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History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration
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Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life
- Written by: Rufus J. Fears, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Rufus J. Fears
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Why do "Great Books" continue to speak to us hundreds and even thousands of years after they were written? Can they deepen our self-knowledge and wisdom? Are our lives changed in any meaningful way by the experience of reading them?Tackle these questions and more in these 36 engaging lectures. Beginning with his definition of a Great Book as one that possesses a great theme of enduring importance, noble language that "elevates the soul and ennobles the mind," and a universality that enables it to "speak across the ages," Professor Fears examines a body of work that offers extraordinary wisdom to those willing to receive it.
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The Skeptic's Guide to American History
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To take a skeptical approach to American history is not to dabble in imaginative conspiracy theories; rather, it's to reframe your understanding of this great nation's past and actually strengthen your appreciation for what makes American history such a fascinating chapter in the larger story of Western civilization. And in this bold 24-lecture series, you can do just that.
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The Rise and Fall of the British Empire
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- Narrated by: Patrick N. Allitt
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What were the forces that thrust the British Empire to its extraordinary position of greatness and then just as powerfully drove it into decline? And why is nearly every nation on earth, in one way or another, the consequence of the British Empire?In these 36 lectures, Professor Allitt leads you through four centuries of British power, innovation, influence, and, ultimately, diminishment-four profound centuries that literally remade the world and bequeathed the complex global legacy that continues to shape your everyday life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Dr. Allitt is an excellent lecturer!
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-05-20
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Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
- Written by: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
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- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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These 24 dramatic lectures examine key events from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to medieval Europe and Asia. Spanning thousands of years and three continents, this course illuminates fascinating historical dramas on the individual scale.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Kept me listening and delivered
- By SteveK on 2017-10-17
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The African Experience: From 'Lucy' to Mandela
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- Narrated by: Kenneth P. Vickery
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 17
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The story of Africa is the oldest and most event-filled chronicle of human activity on the planet. And in these 36 lectures, you'll explore this great historical drama, tracing the story of the sub-Saharan region of the continent from the earliest evidence of human habitation to the latest challenges facing African nations in the 21st century. By learning with these lectures, you'll finally be able to bust myths and correct potential misunderstandings about Africa.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Contagious Passion
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Turning Points in Modern History
- Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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This lecture series takes you on a far-reaching journey around the globe - from China to the Americas to New Zealand - to shed light on how two dozen of the top discoveries, inventions, political upheavals, and ideas since 1400 have shaped the modern world. In just 24 thought-provoking lectures, you'll get the amazing story of how life as we know it developed. Starting in the early 15th century and culminating in the age of social media, you'll encounter astounding threads that weave through the centuries, joining these turning points in ways that may come as a revelation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best so far!
- By PCR on 2019-02-14
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Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life
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- Narrated by: Rufus J. Fears
- Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Why do "Great Books" continue to speak to us hundreds and even thousands of years after they were written? Can they deepen our self-knowledge and wisdom? Are our lives changed in any meaningful way by the experience of reading them?Tackle these questions and more in these 36 engaging lectures. Beginning with his definition of a Great Book as one that possesses a great theme of enduring importance, noble language that "elevates the soul and ennobles the mind," and a universality that enables it to "speak across the ages," Professor Fears examines a body of work that offers extraordinary wisdom to those willing to receive it.
-
The Skeptic's Guide to American History
- Written by: Mark A. Stoler, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Mark A. Stoler
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
To take a skeptical approach to American history is not to dabble in imaginative conspiracy theories; rather, it's to reframe your understanding of this great nation's past and actually strengthen your appreciation for what makes American history such a fascinating chapter in the larger story of Western civilization. And in this bold 24-lecture series, you can do just that.
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The Rise and Fall of the British Empire
- Written by: Patrick N. Allitt, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Patrick N. Allitt
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20
What were the forces that thrust the British Empire to its extraordinary position of greatness and then just as powerfully drove it into decline? And why is nearly every nation on earth, in one way or another, the consequence of the British Empire?In these 36 lectures, Professor Allitt leads you through four centuries of British power, innovation, influence, and, ultimately, diminishment-four profound centuries that literally remade the world and bequeathed the complex global legacy that continues to shape your everyday life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Dr. Allitt is an excellent lecturer!
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-05-20
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Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
- Written by: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Garland
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
These 24 dramatic lectures examine key events from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to medieval Europe and Asia. Spanning thousands of years and three continents, this course illuminates fascinating historical dramas on the individual scale.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Kept me listening and delivered
- By SteveK on 2017-10-17
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The African Experience: From 'Lucy' to Mandela
- Written by: Kenneth P. Vickery, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Kenneth P. Vickery
- Length: 18 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story5 out of 5 stars 15
The story of Africa is the oldest and most event-filled chronicle of human activity on the planet. And in these 36 lectures, you'll explore this great historical drama, tracing the story of the sub-Saharan region of the continent from the earliest evidence of human habitation to the latest challenges facing African nations in the 21st century. By learning with these lectures, you'll finally be able to bust myths and correct potential misunderstandings about Africa.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Contagious Passion
- By C. Erin Edmundson on 2018-09-08
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Turning Points in Modern History
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- Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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This lecture series takes you on a far-reaching journey around the globe - from China to the Americas to New Zealand - to shed light on how two dozen of the top discoveries, inventions, political upheavals, and ideas since 1400 have shaped the modern world. In just 24 thought-provoking lectures, you'll get the amazing story of how life as we know it developed. Starting in the early 15th century and culminating in the age of social media, you'll encounter astounding threads that weave through the centuries, joining these turning points in ways that may come as a revelation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best so far!
- By PCR on 2019-02-14
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Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity
- Written by: David Christian, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: David Christian
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story5 out of 5 stars 18
How is it possible for the disciplines of cosmology, geology, anthropology, biology, and history to fit together? These 48 lectures answer that question by weaving a single story from accounts of the past developed by a variety of scholarly disciplines. The result is a story stretching from the origins of the universe to the present day and beyond, in which human history is seen as part of the history of our Earth and biosphere, and the Earth's history, in turn, is seen as part of the history of the universe.
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4 out of 5 stars
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a good overview but requires further reading
- By Olena Kulikova on 2019-09-03
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The Medieval World
- Written by: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Far from being a time of darkness, the Middle Ages was an essential period in the grand narrative of Western history. But what was it like to actually live in those extraordinary times? Now you can find out.These 36 lectures provide a different perspective on the society and culture of the Middle Ages: one that entrenches you in the daily human experience of living during this underappreciated era.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The passion the prof has for her area of expertise is palpable
- By MyPublicName on 2019-07-07
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World War II: A Military and Social History
- Written by: Thomas Childers, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas Childers
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 17
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Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Between 1937 and 1945, approximately 55 million people perished in the series of interrelated conflicts known as the Second World War. No continent was left untouched, no ocean unaffected. The war led to the eclipse of Europe and the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as global superpowers; ushered in the atomic age; produced, in the Holocaust, the most horrific crime ever committed in the history of Western civilization, and led to the end of Europe's colonial empires around the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book!
- By Edward Kim on 2018-09-19
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Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition
- Written by: The Great Courses, Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, and others
- Narrated by: Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, Dennis Dalton, and others
- Length: 43 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
For 3,000 years, mankind has grappled with fundamental questions about life. What is real? Who or what is God? When is it legitimate for one person to have power over others? What is justice? Beauty? This 84-lecture, 12-professor tour of Western philosophical tradition covers more than 60 of history's greatest minds and brings you a comprehensive survey of the history of Western philosophy from its origins in classical Greece to the present.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Very disappointed
- By Anonymous User on 2019-04-16
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From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History
- Written by: Kenneth J. Hammond, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Kenneth J. Hammond
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4 out of 5 stars 26
For most of its 5,000-year existence, China has been the largest, most populous, wealthiest, and mightiest nation on Earth. And for us as Westerners, it is essential to understand where China has been in order to anticipate its future. These 36 eye-opening lectures deliver a comprehensive political and historical overview of one of the most fascinating and complex countries in world history.You'll learn about the powerful dynasties that ruled China for centuries; the philosophical and religious foundations-particularly Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism-that have influenced every iteration of Chinese thought, and the larger-than-life personalities, from both inside and outside its borders, of those who have shaped China's history. As you listen to these lectures, you'll see how China's politics, economics, and art reflect the forces of its past.From the "Mandate of Heaven," a theory of social contract in place by 1500 B.C.E., 3,000 years before Western philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, to the development of agriculture and writing independent of outside influence to the technologically-advanced Han Dynasty during the time of the Roman Empire, this course takes you on a journey across ground that has been largely unexplored in the history courses most of us in the West have taken.In guiding you through the five millennia of China's history, Professor Hammond tells a fascinating story with an immense scope, a welcome reminder that China is no stranger to that stage and, indeed, has more often than not been the most extraordinary player on it.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Comprehensive review of China's history
- By Trent T on 2019-01-07
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The High Middle Ages
- Written by: Philip Daileader, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Philip Daileader
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story5 out of 5 stars 17
At the dawn of the last millennium in the year 1000, Europe was one of the world's more stagnant regions-an economically undeveloped, intellectually derivative, and geopolitically passive backwater, with illiteracy, starvation, and disease the norm for almost everyone. Yet only three centuries later, all of this had changed.
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The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World
- Written by: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Garland
- Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
Look beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts. Over the course of 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Garland covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people, from its earliest beginnings through the Middle Ages.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!
- By Trent T on 2018-10-29
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Understanding Imperial China: Dynasties, Life, and Culture
- Written by: Andrew R. Wilson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: The Great Courses
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
A knowledge of China's imperial history is vital for any understanding of its present, as modern China is linked in many ways to the extraordinary culture of its empire. These 24 lectures take you to the heart of life during China's imperial era, through the lives of individual subjects of all social ranks. Across the arc of the course, you'll witness what daily life was like for government bureaucrats, for scholars, for women of the court, for soldiers, merchants, craftspeople, courtesans, imperial cooks, and many others.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An excellent social history
- By Travers on 2018-04-18
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The Origin of Civilization
- Written by: Scott MacEachern, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Scott MacEachern
- Length: 24 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4
What defines a civilization? How did the first states emerge? How were the world's ancient states similar and different? Answer these and other dramatic questions with this grand 48-lecture course that reveals how human beings around the world transitioned from small farming communities to the impressive cultural and political systems that would alter the course of history.
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Lost Worlds of South America
- Written by: Edwin Barnhart, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Edwin Barnhart
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story5 out of 5 stars 18
Buried by the centuries on soaring mountain slopes and beneath arid deserts and lush jungles of South America, the remains of extraordinary, majestic civilizations-many unknown until recent decades-are now coming to light and raising tantalizing questions about what else may be awaiting discovery.Take an adventurous trek to these wilds of South America and the great civilizations of the ancients. In 24 eye-opening lectures, you'll take an in-depth look at the emerging finds and archaeological knowledge of more than 12 seminal civilizations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great
- By Zac Manuel on 2018-10-26
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The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest
- Written by: Jennifer Paxton, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer Paxton
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
These 36 lectures tell the remarkable story of a tumultuous thousand-year period in the history of England. Dominated by war, conquest, and the struggle to balance the stability brought by royal power with the rights of the governed, it was a period that put into place the foundation of much of the world we know today. As you journey through this largely chronological narrative you'll see key themes emerge, including the assimilation of successive waves of invaders, the tense relationship between kings and the nobility, and the constant battles over money and taxation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Professor has a great speaking voice and style.
- By Amazon Customer on 2017-10-05
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The History of Ancient Egypt
- Written by: Bob Brier, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Bob Brier
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
Ancient Egyptian civilization is so grand our minds sometimes have difficulty adjusting to it. It lasted 3,000 years, longer than any other on the planet. Its Great Pyramid of Cheops was the tallest building in the world until well into the 19th century and remains the only Ancient Wonder still standing. And it was the most technologically advanced of the ancient civilizations, with the medical knowledge that made Egyptian physicians the most famous in the world.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A Moderately Entertaining Dive
- By 101 on 2018-10-03
Publisher's Summary
Mutiny. Disease. Starvation. Cannibals. From the ancient wayfarers to modern astronauts, world explorers have blazed trails fraught with danger. Yet, as History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration vividly demonstrates, exploration continues to be one of humanity's deepest impulses.
Across 24 lectures that unveil the process by which we came to know the far reaches of our planet, you'll witness the awe-inspiring and surprisingly interconnected tale of global exploration. An award-winning history professor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, revolutionizes how you view the world as he introduces you to some of the greatest and most influential explorers ever known-successful as well as unsuccessful, admirable as well as flawed. You'll be spellbound as you learn of the treacherous, at times fatal, expeditions into the unknown these adventurers embarked upon, whether to the frozen Poles, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the ocean's depths, or the final frontier of space.
Through it all, you consider what drove these intrepid individuals, from proselytizing and pilgrimage to the lure of wealth, conquest, fame, and new lands, as evidenced by the Vikings' arrival in North America; Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road to China; Christopher Columbus' "Enterprise of the Indies"; the conquistadors' ravages in Latin America; and the tiny kingdom of Portugal's triumphant circumnavigation of Africa to seize control of trade in the Indian Ocean.
In every lesson, you'll follow these fascinating figures - including several remarkable women - as they venture into uncharted territory and put themselves, and often their crews, in dire peril. With Professor Liulevicius' uniquely global approach, you also get a meaningful portrait of the travels of non-Westerners, as well as the perspectives of discovered people.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Scott Duncan
- 2019-02-02
So interesting!
when I was younger I was never interested in history. I wish I could have listened to these lectures. Very interesting, very informative and the narrator was very passionate about the topics. Easy-to-follow and easy to understand. I'm definitely going to get more of these.
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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
- Quaker
- 2015-04-19
Captivating from start to finish!
What did you like best about this story?
This title truly lives up to the standard of The Great Courses -- 24 highly engaging lectures with a brilliant an entertaining professor who brings history to life and makes the time fly by, while also continuously bringing everything into perspective and reminding you of the big picture themes that tie it all together. I was sorry it ended.
Which scene was your favorite?
There were so many! I learned many truly fascinating things I didn't know about the most famous explorers like Columbus, Magellan, Lewis & Clark, and Henry Hudson... but even better were the significant remarkable stories about which I had known almost nothing: the revolutionary Buddhist monk Xuanzang who dared to journey to the west, Alexander von Humboldt the "second Columbus" whose prolific explorations were about advancing the understanding of our planet rather than about grabbing land or spreading religion, and perhaps my favorite: Ida Pfeiffer, a Victorian woman who defied the conventions of the day by journeying alone to exotic and dangerous locales, and invented the genre of travel writing.
Any additional comments?
I've listened to many of The Great Courses, but this was the first I'd heard by Professor Liulevicius. I'm pleased to see that he has several other titles and I've added them all to my Wish List!
17 people found this helpful
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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
- Becky Popenoe
- 2015-05-01
Wonderfully entertaining stories
I've loved many of The Great Courses but this one was among the most fun to listen to. I thought Liulevicius found just the right balance between the grand narrative and intriguing details from each voyage of exploration & discovery. I loved that he began "at the beginning," with human wanderings across the earth. His lecture on the colonization of the islands of the Pacific was particularly fascinating. He has lovely "asides" into Montaigne's early cultural relativism, Jules Verne's classics, The Odyssey, T.S. Eliot & more that contextualize the voyages he describes in wider social history. On top of all this he has an energetic and precise speaking-style that I found very pleasant to listen to.
14 people found this helpful
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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
- Philly Flower
- 2017-06-16
List of Lectures
Any additional comments?
List of Lectures
1 - The Earliest Explorers
2 - The Scientific Voyage of Pytheas the Greek
3 - St. Brendan - The Travels of an Irish Monk
4 - Xuanzang's Journey to the West
5 - Leif Ericsson the LUcky
6 - Marc Polo and Sir John Mandeville
7 - Ibn Battuta - Never the Same Route Twice
8 - Portugal's Great Leap Forward
9 - The Enigmatic Christopher Columbus
10 - Magellan and the Advent of Globalization
11 - The Ruthless Ambition of the Conquistadors
12 - Henry Hudson - Death on Ice
13 - Jesuits on a Global Mission
14 - Captain Cook Maps the World
15 - Alexander von Humboldt - Explorer Genius
16 - Jefferson Dispatches Lewis and Clark
17 - Sir John Franklin's Epic Disaster
18 - Ida Pfeiffer - Victorian Extreme Traveler
19 - Japan Discovers the West
20 - Dr. Livingstone and Mary Kingsley in Africa
21 - Arctic Feat and Fates
22 - Antarctic Rivalries
23 - A Deep-Sea Dive into Mariana Trench
24 - Race to Outer Space
21 people found this helpful
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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
- Adam J McDaniel
- 2015-04-13
Could not put it down. Was sad it had to end.
This was an excellent course all around. I will be looking for more courses by this lecturer for my next credits.
9 people found this helpful
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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
- RedDogRunning
- 2016-01-18
A tear in the space/time continuium
If you could sum up History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration in three words, what would they be?
Passion, Adventure and Discovery
Who was your favorite character and why?
St. Brendon. This Irish Monk's tale of adventure is fascinating in the extreme. I need to learn much more about his travels and what really happened in Newfoundland.
Have you listened to any of Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This is a masterpiece, I am still reading his "World War I: The Great War"
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Step through a tear in the Space-Time Continuium to a new universe of Passion, Adventure and Exploration
Any additional comments?
I feel I have found a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum, stepped through, and found a new universe unbelievably rich with passion, excitement, adventure and discoveries. My brain is on fire! This feeling comes from having completed The Great Courses “History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration – an audible book of 24 lectures supported with a 159 page guidebook.
Although I was somewhat familiar with several of the “voyages” described in this course even the lectures on those had a lot of new insights and exciting information to capture my attention. However, the gold was in those lectures that introduced me to explorers that I knew nothing, or next to nothing, about. These were totally transfixing; they kept me engrossed to the exclusion of nearly everything else – transporting me completely to another world.
For example, I had not been aware of the a Phoenician fleet, contracted by an Egyptian pharaoh in the 7th century BC, that had sailed around the southern tip of Africa; nor did I have any knowledge of the journeys of Pytheas The Greek who, around 340-325 BC, ventured from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe to seek the edge of the world, doing such things as walking the circumference of Britain and then sailing north to perhaps what is now known as Iceland. I particularly want to learn more about St. Brendan (480-575 BC), an Irish Monk, who traveled in a leather boat to perhaps discover Newfoundland and other fascinating areas of the frozen north. I was intrigued to read that when the Vikings reached Newfoundland the Native Americans told them that white men in white robes had already been there and had left (monks apparently were not good at procreation and colony establishment).
Additional new revelations included:
• Buddhist monk Xuanzang’s journey to the West in the 600s – his unapproved departure from China on a quest for holy writings. This journey, decades long, resulted in his returning to China with a caravan loaded down with hundreds of boxes of scrolls and religious artifacts. He became a Buddhist saint across several Asian cultures.
• Ibn Battuta’s epic journey to explore the world and never take the same route next. He left Morocco in 1325; not see his hometown or family again for 24 years. Travelling through the Middle East, India, Asia, eastern Africa and Spain, staying the entire time within the network of Muslim civilization, he illustrates how the traveler binds together the world
These and much, much more made this course a magnificent portal to new great reads.
Lastly, the Bibliography of the guidebook is a rich resource for future reading. There is enough there to keep me going for the next 100 years and perhaps beyond – great stuff!
8 people found this helpful
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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
- Eric James Johnson
- 2015-05-24
Cascading connections
What did you love best about History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration?
I'm a sucker for a story, I suppose, but each one of these explorations seemed to be the lynchpin of human history-- until the next episode was given! It just kept getting better. Professor Liulevicius' delivery is impeccable.
What was one of the most memorable moments of History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration?
I had not realized how determined "The West" had been to avoid Mediterranean pirates-- find the Northwest Passage. It seems to have been one motivator in quite a few explorations.
Which character – as performed by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius – was your favorite?
Unbelievably perfect.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Sacajawea's 'point-man' position during L&C expedition.
Any additional comments?
Get it. You won't be disappointed.
8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dan P.
- 2015-11-10
always on point!
thank you The Great Courses, because of you guys I'm not so ashamed of skipping college and going to work at a car factory straight out of high school!
12 people found this helpful
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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
- J Lindell
- 2015-05-05
Great intro to great discoverers and discoveries
A wonderful survey of numerous fascinating ventures into both the know but chiefly the unknown. The course provides valuable knowledge of well-know discoverers as well as less-known ones. I learnt a lot from this course and and enjoyed following the progression of travels along time. Well worth the listen.
4 people found this helpful
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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
- Claudio B. Kerber
- 2015-04-26
Entertaining and instructive
It was amazing to realize how little I knew about exploring and how much amazing things there are to learn.
4 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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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mark A. Raine
- 2019-05-05
Not college level
If you want something light on this topic this is a good course. I found this to be a vague overview, not a detailed history. It does not stand up to works like "Rivers of Gold or "Conquest" by Hugh Thomas. He speaks as if speaking to children. A little too PC in places.
3 people found this helpful