Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt....

Learn how a single tongue spoken 150,000 years ago evolved into the estimated 6,000 languages used around the world today....

The past truly comes alive as you take a series of imaginative leaps into the world of history's anonymous citizens....

Take a journey across the ancient world, throught the traditional domains of politics and war, as well as religion, philosophy, architecture, science and the visual arts....

In this fascinating series of 36 lectures, an award-winning teacher leads you on a vivid journey through Mesopotamian history....

From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder, and with overlapping shields, they presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy....

Ancient Rome matters. Its history of empire, conquest, cruelty and excess is something against which we still judge ourselves....

Immerse yourself in this epic story with 48 exhilarating half-hour lectures that cover the scope of Mesoamerican history and culture....

These 12 fast-paced lectures cover many civilizations that may only receive a few lines of cursory discussion in the average Western civilization textbook....

Frank McLynn brings vividly to life the strange world of the Mongols and describes Temujin's rise from boyhood outcast to becoming Genghis Khan....

Gregory of Tours experienced the transition from the dying world of Roman antiquity to the new culture of early medieval Europe....

The authors devoted five decades to the study of world history and philosophy, culminating in the masterful 11-volume Story of Civilization....

Explore the captivating history of Hammurabi. The story of Hammurabi is the story of 43 years jam-packed with conquest, temple- and wall-building, irrigation efforts, and lawmaking, but it’s also a story of broken relations and rising and falling empires. It’s a story of betrayal and shifting alliances, a story where even the gods take a backseat to the matters of common men. It’s a tale that’s both thousands of years old and, interestingly enough, just as contemporary as it was when Hammurabi still drew breath.  

This audiobook reveals several aspects of the ancient Egyptian culture, such as the very remote antiquities of Egypt; the Egyptian characteristics and religious beliefs and practices; their social/political system; their cosmic temples; the richness of their language; their musical heritage and comprehensive sciences; their advanced medicine; their vibrant economy; their excellent agricultural and manufactured products; their transportation system; and much more.  

Numbers is really a book about arrested progress. In a sense, it never should have happened. It took only 40 hours to get Israel out of Egypt - the Passover. But it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel. 

Ninth-century Welsh monk Nennius has traditionally been linked to this purported history of the indigenous Britons. Written around 828, this history has been notable for its mention of certain historical figures and even saints. Most notable, however, is the very first mention of the historical King Arthur as a military leader. 

Over the centuries, the West has become fascinated by the Vikings, one of the most mysterious and interesting European civilizations. In addition to being perceived as a remarkably unique culture among its European counterparts, what’s known and not known about the Vikings’ accomplishments has added an intriguing aura to the historical narrative. Were they fierce and fearsome warriors? Were they the first Europeans to visit North America? It seems some of the legends are true, and some are just that, legend.  

Whatever we may think of Alexander - whether Great or only lucky, a civilizer or a sociopath - most people do not regard him as a religious leader. And yet religion permeated all aspects of his career. When he used religion astutely, he and his army prospered. In Egypt, he performed the ceremonies needed to be pharaoh, and thus became a god as well as a priest. Babylon surrendered to him partly because he agreed to become a sacred king. When Alexander disregarded religion, he and his army suffered. In Iran, for instance, where he refused to be crowned and even destroyed a shrine, resistance against him mounted.