The Great Courses

Even after deciphering its hieroglyphs, and marveling at its scarabs, mummies, obelisks, and sphinxes, Egyptian civilization remains one of history's most mysterious....

Chocolate is one of the most popular food items around the world. While most of us today consume it in the form of candy, desserts, and sugary drinks, chocolate has taken many forms as it traveled from its ancient Mesoamerican roots to the 21st century.

While the lectures cover an enormous range of key thinkers and ideas, they always focus on the most important ideas....

This series of lectures offers detailed analyses of the strategic and tactical dimensions of the Civil War's most important campaigns....

Was King Arthur a real person? What about Robin Hood? Is the Holy Grail a cup, or something else altogether? Did Europeans really burn millions of people at the stake for witchcraft? These are just a few of the questions you will explore with the help of medieval scholar Dorsey Armstrong....

Deep in the swampy heart of ancient Mexico, the Olmecs built a grand and influential civilization between 1800 and 400 BCE. The archaeological remains raise more questions than answers about the origins and legacy of this captivating Mesoamerican culture.

The human brain is one of the most complex entities in the universe. With 86 billion neurons communicating through an intricate symphony of synaptic connections and neurochemicals,….

The past truly comes alive as you take a series of imaginative leaps into the world of history's anonymous citizens....

For the past few hundred years, most of what we’ve been taught about the native cultures of North America came from reports authored by the conquerors and colonizers who destroyed them....

While American history spans not much more than two centuries, it is filled with a wealth of leaders, wars, movements, inventions, and ideas....

Here, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives....

These lectures consistently deliver a fresh level of understanding about medieval England, its rulers and subjects, and their significance....

What happened before the Big Bang? Why does time flow only forward? Do we live as part of a multiverse? Could the universe vanish in an instant? These questions and more are at the forefront of physics, cosmology, and quantum theory.

How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space. In 48 lectures, you will look at what went into making our planet - from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth....

The stuff of conspiracy theories makes for great, entertaining stories in movies, books, and television. And there is no shortage of subjects: from who really killed JFK to the truth behind 9/11...

You’d think for a book as widely known, studied, and distributed as the Bible, the question of authorship would have been sorted out by now. But the question is more complex (and fascinating) than it seems....

Mesopotamia is the ancient name for the region that is now Iraq, a remarkably advanced civilization that flourished for two-thirds of the time that civilization has existed on Earth....

In this 24-lesson course aimed at non-scientists, noted particle physicist Dr. Don Lincoln of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory covers more than a century of progress in physics, describing exactly how scientists reach the conclusions they do....

Military history often highlights successes and suggests a sense of inevitability about victory, but there is so much that can be gleaned from considering failures....

The Roman Republic is one of the most breathtaking civilizations in world history....