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History of the World, Updated
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 54 hrs and 42 mins
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Publisher's summary
As in his previous work, this is also a book of extraordinary ambition, clarity, and style that follows the central notion that human history is the story of change, a deliberate shaping of experience and environment. Among the elements that have made the book uniquely appealing are its powerful vision and voice.
Roberts's book is exceptional in its genuinely global and comprehensive nature, showing the development of different civilizations through the ages, from our origins on the African savannah to A.D. 2002. Like no other book, it succeeds in conveying the staggering diversity of the human experience across a vast range of circumstances and habitats.
If there is one book anyone truly interested in history should hear, this is it.
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Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
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The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome
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The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome traces the breathtaking history from the empire’s foundation by Augustus to its Golden Age in the 2nd century CE through a series of ever-worsening crises until its ultimate disintegration. Taught by acclaimed Professor Gregory S. Aldrete of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, these 24 captivating lectures offer you the chance to experience this story like never before, incorporating the latest historical insights that challenge our previous notions of Rome’s decline.
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On September 26, 2020, Michael was in a great mood. He’d recently returned home to Oklahoma after years in the military. He’d bought a house and had a job teaching and coaching basketball at the local high school. But that night, Michael’s life would turn upside down. Around two o’clock in the morning, he heard people banging on the doors and windows of his home. He called 911 for help. This is the story of what happened next, and why. To understand it, we have to go back to the Trail of Tears that the Five Tribes were forced to walk.
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The next great battleground for Native America and Racial Justice
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What listeners say about History of the World, Updated
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Alan Rither
- 03-31-07
Comprehensive world history
It's difficult to summarize a book this long because there were moments of sheer brilliance and hours of near tedium but, overall, the better parts made it worth the listen. My favorite narrator, David Case (a/k/a Frederick Davidson) recorded it with his outstanding British accent. It sounds like he also recorded the author's update shortly after 9-11-01 because his voice is nearly gone but still loveable. Shortly thereafter his vocal cords were removed from cancer, so this may be his final recording. If you want to get a comprehensive summary of world history from ancient pre-humans down to the present, this is the book for you. Just be prepared for some passages with "all you ever wanted to know and more". But hang in there and you'll consider it worth the effort, I believe.
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36 people found this helpful
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- Kelly F.
- 06-30-16
Enjoyable
The content was interesting and informative. one complaint regarding the narrator, toward the end of the book you can hear a definite change in his voice it was as if he had a cold. Beyond that a great book and narrator!
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- Bill
- 12-29-11
Takes a lot of time to finish but well worth it
I spread this audiobook out over many months listening to it in small pieces. It was much better than any comparable history textbooks you will find and if you want a great overview of the major historical characters and events this is a great source. I'd like to get a hardcopy just for reference and to see what charts, lists and maps I missed out on.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Christopher Smith, Esq.
- 04-10-23
a good read
This is a good read covering significant periods of time. The "updated" version could perhaps use another updating. For instance the words "computer" and "internet" are never mentioned. Perhaps this can be excused by the vast period of time the book seeks to cover. The narration is very good.
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Overall
- Paul
- 09-03-05
informative but unnecessarily long
I've listened through the entire book, and I've definitely learned quite a lot from it. However, there's been a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that the book could have been just as good at about half the length. The author alternates between historical narrative (useful) and long editorial segments that ultimately don't provide much information (not so useful). Dr. Roberts appears to have a significant interest in cultural/societal trends throughout history, but commentaries on these subjects unfortunately suffer from a flair towards wordy expositions that don't offer much substance. Also, for better or for worse, the book is decidedly Eurocentric (and especially Anglocentric), which may be understandable given Dr. Roberts' background. For example, more is discussed of the British occupation of India, as of the entire history of modern Latin America.
Overall, it is worth listening to in order to achieve a greater understanding of the flow of history and the complex interactions between civilizations over time. But I almost wish I had instead chosen an abridged version. (I have the book form of his "A short history of the world", which is much more succinct, although it leaves out much of the historical narrative and leaves in too much of the editorial commentaries.)
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23 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Charles
- 12-02-06
Exceptional match of content and narration
This book presents a comprehensive view of world history (albeit from a macro-perspective) in an interesting and entertaining format. Its completion, in and of itself, is impressive given the massive scope of the project. The fact that the book maintains the reader's\listener's interest is nothing short of incredible.
Perhaps it is Davidson's outstanding narration. Listeners will find themselves transported to a relaxed, scholarly lecture in which interest is maintained by his masterful timing and skilled inflection. Davidson captivates his audience, and leads them on fascinating journey through time, at the end of which, you find yourself not only more educated, but also more empathetic.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Sunnycanuck
- 04-02-08
Wonderful, enlightening!
Since starting this book the world has taken on new forms. My Canadian/British background, spanish friends, building architecture at city hall, current world events, and scientific studies, all have taken on new meaning. Contrasted to a culture that has a memory of six months, this wonderful summary of world events changes the focus of ones attention. This book should be required reading for every person. The long legacy of human history is inspiring. Our daily lives become less of a burden when it is plain to see that even the greatest of people, from the pope, to kings, thinkers, and emperors are, in the end, no more then a line of text.
In terms of the length of the book, which is notable (and has allowed me to accumulate two more credits on my account) you really need to have a daily routine where you can listen for an hour or so. I take my dogs for a walk at night time, and find the slow progress of human history perfect accompaniment. The sound quality is not spectacular, but the voice is smooth, and well paced; but this all helps to allow the mind to create its own colour.
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27 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Michael
- 08-10-05
Probably Worthwhile
Even at the "best" file format the audio quality is mediocre. The narrator's voice is affected and annoying. The text is airy, too general and glib. But, this is the only (entire) world history I've been able to find on audio and that counts for a lot. This audiobook is probably worth the price and the listening time.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Palantir
- 11-27-16
Impressive albeit flawed world history
World history, as a narrative subject, is still in its relative infancy, with attempts at it few and far between. J. M. Roberts 1976 tome was one of the first broadly published, and it was not until the wildly successful 'Guns, Germs and Steel' decades later that world history became accepted as a genuine literary pursuit (critics always claimed it was impossible to adequately capture world history in a single volume). As such, Roberts' work, although updated many times until 2002 in this recording, is very much a product of its time - a staunch defence of the validity of world history as well as a deliberately provocative narrative replete with snipes that fluctuate between sarcastic humour and outright offense towards just about everyone. Frederick Davidson's reading perfectly matches this tone - it's very entertaining and enjoyable to listen to, but the occasionally troubled pronunciations of now well-known foreign names ('Chernobyl', for example) is telling. This is definitely a world history for a bygone generation.
Roberts greatest flaw (in my opinion) is an attempt to ascribe the enlightenment (i.e., reliance on reason and evidence over intuition and superstition) to European culture and from there spreading as a 'Europeanization' of the world. As a modern reader (and a European to boot), this seems as absurd as attempts in ages past to ascribe the coming of agriculture to a particular civilisation until it was realised that it emerged independently in several places by different cultures. Why the adoption of Arabic mathematics and science wasn't similarly called an 'Arabization' of the world, or the adoption of Mongolian cavalry warfare and Chinese gunpowder wasn't called a 'Sinization' of the world I think illustrates the problem with such phrases which attempt to claim cultural credit.
Fortunately, such cultural attributions are in decline, just as racial attributions were once in vogue as a misuse of Darwinian reasoning and since discredited. I cannot, therefore, recommend this work for new readers of world history. As others have noted, it is too skewed towards prosecuting the case for a European hegemony, labouring far too heavily on this thesis at the expense of far more interesting topics within distinctive cultures. For readers interested in the 'history of world history', though, this is an excellent bookmark in the evolution of the topic - highly illuminating of the mindset and perspective of that time and in that place (Europe). As the author points out, he can only write as a white Anglo-Saxon male (which I am too!). The difference between us, though, is about 60 years in age, and as such, a more recent (and ironically 'enlightened') account of world history would probably suit younger readers ... if only there were some more to choose from!
There are excellent sections within this work, and it is best to approach it by specific chapters of interest (most of which never exceed 90 minutes). In this way, as a series of topics, it is very manageable and the useful knowledge is clearly revealed in between the opening and closing remarks which tend to stray into the provocative style already noted.
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- Mike
- 11-13-13
A Good Introduction to World History
Any additional comments?
This was a fine introduction to World history. It was, by necessity, very long. Also, as someone with a strong background in history already, I felt that I learned little that I did not already know from high school and college history courses. If you are looking for a detailed history or a highly engaging overview (if there is such a thing for World history!), you should probably look elsewhere, otherwise it is a good book to listen to.
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