The Last Crusade
The Epic Voyages of Vasco da Gama
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Narrated by:
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Derek Perkins
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By:
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Nigel Cliff
About this listen
Historian Nigel Cliff delivers a sweeping, radical reinterpretation of Vasco da Gama's pioneering voyages, revealing their significance as a decisive turning point in the struggle between Christianity and Islam - a series of events which forever altered the relationship between East and West. Perfect for fans of Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Galileo's Daughter, and Atlantic, this first-ever complete account of da Gama's voyages includes new information from the recently discovered diaries of his sailors and an extraordinary series of letters between da Gama and the Zamorin, a king of modern-day Kerala, India.
Cliff, the author of The Shakespeare Riots, draws upon his own travels in da Gama's footsteps to add detail, authenticity, and a contemporary perspective to this riveting, one-of-a-kind historical epic.
©2011 Nigel Cliff (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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In Hitler's Munich
- Jews, the Revolution, and the Rise of Nazism
- By: Michael Brenner, Jeremiah Riemer - translator
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I and the failed November Revolution of 1918-19, the conservative government of Bavaria identified Jews with left-wing radicalism. Munich became a hotbed of right-wing extremism, with synagogues under attack and Jews physically assaulted in the streets. It was here that Adolf Hitler established the Nazi movement and developed his anti-Semitic ideas. Michael Brenner provides a gripping account of how Bavaria's capital city became the testing ground for Nazism and the Final Solution.
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In Hitler’s Munich
- By Florence Friedman on 02-20-23
By: Michael Brenner, and others
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The Triumph of Christianity
- How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion
- By: Rodney Stark
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Celebrated religious and social historian Rodney Stark traces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal and controversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world's largest religion.
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Balanced and unapologetic, excellent read
- By JARAM, CT on 08-04-20
By: Rodney Stark
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The Templars
- The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons
- By: Michael Haag
- Narrated by: Guy Bethell
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Arguably one of the most provocative, puzzling, and misunderstood organizations of medieval times, the legendary Knights Templar have always been shrouded in a veil of mystery, while inspiring popular culture from Indiana Jones to Dan Brown. In The Templars, author Michael Haag offers a definitive history of these loyal Christian soldiers of the Crusades - sworn to defend the Holy Land and Jerusalem, but ultimately damned and destroyed by the Pope and his church.
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Narrator ruined it
- By Amazon Customer on 10-19-17
By: Michael Haag
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The Ottoman Endgame
- War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923
- By: Sean McMeekin
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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An astonishing retelling of 20th-century history from the Ottoman perspective, delivering profound new insights into World War I and the contemporary Middle East. Between 1911 and 1922, a series of wars would engulf the Ottoman Empire and its successor states, in which the central conflict, of course, was World War I - a story we think we know well. As Sean McMeekin shows us in this revelatory new history of what he calls the "wars of the Ottoman succession", we know far less than we think.
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WWI from a different perspective
- By Michael L Krogh on 11-09-15
By: Sean McMeekin
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By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean
- The Birth of Eurasia
- By: Barry Cunliffe
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 18 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean is nothing less than the story of how humans first started building the globalized world we know today. Set on a huge continental stage, from Europe to China, it is a tale covering more than 10,000 years, from the origins of farming around 9000 BC to the expansion of the Mongols in the 13th century AD.
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Remarkable research!
- By B. Dillon on 07-21-22
By: Barry Cunliffe
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Two Houses, Two Kingdoms
- A History of France and England, 1100-1300
- By: Catherine Hanley
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a time of personal monarchy, when the close friendship or petty feuding between kings and queens could determine the course of history. The Capetians of France and the Angevins of England waged war, made peace, and intermarried. In this lively history, Catherine Hanley traces the great clashes, and occasional friendships, of the two dynasties. Along the way, she emphasizes the fascinating and influential women of the houses—including Eleanor of Aquitaine—and shows how personalities and familial bonds shaped the fate of two countries.
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Great book with a bit of slant
- By Ky on 12-20-22
By: Catherine Hanley
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River of Darkness
- Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
- By: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man". Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river.
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Amazing!
- By Sammi on 02-17-18
By: Buddy Levy
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The Modern Scholar: God Wills It!: Understanding the Crusades
- By: Thomas F. Madden
- Narrated by: Thomas F. Madden
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of the many crusades are filled with an unremitting passion to keep or return the home of Christianity to Christians. It is also filled with death, destruction, disorder, greed, avarice, and self-interest on all sides. Much of what occurred during the Crusades has come down to us today in the form of continued suspicion among religious ideologies - not only between Christians and Muslims, but also internally among Christian sects and, to some degree, among Muslim sects.
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Excellent set of lectures!
- By roryski on 01-23-11
By: Thomas F. Madden
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Greece Against Rome
- The Fall of the Hellenistic Kingdoms 250-31 BC
- By: Philip Matyszak
- Narrated by: Gareth Richards
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Towards the middle of the third century BC, the Hellenistic kingdoms were near their peak. In terms of population, economy, and military power, each was vastly superior to Rome, not to mention in fields such as medicine, architecture, science, philosophy, and literature. But over the next two and a half centuries, Rome would eventually conquer these kingdoms while adopting so much of Hellenistic culture that the resultant hybrid is known as "Graeco-Roman." In Greece Against Rome, Philip Matyszak relates this epic tale from the Hellenistic perspective.
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Really enjoyed the book and snark
- By Chris Smith on 05-27-23
By: Philip Matyszak
What listeners say about The Last Crusade
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark Phifer-Houseman
- 08-21-24
An Amazing work filling in forgotten history
I am a pretty well read person and although I knew of Vasco De Gama and the Portuguese “explorers” along Africa’s coasts all the way to Japan, this book gave the background, drama, personalities, and the tragedies of that history.
The audacity, greed, and seamanship of the Portuguese vs the long established Arab/Indian/African trading monopolies was a drama I could not stop listening to, even after Cross cultural blunders, mass murder, and hypocrisy piled up.
I am not sure a Muslim historian of the period would write as self-critical a work as this, but that makes it all the more a Christian project to testify to the non-Christ like behaviors of our “Christian” forebears. The author seems to tip toe around Muslim “crimes” from the period and focus on the wicked Portuguese, Spanish, and Venitians a bit too much for my taste, but given that it was written at the height of the post- 9/11 “war on terror” with the failed “nation building” in Iraq and Afghanistan, I can give him a pass on the self-flagellation.
Learned a TON, have greater empathy for Muslim nations who fear all Western interventions, and see a bit more how we got here.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-24-22
a library must have
Excellent book. A complete history, not only of Vasco de Gama, but of Portuguese history in Africa and India. Don't stop before reading the epilogue. This book is an important piece to my world history collection.
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- edward
- 11-19-23
Good.
I was looking for a story about the Portuguese, and specifically Vasco de Gama. I agree with a prior reviewer that is definitely slanted away from the Christians and written in more of a New World order approach. It still was interesting, although a bit dry. Very factual. But with the definite slant on the facts.Not sure I wholly recommend it.
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- BG
- 06-20-20
Exploration through lens of crusades
Great history of the period. Not really a biography of Da Gama, but interesting and easy to follow.
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- Danvil
- 02-08-21
Way too PC
Lots of details of the violence of the Portuguese but nothing mentioned about the massive slave trade of Islam in the world. I can’t say I would pay for this one sided distortion.
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2 people found this helpful