Lost Enlightenment
Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Stillwell
About this listen
In this rich and sweeping history, S. Frederick Starr tells the fascinating but largely unknown story of Central Asia's medieval enlightenment through the eventful lives and astonishing accomplishments of its greatest minds - remarkable figures who built a bridge to the modern world. Because nearly all of these figures wrote in Arabic, they were long assumed to have been Arabs. In fact, they were from Central Asia - drawn from the Persianate and Turkic peoples of a region that today extends from Kazakhstan southward through Afghanistan, and from the easternmost province of Iran through Xinjiang, China.
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. They gave algebra its name, calculated the earth's diameter with unprecedented precision, wrote the books that later defined European medicine, and penned some of the world's greatest poetry.
One scholar, working in Afghanistan, even predicted the existence of North and South America - five centuries before Columbus. Rarely in history has a more impressive group of polymaths appeared at one place and time. No wonder that their writings influenced European culture from the time of St. Thomas Aquinas down to the scientific revolution, and had a similarly deep impact in India and much of Asia.
Lost Enlightenment chronicles this forgotten age of achievement, seeks to explain its rise, and explores the competing theories about the cause of its eventual demise. Informed by the latest scholarship yet presented in a lively and accessible style, this is a book that will surprise general listeners and specialists alike.
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A good book marred by awful narration
- By Dr. Philip Fowler on 02-23-24
By: Matthew Restall
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Infinitesimal
- How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World
- By: Amir Alexander
- Narrated by: Ira Rosenberg
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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On August 10, 1632, five men in flowing black robes convened in a somber Roman palazzo to pass judgment on a deceptively simple proposition: that a continuous line is composed of distinct and infinitely tiny parts. With the stroke of a pen the Jesuit fathers banned the doctrine of infinitesimals, announcing that it could never be taught or even mentioned. The concept was deemed dangerous and subversive, a threat to the belief that the world was an orderly place, governed by a strict and unchanging set of rules.
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An intriguing and underappreciated bit of history
- By Marino on 09-22-14
By: Amir Alexander
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Introducing the Ancient Greeks
- From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind
- By: Edith Hall
- Narrated by: Sian Thomas
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed classics scholar Edith Hall's Introducing the Ancient Greeks is the first book to offer a synthesis of the entire ancient Greek experience, from the rise of the Mycenaean kingdoms of the sixteenth century BC to the final victory of Christianity over paganism in AD 391. Each of the ten chapters visits a different Greek community at a different moment during the twenty centuries of ancient Greek history.
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Surveying the Greeks
- By Jolene on 05-31-18
By: Edith Hall
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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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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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A.D. 381
- Heretics, Pagans, and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In A.D. 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide-ranging debate about the nature of God; all other interpretations were now declared heretical.
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Dont pass it up
- By brett on 01-21-11
By: Charles Freeman
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A History of the Jews
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 28 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This historical magnum opus covers 4,000 years of the extraordinary history of the Jews as a people, a culture, and a nation. It shows the impact of Jewish character on the world: their genius, imagination, and, most of all, their ability to persevere despite severe persecutions. Compelling insights into events and individuals are chronologically detailed, from Moses and Jesus to Spinoza, Marx, Freud, the Rothschilds, and Golda Meir.
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Excellent History
- By Rilezmom on 06-06-09
By: Paul Johnson
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The Lost History of Christianity
- The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church --- and How It Died
- By: Philip Jenkins
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The Lost History of Christianity will change how we understand Christian and world history. Leading religion scholar Philip Jenkins reveals a vast Christian world to the east of the Roman Empire and how the earliest, most influential churches of the East---those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church---died. In this paradigm-shifting book, Jenkins recovers a lost history, showing how the center of Christianity for centuries used to be the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, extending as far as China.
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Worthwhile with caveats
- By Telorast on 03-05-13
By: Philip Jenkins
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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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Worlds at War
- The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 20 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of Jared Diamond and Jacques Barzun, prize-winning historian Anthony Pagden presents a sweeping history of the long struggle between East and West, from the Greeks to the present day.
The relationship between East and West has always been one of turmoil. In this historical tour de force, a renowned historian leads us from the world of classical antiquity, through the Dark Ages, to the Crusades, Europe's resurgence, and the dominance of the Ottoman Empire, which almost shattered Europe entirely. Pagden travels from Napoleon in Egypt to Europe's carving up of the finally moribund Ottomans - creating the modern Middle East along the way - and on to the present struggles in Iraq.
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Great story, with a lot of unfamiliar names
- By Tad Davis on 07-02-08
By: Anthony Pagden
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How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
- By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.
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Fascinating and informative
- By Michael Kellogg on 09-29-05
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China: A History of China and East Asia 3rd Edition
- By: Adam Brown
- Narrated by: Sarah Moore
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Have you ever wondered how China became the most populous and one of the most industrially active nations today? This audiobook will take you from Ancient China and imperial dynasties to communism and capitalism. Discover the rich history of this superpower. Subjects include: agriculture, capitalism, ancient Chinese culture, language, spirituality and religion, literature, music, arts, architecture, history of martial arts, old-world medicine, military history, and the Sun Tzu dynasties.
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Amazing!
- By Amber Levine on 09-10-19
By: Adam Brown
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The Library
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Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes, or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied, and stuffed full of incident.
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Stays on point
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The Horde
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Favereau takes us inside one of the most powerful sources of cross-border integration in world history. The Horde was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the 13th and 14th centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. Its unique political regime - a complex power-sharing arrangement among the khan and the nobility - rewarded skillful administrators and diplomats and fostered an economic order that was mobile, organized, and innovative.
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Golden Horde complete history, well done
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The First Kingdom
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Somewhere in the dim void between the departure from Britain of the Roman legions at the start of the fifth century and the days of the venerable Bede, the kingdoms of Early Medieval Britain were formed. But by whom? And out of what? Max Adams scrutinises the narrative handed down to us by later historians and chronicles, stripping away the most lurid nonsense about Arthur and synthesising the research of the last 40 years to tease out strands of reality from myth.
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Very interesting, but not in my truck
- By Liz on 03-03-21
By: Max Adams
What listeners say about Lost Enlightenment
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Hilton
- 04-30-14
Impressively follows up an interesting claim
What made the experience of listening to Lost Enlightenment the most enjoyable?
Mr. Starr paints a very interesting picture of Central Asia (say, modernly, eastern Iran through the -stan countries and western China) and for very many centuries. He does not fail his claim that the region has a "Lost Enlightenment." The numerous parallels to the better known European Enlightenment are most striking: right down to the Brethren of Purity as a rough counterpart to the 18th century Masons (my comparison, not his). The huge debt which world civilization would seem to owe the nowadays-obscure region is most impressive. And at any rate you can be confident it's a good read if you did click for pre-modern Central Asia with any idea that the subject could interest you.
What did you like best about this story?
It's always particularly titillating to learn about a time and place you know little about.I'd wonder that any Central Asian specialists browse the book on audible, so I think it's sure to be fresh to anyone who might hear it.
Have you listened to any of Kevin Stillwell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I had not heard Mr. Stillwell before. I thought his intonation was maybe the slightest bit idiosyncratic in how often it gave a questioning lilt, but it certainly wasn't anything objectionable: endearing after a while, even.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I think this question disregards the length of the work. I listened to it without listening to anything else.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-04-18
Legendary unique in both prospect and details
This masterpiece surpassed all my expectations in all aspects of Central Asian intellectual history. Truly a MUST read!
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- William Tyler
- 10-17-18
Great
Loved the history and brought me back to college days when I studied this stuff.
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- Roger
- 03-07-14
Thorough Account of an Overlooked Age and Area
One of the great ironies in intellectual history is that the knowledge of ancient Greece was largely lost to Europe in the early Middle Ages, but was saved in the Islamic world and then reintroduced to Europe through Moslem Spain. This book gives great insight into the middle leg of that story in a thorough and accessible manner. Starr sets out to explain the rise of the Central Asian Enlightenment, describe all its glories, and then explain its decline.
Central Asia, in the centuries both before and during its Enlightenment, was at the crossroads of vast commercial activities. These included the famous Silk Road to China, as well as routes to India, the Middle East and Europe. Starr focuses on how Central Asia was able to use the interactions and wealth brought by such trade to create an intellectual class. This class was both familiar and comfortable with different cultures and languages and was also used to serving as middlemen between different peoples and cultures. Those intellectuals took the ancient knowledge, sifted it through the other influences of the region, integrated it with knowledge from India and China and made substantial contributions of their own.
The book contrasts the acme of the Central Asian Enlightenment with the comparative backwardness of Europe at the time and then further contrasts the opposite trajectories in intellectual history each area subsequently followed.
Starr argues that religious dogmatism and conflict were prime causes of the decline in the Central Asian Enlightenment. While outside the scope of this book, Starr’s other comparisons of Central Asia and Europe lead to the fascinating question of why European intellectuals were able to escape the intellectual conformity imposed, frequently quite violently, by the Roman Catholic Church, which was even more organized and bureaucratic than Islam, while those in Central Asia could not do so.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Anthony
- 10-05-16
Wow what a thorough and well written book!
Obviously the subject of Central Asia is a very niche subject, so trying to find a good book on the area made me hesitant, but this book far surpassed my expectations. The author gives such an extensive background on the area and relates how these events effect other things. History is interconnected and this relates that. Sometimes he gives a little too much detail for the average reader but that is what makes this book so awesome because you learn SO much. This book might be a little over a beginner's head but still is fantastic.
But overall, fantastic book and would highly recommend for anyone who is interested in the subject. I would be surprised to find another book that covers this area and this time so thoroughly and in such an entertaining fashion.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-13-19
It clarifies the processes of thought
I have come to know if this book from Dr. Adib Farhadi. He is a teacher of mine and a direct student of Dr. Starr. I would call it a best advice from my teacher. Because the book delves into the nuances of the central Asian enlightenment. It clears the shroud of misconceptions on the great minds of that era. Taking an approach through economy, the book lays some fundamental questions regarding the rise and fall of intellectual cultures.
As there are several factors at play in the rise of intellectual cultures same goes for the fall of them. But it seemed to me that there are no certain factors that doubtlessly come at play. Rather like Ibn Khaldun pointed out, it follows a sign curve. Starting from the discussion of ancient maestro reaches to the zenith of original ideas and ground breaking thoughts. The decline entails the mere commentaries and debate on the ideas of the zenith.
The book paints a detailed picture of the genius works and time of central Asian intellectual culture. A culture that allowed a vibrant but dialectic freedom of thought.
A must read for those that seek knowledge for he sake of it. As it will give a methodical insight to the challenges of free knowledge seeking.
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- Kindle Customer
- 09-06-22
A great through history that is rarely covered
Great narration!
Another great story of what might have been... The lessons are timely today and I suspect will be as well as 300 years.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-12-21
enlightening read!
great book! very detailed yet easy to follow. opens up a whole new world for the average person.
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- Joe Sparty
- 04-29-22
Excellent overview of a remarkable age
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a broad overview of one the most fascinating and overlooked regions of the world. So much of our understanding of places in Central Asia (including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.) is colored by very recent events. To hear about some of the great scientists, astronomers, engineers, poets, generals, and statesmen from this one region over such a long period of time was eye opening to say the least. This book will change the way you view Central Asia.
Some parts of the book can get a bit dry, but having the pertinent background to some of these stories is necessary to understand the overall arc of the history. Also some names tended to crop up repeatedly and I would be temporarily confused as to whether the author was moving backwards in time or whether a particular person was a namesake of an earlier historic figure.
I highly recommend pairing this book with Lars Brownworth's "Lost to the West" which is a very good overview of a similar time period in the lands just to the West of Central Asia. Both books cover histories that should be given more prominence in Western education, especially since much of the golden ages of these civilizations occurred during the so-called Dark Ages of the West.
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- Urrooj Rehman
- 06-15-17
Must read book
This is one of those paradigm shifting books that is very important to read. It is thoroughly researched and helped me understand about the decline of Islamic civilization and why we are in the predicament today.
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10 people found this helpful