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Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past
- Narrated by: Allen C. Guelzo
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
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Publisher's summary
How do historians create their histories? What role do the historian's viewpoint and method play in what we accept as truth? Answer these and other questions as you go inside the minds of our greatest historians and explore the idea of written history as it has shaped humanity's story over 2,000 years.
These 24 intriguing lectures introduce you to the seminal thinking of historians such as: Herodotus, considered by many the first history writer, who replaced the poetic imagination of Homer with istorieis, or inquiry; Livy, the author of a 142-volume didactic history of Rome that spanned three continents and seven centuries; David Hume, who framed English history with an evolutionary vision of economic, political, and intellectual freedom; and Edward Gibbon, whose monumental Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire forged a complex picture of epic collapse and decay.
From the dramatic and military exploits of Xenophon and Thucydides in ancient Greece to Macaulay's dynamic career in the 19th century, from the bloody era of Christian Reformation to the revolutions of the Enlightenment, Professor Guelzo takes you into the trenches with great minds throughout history.
And beneath the surface of written history, you'll examine the processes that create accepted views of historical events, and you'll uncover the ways in which understanding how history is written is crucial to understanding historical events themselves. The journey rewards you with an unforgettable insight into our human heritage and the chance to look with discerning eyes at human events in their deeper meanings.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
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- Narrated by: Patrick Grim
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Taught by award-winning Professor Patrick Grim of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, The Philosopher’s Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room arms you against the perils of bad thinking and supplies you with an arsenal of strategies to help you be more creative, logical, inventive, realistic, and rational in all aspects of your daily life.
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This should NOT be an audio book
- By Brooks Emerson on 03-21-20
By: Patrick Grim, and others
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
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Audible Masterpiece
- By Phoenician on 09-10-20
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The Debutante
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
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Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
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Interesting but not compelling
- By Gail Jester on 04-15-23
By: Jon Ronson
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Marcus Aurelius - Meditations: Adapted for the Contemporary Reader
- By: Marcus Aurelius, James Harris
- Narrated by: Gregory Allen Siders
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. These books have been carefully adapted into modern English form to allow for easy listening. Enjoy!
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Best translation
- By Anonymous User on 06-13-19
By: Marcus Aurelius, and others
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Buddhism for Beginners
- By: Thubten Chodron, His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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This user’s guide to Buddhist basics takes the most commonly asked questions - beginning with “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?” - and provides simple answers in plain English. Thubten Chodron’s responses to the questions that always seem to arise among people approaching Buddhism make this an exceptionally complete and accessible introduction - as well as a manual for living a more peaceful, mindful, and satisfying Life.
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Amazing introduction to Buddhism
- By chad d on 07-02-15
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The Ethical Slut
- A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, & Other Adventures
- By: Janet W. Hardy, Dossie Easton
- Narrated by: Janet W. Hardy, Dossie Easton
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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For anyone who has ever dreamed of love, sex, and companionship beyond the limits of traditional monogamy, this groundbreaking guide navigates the infinite possibilities that open relationships can offer. Experienced ethical sluts Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy dispel myths and cover all the skills necessary to maintain a successful and responsible polyamorous lifestyle.
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The information and advice is 100% totally solid!
- By Troy on 07-28-15
By: Janet W. Hardy, and others
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The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean
- By: M. Doreal
- Narrated by: John Marino
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The history of the tablets translated in the following book is strange and beyond the belief of modern scientists. Their antiquity is stupendous, dating back some 36,000 years. The writer is Thoth, an Atlantean Priest-King, who founded a colony in ancient Egypt after the sinking of the mother country. He was the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, erroneously attributed to Cheops. In it he incorporated his knowledge of the ancient wisdom and also securely secreted records and instruments of ancient Atlantis.
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Excellence...
- By Light Worker on 04-21-18
By: M. Doreal
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Eight Dates
- Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
- By: John Gottman PhD, Julie Schwartz Gottman PhD, Doug Abrams, and others
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin, Julie McKay
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Navigating the challenges of long-term commitment takes effort - and it just got simpler, with this empowering, step-by-step guide to communicating about the things that matter most to you and your partner. Drawing on 40 years of research from their world-famous Love Lab, Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman invite couples on eight fun, easy, and profoundly rewarding dates, each one focused on a make-or-break issue: trust, conflict, sex, money, family, adventure, spirituality, and dreams.
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What the F. Robot-reader???!?!?!
- By Anonymous User on 01-21-20
By: John Gottman PhD, and others
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Ho Tactics
- How to MindF**k a Man into Spending, Spoiling, and Sponsoring
- By: G. L. Lambert
- Narrated by: Patrick Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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I have discovered a group of women who refuse to be exploited, are immune to manipulation, and who never settle in the name of love. These ladies know what they want and take what they want by beating men at their own game. Utilizing the secrets exposed in this book, these women gain power, money, and status. Men call them gold diggers, women call them hos, but they call themselves winners. This is the book that society doesn't want you to listen to….
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I spent $24,000 in 4 months
- By B.M. on 10-06-18
By: G. L. Lambert
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What listeners say about Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dakota Baker
- 01-11-23
Good Foundation for Understanding History
It was interesting learning about different historians and how their perspective determined what they wrote about.
Dr. (?) Guelzo did an excellent job in presentation style. But, as the series went on, things got a little more muddled (or at least more difficult to follow along while paying casual attention) with names popping in and out. Also, I never felt satisfied if we answered the Three Questions asked in the very beginning.
I feel like I will recall this series many times throughout my life as a reminder to not be overally dogmatic nor post-modern in my study of history.
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- Jeni Kirby
- 08-29-21
Most Important Lecture for Future Historians
Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past is a lecture that teaches the Historian's Craft. Here you will learn how historians wrote and studied the past. From the Ancient World to today, you will be introduced to the most important historians and learn how to write the past, using or discarding their techniques within your own writing. It emphasizes how a historian's interpretation transformed throughout time. To narrow the study down, Professor Allen Guelzo introduces future historians to each major historian throughout the craft. Beginning with Herodotus, Guelzo answers the overall question "How do historians write the past?"
Using several different tones, Guelzo delivers an entertaining lecture on Historiography. He expresses the importance of studying the craft and the techniques that past historians used when they wrote history. Furthermore, he uses proper language accents and themes to describe each historian's culture and what influenced them to write history. As a historian with a Master of Arts History Degree, I find that Guelzo's Historiography lecture was far the best one that I ever heard. If you are struggling in your own Historiography class, you need to invest in this lecture. It will change your whole perspective and make it easier studying the "boring" Historical Theory of what we call Historiography.
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1 person found this helpful
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- ECH
- 07-16-21
Superb in every possible way.
As entertaining as it is enlightening. My favorite of all The Great Courses. It has really made me THINK. My synapses are on fire.
P.S. If the delivery seems too theatrical for some, please know that Guelzo is FAMOUS for his fabulous oratory, Don't allow what some perceive as "pomp" to outweigh his circumstance. The man is brilliant. Just sit back and ENJOY him. (BTW, the "wry remarks" another reviewer found irritating actually made me laugh out loud.)
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1 person found this helpful
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- John
- 08-10-21
A History of History
Like any discipline, history didn’t spring full-fledged from the head of Zeus. In charting its development over the last 24 centuries, Professor Guelzo selects telling details—one of the tools included in his definition of the historian’s trade—and establishes the chain of intellectual cause-and-effect in the development of historical thought—a process distrusted by several of the historians he discusses.
Beyond the arc of intellectual schools and trends, Guelzo discusses how historical events and philosophical movements have shaped the writing of history, and how that writing can shape the outlook of historical figures. His last lecture, an outline of academic history's descent into "the faddish glamour of the Post-Moderns" offers hope to anyone not on board that anti-rational experiment against reality. For anyone interested in the question history strives to answer, (“How did it--a people, a civilization, a nation--get here?”) these lectures will make fascinating, stimulating, and widely instructive listening.
As in his shorter series on Lincoln, Guelzo’s highly polished delivery can (at times) verge on smugness. But the overall effect is deeply engaging and entertaining—much more so than the halting, attenuated approach of some other teachers in the Great Courses.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Ted Baehr
- 08-28-22
Great insightful course
Great course. Great point of view. Comprehensive, wise and encouraging. Wonderful summary lecture. Dr. Ted Baehr
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- Ray M
- 07-14-16
History Evolves
This is a nice series of lectures. The Teaching Company for years has provided lectures for customers yearning for that college experience. Essentially their courses are undergraduate level lectures in virtually any discipline. Also they provide supplementary materials--in this case, a PDF with an outline of all the lectures. I enjoyed this wide-ranging survey as history evolved from an informal literary endeavor to a more formal, rule following one. The instructor, Guelzo, takes us from the classical historians (primarily Roman ones) to modern ones (such as Braudel and the Annales school). I actually enjoyed learning about the classical historians because I did not know about the differences in outlook and methodology. It was always to my mind just one amorphous mass (Livy, Plutarch, etc) none of whom were distinguished to me as any different from another. Moving forward to more modern historians such as Gibbon and Macaulay (my personal favorite), Guelzo was clear to show that the historians like them still have much to offer, not least of which was writing with style and panache. Of course, it is the scientific historians who are most commended for their attention to facts and figures, as history evolved from a purely literary discipline to a more objective, scientific one. Guelzo does a good job parsing out how historians changed the profession and how the audience responded.
In terms of style, the only small complaint I had was that Guelzo occasionally gets a little too excited and his overheated style threatens to swamp his story. But this is truly a small complaint. Indeed, I suspect it's more my gripe than any kind of flaw. And despite this, I found this a very enjoyable listen. If you are interested in intellectual history, in the progress of ideas, then you will enjoy this a great deal.
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- Steve Mac
- 05-29-22
Great Read For Historians
and especially great for history writers. as a history buff it was less o. point but still good.
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- Teresa Brito
- 06-14-23
A hostory of Historians
I must say I love The Great Courses. Of course, some more than others.
This one was quite interesting, as it explored history writing from pretty much ancient times to today, covering several parts of the world, currents and styles. It is more about historians than history itself, but it is a very pleasant listen.
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- cmurrell
- 03-23-16
Professor Shows Amazing Breadth of Knowledge
Would you listen to Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past again? Why?
I was aware that Professor Guelzo was a renown Civil War scholar, and I had listened also to the excellent job he did on his American Revolution Great Courses audio. Turns out that he has an incredible breadth of knowledge of history spanning the world and all periods. This course is not for everyone. It is for those who deeply appreciate history and who want to delve more into how historians have thought over the years and how the presentation of history has evolved over the years. Those who are patient will be amply rewarded.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Even thought all periods of history are covered, I still like the lectures on Greece and Rome, including Heroditus, Tacitus, and the lessons of the ancient Greek Wars.
What does Professor Allen C. Guelzo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Professor Guelzo clearly appreciates this topic and the great historians of the past. His enthusiasm is contangious.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Deeni A Alqadasi
- 03-31-22
Western-centric
Great performance. The content is however wholly based on the take of history by Western historians. No mention of Chinese, Muslim, or any other “Great Historians” outside the western tradition. The course title( and many other Great Courses) should have included the phrase : A Western Perspective.
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4 people found this helpful