Fantastic listen

This should be a required course for all American Citzens. Understand your roots.
Professor Fears is one of the best college orators I have ever heard.
The lectures are concise and to the point and Professor Fears is great at tying them together so the whole course flows from one lecture to the next.

12 people found this helpful

Thoughtful, engaging tour

I suggest first listening to Famous Romans and Famous Greeks as a foundation for this wonderful course, although it would be beneficial even without them.

I love Prof. Fears. His good-humored, unique style of storytelling combined with his vast knowledge and wise insights keep me coming back for more. This course was certainly thought-provoking; don't expect it to be an affirmation of everything you already think. And be aware that you'll be left with a sense of responsibility for the future of freedom.

11 people found this helpful

Enjoyable, engaging lectures

I enjoyed Professor Fears's lectures in this set. Fears was an accomplished scholar but he was also an engaging lecturer and gifted storyteller. He was primarily a classicist. He was chair of the classics department at Boston University, and later held a chair in the history of liberty at the University of Oklahoma. He was also editor of some of the collected works of John Acton. In this course Fears taught that history is not the result of anonymous social and economic forces, but rather is driven by courageous men and women who lead. His examples include Socrates, Pericles, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Jesus, Martin Luther, and moderns including Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. This is a long course that requires a significant investment of time and attention but I do not regret taking this course.

10 people found this helpful

Outstanding history

Fascinating history of ideas and the people who best represented them. Explains so much about how we are today. Highly recommended.

8 people found this helpful

Very disappointing

Any additional comments?

I strongly disagree with Professor Fears’ interpretation of freedom; however, that is a minor issue. The major problem is in his condescending attitude towards opposing opinions. There were several points in the lectures where Professor Fears dismisses other viewpoints and interpretations without presenting any argument against them other than his own authority. I think this is a characteristic of Professor Fears as I have seen hints of it in another of his lecture series (The World Was Never the Same: Events That Changed History). I find this attitude extremely off putting and, as such, find Professor Fears hard to lesson to. I find it rather ironic that a lecture series on freedom is being presented by a man who comes across as authoritarian.

7 people found this helpful

A World Class Course in Freedom

This should be a compulsory course for every high school student in the US!!! It is such a shame Dr Fears is no longer with us. I would have loved to discuss the history of freedom over some adult beverages.

6 people found this helpful

Fun and Compelling

The avuncular Dr. Fears is always entertaining. I wish I had him as a professor. All of the reviews complaining that this course is "too American-centered" or something like that are wrong. How can one trace the history of freedom and not rely heavily on the United States? That Dr. Fears doesn't hate his own country or look for things to "trouble" him will trouble some folks, but if you want to hear a sensible overview of the subject, this is a good place to begin. Like many people, I have begin listening to some of these Great Courses but lost interest as they proceeded. I likested to all 36 lectures of this one.

4 people found this helpful

Simply Beautiful

Whenever I listen to lectures by Rufus J. Fears, I get a sense of 'enlightened excitement'. There are patterns, connections, hope and wisdom. He's one of my absolute, absolute favorite authors. He manages to bring the past world of ideas come alive, and find their connections with our world here today. Their influence is made visible and tangible, and they shed light on why things are the way they are, and how they could be different, and also, what we have lost.

This collection is no exception.

I wish they could be dramatized for children, and yes, played everywhere for everyone to take part of. To see ourselves in the light of history. Especially today, with the crumbling of the American political system, where looking out for the best for the nation, reasoning and looking for the best solutions with a common goal of providing freedom for the individual (with all that that implies) seems to have been lost in power-struggles. Both sides guilty. It's a shame. The lectures on the Roman Empire, Caesar, and Augustus are highly enlightening.

4 people found this helpful

Awesome book

Very good book with few dogmatic opinions against Egyptian and Persian cultures.
The professor believes extremely about western culture only

2 people found this helpful

A remarkable journey through history

Professor Fears has a particular style to his teaching. if may be divisive but it is interesting and attention grabbing. He tells the story of freedom with enthusiasm. it is well worth the listen, it is a refreshing discourse.