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War and World History  By  cover art

War and World History

By: Jonathan P. Roth,The Great Courses
Narrated by: Jonathan P. Roth
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Publisher's summary

This fresh and challenging inquiry into human societies takes a deep look at the effects and roles of war. As the most complex of all human endeavors, warfare - from ancient to modern - has spurred the growth of essential new technologies; demanded the adoption of complex economic systems; shaped the ideology and culture of nations; promoted developments in art and literature; and spread faith across the globe.

Over the course of 48 highly provocative lectures, Professor Roth explores armed conflict across five continents. Far from a traditional approach to military events, this panoramic series is not the history of battles or military campaigns, but the story of the intimate interconnections of war with human cultures and societies and how these connections have shaped history.

You'll study the complex effects of culture, economics, politics, and religion on war - and war's influences on them. In this context, you chart the colorful history of the practice and methodology of warfare. Among many other things, you'll learn about

  • the development and evolution of history-making military weapons such as bows, horses, swords, and gunpowder;
  • the interface of warfare with religion, which has bred some of the most unusual and poignant conflicts in history;
  • the 17th-century European nation-state, where militaries were "nationalized" into central governments and military service was imbued with ideology of citizenship and loyalty to state;
  • the crucial military underpinnings of nationalism, Communism, Fascism, and other political movements from the modern era.

Probe these pivotal and revealing features of history and deepen your understanding of our extraordinary, evolving world.

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

©2009 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2009 The Great Courses

What listeners say about War and World History

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

He should listen to some of the other courses.

First, terrible speaker. His voice ranges from very quiet to very loud. He says "uh" a lot, and seems to forget what he's talking about. Second, he drones on and on about irrelevant, trivial facts at the expense of the bigger picture. Third, he may be a university professor, but he doesn't know his facts. His account of early Islam is alarmingly inaccurate, and elementary. There's a Great Course about Islamic history that attempts to tell the story from a neutral view and does a fair job. This author, however, referenced an incident in early Islamic history of which the only source is laughable at best, having had been written several centuries after the event in question. I don't expect Western historians in the modern era to be entirely accurate or fair when telling Eastern history, especially Islamic history, but that wasn't worthy of a Great Course lecture.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An essential history of war as a human condition

This series of lectures is an unapologetic look at warfare as a human condition which explores the ways it developed technologies from the stone age up to the 2000's and how it influenced, and was influenced by, economic, political, social and religious factors.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

World History > War

This course seems more like a survey of World History than the title would suggest. I found the lack of detail regarding both Military and World history often left me wanting more. Given the scope of the course - from the dawn of mankind to the present - I guess this isn't surprising. I stuck it out to the end, but I was more than ready to be done with it.

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10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best Teaching Company lecture!

What about Professor Jonathan P. Roth’s performance did you like?

I've listened to easily about 50 or so lecture series from The Teaching Company and Great Courses and so far this one is my favorite! I've listened to lectures which have covered some of the same topics that he covers, such as early human history, and yet he brings many new details to them that I had not heard elsewhere and is very good at making things interesting.

I would even recommend this to people who aren't as into military history as I am. I think many historians now downplay war as a factor in history to focus more on social change, but this is a mistake as looking at how war has evolved along with human civilization leads to some very fascinating insights on how both have evolved together. For instance, most historians tend to simply accept as a given that iron working was a revolutionary technology, but Roth actually goes into detail about the pros and cons of switching from bronze to iron and why some civilizations, such as the Egyptians, waited for hundreds of years to adopt it.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Confusing layout

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Only if they are very interested in war and history

What did you like best about this story?

This book had great information, I felt that I learned a lot.

Any additional comments?

Not put in chronological order, maybe this is why I was often confused about when, what, and whom he was talking about. The lecture was hard for me to follow.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Provably wrong statements throughout

What would have made War and World History better?

Correct information. Specifically, the lecturer claims that the 20th century is the most bloody century in human history. This is provably wrong. Please see "The Better Angels of our Nature" by Steven Pinker. This is only one example. Avoid this lecturer. He is ignorant of history and makes stupid broad statements regularly. Also some of his statements about the usefulness of military hardware are suspect. He gives no sources, just dismisses them out of hand. Do not expect scholarship. This is opinion shrouded as fact.

What was most disappointing about The Great Courses’s story?

Incorrect information and a poor intonation that is exceptionally annoying.

Any additional comments?

This is the first time I have noticed completely fallacious statements in a TTC series. I am very disappointed.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A Sweeping Panorama of War and History

As a student of world and military history, this outstanding series answered a lot of questions. Dr. Roth brings to light the not-so-obvious effect that war has on all of us: on our culture (men’s ties and jazz music), on our artifacts (jet travel and microwave ovens) and our psyche (the romanticization of war in the 19th century and its current rejection). I was very moved, especially by the last chapter, in which Dr. Roth reveals the brutal killing of his correspondent friend in Afghanistan and its effect on him: to study war in order to end it. God bless you Dr. Roth in your mission.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A lot of new information.

Despite an extensive background in military matters and history. I still learned a lot from this course.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent all around.

As a police officer with no military experience, I am a civilian that supports the military. This class was, in my opinion, very balanced and shared perspectives from many sides (civilian - military, a variety of religion, government and cultural points of view) which in turn lead to the great depth of this course. I learned a great deal, about myself, and others really broadening my horizons.

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1 person found this helpful

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great

a great trip culminating in the last half hour. The presenter identified key truths in the last lecture.

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1 person found this helpful