The Creators
A History of Heroes of the Imagination
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Narrated by:
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Michael Jackson
About this listen
In this engrossing book, Boorstin examines what people have added to the world: painting, sculpture, architecture, theology, philosophy, history, poetry, drama, literature, dance, music, and film.
In a narrative brimming with lively biographical sketches and illuminating anecdotes, Boorstin captures the remarkable history of artistic achievement in the West.
Here is a truly epic story, told with all the excitement, appreciation, and authority Boorstin brought to The Discoverers.
©1992 Daniel J. Boorstin (P)1992 The Publishing MillsListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.
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Note!--Abridged version
- By Scott on 01-05-16
By: James Shapiro
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The Rise and Fall of Alexandria
- Birthplace of the Modern Mind
- By: Justin Pollard, Howard Reid
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Founded by Alexander the Great and built by self-styled Greek pharaohs, the city of Alexandria at its height dwarfed both Athens and Rome. It was the marvel of its age, legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lighthouse. But it was most famous for the astonishing intellectual efflorescence it fostered and the library it produced. If the European Renaissance was the "rebirth" of Western culture, then Alexandria, Egypt, was its birthplace.
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A good listen
- By Jeffrey on 10-02-08
By: Justin Pollard, and others
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The Written World
- The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization
- By: Martin Puchner
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the powerful role stories and literature have played in creating the world we have today. Puchner introduces us to numerous visionaries as he explores 16 foundational texts selected from more than 4,000 years of world literature and reveals how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs. Indeed, literature has touched generations and changed the course of history.
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Powerful and illuminating!
- By Gloria J. Petit-Clair on 12-04-17
By: Martin Puchner
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The Sistine Secrets
- Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
- By: Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Five hundred years ago, Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world - the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork.
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Well-researched!
- By Natalie K. on 08-28-17
By: Benjamin Blech, and others
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God’s Secretaries
- The Making of the King James Bible
- By: Adam Nicolson
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the greatest work of English prose ever written, and it is no coincidence that the translation was made at the moment “Englishness” and the English language had come into its first passionate maturity. Boisterous, elegant, subtle, majestic, finely nuanced, sonorous, and musical, the English of Jacobean England has a more encompassing idea of its own reach and scope than any before or since. It is a form of the language that drips with potency and sensitivity. The age, with all its conflicts, explains the book.
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Not what I was expecting
- By Greg on 12-29-13
By: Adam Nicolson
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Leonardo and the Last Supper
- By: Ross King
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Early in 1495, Leonardo da Vinci began work in Milan on what would become one of history's most influential and beloved works of art - The Last Supper. After a dozen years at the court of Lodovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, Leonardo was at a low point personally and professionally: at 43, in an era when he had almost reached the average life expectancy, he had failed, despite a number of prestigious commissions, to complete anything that truly fulfilled his astonishing promise.
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Informative yet creative
- By Isabellabasil on 05-27-15
By: Ross King
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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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A Wicked Company
- The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The flourishing of radical philosophy in Baron Thierry Holbach’s Paris salon from the 1750s to the 1770s stands as a seminal event in Western history. Holbach’s house was an international epicenter of revolutionary ideas and intellectual daring, bringing together such original minds as Denis Diderot, Laurence Sterne, David Hume, Adam Smith, Ferdinando Galiani, Horace Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, Guillaume Raynal, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In A Wicked Company, acclaimed historian Philipp Blom retraces the fortunes of this exceptional group of friends.
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Excellent Book on Radical Enlightenment
- By EJJ on 02-15-15
By: Philipp Blom
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The Renaissance
- A Captivating Guide to a Remarkable Period in European History, Including Stories of People Such as Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Copernicus, Shakespeare, and Leonardo da Vinci
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Richard L. Walton
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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If you want to discover the captivating history of the Renaissance, then pay attention.
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Monotone reader
- By Harry R. Martin on 08-07-19
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Emerson
- The Mind on Fire
- By: Robert D. Richardson
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 26 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord.
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Finally!
- By Douglas on 08-15-14
What listeners say about The Creators
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gary Kurutz
- 03-12-13
The Creators
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Boorstin is a brilliant, brilliant scholar. The audible version, however, did not quite have the some dynamism as reading the actual book.
Could you see The Creators being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Maybe a PBS series.
Any additional comments?
Thank you for making this available.
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1 person found this helpful
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- DJ
- 04-25-18
Abridged: Disappointing
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
No. He's such a great author. Why the abridged version?
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
ho hum
Which scene was your favorite?
Renaissance period
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
No. It's not meant to be a movie. 5-10 documentaries perhaps. Yes
Any additional comments?
Why not the unabridged version? He's such a great writer. I was disappointed. I didn't know it was an abridged version when I bought it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Elizabeth
- 03-05-03
No one should miss this book...
This book was recommended to me by a friend. It is one of the most interesting books of the history of ALL the creators. Most of it was new knowledge and told like a storyteller, which kept my attention all the time. I have relistened to parts of it, so that I can memorize this important information.
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24 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Hans
- 06-05-06
the ultimate anthology
Boorstin is the master of the brief history of...well, anything. We enjoy everything by him as a beautiful introduction to a vast array of people and ideas, from which we can then decide if we wish to investigage further. This is wonderfully written and perfectly read. A strong recommendation! Hans & Betty
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1 person found this helpful
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- israela harkham
- 09-20-22
excellent
as an overall intro this was good as it led me to further research the creators that interested me
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- Ginger
- 03-01-15
Strange but beautiful
Would you consider the audio edition of The Creators to be better than the print version?
Toss up.
What other book might you compare The Creators to and why?
Coming of Age in the Milky Way : Timothy Ferris. Avail on Audible. Endearing portraits of the oddballs who just have to create and explore.
What about Michael Jackson’s performance did you like?
Conversational tone, as if recounting old stories and characters. His delivery and the editing are herky jerky: this takes some getting used to be I've grown found of it, as it heightens the randomness and connectivity of creation.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Willingness to take both spirituality and religious figures seriously.
Any additional comments?
Great for listeners like me, who use non fiction audio as bedtime stories, and who draw inspiration from the details and influences in the great lives.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- John
- 03-10-10
Good survey
This is an informative historical survey of those whom Boorstin must consider the greatest creators from multiple disciplines. What I found maddeningly distracting was the narrator's mispronunciation of many of the names. Fair warning for those who are being introduced to these creators and their works for the first time. I wish I had kept a list to include here.
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Overall
- Dennis
- 07-20-09
Full version would have been better!
It is a good book and is nicely written however, because the audio book is abridged, you lose a lot of the meaning compared to the actual book, of which I have both. It is nice, but if you actually want the entire message and less chaos, save you money and buy the actual written version.
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15 people found this helpful
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- James C Kern
- 02-27-22
Content solid, audiobook narrative poor
Nothing wrong with the book, Content solid. But the audiobook narrative is poor, it Sounds like a robot is reading it.
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Overall
- Brian Harper
- 04-04-11
Simplistic, Outdated, Factually Challenged
The sort of popular history that's thankfully gone out of fashion, where the complicated, messy real world is shoehorned into a handful of Grand Themes and Big Ideas.
I noticed a number of factual errors, too. For example, he says the funds for the Parthenon came solely from the citizens of Athens, when in fact they were drawn from the (pan-Hellenic) Delian League.
If you're interested in any of what Boorstin covers, just pick a current volume by an actual expert.
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1 person found this helpful