From Babel to Dragomans
Interpreting the Middle East
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Narrated by:
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William Neenan
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By:
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Bernard Lewis
About this listen
Bernard Lewis is recognized around the globe as one of the leading authorities on Islam. Hailed as "the world's foremost Islamic scholar" (Wall Street Journal), as "a towering figure among experts on the culture and religion of the Muslim world" (Baltimore Sun), and as "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies" (New York Times), Lewis is nothing less than a national treasure, a trusted voice that politicians, journalists, historians, and the general public have all turned to for insight into the Middle East. Now, this revered authority has brought together writings and lectures that he has written over four decades, featuring his reflections on Middle Eastern history and foreign affairs, the Iranian Revolution, the state of Israel, the writing of history, and much more. The essays cover such urgent and compelling topics as "What Saddam Wrought", "Deconstructing Osama and His Evil Appeal", "The Middle East, Westernized Despite Itself", "The Enemies of God", and "Can Islam Be Secularized? "
©2004 Oxford University Press, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, Justo L. González, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought, presents a narrative history of Christianity from the early church to the dawn of the Protestant reformation. From Jesus' faithful apostles to the early reformist John Wycliffe, González skillfully traces core theological issues and developments within the various traditions of the church, including major events outside of Europe, such as the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the New World.
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Throughly engaging
- By Scott Pursley on 12-15-16
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Orientalism
- By: Edward Said
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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This landmark book, first published in 1978, remains one of the most influential books in the Social Sciences, particularly Ethnic Studies and Postcolonialism. Said is best known for describing and critiquing "Orientalism", which he perceived as a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. In Orientalism Said claimed a "subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture."
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We're lucky to have this on audio
- By Delano on 02-27-13
By: Edward Said
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Why the Jews?
- The Reason for Anti-Semitism, the Most Accurate Predictor of Human Evil
- By: Dennis Prager, Joseph Telushkin
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In this seminal work that has spent more than 30 years in print, Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin explain the reasons behind anti-Semitism, the world's preoccupation with the Jews and Israel, and why now more than ever the world needs to confront anti-Jewish sentiment. Prager and Telushkin examine in detail how anti-Semitism is a unique hatred - no other prejudice has been as universal, deep, or permanent - and how the concept of the "chosen people" spawned that hatred.
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It answers the question!
- By MarissaB on 10-01-16
By: Dennis Prager, and others
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The Lost History of Liberalism
- From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
- By: Helena Rosenblatt
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry - and a term of derision - in today's increasingly divided public square. Taking listeners from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words "liberal" and "liberalism", revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning. In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights.
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Educative and informative
- By Amazon Customer on 06-05-19
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Seven Lies about Catholic History: Infamous Myths about the Church's Past and How to Answer Them
- By: Diane Moczar
- Narrated by: Kevin F. Spalding
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The world hates the Church that Jesus founded, just as He said it would (John 15:18). It reviles her doctrines, mocks her moral teachings and invents lies about her history. In every age, but especially in our modern day, historians and political powers have distorted the facts about her past (or just made up novel falsehoods from scratch) to make the Church, and the civilization it fostered, seem corrupt, backward, or simply evil.
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excellent read
- By Christine A Carty on 02-27-16
By: Diane Moczar
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Ibn Khaldun
- An Intellectual Biography
- By: Robert Irwin
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world - a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas.
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Issues with accuracy, pronounciation
- By Moh 3aly on 01-02-19
By: Robert Irwin
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Christianity
- The First Three Thousand Years
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 46 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.
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Bias
- By David Danielson on 10-04-10
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Democracy
- A Life
- By: Paul Cartledge
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Ancient Greece first coined the concept of democracy, yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker - from Plato and Aristotle onward - was ambivalent toward or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: The elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece, there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of antidemocratic thought.
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Great Listen!
- By Timothy on 06-01-21
By: Paul Cartledge
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A History of Iran
- Empire of the Mind
- By: Michael Axworthy
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Although frequently vilified, Iran is a nation of great intellectual variety and depth, and one of the oldest continuing civilizations in the world. Its political impact has been tremendous, not only on its neighbors in the Middle East but also throughout the world. From the time of the prophet Zoroaster, to the powerful ancient Persian Empires, to the revolution of 1979, the hostage crisis, and the current standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Michael Axworthy vividly depicts the nation’s rich history.
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Lazy Narration
- By Arya Pourtabatabaie on 11-05-16
By: Michael Axworthy
What listeners say about From Babel to Dragomans
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David
- 04-10-15
Fifty Years Of Good Stuff
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the ME affairs.
The author is almost 100 years old and first visited ME prior to WWII. Accordingly, the material accumulated in this book spans an unbroken body of work of a duration one seldom sees.
The casual reader, however, needs to know many of the topic chapters (and there are a lot of them) might be a bit tedious if you do not know much about the subject. However, if you are the kind of person who knows the phrase Four Rightly Guided Caliphs you may be up to speed well enough. The matterial is not very difficult, however, and the reader kept my attention.
I plan to listen to much of it again and might even buy the Kindle version. This is because not all of the readings include the original date and they span well over 50 years. A tablet PC would be good as well in order to look up some maps, photos of places and the like.
Finally, I recommend YouTube University! I made that term up, but Richard Bulliet has some of the best lectures on the subject I have heard. These are full length lectures, often more then an hour long. I listened to them prior to listening to this book and it was fun to have a heads up!
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4 people found this helpful
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- asaf gozlan
- 03-04-22
a must for those studying orientalism
loved it, Bernard was a force that reincarnates once every millennia to put history in order for the rest of humanity. this book was his greatest achievement.
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- YunusTheOptimist
- 02-19-21
History Narration is at best
I wish I would have listened to this book 50 years ago.
it opened my eyes
very well done 👏✔
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- E. J. Potchen
- 06-14-16
Communication and the Diversity of World Views
What made the experience of listening to From Babel to Dragomans the most enjoyable?
This book seeks to identify basis of the problems currently faced in the middle east. They may be rooted in ethnici diversity and language barriers. The subtleties of language are frequently missed when trying to translate from one language to another. Some elements of cognition are not readily translatable. We use language to describe how we view the world . Some views are not readily translatable or understood by others holding different views.
What was one of the most memorable moments of From Babel to Dragomans?
I much appreciated the lucid description of the historic foundations for the problems of the Middle East. This is one of the best descriptions of the root causes of the Middle East problem that I have read. It is comprehensive, far reaching and in my opinion balanced in perspective.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Most people have good intentions. They seek a future which is better than the present. Simple revenge and or retaliation is not a justifiable cause for humans to act. Unfortunately these principles have not been adhered to throughout much of the History of the Middle East.
Any additional comments?
This should be read by anyone who is interested in Helping to Address the problems in the Middle East. I strongly urge my friends and colleagues to read the book and to understand how to help by sharing the message of the need for improved communication between people of diverse ethnicity and language. "Our Diversity is our Greatest Strenght."
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2 people found this helpful