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The Decisive Battles of World History  By  cover art

The Decisive Battles of World History

By: The Great Courses, Gregory S. Aldrete
Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
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Publisher's summary

Throughout history, military engagements have altered the course of historical events, causing major changes both on a global scale (the battles of Yarmouk & al-Qadisiyyah in 636 determined the religious/linguistic orientation of the Middle East that persists today) as well as within individual cultures (the 1836 battle of San Jacinto gave the United States nearly one-third of its continental territory). For these reasons and more, the study of pivotal battles is a highly useful analytical tool and an important component for understanding world history.

In these 36 dynamic lectures, Professor Aldrete leads you in discovering the military conflicts that have had the greatest impact in shifting the direction of events and defining our world. Across 4,000 years of history, you'll explore nearly 40 key military engagements, from the milestone battles of Western civilization to their counterparts in the Middle East, India, and Asia.

Through his dramatic and evocative descriptions, using special maps and animations, Professor Aldrete brings the events vividly alive, taking you through the moment-by-moment unfolding of each battle. Throughout the lectures, he uncovers fascinating background material that highlights the drama, poignancy, and scope of the experience of war. This engrossing course provides unique insights into world civilizations by revealing the profound impact of military battles in human history.

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

©2013 The Great Courses; 2013 The Teaching Company, LLC

What listeners say about The Decisive Battles of World History

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Awesome

Great book. Links several events and how history flows together. Required for any military history buff.

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Excellent Book

Would you consider the audio edition of The Decisive Battles of World History to be better than the print version?

The audio version never replaces the book but allows one to be productive during the commute.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Decisive Battles of World History?

All the battles presented were excellent and decisive

What about Professor Gregory S. Aldrete’s performance did you like?

Great presentation

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Moments that changed the world

Any additional comments?

None

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Highly Educational.

Compelling history. Learned many new things. Well presented. Cogently explained. Highly recommend. Kudos to the author.

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Great audiobook ! I really enjoied it!

Easy to understand and to follow each lesson.
Each Battle selection as a decisive one has an explaination in order to understand why was selected. Thanks audible!!!

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entertaining and thought provoking

This was a very well delivered and logically rigorous presentation that encourages further reflection and study. It was great entertainment too!

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Must read for students of military history

Awesome and insightful. Narrative was full of griping details and keen insights of strategy the focus on contextual factors and resulting impacts to world history was illuminating.

All military members required to further their professional military education must listen and use as a reference.

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Gr8 Review

Although i hv read history before this is a great summary and every military history buff will enjoy !!!

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Exceeded my expectations - new knowledge here.

This audiobook greatly exceeded my expectations.

I had some understanding of some of the author's picks but there were many new things I learned here that had been completely off my radar.

Each battle was descried in such a way as to make it remarkably understandable.

The 36 lectures in this course are well supported with a PDF that is remarkably close to the spoken word, but which has a lot of additional material.

I found it helpful to keep my iPhone handy while listening to these battles; that allowed me to look up maps and understand names and uncommon words more effectively.

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Great Listen

If you are a fan of military history or always wanted to learn more about it then this is the book for you. Professor Aldrete makes everything easy to understand and has a good speaking voice. this is a good way to get your feet wet or learn more about some battles that you might not have heard of.

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Excellent material and fantastic narrator

Great short tidbits of history explained very well and extremely interesting for any history fan.

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