Medieval Horizons
Why the Middle Ages Matter
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Narrated by:
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Ian Mortimer
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By:
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Ian Mortimer
About this listen
The essential introduction to the Middle Ages by the bestselling author of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward, and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance, and superstition. By contrast, we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuries created the modern world.
We couldn't be more wrong. As Ian Mortimer shows in this fascinating book, people's horizons-their knowledge, experience, and understanding of the world-expanded dramatically. Life was utterly transformed between 1000 and 1600, marking the transition from a warrior-led society to that of Shakespeare.
Just as The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England revealed what it was like to live in the fourteenth century, Medieval Horizons provides the perfect primer to the era as a whole. It outlines the enormous cultural changes that took place—from literacy to living standards, inequality, and even the developing sense of self—thereby correcting misconceptions and presenting the period as a revolutionary age of fundamental importance in the development of the Western world.
©2023 Ian Mortimer (P)2024 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
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Mythology: Mega Collection
- Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology
- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser, Oliver Hunt
- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
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Flannery O'Connor and the Scandal of Faith
- By: Jessica Hooten Wilson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jessica Hooten Wilson
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
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Across six revealing lectures, Professor Jessica Hooten Wilson will introduce you to one of the 20th century’s most fascinating and divisive writers in Flannery O’Connor and the Scandal of Faith. Beginning with an overview of her brief but remarkable life, Professor Wilson will then take you through an exploration of themes in O’Connor’s work and the hallmarks of her literary style. You’ll get a clearer picture of O’Connor’s historical and geographical context while digging into how her stories can transcend time and place.
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The author reading her own book.
- By James T Casey on 12-16-24
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The Pagan World
- Ancient Religions Before Christianity
- By: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Hans-Friedrich Mueller
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
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In The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives. Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, of Union College in Schenectady, New York, makes this ancient world come alive in 24 lectures with captivating stories of intrigue, artifacts, illustrations, and detailed descriptions from primary sources of intriguing personalities.
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The Pagan World
- By arnold e andersen md Dr Andersen on 03-28-20
By: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, and others
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The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome
- By: Gregory S. Aldrete, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
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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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Gregory S. Aldrete is a treasure
- By Laurel Tucker on 02-04-19
By: Gregory S. Aldrete, and others
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Fingerprints of the Gods
- The Quest Continues
- By: Graham Hancock
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
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Fingerprints of the Gods is the revolutionary rewrite of history that has persuaded millions of listeners throughout the world to change their preconceptions about the history behind modern society. An intellectual detective story, this unique history audiobook directs probing questions at orthodox history, presenting disturbing new evidence that historians have tried - but failed - to explain.
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Classic in Historical Mysteries
- By Kelly on 09-05-19
By: Graham Hancock
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What listeners say about Medieval Horizons
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Peter Wombat
- 11-23-24
Changing perspectives
I was aware of most of the 'facts' presented here, such as the 'loss' of glassmaking knowledge in Europe with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, But not quite the corollary to that, the loss of mirrors. And how that had a profound impact, and the importance of their rediscovery. Definitely interesting and worth the time to get a new understanding of the not so dark 'dark ages.'
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- D. Lockwood
- 10-07-24
relavence
a very convincing argument for the dependence of the modern world on the accomplishments of the medieval.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Regina
- 11-11-24
Outstanding Scholarship provides New Understandings of centuries, important to understanding our own time.
This is truly an example of how informative scholarship can completely alter prior understanding of an historical period. The reader makes his own writing engaging. The strength of his argument coupled with the bountiful support from reliable sources makes his position utterly breathtaking. Highly recommended both for young students and established historians.
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- Sarah Harpending
- 10-15-24
The empathy this book created for the mindset of a medieval person.
Well, at some point, the read aloud narrative of this book did get bogged down in extreme levels of detail, overall it was a compelling listen that brought the reader to understand the horizon as it existed in the middle ages, and especially how that horizon kept expanding century after century asEurope developed.
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- TheoBabe
- 09-25-24
The metaphor of the horizon
The narration is superb - passionate and clear, engaging the listener. The approach is interesting as much for the intent as the realization of it: a social history that takes the period seriously and yet despite this sometimes cannot resist reading the contemporary into the past. For the general reader, I would hope they explore further; for the more specialized reader, it presents interesting ways of seeing the Middle Ages, but remains in some ways too chained to contemporary ways of seeing humanity. The importation and generalization of secular/sacred and the literacy devoted to one writer were annoying to one with a deep knowledge of the period and of its theology. Nevertheless I applaud the effort and the purpose and the passion of the writer.
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-18-24
Fills iwith a different perserspective
I have been reading about Medieval times since I was a child and have always found it fascinating. This book offers a different perspective from the now-dated "Dark Ages" histories I read while young, and is devoid of the concentration on bishops, knights, and nobles. I love historical novels of the period (not bodice-ripping romance novels), but this book grounded me in the reality. My perspective of the Medieval age has been updated.
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4 people found this helpful
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- IowaGreyhound
- 06-25-24
Altered my perception of History
An excellent look at how changes in the past lead to modern equipment, philosophies, etc. The book is loaded with astounding things done in the Middle Ages that the average man could not duplicate today without computers, construction equipment, scientific instruments, etc. Something as overlooked as the re-discover of the mirror provided a new look at self, both externally and internally. This led to amazing advancements of individuality and freedom. The author did a fantastic job of covering a large swath of history in a previously unseen way. I highly recommend the book.
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6 people found this helpful