
The Other Ancient Civilisations
Decoding Archaeology's Less Celebrated Cultures
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Narrated by:
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Raven Todd DaSilva
About this listen
Discover other civilizations and cultures with rich and unique histories
Lesser-known ancient civilizations and cultures. Go beyond the popular stories of Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Inca, and the Maya, and uncover the rich diversity of people that are often overlooked. From the world's first peace treaty to daring expeditions across the Pacific, learn about twenty ancient and historic cultures from around the world that have had monumental impacts on our modern world.
A more nuanced look at the ancient world. The Other Ancient Civilisations looks outside mainstream ancient civilizations and cultures and delves into astounding finds unearthed at archaeological sites around the world. Discover the archaeology that sheds light on the secret stories of the Nubians, Olmec, Xiongnu, Minoans, Akkadians, and many more. Discover who they interacted with and how they lived, and what we can learn from them.
How archaeologists decode ancient cultures from what they left behind. Packed with summaries of current archaeological evidence, The Other Ancient Civilisations is an indispensable collection of fascinating stories and facts that have helped archaeologists change the way we understand history.
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Story
The Spartans of ancient Greece are typically portrayed as macho heroes: noble, laconic, totally fearless, and impervious to pain. And indeed, they often lived up to this image. But life was not as simple as this image suggests. In truth, ancient Sparta was a city of contrasts.
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If
- By Anonymous User on 05-07-25
By: Philip Matyszak
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Journeys of the Mind
- A Life in History
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 30 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The end of the ancient world was long regarded by historians as a time of decadence, decline, and fall. In his career-long engagement with this era, the widely acclaimed and pathbreaking historian Peter Brown has shown, however, that the "neglected half-millennium" now known as late antiquity was crucial to the development of modern Europe and the Middle East. In Journeys of the Mind, Brown recounts his life and work, describing his efforts to recapture the spirit of an age.
By: Peter Brown
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The Writer's Library
- The Authors You Love on the Books that Changed Their Lives
- By: Nancy Pearl, Jeff Schwager
- Narrated by: Nancy Pearl, Jeff Schwager, Xe Sands, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Before Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Jonathan Lethem became revered authors, they were readers. In this ebullient book, America’s favorite librarian Nancy Pearl and noted-playwright Jeff Schwager interview a diverse range of America's most notable and influential writers about the books that shaped them and inspired them to leave their own literary mark. The Writer’s Library is a revelatory exploration of the studies, libraries, and bookstores of today’s favorite authors.
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An experiment with an unfortunate outcome
- By sigrun on 05-29-22
By: Nancy Pearl, and others
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World Prehistory
- The Basics
- By: Brian M. Fagan, Nadia Durrani
- Narrated by: Lee Goettl
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Why is world prehistory important in the modern world? What does it tell us about ourselves? Providing a simple, but entertaining and stimulating, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective, World Prehistory: The Basics is the ideal guide to the story of our early human past and its relevance to the modern world.
By: Brian M. Fagan, and others
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Lost to Time
- Unforgettable Stories That History Forgot
- By: Martin W. Sandler
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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"The only thing new in the world," said Harry S. Truman, "is the history you don't know." In this fresh and fascinating collection of historical vignettes, Martin W. Sandler (author of Resolute and Atlantic Ocean) restores to memory important events, people, and developments that have been lost to time. These tales are far from trivia; they illuminate little-known American and foreign achievements, ingenuity, heroics, blunders, and tragedies that changed the course of history and resonate today.
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Red Land, Black Land
- Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
- By: Barbara Mertz
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Esteemed Egyptologist Barbara Mertz updates her widely praised social history of the people of ancient Egypt, which was originally published in 1968. Combining impeccable scholarship with a delightfully personal style, the author reconstructs the life of the Egyptians from birth to death, and beyond death, too.
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Brilliant
- By Elizabeth on 04-03-10
By: Barbara Mertz
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Hannibal
- Rome’s Greatest Enemy
- By: Philip Freeman
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 2,000 years ago one of the greatest military leaders in history almost destroyed Rome. Hannibal, a daring African general from the city of Carthage, led an army of warriors and battle elephants over the snowy Alps to invade the very heart of Rome's growing empire. But what kind of person would dare to face the most relentless imperial power of the ancient world? How could Hannibal, consistently outnumbered and always deep in enemy territory, win battle after battle until he held the very fate of Rome within his grasp?
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Great book, terrible narration
- By Jacob M. on 01-18-23
By: Philip Freeman
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Proto
- How One Ancient Language Went Global
- By: Laura Spinney
- Narrated by: Emma Spurgin-Hussey
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Daughter. Duhitár-. Dustr. Dukte. Listen to these English, Sanskrit, Armenian and Lithuanian words, all meaning the same thing, and you hear echoes of one of history’s most unlikely journeys. All four languages—along with hundreds of others, from French and Gaelic, to Persian and Polish—trace their origins to an ancient tongue spoken as the last ice age receded. This language, which we call Proto-Indo-European, was born between Europe and Asia and exploded out of its cradle, fragmenting as it spread east and west.
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Brilliant research and narration
- By Dr. Krishnendu Ray on 05-16-25
By: Laura Spinney
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Death Valley In ‘49
- By: William Lewis Manly
- Narrated by: Andre Stojka
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Death in the desert under a relentless sun. This is an eyewitness account of wagon train pioneer families in 1849, who faced the horrifying heat of what is now known as Death Valley, California and survived the ordeal through an act of incredible heroism. It is also a first person account, never before recorded as an audio book, of working the California gold fields, crossing through the Panama jungle and witnessing the horror of slavery in America. It is a unique document of history and adventure. William Lewis Manly lived through these events and wrote a personal account.
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A wonderful story very well told
- By kevin lee on 04-09-18
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Twelve Caesars
- Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern (Bollingen Series)
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book - against a background of today’s “sculpture wars” - Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the Western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the “Twelve Caesars”, from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian.
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This foray into art history is a disappointment.
- By Stephen J Chiulli on 11-10-21
By: Mary Beard
Excellent survey of largely unknown peoples
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fascinating details about civilizations I've never heard of
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