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The Italian Renaissance
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
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Publisher's summary
This great historical essay tells you why this extraordinary event occurred and why it finally died out, though its effects lasted hundreds of years. Ironically, all the great pomp and splendor of the Italian Renaissance was accompanied by some of the worst violence and mayhem that Italy has ever experienced. In the midst of splendor unheard of, men murdered, stole, raped, lied, and cuckolded friend and foe. Horrible torture, brutal war, and poisonous political intrigue went hand in hand with the most sumptuous artistic and literary output in European history. Follow this incredible story to understand the Italian Renaissance in ways you never conceived.
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Beginning in the 18th century with the building of St. Petersburg - a 'window on the West' - and culminating with the challenges posed to Russian identity by the Soviet regime, Figes examines how writers, artists, and musicians grappled with the idea of Russia itself - its character, spiritual essence and destiny. He skillfully interweaves the great works - by Dostoevsky, Stravinsky, and Chagall - with folk embroidery, peasant songs, religious icons and all the customs of daily life, from food and drink to bathing habits to beliefs about the spirit world.
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A Kaleidescopic panorama of an enigmatic culture.
- By Tarquin on 02-13-19
By: Orlando Figes
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Machiavelli
- Philosopher of Power
- By: Ross King
- Narrated by: Tim Reynolds
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Machiavelli is a superb portrait of the brilliant and revolutionary political philosopher - history's most famous theorist of "warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed" - and the age he embodied. Ross King, the New York Times best-selling author of Brunelleschi's Dome, argues that the author of The Prince was a far more complex and sympathetic character than is often portrayed.
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Awesome
- By Crisitna Tunon on 07-16-21
By: Ross King
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The Florentines
- From Dante to Galileo: The Transformation of Western Civilization
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Between the birth of Dante in 1265 and the death of Galileo in 1642, something happened that transformed the entire culture of Western civilization. Painting, sculpture, and architecture would all visibly change in such a striking fashion that there could be no going back on what had taken place. Likewise, the thought and self-conception of humanity would take on a completely new aspect. Sciences would be born - or emerge in an entirely new guise.
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Narrator ruins the narrative
- By amavita on 03-24-22
By: Paul Strathern
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The Bad Popes
- By: E.R. Chamberlin
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The papal tiara has been worn by a number of infamous men through the course of its history. Some have been accused of murder, many have had mistresses, while others sold positions in the church to their followers or gave land and wealth to their illegitimate children. E. R. Chamberlin examines the lives of eight of the most controversial popes, from the reign of Pope Stephen VI, who had his predecessor exhumed, put on trial and thrown in the Tiber, in the ninth century, through to Pope Clement VII, whose failed international policy led to the Sack of Rome in 1527.
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Complete trash.
- By George on 07-16-21
By: E.R. Chamberlin
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Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Jesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. Through the Eye of a Needle is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world's foremost scholar of late antiquity.
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A learned, well-balanced postmodern history
- By Jacobus on 11-21-12
By: Peter Brown
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Venice
- Pure City
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Venetians' language and way of thinking set them aside from the rest of Italy. They are an island people, linked to the sea and to the tides rather than the land. This latest work from the incomparable Peter Ackroyd, like a magic gondola, transports its listeners to that sensual and surprising city. His account embraces facts and romance, conjuring up the atmosphere of the canals, bridges, and sunlit squares, the churches and the markets, the festivals and the flowers.
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An endless droning list.....
- By jack on 03-15-11
By: Peter Ackroyd
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48 Laws of Power
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 23 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.
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You don't have to be a psychopath to like this.
- By Gaggleframpf on 02-25-16
By: Robert Greene
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Titans of History
- The Giants Who Made Our World
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In this inspiring, horrifying, and accessible collection of short, entertaining, and vivid life stories, Simon Sebag Montefiore - one of our preeminent historians and a prizewinning writer - presents the giant characters who have changed the course of world history.
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Party line history
- By Narada on 11-24-18
What listeners say about The Italian Renaissance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Susan
- 07-25-06
Italian Renaissance
Although this download of "The Italian Renaissance" indicates that it is "unabridged", IT IS INCOMPLETE! The hard copy of the book is published with two parts. The first written by J.H. Plumb and the second by various authors. This recording only contains the first part of the book.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Richard
- 05-16-12
Felt like school
Would you try another book from J.H. Plumb and/or Charlton Griffin?
A moderately good job was done of presenting an incredibly rich and interesting period of history. However, the strongly accented narration made following it difficult, often painful. Perhaps to a well heeled Brit this will be a great version, but to an American, it could have been significantly better
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- Gary
- 06-04-14
History should be fun and this book wasn't.
History should be exciting. This book was not. It read as if it was a text book and all of the great stories that take place in this time period and the reason why it was so important for the reformation, enlightenment and today's times are not told within this book. Little context and no narrative is provided.
The author looks at each of the major Italian cities and describes them separately, then looks at some of the importance of painting, art and architecture of the period, and very little of the beginnings of the humanist thought or philosophy is presented in this book.
Don't get me wrong on this review. If you start the book, you'll probably finish it, but you will only be getting a text book like presentation of an incredibly exciting period of time and might be better served with another book on the topic which brings the history alive and would keep you on the edge of your seat the way such an exciting period of time should be told. History should be fun and this book wasn't.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- E. B. Samuel
- 02-02-07
Culture and Values
This book is more an overview of Italian Renaissance culture and values than a history. A fulsome account of the era's politics is absent, as is narrative drama.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jonathan Herdina
- 08-26-17
Not about specific artists
I am leaving to travel to Italy in about 2 weeks and was hoping that this book would give me insight and background information on some of the most influential artists of the time, including Michaelangelo and Da Vinci. It was hard for me to finish when they just kept hounding bigger, broader topics about various cities but nothing about artists. I probably should have researched this book more before buying.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Frank Donnelly
- 05-29-19
An Excellent, Information Packed Survey
This book, both the text and the audiobook are excellent. Some really good books make for a difficult listening experience. I did not find that to be the case here. The book is information packed. As I am interested in a more in depth study, I needed to stop and look up a lot of information. But that is a matter of personal choice. This book is highly readable and also provides an excellent basis for further study. Thank You...
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- Jim
- 01-26-13
INCOMPLETE!
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Include the second half of the book.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Very interesting look at the Italian Renaissance... but doesn't include the second half of the book!
Any additional comments?
Don't advertise this as "unabridged," and then only include half of the book!
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- Julie S.
- 02-10-20
Introduction to fascinating period in history
Good overview of one the most important periods of Western history. Well organized and presented.
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Overall
- DEW
- 03-24-09
A truly pleasurable experience
This little "essay" (to use the same description Jacob Burckhardt used for his work, "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy") is a brief, but wonderful introduction to the Italian Renaissance. Adding to the pleasure of this short book are the rich, sonorous tones of Charlton Griffin as the narrator and the brief introductory musical selections used to set the mood. If you love history of the Renaissance narrated by one of the truly great readers of our time, this is a must have selection.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 09-28-09
Charlton Griffin does it again.
I would have never finished this book in print. But Mr. Griffin's audio version was fascinating. My next listen to it will be in Venice and Florence with an iPod in my pocket and earphones in my ear while sipping an espresso in one of them piazzas. Can't wait.
Anthony Pour, CA
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4 people found this helpful