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Rivers of Gold
- The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 27 hrs and 25 mins
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Rivers of Gold
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Publisher's summary
From one of the greatest historians of the Spanish world, here is a fresh and fascinating account of Spain's early conquests in the Americas.
Hugh Thomas shows Spain at the dawn of the sixteenth century as a world power on the brink of greatness. For Spain and for the world, the decision to send Christopher Columbus west was epochal—the dividing line between the medieval and the modern.
Spain's colonial adventures began inauspiciously. In spite of its small scale, it was a mission of astounding scope: to claim for Spain all the wealth of the Indies.
The lofty aspirations of the first explorers died hard, as the pursuit of wealth and glory competed with the pursuit of pious impulses. In their search for gold, Spaniards enslaved "Indians" from the Bahamas and the South American mainland. Columbus and other Spanish explorers—Cortes, Ponce de Leon, and Magellan among them—created an empire for Spain of unsurpassed size and scope. But the door was soon open for other powers, enemies of Spain, to stake their claims.
Rivers of Gold is a great story brilliantly told. More significant, it is an engrossing history with many profound—often disturbing—echoes in the present.
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- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 825
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 726
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 722
Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Grand cities and luxurious villas were deserted and left to crumble, and civil society collapsed into chaos. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. The Anglo-Saxons traces the turbulent history of these people across the next six centuries. It explains how their earliest rulers fought relentlessly against each other for glory and supremacy, and then were almost destroyed by the onslaught of the vikings.
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3 out of 5 stars
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"Pretty Good"
- By Stephen on 05-30-21
By: Marc Morris
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Age of Discovery
- A Captivating Guide to an Era of Exploration in European History, Including Discoveries Such as Christopher Columbus’ Voyages to the Americas and Vasco da Gama’s Sea Route to India
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 15
If you want to discover the captivating history of the Age of Discovery, then pay attention.... The Age of Discovery began in the early part of the 15th century and carried on through most of the 17th century. It is sometimes also referred to as the Age of Exploration. This was a time when the people of Europe began to travel, discover, and explore more of the world than ever before, mapping and naming the places they found. They bravely went out on the seas to learn about the world, often never sure if they would find anything at all, let alone ever return home.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Middle school storytelling. Not recommended .
- By Isar on 10-21-20
-
Conquistadores
- A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest
- By: Fernando Cervantes
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
Over the few short decades that followed Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Caribbean in 1492, Spain conquered the two most powerful civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and the other explorers and soldiers who took part in these expeditions dedicated their lives to seeking political and religious glory, helping to build an empire unlike any the world had ever seen. But centuries later, these conquistadors have become the stuff of nightmares.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
A fresh mature perspective on the Spanish conquest
- By Chencheno111 on 03-19-22
-
A Brief History of the Vikings
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By Jean on 05-09-13
-
Stick a Flag in It
- 1,000 Years of Bizarre History from Britain and Beyond
- By: Arran Lomas
- Narrated by: Arran Lomas
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 628
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 575
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 576
From the Norman Invasion in 1066 to the eve of the First World War, Stick a Flag in It is a thousand-year jocular journey through the history of Britain and its global empire. Forget what you were taught in school - this is history like you’ve never heard it before, full of captivating historical quirks that will make you laugh out loud and scratch your head in disbelief.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting history, hilariously recounted
- By Tori on 10-14-20
By: Arran Lomas
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Making Haste from Babylon
- The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History
- By: Nick Bunker
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
At the end of 1618, a blazing green star soared across the night sky over the northern hemisphere. From the Philippines to the Arctic, the comet became a sensation and a symbol, a warning of doom or a promise of salvation. Two years later, as the Pilgrims prepared to sail across the Atlantic on board the Mayflower, the atmosphere remained charged with fear and expectation. Men and women readied themselves for war, pestilence, or divine retribution. Against this background, and amid deep economic depression, the Pilgrims conceived their enterprise of exile.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent, detailed and eye-opening
- By David on 09-20-15
By: Nick Bunker
-
The Pirate Queen
- By: Susan Ronald
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Dubbed the "pirate queen" by the Vatican and Spain's Philip II, Elizabeth I was feared and admired by her enemies. Extravagant, whimsical, and hot-tempered, Elizabeth was the epitome of power. Her visionary accomplishments were made possible by her daring merchants, gifted rapscallion adventurers, astronomer philosophers, and her stalwart Privy Council, including Sir William Cecil, Sir Francis Walsingham, and Sir Nicholas Bacon.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Too lilttle about Elizabeth!
- By Eunice on 12-20-07
By: Susan Ronald
-
The Viking Heart
- How Scandinavians Conquered the World
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 152
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
Scandinavia has always been a world apart. For millennia Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes lived a remote and rugged existence among the fjords and peaks of the land of the midnight sun. But when they finally left their homeland in search of opportunity, these wanderers — including the most famous, the Vikings — would reshape Europe and beyond.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Confused and not worth the time and money
- By Jacob The Dane on 08-16-21
By: Arthur Herman
-
The Greek Revolution
- 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Mark Mazower
- Narrated by: John Lee, Mark Mazower
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent, had it not been for the narrator
- By Jean N on 05-15-22
By: Mark Mazower
-
Captive Paradise
- A History of Hawaii
- By: James L. Haley
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 317
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 315
The most recent state to join the union, Hawaii is the only one to have once been a royal kingdom. After its discovery by Captain Cook in the late 18th century, Hawaii was fought over by European powers determined to take advantage of its position as the crossroads of the Pacific. The arrival of the first missionaries marked the beginning of the struggle between a native culture with its ancient gods, sexual libertinism, and rites of human sacrifice and the rigid values of the Calvinists.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good, but not enough history of the Island.
- By Jonathan on 07-09-15
By: James L. Haley
-
Black Tudors
- The Untold Story
- By: Miranda Kaufmann
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
A Black porter publicly whips a White English gentleman in a Gloucestershire manor house. A heavily pregnant African woman is abandoned on an Indonesian island by Sir Francis Drake. A Mauritanian diver is dispatched to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose.... Miranda Kaufmann reveals the absorbing stories of some of the Africans who lived free in Tudor England.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I thought I knew it all...
- By Sylvia Schmidt on 08-01-19
By: Miranda Kaufmann
-
Love and Hate in Jamestown
- John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation
- By: David A. Price
- Narrated by: Josh Innerst
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Drawing on period letters and chronicles, and on the papers of the Virginia Company - which financed the settlement of Jamestown - David Price tells a tale of cowardice and courage, stupidity and brilliance, tragedy and costly triumph. He takes us into the day-to-day existence of the English men and women whose charge was to find gold and a route to the Orient, and who found, instead, hardship and wretched misery. Death, in fact, became the settlers' most faithful companion, and their infighting was ceaseless.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Five Star History!
- By Damian on 08-13-23
By: David A. Price
-
Scandinavia
- A History
- By: Ewan Butler
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 57
Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, award-winning historian Ewan Butler writes, struggled through unions and separations with both outsiders and each other, developing their own personalities and languages yet retaining their ancient connections.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent History of Scandinavia after the Vikings
- By Arthur on 05-05-17
By: Ewan Butler
-
The Silk Road
- A Captivating Guide to the Ancient Network of Trade Routes Established During the Han Dynasty of China and How It Connected the East and West
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 28
The Silk Road, which has been understood as a generalized route of trade between the East and the West, is different from European, North African, and Near Eastern trade routes because until recently, it has been understood as solely being a land route; in fact, it was believed to be the longest overland trade route in human history. The history of the Silk Road is extremely complex. It cannot be told as a singular chronological narrative.
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2 out of 5 stars
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What a disappointment
- By Pat Newell on 06-22-21
-
Inca Apocalypse
- The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World
- By: R. Alan Covey
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Previous accounts of the fall of the Inca empire have played up the importance of the events of one violent day in November 1532 at the highland Andean town of Cajamarca. To some, the "Cajamarca miracle" - in which Francisco Pizarro and a small contingent of Spaniards captured an Inca who led an army numbering in the tens of thousands - demonstrated the intervention of divine providence. To others, the outcome was simply the result of European technological and immunological superiority.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
A Comparison
- By Than on 12-28-20
By: R. Alan Covey
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 827
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 753
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 748
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
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- By: Fernando Cervantes
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
Over the few short decades that followed Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Caribbean in 1492, Spain conquered the two most powerful civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and the other explorers and soldiers who took part in these expeditions dedicated their lives to seeking political and religious glory, helping to build an empire unlike any the world had ever seen. But centuries later, these conquistadors have become the stuff of nightmares.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A fresh mature perspective on the Spanish conquest
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World Without End
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- By: Hugh Thomas
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 26
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Performance2.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4 out of 5 stars 23
The legacy of imperial Spain was shaped by many hands. Chief among them was the towering figure of King Philip II, the cultivated Spanish monarch whom a contemporary once called "the arbiter of the world". Cheerful and pious, he inherited vast authority from his father but felt himself unworthy to wield it. His 42-year reign changed the face of the globe forever.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Too Much Namedropping
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By: Hugh Thomas
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Conquistador
- Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs
- By: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,240
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It was a moment unique in human history: the face-to-face meeting between two men from civilizations a world apart. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico, determined not only to expand the Spanish empire but to convert the natives to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. That he saw nothing paradoxical in his intentions is one of the most remarkable and tragic aspects of this unforgettable story.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Great Book
- By Victor on 02-27-11
By: Buddy Levy
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América
- The Epic Story of Spanish North America, 1493-1898
- By: Robert Goodwin
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 20 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
At the conclusion of the American Revolution, half the modern United States was part of the vast Spanish Empire. The year after Columbus' great voyage of discovery, in 1492, he claimed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for Spain. For the next 300 years, thousands of proud Spanish conquistadors and their largely forgotten Mexican allies went in search of glory and riches from Florida to California. Many died; few triumphed. Some were cruel; some were curious; some were kind. Missionaries and priests yearned to harvest Indian souls for God through baptism and Christian teaching.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A Narration That is Difficult to Follow
- By Amazon Customer on 05-24-19
By: Robert Goodwin
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Spain
- The Centre of the World 1519-1682
- By: Robert Goodwin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Clyde
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story5 out of 5 stars 8
In the sixteenth century, the Spaniards became the first nation in history to have worldwide reach--across most of Europe to the Americas, the Philippines, and India. The Golden Age of the Spanish Empire would establish five centuries of Western supremacy across the globe and usher in an era of transatlantic exploration that eventually gave rise to the modern world. It was a time of discovery and adventure, of great political and social change. Robert Goodwin delves into previously unrecorded sources to bring this tumultuous and exciting period to life
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El Norte
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 257
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 210
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots - ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century, and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation as it exists today.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Chicken Noodle History
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Conquistadores
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- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
Over the few short decades that followed Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Caribbean in 1492, Spain conquered the two most powerful civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and the other explorers and soldiers who took part in these expeditions dedicated their lives to seeking political and religious glory, helping to build an empire unlike any the world had ever seen. But centuries later, these conquistadors have become the stuff of nightmares.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A fresh mature perspective on the Spanish conquest
- By Chencheno111 on 03-19-22
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World Without End
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 26
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Performance2.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4 out of 5 stars 23
The legacy of imperial Spain was shaped by many hands. Chief among them was the towering figure of King Philip II, the cultivated Spanish monarch whom a contemporary once called "the arbiter of the world". Cheerful and pious, he inherited vast authority from his father but felt himself unworthy to wield it. His 42-year reign changed the face of the globe forever.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Too Much Namedropping
- By M. MCCASKEY on 05-30-17
By: Hugh Thomas
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Conquistador
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,240
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 961
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 963
It was a moment unique in human history: the face-to-face meeting between two men from civilizations a world apart. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico, determined not only to expand the Spanish empire but to convert the natives to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. That he saw nothing paradoxical in his intentions is one of the most remarkable and tragic aspects of this unforgettable story.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Great Book
- By Victor on 02-27-11
By: Buddy Levy
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América
- The Epic Story of Spanish North America, 1493-1898
- By: Robert Goodwin
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 20 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
At the conclusion of the American Revolution, half the modern United States was part of the vast Spanish Empire. The year after Columbus' great voyage of discovery, in 1492, he claimed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for Spain. For the next 300 years, thousands of proud Spanish conquistadors and their largely forgotten Mexican allies went in search of glory and riches from Florida to California. Many died; few triumphed. Some were cruel; some were curious; some were kind. Missionaries and priests yearned to harvest Indian souls for God through baptism and Christian teaching.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A Narration That is Difficult to Follow
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Spain
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story5 out of 5 stars 8
In the sixteenth century, the Spaniards became the first nation in history to have worldwide reach--across most of Europe to the Americas, the Philippines, and India. The Golden Age of the Spanish Empire would establish five centuries of Western supremacy across the globe and usher in an era of transatlantic exploration that eventually gave rise to the modern world. It was a time of discovery and adventure, of great political and social change. Robert Goodwin delves into previously unrecorded sources to bring this tumultuous and exciting period to life
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El Norte
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- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 257
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 210
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
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2 out of 5 stars
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Chicken Noodle History
- By Jose on 10-30-19
By: Carrie Gibson
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The Last Days of the Incas
- By: Kim MacQuarrie
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 913
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 614
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 619
In 1532, the 54-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother, Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting but problematic
- By Matthew on 11-05-07
By: Kim MacQuarrie
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Magellan
- A Man and his Deed
- By: Stefan Zweig
- Narrated by: Tyler Boss
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
With the age of voyages of discovery in the 15th century, the curtain of history slowly came down on the late Middle Ages. Portuguese and Spanish seafarers set out to remeasure the dimensions of the earth. Numerous spices and fruits, which we would hardly be able to do without today, found their way to Europe for the first time. Columbus discovered America in 1492 on his quest for India. Six years later, it was left to Vasco da Gama to travel through the sea route to India sought by Columbus on the eastern route around Africa.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book - odd narration
- By Anonymous User on 04-08-23
By: Stefan Zweig
-
Over the Edge of the World
- Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe
- By: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Laurence Bergreen
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 831
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 617
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 617
In 1519 Magellan and his fleet of five ships set sail from Seville, Spain, to discover a water route to the fabled Spice Islands in Indonesia, where the most sought-after commodities (cloves, pepper, and nutmeg) flourished. Three years later, a handful of survivors returned with an abundance of spices from their intended destination, but with just one ship carrying 18 emaciated men. During their remarkable voyage around the world the crew endured starvation, disease, mutiny, and torture. Many men died, including Magellan, who was violently killed in a fierce battle.
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2 out of 5 stars
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The Reading IS an Issue
- By mcbeene on 12-26-05
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Admiral of the Ocean Sea
- A Life of Christopher Columbus
- By: Samuel Eliot Morison
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 25 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
Admiral of the Ocean Sea is Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's classic biography of the greatest sailor of them all, Christopher Columbus. It is written with the insight, energy, and authority that only someone who had himself sailed in Columbus's path to the New World could muster. Morison undertook this expedition in a 147-foot schooner and a 47-foot ketch, the dimensions of these craft roughly matching those of Columbus's Santa Maria and Nina.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very detailed, not an easy one
- By Curdy on 05-28-12
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Conquerors
- How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 711
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 617
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 616
Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully balanced
- By Nigel Roberts on 05-08-16
By: Roger Crowley
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The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,431
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,416
What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not Engaging or Very Interesting
- By Tommy D'Angelo on 03-05-17
By: Thomas F. X. Noble, and others
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River of Darkness
- Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
- By: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 600
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 508
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 508
In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man". Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing!
- By Sammi on 02-17-18
By: Buddy Levy
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Ghosts of Spain
- Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past
- By: Giles Tremlett
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
The appearance, more than 60 years after the Spanish Civil War ended, of mass graves containing victims of Francisco Franco's death squads finally broke what Spaniards call "the pact of forgetting" - the unwritten understanding that their recent, painful past was best left unexplored. At this charged moment, Giles Tremlett embarked on a journey around the country and through its history to discover why some of Europe's most voluble people have kept silent so long.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Spain at 2005
- By J. H. Robinson on 04-07-21
By: Giles Tremlett
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Emperor
- A New Life of Charles V
- By: Geoffrey Parker
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 26 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 235
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 197
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 196
The life of Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), ruler of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America, has long intrigued biographers. But the elusive nature of the man (despite an abundance of documentation), his relentless travel and the control of his own image, together with the complexity of governing the world's first transatlantic empire, complicate the task.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Amazing.
- By bigdjunta on 10-21-19
By: Geoffrey Parker
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España
- A Brief History of Spain
- By: Giles Tremlett
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Spain's position on Europe's southwestern corner has exposed it to cultural, political and actual winds blowing from all quadrants. Africa lies a mere nine miles to the south. The Mediterranean connects it to the civilisational currents of Phoenicians, Romans, Carthaginians and Byzantines as well as the Arabic lands of the Near East. Hordes from the Russian steppes were amongst the first to arrive. They would be followed by Visigoths, Arabs, Napoleonic armies and many more invaders and immigrants.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good & brief summary
- By Sallie on 08-08-23
By: Giles Tremlett
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The First Voyage Round the World by Magellan
- By: Antonio Pigafetta
- Narrated by: Ginger Walton
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
Pigafetta's book on Magellan’s travels is an engaging travel narrative honoring the legendary explorer. But it is much more: an accurate ethnographic and geographical account of the circumnavigation of the globe. Pifagetta describes the peoples, countries, goods, and even the languages that were spoken in every area.
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When Montezuma Met Cortes
- The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History
- By: Matthew Restall
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction - the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas - has long been the symbol of Cortés' bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened?
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3 out of 5 stars
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Flawed, but worth it for those interested.
- By "J" on 02-16-18
By: Matthew Restall
What listeners say about Rivers of Gold
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazonshopper2000
- 05-18-23
This book fills in all the blanks
This fact-full book was a very comprehensive and a well researched work, covering one of the most interesting periods of discovery, exploration and conquest. Spanning between the late medieval and early renaissance. I've read all the other books written by authors of several generations, this one might be my favorite so far because it covers in detail so many of the gaps that the other historians have left out. The author chooses to summarize in great detail all of the events starting from Enrique IV through the Catholic monarchs and all the way to Columbus, Cortez and Magellan. This book is more of a summary of events than the telling of a story. This is a remarkable book about one of the greatest periods in our modern history. It provides a wealth of information related to the focus subject. I loved that it covered so many participants, explorers and conquistadors of whom many are often forgotten. The narration is easy to follow with few if any mistakes. This author has clearly done his homework. What an adventure!
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