Four Points of the Compass
The Unexpected History of Direction
Échec de l'ajout au panier.
Veuillez réessayer plus tard
Échec de l'ajout à la liste d'envies.
Veuillez réessayer plus tard
Échec de la suppression de la liste d’envies.
Veuillez réessayer plus tard
Échec du suivi du balado
Ne plus suivre le balado a échoué
OFFRE D'UNE DURÉE LIMITÉE
0,99 $/mois pendant vos 3 premiers mois
L'offre prend fin le 16 décembre 2025 à 23 h 59, HP.
Exclusivité Prime: 2 titres
gratuits à choisir pendant l'essa. Des conditions s’appliquent.
Vos 3 premiers mois d'Audible à seulement 0,99 $/mois
1 nouveauté ou titre populaire à choisir chaque mois – ce titre vous appartiendra.
L'écoute illimitée des milliers de livres audio, de balados et de titres originaux inclus.
L'abonnement se renouvelle automatiquement au tarif de 0,99 $/mois pendant 3 mois, et au tarif de 14,95 $/mois ensuite. Annulation possible à tout moment.
Choisissez 1 livre audio par mois dans notre incomparable catalogue.
Écoutez à volonté des milliers de livres audio, de livres originaux et de balados.
L'abonnement Premium Plus se renouvelle automatiquement au tarif de 14,95 $/mois + taxes applicables après 30 jours. Annulation possible à tout moment.
Four Points of the Compass
Narrateur(s):
Liam Garrigan
Acheter pour 18,77 $
-
Narrateur(s):
-
Liam Garrigan
-
Auteur(s):
-
Jerry Brotton
À propos de cet audio
North, south, east, and west: almost all societies use these four cardinal directions to orientate themselves and to understand who they are by projecting where they are. For millennia, these four directions have been foundational to our travel, navigation, and exploration, and are central to the imaginative, moral, and political geography of virtually every culture in the world. Yet they are far more subjective—and sometimes contradictory—than we might realize. Four Points of the Compass leads us on a journey of directional discovery. Societies have understood and defined directions in very different ways based on their locations in time and space. Historian Jerry Brotton reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five color-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever orientated themselves westwards. In doing so, politically-loaded but widely used terms such as the “Middle East,” the “Global South,” the “West Indies,” the “Orient,” and even the “western world” take on new meanings. Who decided on these terms and what do they mean for geopolitics? How have directions like “east” and “west” taken on the status of cultural identities—or more accurately stereotypes?
Yet today, because of GPS capability, cardinal points are less relevant. Online, we place ourselves at the center of the map as little blue dots moving across geospatial apps; we have become the most important compass point, though in the process we’ve disconnected ourselves from the natural world. Imagining what future changes technology may impose, Jerry Brotton skillfully reminds us how crucial the four cardinal directions have been to everyone who has ever walked our planet. For anyone interested in history, geography, or surprising new ways to think about the world at large, Four Points of the Compass will be a stimulating experience.
Ce que les critiques en disent
"Narrator Liam Garrigan has a natural storytelling style, and his British accent and professional delivery work well in this exploration of geographic direction. He narrates at a good pace and a sensible cadence that make this science-oriented text move almost too quickly. The central idea is how the cardinal directions gave life meaning throughout history but are now being displaced in the digital age, when the ideas of east against west and south versus north have geopolitical, rather than geographical, meanings. "
Pas encore de commentaire