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Justinian's Flea
- Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
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Publisher's summary
In Justinian's Flea, William Rosen tells the story of history's first pandemic - a plague seven centuries before the Black Death that killed tens of millions, devastated the empires of Persia and Rome, left a path of victims from Ireland to Iraq, and opened the way for the armies of Islam. Weaving together evolutionary microbiology, economics, military strategy, ecology, and ancient and modern medicine, Rosen offers a sweeping narrative of one of the great hinge moments in history, one that will appeal to readers of John Kelly's The Great Mortality, John Barry's The Great Influenza, and Jared Diamond's Collapse.
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- By: Michael Haag
- Narrated by: Guy Bethell
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Arguably one of the most provocative, puzzling, and misunderstood organizations of medieval times, the legendary Knights Templar have always been shrouded in a veil of mystery, while inspiring popular culture from Indiana Jones to Dan Brown. In The Templars, author Michael Haag offers a definitive history of these loyal Christian soldiers of the Crusades - sworn to defend the Holy Land and Jerusalem, but ultimately damned and destroyed by the Pope and his church.
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Narrator ruined it
- By Amazon Customer on 10-19-17
By: Michael Haag
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Marathon
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- By: Richard A. Billows
- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
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Published to coincide with Marathon's 2500th anniversary, a riveting history of the historic battle. The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is not only understood as the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, but can also be seen as perhaps the most significant moment in our collective history. 10,000 Athenian citizens faced a Persian military force of more than 25,000.
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Effectively evokes the world of ancient greece
- By Aaron on 11-02-10
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The Mental Floss History of the World
- An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits
- By: Steve Wiegand, Erik Sass
- Narrated by: Johny Heller
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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About 60,000 years ago, the first Homo sapiens were just beginning their move across the grasslands and up the ladder of civilization. Everything since then, as they say, is history. Just in case you were sleeping in class that day, the geniuses at mental_floss magazine have put together a hilarious (and historically accurate) primer on everything you need to know---and that means the good stuff.
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Brilliant and Funny. What more could you want?
- By Septimus MacGhilleglas on 01-22-09
By: Steve Wiegand, and others
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The Race for Paradise
- An Islamic History of the Crusades
- By: Paul M. Cobb
- Narrated by: Paul M. Cobb
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
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In The Race for Paradise, Paul M. Cobb offers a new history of the confrontations between Muslims and Franks we now call the "Crusades", one that emphasizes the diversity of Muslim experiences of the European holy war. There is more to the story than Jerusalem, the Templars, Saladin, and the Assassins. Cobb considers the Arab perspective on all shores of the Muslim Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria.
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A heady piece of history and a romp.
- By Meeno on 05-28-15
By: Paul M. Cobb
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In Search of the Dark Ages
- By: Michael Wood
- Narrated by: Marston York
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
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In Search of the Dark Ages is an unrivalled exploration of the origins of English identity, and the best-selling book that established Michael Wood as one of Britain's leading historians. Now, on the book's 40th anniversary, this fully revised and expanded edition illuminates further the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest.
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Brilliant!
- By Dee Goulet on 08-31-22
By: Michael Wood
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When Montezuma Met Cortés
- The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History
- By: Matthew Restall
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
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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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Flawed, but worth it for those interested.
- By Aggressive Joe on 02-16-18
By: Matthew Restall
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Walls
- A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick
- By: David Frye
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
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With Frye as our raconteur-guide, we journey back to a time before barriers of brick and stone even existed - to an era in which nomadic tribes vied for scarce resources, and each man was bred to a life of struggle. Ultimately, those same men would create edifices of mud, brick, and stone and with them effectively divide humanity: On one side were those the walls protected; on the other, those the walls kept out. The stars of this narrative are the walls themselves - rising up in places as ancient and exotic as Mesopotamia, Babylon, Greece, China, Rome, Mongolia, Afghanistan, the lower Mississippi, and even Central America....
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The code for history
- By veronica d on 03-14-23
By: David Frye
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The Sea Wolves
- A History of the Vikings
- By: Lars Brownworth
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In AD 793 Norse warriors struck the English isle of Lindisfarne and laid waste to it. Wave after wave of Norse "sea wolves" followed in search of plunder, land, or a glorious death in battle. Much of the British Isles fell before their swords, and the continental capitals of Paris and Aachen were sacked in turn. Turning east, they swept down the uncharted rivers of central Europe, captured Kiev, and clashed with mighty Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
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A little dry but very interesting
- By Angela on 08-30-15
By: Lars Brownworth
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What listeners say about Justinian's Flea
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- joan
- 06-25-07
More history than Disease
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it was more a history of the world from 100 CE to 600 CE than a history of the plague (as a disease), but well told and informative none the less.
If ancient history is your bag, this is for you.
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30 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Ron
- 03-31-08
Wake me up!
The narrator's monotonic delivery is absurd.
Make certain that you listen to a sample before buying. The content is detailed and very interesting, but the narrator should look into coaching. It is at times difficult to determine when a sentence ends...the reader was very off putting.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 12-21-07
Interesting, but flat read.
The material was interesting. It provided a good overview of the Eastern Roman Empire, but seemed to lose focus in a discussion of church architecture a little before the half-way point. Then the author launched into a fascinating discussion of the causes, mechanisms, and effect of the plague.
The reader is a little flat in his presentation. It takes some getting used to, but after that it is acceptable. I enjoyed the book, but listen to the sample before buying.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Nikoli Gogol
- 12-29-07
A Credible Theory That Explains Current Events
Picture this. In the 6th century AD, the Emperor Justinian decides to re-conquer what had been the fullest extent of the Roman Empire from his base in Constantinople. He sends an underequipped general, Belisarius, on this mission.
Through guile and tactical genius, Belisarius regains the Roman Empire beating every enemy he faces: Vandals, Goths, and Gauls. North Africa, Italy, the Levant, and parts or modern day Europe are re-conquered. This accomplished, the newly conquered empire could have been the modern colossus governed under a newly codified set of laws sponsored by Justinian.
Unfortunately, Constantinople and the rest of the empire suffer from a plague that kills 25,000.000 people (a very large percentage of the world’s population at the time) and continues to kill in subsequent years.
Immune from the plague are the isolated tribes of Arabs who come under the sway of a merchant, Mohamed, who preaches a new religion that features jihad. The newly conquered territories cannot be held by Byzantium and the effects of the plague have effectively shaped the modern world.
The book is complex and the narrator does the best he can but the story can be followed.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Chris
- 07-22-07
Good, but dry
This was an interesting book, but the narration was extremely dry. I would give the text a 4 out of five, but the narration drops it down to a 3.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 02-04-08
Just OK
Lots of information, but the authors digress constantly. The irrelevant details get in the way of understanding the big picture. Also, the audio book is poorly edited. Several sections have 10-15 seconds of repeated text. Summary: a very interesting subject, but the editor should be fired.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Lewis D Hoover MD
- 12-26-07
Justinian's Flea
I've just finished listening to this book a second time. It is a most impressive exposition of the fascinatingly complex bio-psycho-socio-political events of late (Roman) antiquity. Already having a more than passing acquaintance with this historical period helps in following the author's masterful weaving of those many threads.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- K.
- 02-28-09
Justinian's Flea
This is the worst reader I have come across in the many years I have been purchasing audible books!
Avoid him at all costs.
Read the book in hard copy, it was interesting.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Maggie
- 07-04-07
terrible narrator
the book itself seemed interesting but the narrator was so flat and boring as to make it unlistinable. A complete waste, I reallly wouldn't recommend it.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- niall blehein
- 11-16-16
A fabulous book WRECKED by a dreadful narrator
What disappointed you about Justinian's Flea?
I had read the hardback edition when it was released and I LOVED it. I just can't believe that a bad narrator can so completely wreck a book. The narrator sounds like he is impersonating George Bush Sr. And his delivery is monotone. Its an insult to the source material. I'd love the publisher to rerelease this with a different narrator.
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4 people found this helpful