - to domestic and international decline and unregulated greed.
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Insightfull and imforming
- By Roy on 02-15-12
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Medieval Europe
- By: Chris Wickham
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire and the Reformation was a long and hugely transformative period - one not easily chronicled within a single book. Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book, and he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation.
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Wow! Outstanding Work on the Period
- By Dane Maralason on 01-15-19
By: Chris Wickham
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The Fall of Rome
- And the End of Civilization
- By: Bryan Ward-Perkins
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Fall of Rome, eminent historian Bryan Ward-Perkins argues that the "peaceful" theory of Rome's "transformation" is badly in error. Indeed, he sees the fall of Rome as a time of horror and dislocation that destroyed a great civilization, throwing the inhabitants of the West back to a standard of living typical of prehistoric times. Attacking contemporary theories with relish and making use of modern archaeological evidence, he looks at both the wider explanations for the disintegration of the Roman world and also the consequences for the lives of everyday Romans.
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best book ever on Fall of Rome
- By james m. on 01-30-22
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Asia's Cauldron
- The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the last decade, the center of world power has been quietly shifting from Europe to Asia. With oil reserves of several billion barrels, an estimated 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and several centuries' worth of competing territorial claims, the South China Sea in particular is a simmering pot of potential conflict. The underreported military buildup in the area where the Western Pacific meets the Indian Ocean means that it will likely be a hinge point for global war and peace for the foreseeable future.
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Pending problems
- By Jean on 08-19-14
By: Robert D. Kaplan
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The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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He may understand the past but he does not comprehend the present.
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In the vaunted annals of America’s founding, Boston has long been held up as an exemplary “city upon a hill” and the “cradle of liberty” for an independent United States. Wresting this iconic urban center from these misleading, tired clichés, The City-State of Boston highlights Boston’s overlooked past as an autonomous city-state, and in doing so, offers a path-breaking and brilliant new history of early America.
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great listening
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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What listeners say about Escape from Rome
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Shabnam Vaziri-Sadri
- 11-21-20
Too dry and detailed for non historians
This is an amazingly well researched book full of historical facts and valuable insights. However, the content is very dry and the style is humorless. It is a tough read and unless you are a historian you may find that it contains too much information.
Additionally, the audio is not engaging. The narrator’s tone is monotonous and at times it is hard to tell when he is calling out a chapter or just another sentence.
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- Gabriel Alpert
- 09-22-21
Excellent and comprehensive book!
Highly recommended for anyone who likes big history! It’s very clear that the author is knowledgeable and the book is well researched!
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- Anonymous User
- 07-19-24
Tells why Rome falling was good!
The book details why the Roman Empire falling was not only good, but also describes how its fall impacted everyone, and compares the trajectories of other empires to compare there similarities with the stagnating Romans. A insightful read if you ever wonder why there was no steampunk Rome or why China never colonized America. The answer are the same and can be found in the book!
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- Daniel Shenk
- 03-21-20
Fantastic!
This is one of the best books I have listened to in a long time! I have read almost everything I can find on why "the West" reached modernity before the rest of the world. Scheidel approaches this question from a completely original angle. He also provides the best, most accessible overview of the current theories that I have found. Definitely one of my all-time favorite history books.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 02-04-24
Not a great performance
Narrator frequently mispronounces non-English names. Also pauses in many sentences that make comprehension harder than it needs to be.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jeffrey T. Gayton
- 12-28-22
If this book isn’t read by a computer, I’ll eat my hat.
An absolutely fascinating book completely let down by the narration. The computerized narration made it absolutely impossible to follow the content.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Matt Griffin
- 12-03-19
Very interesting book, terrible narration
The ideas in the book are super interesting if you like the long view of history. The narration however is impossible to listen to, with every. word. pronounced. individually. with. long. pauses. in...….... the. middle. of. sentences. The book should be re-recorded.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Robert D Hunter
- 04-25-22
The Most Disappointing Experience on Audible
I found the topic fascinating. I found the presentation pedantic and dry. May be that the book is really intended for a specialist reader rather than someone who is a more general audience. The performance was the absolute worst I have experienced on Audible aggravating the experience. I will never listen to another book with this narrator
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1 person found this helpful