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A History of India
- Narrated by: Michael H. Fisher
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
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A History of India
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Publisher's Summary
Over 5,000 years, India has been home to a rich tapestry of peoples and cultures. Two of the world's great religions - Hinduism and Buddhism - have their origins in South Asia, and the lands east of the Indus River have long been a central hub for trade, migration, and cultural exchange. Today the subcontinent contains 20 percent of the world's population and is a thriving center for global business, making this region one of most significant economic powerhouses in the world.
Go inside this thrilling story with A History of India, a breathtaking survey of South Asia from its earliest societies along the Indus and Ganges rivers through the modern challenges of the 21st century. These 36 sweeping lectures enable you to understand the epic scope of the subcontinent's history. Perhaps the most important facet of this history is how diverse the region truly is. Roughly the size of continental Europe, India - along with its neighbors, Pakistan and Bangladesh - contains a myriad of ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, religions, and cultural mores.
In this wide-ranging investigation, you'll:
- Meet the many religious communities that have coexisted in India, including Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians
- Delve into the legacies of the Mauryan Empire, the Mughal Empire, and British colonialism - three of the few governments that ever unified the subcontinent
- Witness the fight for independence from European powers and the partition of the region into the countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in the 20th century
- Consider the challenges and opportunities faced by this area today, from expanding urbanization to the vast need for energy sources to the ongoing heated debates about national identity
Professor Fisher, who has traveled and taught in South Asia for decades, reveals this complex narrative with skill and compelling insights.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about A History of India
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-03-20
Informative, Gives You What’s Promised.
Don’t take the missing stars as indications of something wrong in this lecture series, rather, it sinply means that there was nothing that blew me away in the presentation of information held within. If you want a overview of the history of India, this will be perfect for you. If you are just perusing randomly through the Great Courses’ selection to expand your understanding of the world around us, there’s nothing that really makes this stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. The cream of the crop would be The Story of Human Language, which anyone should listen to whether or not they think they’re interested in the topic. Comparitively, A History of India does what’s asked of it, and nothing extraordinary in the process.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rosa Austin
- 2023-04-25
good overview
There is a lot of history in South Asia. I found this a good overview. I found the lecturer's Captain Kirk style of delivery very distracting.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Lams63
- 2017-02-10
For beginners only
This is the first book I've ever returned on Audible. I find the book a bit superficial and does not take the trouble of delving deep. The content is biased towards source material that is easily available. Not enough research into the golden age, the early part of the first millenium. Nor into what makes Indian civilization unique. The content seems mainly a recant of events with not much insight. The professor many a times swallows up a part of the name rather rather than take the trouble of proper pronunciation. In a country where the vedas had been passed on verbally for hundreds of years, there is special emphasis on pronunciation. Lack of attention on this front indicates insufficient research in other areas.
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29 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Joel Weber
- 2016-11-14
Disappointing but informative.
This audiobook was an in-depth history of the politics and rulers of India, but included little to no history of the people of the region. Also, the narration was awkward and stilted- almost as though he was reading from text
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25 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Juliana
- 2017-03-26
Too much anthropological pedantry
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Less focus on anthropological pedantry and more focus on the richness and beauty of India and Indian history. While other lecturers for the Great Courses (Profs. Dorsey Armstrong, Kenneth Harl and Philip Daileader come to mind) make their subjects come alive through their enthusiastic storytelling, Prof. Fisher's insistence of focusing on anthropological theory and terminology (the words "emic" and "etic" must be some of the most frequently occurring; I don't think they are absent from one lecture at least until the last 3 hours of the course) instead of telling the story of India, results in a dry and uninspiring delivery. Which is truly a feat, since India has no shortage of material to draw on for an entertaining, enriching and inspiring story. I see it somewhat analogous to an Italian restaurant somehow getting basics like pizza and spaghetti bolognese wrong - it's possible...I guess..., but they'd have to try pretty hard.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Professor Michael Fisher can pronounce Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan like a local.
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18 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Belinda
- 2016-09-28
More like a book than a college course
The content is great, thorough, and balanced. If it were a book, a professional reader would have done a bit better job. If I had purchased a book, I would be very happy with it.
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jeff
- 2016-05-29
Ok, but not great.
With such a rich and fascinating history, I was expecting a captivating experience with more compelling story telling.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Barbara
- 2017-02-06
Terrible reading ruins the value.
I was hoping to get a good immersion in India's history before an upcoming trip. Alas, while the prof clearly knows his material, his dry, sometimes halting reading of his notes made it almost impossible to listen for more than a few minutes at a time. Some of The Great Courses are presented, rather than dryly read, but this one's a real snore. I really can't say I got much from it after pushing myself through all those hours of listening.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- jstamp
- 2017-01-13
dry dry dry!
this course was very hard to finish. I found the facts interesting, but the presentation was very dry.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- S. Fogel
- 2016-09-13
Brief history of India
Could be told in a more exciting manner. At times it gets tedious. But the story itself is fascinating
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Ravi Prakash
- 2016-11-13
Comprehensive and Informative
I am glad that I opted for this book in audible. it is a comprehensive book about Indian History and I found myself that how unaware I was of many important aspects of this great country. I would recommend this to anyone who take deep interest in knowing, talking and debating about culture and history of India. We often are biased because of lack of information. This will help in removing those biases.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Dan Walker
- 2016-10-30
The worst great course I have read
I expected a history of India. Chapters 20 to 25 were ok, the remaining 30 chapters, at least the 10 or so I listened to were worthless.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- C.
- 2023-10-24
Mediocre
Too many kings and the likes, too much discussion of actually uninteresting charismatic figures, almost no true discussion of indian culture (lifestyles and social norms, community structures, crafts and arts, business...)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jerome
- 2020-10-14
Almost perfect intro to the subject
History of south Asia, what a task. Learned a lot, was enjoyable. Some choices had to be made or double the time would have been needed. I regret a whole chapter (or at least 10 minutes) wasn't dedicated to Sikhism which was never properly explained.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- javier Ruiz Domingo
- 2020-06-09
Nice voyage in history india
This book covers all aspect of Indian history, very well. It is a nice voyage.
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