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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Series: The Story of Civilization, Book 1
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Categories: History, World
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- The Story of Civilization, Volume 2
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Here Durant tells the whole story of Greece from the days of Crete's vast Aegean empire to the final extirpation of the last remnants of Greek liberty, crushed under the heel of an implacably forward-marching Rome. The dry minutiae of battles and sieges, of tortuous statecraft of tyrant and king, get minor emphasis in what is preeminently a vivid recreation of Greek culture, brought to the listener through the medium of supple, vigorous prose.
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Caesar and Christ
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The third volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Caesar and Christ chronicles the history of Roman civilization and of Christianity from their beginnings to A.D. 325.
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- By DOUGLAS A. PHELPS on 2019-01-12
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The Age of Faith, Volume 4
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The fourth volume in Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, The Age of Faith surveys the medieval achievements and modern significance of Christian, Islamic, and Judaic life and culture. Like the other volumes in the Story of Civilization series, this is a self-contained work, which at the same time fits into a comprehensive history of mankind. It includes the dramatic stories of St. Augustine, Hypatia, Justinian, Mohammed, Harun al-Rashid, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, and many more.
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Epic Voyage Through the Middle Ages
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The Renaissance
- A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304 - 1576 AD, The Story of Civilization, Volume 5
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In this masterful work, listeners will encounter: the poets Petrarch and Boccaccio, the fathers of the Renaissance; the paintings, sculptures, and architecture of Milan, Florence, and Venice; the life and accomplishments of Leonardo DaVinci; the Catholic church and the popes of Avignon and Rome; the politicians and philosophers of Italy, including the Borgia family, Julius II, and Machiavelli; the Italian Wars, the conflicts with France, and the country's decline.
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The Reformation
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An engrossing volume on the European Reformation by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Will Durant. The sixth volume of Durant's acclaimed Story of Civilization, The Reformationchronicles the history of European civilization from 1300 to 1564.
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The Age of Reason Begins
- A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558 - 1648: The Story of Civilization, Book 7
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The Age of Reason Begins brings together a fascinating network of stories in the discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs and greater artists - on the one hand, Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, and Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Francis Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and Descartes, the fathers of modern science and philosophy.
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The Life of Greece
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Here Durant tells the whole story of Greece from the days of Crete's vast Aegean empire to the final extirpation of the last remnants of Greek liberty, crushed under the heel of an implacably forward-marching Rome. The dry minutiae of battles and sieges, of tortuous statecraft of tyrant and king, get minor emphasis in what is preeminently a vivid recreation of Greek culture, brought to the listener through the medium of supple, vigorous prose.
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Caesar and Christ
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The third volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Caesar and Christ chronicles the history of Roman civilization and of Christianity from their beginnings to A.D. 325.
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Review
- By DOUGLAS A. PHELPS on 2019-01-12
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The Age of Faith, Volume 4
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The fourth volume in Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, The Age of Faith surveys the medieval achievements and modern significance of Christian, Islamic, and Judaic life and culture. Like the other volumes in the Story of Civilization series, this is a self-contained work, which at the same time fits into a comprehensive history of mankind. It includes the dramatic stories of St. Augustine, Hypatia, Justinian, Mohammed, Harun al-Rashid, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, and many more.
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Epic Voyage Through the Middle Ages
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The Renaissance
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In this masterful work, listeners will encounter: the poets Petrarch and Boccaccio, the fathers of the Renaissance; the paintings, sculptures, and architecture of Milan, Florence, and Venice; the life and accomplishments of Leonardo DaVinci; the Catholic church and the popes of Avignon and Rome; the politicians and philosophers of Italy, including the Borgia family, Julius II, and Machiavelli; the Italian Wars, the conflicts with France, and the country's decline.
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The Reformation
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An engrossing volume on the European Reformation by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Will Durant. The sixth volume of Durant's acclaimed Story of Civilization, The Reformationchronicles the history of European civilization from 1300 to 1564.
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The Age of Reason Begins
- A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558 - 1648: The Story of Civilization, Book 7
- Written by: Will Durant, Ariel Durant
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The Age of Reason Begins brings together a fascinating network of stories in the discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs and greater artists - on the one hand, Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, and Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Francis Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and Descartes, the fathers of modern science and philosophy.
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The Age of Voltaire
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The Age of Voltaire, the ninth volume of The Story of Civilization, is an in-depth examination of France and England in the first half of the 18th century.
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Rousseau and Revolution, the 10th volume of the Story of Civilization, ranges over a Europe in ferment, but centers on the passionate rebel-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the great exponent of the romantic impulse toward self-exploration and social revolt, who contended with the great rationalist Voltaire for the mind of Europe.
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The Age of Napoleon
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Fantastic series
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Here in a single volume is the entire, unabridged recording of Gibbon's masterpiece. Beginning in the second century A.D. at the apex of the Pax Romana, Gibbon traces the arc of decline and complete destruction through the centuries across Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a thrilling and cautionary tale of splendor and ruin, of faith and hubris, and of civilization and barbarism. Follow along as Christianity overcomes paganism... before itself coming under intense pressure from Islam.
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It almost killed me!
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The Age of Louis XIV
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The Age of Louis XIV is the biography of a period (1648 - 1715) that Spengler considered the apex of modern European civilization. "Some centuries hence," Frederick the Great correctly predicted to Voltaire, "they will translate the good authors of the age of Pericles and Augustus." Those authors are lovingly treated here.
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The Story of Philosophy
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Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
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Shakespeare: The Complete Works
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All of the Shakespeare plays within the Argo Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations.
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No stage directions
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Norman Davies captures it all - the rise and fall of Rome, the sweeping invasions of Alaric and Atilla, the Norman Conquests, the Papal struggles for power, the Renaissance and the Reformation, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe's rise to become the powerhouse of the world, and its eclipse in our own century, following two devastating World Wars.
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Very dry in delivery and information
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Egypt, Greece, and Rome
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Long sources of mystery, imagination, and inspiration, the myths and history of the ancient Mediterranean have given rise to artistic, religious, cultural, and intellectual traditions that span the centuries. In this unique and comprehensive introduction to the region's three major civilizations, Egypt, Greece, and Rome draws a fascinating picture of the deep links between the cultures across the Mediterranean and explores the ways in which these civilizations continue to be influential to this day.
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The Crusades
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The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge - a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker) - covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, listenable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history.
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Fantastic Book
- By braden on 2018-11-18
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The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
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Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
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Cannot possibly retain the info... waste of $$
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The English and Their History
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Robert Tombs' momentous The English and Their History is both a startlingly fresh and a uniquely inclusive account of the people who have a claim to be the oldest nation in the world. The English first came into existence as an idea, before they had a common ruler and before the country they lived in even had a name. They have lasted as a recognizable entity ever since, and their defining national institutions can be traced back to the earliest years of their history.
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Good Overall but some issues
- By Alexandre Lariviere on 2019-10-26
Publisher's Summary
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia. In this masterful work, readers will encounter:
- Sumeria, birthplace of the first cities and written laws
- the Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine, and mummification more than 3,500 years ago
- the Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics, and planted the seeds of Western mythology
- the Judeans, who preserved their culture forever in the immortal books of the Old Testament
- the Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before Rome
- Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophers, and Japanese Samurais
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What listeners say about Our Oriental Heritage
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Greg Deleersnyder
- 2018-09-14
Starts slow but picks up steam
A true classic. Depending on your interests you may find some of the chapters a little dry but overall what a great book. I wasn't crazy about the early chapters but once they got into Egypt I was hooked. Very interesting to compare perceptions from the 1930's and now 😄
I would recommend this book to those of you who already have some knowledge of ancient history.
#Audible1
3 people found this helpful
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- dursim
- 2020-08-12
Came here from a Elon Musk's recommendation
completely satisfied, can't believe that such a knowledgeable book was written almost a century ago 👍
2 people found this helpful
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- Big Gucci Kony
- 2020-07-24
Very good
The book jumps between intensely fascinating and downright boring at times, but the good vastly outweighs the bad. It starts fast, and is very dense. The parts on art I found long, but I can see why that would also be someone else’s favourite portion of the work. Super worth the read. This has inspired me to read many other books and philosophers I didn’t care for before, which is always the sign of a great work.
1 person found this helpful
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- patrick
- 2021-03-05
The cure for ignorance!
Amazing! Must read/listen. An enlightened pre WW2 perspective on human history. Very relevant today! 5 stars!
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- Jason Gacek
- 2020-11-17
Very Dated and you can tell
This series alleges to cover all of Asian history to the ‘present’. Which in the case of the author is pre WW2. Very prescient predictions of another world war were creepy when you know it was written prior to the war.
The book has the benign racism and sexism of a classically educated well intentioned white man of late 30’s England or America.
My key issue is that it try’s to cover too much and in many area’s given the title, not enough. For the societies lucky enough to be singled out, he tries to cover not just political history, but art, architecture, music, literature, culture, language, finance, and more. Discussing art and architecture that’s foreign to you without pictures is unproductive. Discussing music that foreign to you without being able to hear a sample is also useless. A brief overview would have sufficed if we can’t see or hear the material in question.
The book covers India, China, and Japan, but does not cover other rich cultures much at all, like Thailand, Cambodia, Korea, and Vietnam. The book also lacks focus and doesn’t create a good ‘story’ of the people.
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- Michael
- 2013-11-30
Wonderful
I read this series years ago, then listened to them on cassette tape, and have begged for them on Audible for many years. Finally, the first two have appeared. No history is perfect, and history written in the forties cannot help but be dated, yet the authors’ presentation, tone, and focus seem surprisingly up to date. I really like the authors’ quirky sense of humor and matter of fact tone. This series is eleven big volumes totaling something like 500 hours. This history is very easy to listen to and it is hard for me to imagine anyone who would not find a lot of it interesting. Some people dislike the somewhat thematic instead of chronological approach, but I found it engaged me more than most histories. Persians and Chinese may be rightfully chagrined at the short shrift given their influential cultures and I agree with those who argue that the authors focus on exceptional individuals and deemphasize the importance of randomness in history. Nevertheless this is a series that I would recommend to anyone over twelve that wants to learn about western history. For me this was hundreds and hundreds of hours of fun and I did a little dance when I saw these were now available on Audible. Frankly none of the narration is perfect, but Robin Field does a good job in this volume. This volume covers pre-history and the invention of language and art up to the ancient eastern influences on western civilization. Selfishly I want to encourage people to listen to these first two so Audible will get the rest of the series.
120 people found this helpful
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- jason
- 2013-12-12
excellent! I'm excited for the entire series!
This is the only book in the series I've had time to read, so listening was a review for me. That being said, I loved it as much the second time as the first. Durant is my favorite author because of the lyrical way he writes history. Some of the many highlights for me are his explanation of Japanese poetry, the gruesome and barbaric ways people have tortured and killed one another (death by boats!), the plunder of India, how civilization creates and morphs religions, and random historical mistakes that travel through time and are a part of our current speech. (jehovah) It's a joy to be able to listen to this series because I will never have the time to read it, but can listen all day long at work. If you love history, this is the gold standard.
19 people found this helpful
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- Gary
- 2014-01-26
A path towards wisdom by way of history
One of the great books on Eastern Civilizations. This book is a perfect listen for those who don't like history with all of its dates since he tells the story functionally not chronologically. The book looks at history by each civilization and by function (philosophy, poetry, prose, people's language, government and so on). The author seems to excel when he's talking about a country's philosophy and uses it to describe the country's culture. The section on Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism are the best I have ever read.
It's hard to condense 2000 or more years into a digestible understandable format, but the author does it and the listener really gets to understand our place in the universe a little bit better because of it. The author magically takes random events, turns it into information, processes it into knowledge by giving it narrative and then gives the listener wisdom he didn't have before. I did smile out loud when we were told about Akbar the "illiterate intellectual". He would have the great works of his time read aloud to him. After having listened to this work, I too feel like the illiterate intellectual (since reading puts me to sleep and listening does not. Thank you Audible for making this book available!).
I will give a bit of advice to any potential listener that I know I wouldn't follow myself (my favorite kind of free advice). Don't listen to the first eight hours or so of the book on prehistoric man and early prehistory. He's just wrong and full of prejudices of the time. I did listen to it because I have a linear personality and just can't bring myself to not listen to it all, but the only value I got is that how little they knew about that period of man in 1935 and how they would extrapolate falsely and a boatload of the author's Western prejudices sneaked through.
I would be amiss to not comment on some of the incredibly absurd statements that permeate the book (meat eaters stink, "the average Japanese man today has the sensitivity and shrewdness of the Jew", Hindus are a superstitious people, and so on). I would recommend just ignore such statements and take the book as the masterpiece it is. I have yet to find any other book that covers Eastern Civilizations better and I definitely will read the other volumes in the series.
70 people found this helpful
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- Scott
- 2013-12-01
Living, Breathing History
Two caveats. This first volume was written in the 1930’s so some of its information is inevitably dated. Secondly, this book is really more about giving the Eastern context necessary for understanding Western civilization than a comprehensive guide to Eastern civilization.
That being said, it is a beautifully written history, alive with detail, with generous amounts of quoted literature giving the testimony and mindset of the people who lived through these times. One thing I like about Durant’s approach is that while he is always lively and opinionated, he doesn’t create strawmen. He is always sure to present the best case for differing points of view. It would be nice to see more of that quality in these polarized times.
This was thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.
30 people found this helpful
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- Andrew
- 2015-07-07
From Origin to Industrial Revolution
I imagine this volume had to be the most difficult for Will Durant to produce because of its timeline. He begins his work brilliantly by explaining mankind's apparent need for familial safety and how a family grew to a tribe, from a tribe to a village, village to city, city to state, state to nation, etc. As more people join a culture, though, tasks can be distributed evenly among the citizens, giving some folks a leisurely time to create what came to be known as art or science and, since they were the possessors of such beautiful things, they came to be set at a higher standard, creating caste systems and such cultural labels that are still seen today.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the role of women and how they were the rulers of their families in ancient (or, as Durant calls them, Oriental) days but, with the evolution of castes and religion, they came to be thought of as property (especially in the last century which is a time he called Occidental.)
Robin Field is an amazing narrator with no misunderstanding of sentence structure or diction. I understood him quite clearly and his telling of quotes and notes was fantastic! I can already tell that I'm going to very much enjoy these volumes by Will Durant as well as anything else Robin Field narrates in the future! This book is a prized possession!
9 people found this helpful
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- Jeff
- 2013-12-28
MASTERPIECE KILLED BY NARRATION
This 11 vol. World history is without peer- and is one of the greatest works by any measure In history - and on history. I had asked audible to get it when I saw it became available and it wasn't anywhere on their radar. I assumed they (the one who just released the first book-recorded books I think) would either use the one that was around on tape - that had already been done by the incomparable Grover Gardener or at least use someone else of his caliber and suitability for the material as well as being appropriate for such a stunningly important work. What we got was a huge disappointment. The narrator was not suited to the material-at all, and I should know seeing as( very roughly) 300 of my 900 books are history.
Ive been after this series in audible format for 5yrs and while I sincerely thank audible for their efforts in bringing these titles on board It has been a huge let down. Its not audibles fault though.
Audible has really been great, not just for getting this(despite it being a disaster) but also other things Ive requested like the 2 missing books from Robert Caro's years of lyndon johnson biography which by the way was done marvelously by them. If you havnt read that multi-volume biography your life is incompleate!
Audible if your listening-this 11 vol masterpiece is out there on tape by grover gardiner(though he uses anouther name- Alex Alexander or something like that) Just waiting for you to pick it up re-master it and put it out there. Tongues are hanging out in anticipation of someone doing this!
67 people found this helpful
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- Nurture Learners and Able Observers
- 2016-08-29
The Eighth Wonder of the World is This Series.
If you could sum up Our Oriental Heritage in three words, what would they be?
Valuable information no person should have to live without. Ignorance when one is part of civilization, about the civilization one lives in, is an unnecessary burden. One does not have the big picture until they understand the cultures one has risen from. Your understanding of mankind just grows in leaps and bounds as you are taken through this marvelous adventure of our beginnings.
What did you like best about this story?
I read the series when it was introduced as a book club incentive in the mid 80's. It was just a great read. Magical! Not like reading a history book at all. Hugely entertaining. When they were published on cassette I had to listen again. Now on audio book, it has been just as great the third time though! The best yet!
Have you listened to any of Robin Field’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
There is humor and wit in the writing that is very subtle.
Any additional comments?
Don't deny yourself this extraordinary adventure of mankind!
7 people found this helpful
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- Gray Diamond
- 2016-08-04
Civilization
I enjoyed the big picture presented with clarity.
I got engaged to the book. suddenly, the book was over. I love this book.
6 people found this helpful
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- Aziz
- 2016-06-03
I like the book and the narrator
I'm not an expert to criticize the book professionally but I like it.. I feel that the book goes over every important detail of the Era tackled in this volume the narrator is good and talks clearly.. English is a second language to me yet I easily understand him.. starting volume 2 soon!!
6 people found this helpful
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- Michelle
- 2015-11-20
Interesting, but dry.
I have not read the printed version of this work, but I think it would be easier to comprehend the message. The narrator is very good at presenting the material with an even voice without letting his personal feelings/bias influence the work. However, the steadiness of his voice made it more difficult for me to always catch when he would be jumping from one thought to the next and often times different points would blend together.
I really enjoyed the content and listened to chunks over a 6 month time span in the hopes of better retention. The format the author uses is a great format for my personal learning style, but the inclusion of the numerous footnotes in the audio version was more distracting than it was useful.
Overall I would say this was a good learning resource. While I'm sure not everything written is totally accurate it was a great base for me. I would consider reading the text again or continuing with the series, but I will likely purchase the printed text or find a library copy.
5 people found this helpful