Mesoamerican History: A Captivating Guide to Four Ancient Civilizations That Existed in Mexico

The Olmec, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec Civilization

By: Captivating History

Narrated by: David Patton, Duke Holm

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

If you want to discover the captivating history of Mesoamerica, then pay attention....

Four captivating manuscripts in one audiobook:

• Olmecs: A Captivating Guide to the Earliest Known Major Ancient Civilization in Mexico
• Zapotec Civilization: A Captivating Guide to the Pre-Columbian Cloud People Who Dominated the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica
• Maya History: A Captivating Guide to the Maya Civilization, Culture, Mythology, and the Maya Peoples’ Impact on Mesoamerican History
• Aztec History: A Captivating Guide to the Aztec Empire, Mythology, and Civilization

Part one of this audiobook includes:

• Revolutionary findings provided by modern archaeological detective techniques
• The truth of why the Olmecs were so rich and the powerful components to their success
• What there is to know about the Olmec military
• Amazing insights into everyday life of the Olmecs
• Remarkable innovations of the Olmecs
• And much, much more!

Some of the topics covered in part two of this audiobook include:

• The cloud people and their domain
• The arts, athletics, and technology
• The war against the Aztecs
• The conquistadors’ arrival
• The fall of an empire
• And a great deal more on which you don't want to miss out!

Part three of this audiobook includes:

• Revolutionary findings provided by modern archaeological detective techniques
• A simple explanation of the Maya civilization and its location
• And much, much more!

In part four of this audiobook, you will discover topics such as:

• Where did the Aztecs live?
• Agriculture and diet
• Religion
• Shocking discoveries of human sacrifice
• And much, much more!

Get this audiobook now to learn more about Mesoamerican history!

©2018 Captivating History (P)2018 Captivating History

Eye opening, captivating

I can now close my eyes and imagine how the great civilizations of Mesoamerica actually lived their lives. A far cry from the unclothed savages that elementary school history books described. It is a book not to condemn, judge or show prejudice but to appreciate and respect these great empires and the contributions they made. Mestizaje is a beautiful thing!

Hateful descriptions

Author made an offensive comment about having “fat lips” which was of course directed at Africans. People of African descent have full lips unlike other races;). Besides that comment, I’m enjoying the book so far.

A Mixed Bag, And Not The Best Work.

This collection is...okay. It really depends on what part of it you're listening to. This set collects the audio versions of four books, Captivating History's books on the Olmec Civilization, the Zapotec Civilization, Mayan History, and Aztec History, int that order. Duke Holm reads the first two parts, Olmec and Zapotec, and he's not a great narrator. His reading lacks a lot of energy or interest, and he has very odd pauses in his readings at times. Also, for the Olmec section, I could SWEAR I heard chair creaking and other noises in the background, so this is not the best production value. But the actual information in that section was pretty good, I think.

The Zapotec section, on the other hand is garbage, writing-wise. As others have said, it's mostly fluff, repeating the same things in different ways to pad it out, and with a lot of fanciful presumptions on the attitudes of Zapotec people, if that makes sense. Maybe it doesn't. Still total garbage. I eventually skipped that part entirely.

David Patton takes over for the other half, Maya and Aztec, and he's much better as a narrator. No awkward pauses at all. Both sections are okay, writing-wise, I think, though I will admit that sometimes, I heard the narrator breathing as he talked, rather loudly. That probably should have been edited out, and in the Aztec section, there was a point or two with what I will call bloopers. Sentences that are read and stop mid-way, only to start again, or bits that are repeated. And those errors are consistent, I checked.

So for the set overall, I think it mostly balances to about average.

Exceptionally engaging stuff.

Recommended to anyone who wants to comprehend Mexico, not just understand superficially. The author's effort is worth, thank to him.

Good take on Mesoamerica

This collection of Mesoamerican History brings some good information to the table. Overall, it is pretty well done, but there are some caveats.

As others have mentioned, the Olmec and Zapotec sections contain a lot of fluff to portray the same ideas over and over again. While it's understandable that a lot of the history for these 2 groups are speculation due to lack of "hard" evidence, repeating it for sake of repeating it does get a little stale.

The Mayan and Aztec portions are much better, as these have more archaeological findings to help prove theories or otherwise corroborate the histories.

The narrations for all 4 parts are fairly decent, but some fairly common words being mispronounced really detract from the listening experience. Several times I had to rewind portions just to listen to them again to try and grasp the meaning of the statement, simply because an important word was mispronounced. While this seems forgivable at first, the more frequent that it occurred, the harder it became to stay focused on the content. In spite of this, the remainder of the content was well done, and both narrators clearly convey a sense of enjoyment at the reading of the material (much like listening to a professor discuss a period of history that they are truly passionate about).

I am very glad I listen to it

Written in a conversational style that gets you through a lot of dense information and complexity regarding the timeline facts and dates. There is a strong social anthropology theme and it is consistent in tone and form. Each chapter has a quote to set the tone and ending paragraphs to summarize the gist. For me, this was important on a very personal level as I am delving into my ancestry that was only recently made known to me.

Excellent Overview of Mesoamerican Culture

This book serves both the novice and the scholar. It fills in a lot of the blanks that you do not get from more focused works. I recommend this book to anyone, wanting to know all the basic information on the civilizations of Mesoamerica.

Excellent....clear, absorbing.

This seemed like a monumental read but was never a chore. The book feels seamless, from one period to another. The per-Columbian period especially is fascinating since most of us know only Aztec and Maya. Highly recommended!

great history, lots of mispronouncing

I can forgive mispronouncing some words that aren't in your own language (even if it is the subject matter), or an occasional slip-up, and I have, but a professional narrator should learn how to say words like "rhetoric" or "electoral."
if you can muscle through that happening frequently, the actual history is very well written, and his cadence and vocal quality are relaxing.

Disappointed

Hard to take the content seriously when the narrator makes zero effort to pronounce Mesoamérican words properly.