Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations

By: Brian M. Fagan, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Brian M. Fagan

Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Where do we come from? How did our ancestors settle this planet? How did the great historic civilizations of the world develop? How does a past so shadowy that it has to be painstakingly reconstructed from fragmentary, largely unwritten records nonetheless make us who and what we are?

These 36 lectures bring you the answers that the latest scientific and archaeological research and theorizing suggest about human origins, how populations developed, and the ways in which civilizations spread throughout the globe. It's a narrative of the story of human origins and the many ties that still bind us deeply to the world before writing. And it's a world tour of prehistory with profound links to who we are and how we live today.

Woven through this narrative is a set of pervasive themes: emerging human biological and cultural diversity (as well as our remarkable similarities across surprising expanses of time and space); the impact of human adaptations to climatic and environmental change; and the importance of seeing prehistory not merely as a chronicle of archaeological sites and artifacts, but of people behaving with the extraordinary intellectual, spiritual, and emotional dynamism that distinguish the human. Among the corners of our mysterious past you'll explore: human prehistory from Australopithecus africanus through Homo habilis and Homo erectus; the beginnings of agriculture and animal domestication; theories behind the appearance of urban civilization and overall attributes of preindustrial civilizations; the maritime trading revolutions in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia; and much more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

Provides a Broad Perspective

This is a very good survey of prehistory. It includes several of the the first civilizations to leave some written records, but most of the content covers cultures who left behind only archaeological evidence. Unlike many such wide-ranging offerings, this one attempts to sample globally and contains examples from Asia, Africa, and the Americas . It presents a structure of human development and does not delve deeply into any one society, but it instead it provides valuable context for concentrated investigation into any of them.

In addition, Professor Fagan discusses how human societies across time and space have solved our common problems of survival in similar ways and also how they have significantly differed. He clearly states at the beginning of the series what he will address and comments at the end on some of the significant insights to be gleaned from this broad scope of early human development.

I find a good, well-organized survey very useful in better understanding more detailed and focused discussions of the specific events and people that preceded us. This lecture series did a fine job of providing that perspective.

A Lot of Ground to Cover

Realizing that this was an overview course, it is still a huge amount of history to cover. Two things have stuck with me since I finished listening to these lectures. The first was Dr. Fagan's speaking. His voice was theatrical and almost Shakespearean. However, he pronounces some words in ways that seem tortured. Even though I have figured out what he means, it is almost impossible to say it the way he does. The word "Controversy," for example, is pronounced something like "Contravesee." It is not a British thing, but a Professor Garland thing. The other point that actually bothered me more was the lack of support, especially in the later lectures, for all the great material he was offering. Again, I realize that his was an overview set of lectures, but it would have been nice to have more information to support his perspective. Just the opposite of Dr. Castor, who tended to give almost too much historical support.

Never has gone wrong with The Great Courses.

Very good course and good information. I would recommend for beginner and intermediates in this subject.

Just what I had hoped for

This was a comprehensive overview of the beginnings of civilization around the world - it felt focused and richly informative.

Fascinating

A brilliantly told story with a thematic through line of human ingenuity and connection. Loved it.

Great content, okay delivery

Negatives - Fagan makes regular references to sizes of things we cannot see (size of room he is in, size of object in his hand). He often misspeaks, but is very good at correcting himself; this is perfectly fine in real life but The Teaching Company could edit these out to reduce listener confusion.

Postives- Fagan is clearly very passionate about his subject and his enthusiasm is infectious. I am a huge fan of his phrase 'how do we know this?' followed by an explanation of how researchers come to these conclusion, it is a very helpful way of explaining things.

Overall well woth listening to, Fagan did a great job, but The Teaching Company could have improved it by editing.

Prosperity

A great ton of valuable information. I don't have a Ph.D but all the information seems to correlate with other Ancient civilization lectures I've listened to.

Prehistory out of date

While Dr Fagan’s course has much to commend and a very great deal to teach, the early history of Hominidae out of date. This is hardly surprising given the explosion of new data in the past several decades.

Dr Fagan has a concise, lucid style. He is an excellent educator and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a broader scope on early civilizations.

Very intriguing right up until current times.

I was captivated through every lecture what a great endeavor bringing all these stages in our vast common and uncommon history together

Excellent overview of pre-history

A lot of evidence is given to connect events and to provide the reader/listener a mental map of connected events despite there being no recorded history for us to read.