The First Samurai
The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado
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Narrated by:
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Matt Miller
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By:
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Karl Friday
About this listen
Was samurai warrior Taira Masakado a quixotic megalomaniac or a hero swept up by events beyond his control? Did he really declare himself to be the new emperor? Did he suffer divine retribution for his ego and ambition? Filled with insurrections, tribal uprisings, pirate disturbances, and natural disasters, this action-packed account of Masakado's insurrection offers a captivating introduction to the samurai, their role in 10th-century society, and the world outside the capital - a must-listen for those interested in early Japan, samurai warfare, or the mystique of ancient warriors.
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The Sacred Band
- Three Hundred Theban Lovers Fighting to Save Greek Freedom
- By: James Romm
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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From classicist James Romm comes a thrilling deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes - and the saga of the greatest military corps of the age, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers.
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Stop now and don’t buy this book.
- By Robert Pitman on 06-08-21
By: James Romm
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God's Shadow
- Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Alan Mikhail
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
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Entertaining narrative, but poor scholarship
- By Yosemite on 09-15-20
By: Alan Mikhail
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The End of Empire
- Attila the Hun & the Fall of Rome
- By: Christopher Kelly
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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History remembers Attila, the leader of the Huns, as the Romans perceived him: a savage barbarian brutally inflicting terror on whoever crossed his path. Following Attila and the Huns from the steppes of Kazakhstan to the court of Constantinople, Christopher Kelly portrays Attila in a compelling new light, uncovering an unlikely marriage proposal, a long-standing relationship with a treacherous Roman general, and a thwarted assassination plot.
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LISTEN TO THE SAMPLE
- By Chelsea on 03-23-21
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Ghost on the Throne
- The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire
- By: James S. Romm
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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When Alexander the Great died at the age of 32, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea in the west all the way to modern-day India in the east. In an unusual compromise, his two heirs - a mentally damaged half brother, Philip III, and an infant son, Alexander IV, born after his death - were jointly granted the kingship. But six of Alexander's Macedonian generals, spurred by their own thirst for power and the legend that Alexander bequeathed his rule "to the strongest," fought to gain supremacy.
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ends a bit short
- By RIR on 06-14-21
By: James S. Romm
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The Viking Heart
- How Scandinavians Conquered the World
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Scandinavia has always been a world apart. For millennia Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes lived a remote and rugged existence among the fjords and peaks of the land of the midnight sun. But when they finally left their homeland in search of opportunity, these wanderers — including the most famous, the Vikings — would reshape Europe and beyond.
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Confused and not worth the time and money
- By Jacob The Dane on 08-16-21
By: Arthur Herman
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Alexander the Great
- The Hunt for a New Past
- By: Paul Cartledge
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Cartledge, one of the world's foremost scholars of ancient Greece, illuminates the brief but iconic life of Alexander (356-323 B.C.), king of Macedon, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and founder of a new world order. Alexander's legacy has had a major impact on military tacticians, scholars, statesmen, adventurers, authors, and filmmakers.
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NOT a Chronology of Alexander’s Life
- By Blane Richoux on 12-30-20
By: Paul Cartledge
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The Horde
- How the Mongols Changed the World
- By: Marie Favereau
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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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
- By Amazon Customer on 03-10-22
By: Marie Favereau
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Great State
- China and the World
- By: Timothy Brook
- Narrated by: Timothy Brook
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The world-renowned scholar and author of Vermeer’s Hat does for China what Mary Beard did for Rome in SPQR: Timothy Brook analyzes the last eight centuries of China’s relationship with the world in this magnificent history that brings together accounts from civil servants, horse traders, spiritual leaders, explorers, pirates, emperors, migrant workers, invaders, visionaries, and traitors - creating a multifaceted portrait of this highly misunderstood nation.
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No Cohesiveness
- By Mark on 05-21-20
By: Timothy Brook
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The Birth of Britain
- A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Volume I
- By: Sir Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The English-speaking peoples comprise perhaps the greatest number of human beings sharing a common language in the world today. These people also share a common heritage. For his four-volume work, Sir Winston Churchill took as his subject these great elements in world history. Volume 1 commences in 55BC, when Julius Caesar famously "turned his gaze upon Britain" and concludes with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
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Birth of Britain
- By Terryl Pettengill on 02-11-07
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The Anarchy
- The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
- By: William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Sid Sagar
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting audiobook to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
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excellent book but awkward narration
- By TexasVC on 02-25-20
What listeners say about The First Samurai
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- SFDrummer
- 02-18-22
history
great history. story. it should be made into a movie. a true legend. first rebel samurai.
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- arrow
- 07-19-20
Fantastic read
Masakado’s story is used to provide insight into the social and political environment of Heian japan and sets up the transition to warrior rule.
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- Leonard S.
- 05-08-21
Fascinating
This period in Japanese history is a particular interest of mine. This book illustrates the Heian period shift in political power in considerable detail. The book explains much more than a simple biography of one man. My only complaint is that the recording quality and energy level of the performance varies every few lines. While I do find it distracting, it doesn't detract from the wealth if information contained in this book.
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- Sean
- 08-30-23
Mediocre in entirety
Reader can’t correctly pronounce English words most of the time and certainly none of the Japanese names and titles.
The books content is half researched and based heavily on assumptions that are common modern western mistakes. He compares often to medieval European battles which he clearly hasn’t researched making them doubly useless and poor writing. The first hour of this already short book doesn’t touch the synopsis provided or anything about ancient Japan or Samurai.
If you are more than half interested in this history or know about ancient Japan already don’t waste your time or money on this already overpriced
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- Matthew Stavros
- 10-29-20
outstanding narration
this is a classic history of the samurai read by a truly gifted narrator.
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