The Modern Scholar: The Anglo-Saxon World

By: Prof. Michael D. C. Drout

Narrated by: Michael D. C. Drout

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Had the Angles and Saxons not purposefully migrated to the isles of the Britons and brought with them their already-well-developed use of language, Angelina Jolie may never have appeared in the movie Beowulf.

Professor Michael D.C. Drout is at his best when lecturing on the fascinating history, language, and societal adaptations of the Anglo-Saxons. He not only presents their storytelling abilities using their own words; he does so in their own voice - the incredibly melodious Old English.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Michael D.C. Drout (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Perfect Intro to the Anglo-Saxon Period

I come at this review as a non-specialist in medieval/dark age history (being much more of a math/science person) but very interested in the subject. After having bought several lecture series from the Teaching Company, I only recently discovered the Modern Scholar series here on Audible. This was my first purchase in the Modern Scholar library and it is by far my favorite. Michael Drout is a fantastic teacher with a genuine enthusiasm for the subject. He is clearly a current scholar, and includes recent academic work in the field in a very accessible format. I especially appreciate his (for the most part) non-partisan discussion and straight forward, no-nonsense, engaging, but not at all dumbed-down, approach. I really wish I had more professors in college with his gift for teaching. After the first listen, I was motivated to learn more about the Anglo-Saxons, and that - to me - is the mark of a successful teacher.

Very highly recommended. You will not regret spending a credit on this series.

Get this book!

Listening to lectures can be hit or miss. Some are good and some are bad. But Professor Drout present this information with such passion and competence that you forget they are lectures. You come to appreciate the materials so much more because of his infectious love and interest in the time period. I can't wait to listen to his other courses and I can't recommend this one highly enough.

I want to know more

I started listening to this series of lectures with a bit of a guilty feeling that I ought to know more about the subject. I came away enthusiastically desiring to learn more. Dr. Drout is a clearly knowledgable scholar with an unabashed love of scholarship in his field of study and an ability to communicate what is interesting, intriguing, and humane in the people, events, and literature he teaches. He helps us beginners with effective mnemonic devices and clear organization while giving us glimpses of the complexities and uncertainties behind the story. His mastery of the subject has led to a love of it that comes across to and into the listener.

Great Primer

I've been a part time lover of Anglo Saxon studies for close to 25 years. While most of this was review for me, Professor Drout's passion made it fun to listen to as a good refresher. As a lover of colonial America and Virginia in particular, I also found his work challenging some of my assumptions. Recommend.

Engaging and informative

Dr. Drout is fun to listen to. He makes a complex subject come alive and makes you want to learn more.

I concur.

I totally include my support for Prof. Drout's work here - his enthusiasm and narration really make it work. I'm always hoping to find a great series or fun historical lecture and frankly - quite a few become my "fall asleep" during bouts of insomnia choices. I'm grateful this was not one of those. He's got real talent. Makes me want to be in his classroom.

So superb, it made me want to go back to school!

(For some reason, my paragraph breaks aren't showing up on the Audible site, so I've put a slashmark at the end of each paragraph to hopefully mimic a paragraph break and make this easier to follow)/
I have enjoyed these lectures so tremendously that after listening to all 8 hours, I went right back to the beginning to re-listen and as I suspected I would, pick up a lot of fascinating information I'd missed the first listen./

Drout gives an in depth overview to a dead culture and he not only brings these ancient people to life and their most interesting characters, works, and historical events to life, but he also makes them relevant by explaining their influences to our modern cultures and language and ideas. /

I purchased this on some whim but thanks to these wonderful lectures, I have developed such a fascination and interest in the Anglo-Saxon world, I'm toying with the idea of returning to school and majoring in A-S studies! And I'm old! /

Also, I can see myself using every one of my credits for the next couple of years ONLY on the Modern Scholar series. In fact, I grit my teeth when I think of every credit wasted on crap vamp lit!

Clear & interesting

Well-organized and concise lecture. The passages of spoken anglo-saxon is beautiful and evocative. I learned much about the peoples I am descended from.

Professor Drout Loves His Subject (and it Shows)

Another reviewer has observed that the Modern Scholar courses aren’t always taught by scintillating scholars. Fortunately for anyone who wants a snappy, well-balanced overview of the Anglo-Saxons, Michael Drout is one of the good ones.

He burns no incense at the altars of academic fashion. He good-humoredly corrects popular misconceptions. And he simply loves his subject. More importantly, he’s able to communicate some of that enthusiasm to his listeners.

Old English, battles, kings, monks, fun stories

This was a good lecture series, neatly broken up into the important periods and topics of the 500-ish years of the Anglo-Saxon era. I was very amused by Professor Drout's mnemonic device for the century-long divisions. I can honestly say I will never forget it. I loved the old English quotes and excerpts that he began each lecture with, and the discussions of the language and its development. He told stories of battles and kings, but also common people, the church, and about their literature. He was easy to follow, and always made everything interesting and easy to comprehend. Complications ensued with some of the dynasties and fighting over successions, especially when so many of the names sound alike - or were even the same, in the case of the many Harolds just preceding the Norman conquest... But nonetheless it made for a great narrative throughout, and I do feel that I've learned things -ranging from historic, religious, to linguistic and literature, and even some more modern cultural echoes and revivals. Thomas Jefforson's interest in the study of Anglo-Saxon made for an interesting and rather unexpected topic near the end.

Prof had very engaging manner of speaking, and his enthusiasm and expertise for the subject was highly evident. Recommended to those who are interested in the period, be it the history, culture, literature, or language... there was something for everyone.