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The Written World
- The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
The story of how literature shaped world history, in 16 acts - from Alexander the Great and the Iliad to Don Quixote and Harry Potter
In this groundbreaking book, Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the powerful role stories and literature have played in creating the world we have today. Puchner introduces us to numerous visionaries as he explores 16 foundational texts selected from more than 4,000 years of world literature and reveals how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs. Indeed, literature has touched the lives of generations and changed the course of history.
At the heart of this book are works, some long-lost and rediscovered, that have shaped civilization: the first written masterpiece, the Epic of Gilgamesh; Ezra's Hebrew Bible, created as Scripture; the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus; and the first great novel in world literature, The Tale of Genji, written by a Japanese woman known as Murasaki. Visiting Baghdad, Puchner tells of Scheherazade and the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, and in the Americas we watch the astonishing survival of the Maya epic Popol Vuh. Cervantes, who invented the modern novel, battles pirates both real (when he is taken prisoner) and literary (when a fake sequel to Don Quixote is published). We learn of Benjamin Franklin's pioneering work as a media entrepreneur, watch Goethe discover world literature in Sicily, and follow the rise in influence of The Communist Manifesto. We visit Troy, Pergamum, and China, and we speak with Nobel laureates Derek Walcott in the Caribbean and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul as well as the wordsmiths of the oral epic Sunjata in West Africa.
Throughout The Written World, Puchner's delightful narrative also chronicles the inventions - writing technologies, the printing press, the book itself - that have shaped religion, politics, commerce, people, and history. In a book that Elaine Scarry has praised as "unique and spellbinding", Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into a written world.
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Story
In The Indispensable Composers, Tommasini offers his own personal guide to the canon - and what greatness really means in classical music. What does it mean to be canonical now? Who gets to say? And do we have enough perspective on the 20th century to even begin assessing it? To make his case, Tommasini draws on elements of biography, the anxiety of influence, the composer's relationships with colleagues, and shifting attitudes toward a composer's work over time.
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A little disappointed.
- By Sher from Provo on 10-19-19
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The World Remade
- America in World War I
- By: G. J. Meyer
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 24 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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After years of bitter debate, the United States declared war on Imperial Germany on April 6, 1917, plunging the country into the savage European conflict that would redraw the map of the continent - and the globe. The World Remade is an engrossing chronicle of America's pivotal, still controversial intervention into World War I, encompassing the tumultuous politics and towering historical figures that defined the era and forged the future.
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"100% America" - a disturbing place to be
- By DPM on 04-01-17
By: G. J. Meyer
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The Innovation Delusion
- How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most
- By: Lee Vinsel, Andrew L. Russell
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s hard to avoid innovation these days. Nearly every product gets marketed as being disruptive, whether it’s genuinely a new invention or just a new toothbrush. But in this manifesto on the state of American work, historians of technology Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell argue that our way of thinking about and pursuing innovation has made us poorer, less safe, and — ironically — less innovative. Drawing on years of original research and reporting, The Innovation Delusion shows how the ideology of change for its own sake has proved a disaster.
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Good ideas, but one-sided and lacking insights
- By James S. on 01-24-21
By: Lee Vinsel, and others
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
- Britain and the American Dream
- By: Peter Moore
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Peter Moore's Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness tells the true story of what may be the most successful import in US history: the "American dream." Centered on the friendship between Benjamin Franklin and the British publisher William Strahan, and featuring figures including the cultural giant Samuel Johnson, the ground-breaking historian Catharine Macaulay, the firebrand politician John Wilkes, and revolutionary activist Thomas Paine, this book looks at the generation that preceded the Declaration in 1776.
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Review
- By W Zuelzer on 07-22-23
By: Peter Moore
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The Return of Marco Polo's World
- War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on decades of firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, as well as encounters with preeminent realist thinkers, Kaplan outlines the timeless principles that should shape America's role in a turbulent world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests and American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of power via a strong navy; and more.
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Essays on the Region of the Silk Road
- By Jeff Beardsley on 05-19-18
By: Robert D. Kaplan
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Forgetting
- The Benefits of Not Remembering
- By: Scott A. Small
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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From studies of bonobos in the wild to visits with the iconic painter Jasper Johns and the renowned decision-making expert Daniel Kahneman, Small looks across disciplines to put new scientific findings into illuminating context while also revealing groundbreaking developments about Alzheimer’s disease. The next time you forget where you left your keys, remember that a little forgetting does a lot of good.
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Great once you get into it.
- By Rebecca Lindroos on 10-05-21
By: Scott A. Small
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Below the Edge of Darkness
- A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea
- By: Edith Widder
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Edith Widder’s childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist was almost derailed in college, when complications from a surgery gone wrong caused temporary blindness. A new reality of shifting shadows drew her fascination to the power of light - as well as the importance of optimism. As her vision cleared, Widder found the intersection of her two passions in oceanic bioluminescence, a little-explored scientific field within Earth’s last great unknown frontier: the deep ocean.
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Glad I gave it a try - it was a real pleasure
- By JohninMaine on 01-26-22
By: Edith Widder
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One Day
- The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America
- By: Gene Weingarten
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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I'm giving this book more credit for its concept
- By J. F. Boyd on 12-24-19
By: Gene Weingarten
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Shakespeare in a Divided America
- What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes—presidents and activists, soldiers and writers, conservatives and liberals alike—have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines. In a narrative arching from Revolutionary times to the present day, leading scholar James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s four-hundred-year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the many concerns on which American identity has turned.
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An Entertaining History Lesson
- By David on 08-17-20
By: James Shapiro
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American Dialogue
- The Founders and Us
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of history is a ceaseless conversation between past and present, and in American Dialogue, Joseph J. Ellis focuses the conversation on the often-asked question "What would the Founding Fathers think?" He examines four of our most seminal historical figures through the prism of particular topics, using the perspective of the present to shed light on their views and, in turn, to make clear how their now centuries-old ideas illuminate the disturbing impasse of today's political conflicts.
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A fine work, even with the editorializing
- By Casey Kerrick on 11-24-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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Union
- The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood
- By: Colin Woodard
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Union tells the story of the struggle to create a national myth for the United States, one that could hold its rival regional cultures together and forge an American nationhood.
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Required Reading
- By Ben Brafford on 08-30-20
By: Colin Woodard
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A Short History of Humanity
- A New History of Old Europe
- By: Johannes Krause, Thomas Trappe, Caroline Waight - translator
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Johannes Krause is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a brilliant pioneer in the field of archaeogenetics - archaeology augmented by DNA sequencing technology - which has allowed scientists to reconstruct human history reaching back hundreds of thousands of years before recorded time. In this surprising account, Krause and journalist Thomas Trappe rewrite a fascinating chapter of this history, the peopling of Europe, that takes us from the Neanderthals and Denisovans to the present.
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Not a short history of humanity
- By Brent on 05-02-21
By: Johannes Krause, and others
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Reading the Glass
- A Captain's View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships
- By: Elliot Rappaport
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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What’s in a cloud? Did you know that water vapor is invisible and actually lighter than dry air? What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard? And what exactly is El Niño? Elliot Rappaport, a professional captain of traditional sailing ships, has spent three decades at sea, where understanding weather is crucial to the safety of vessels and their crews. In Reading the Glass, he offers a sailor’s-eye view of the moving parts of our atmosphere and unveils the larger patterns it holds: global winds, storms, air masses, jet streams, and the longer arc of our climate.
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Weather and Sailing!
- By T. Adams on 01-20-24
By: Elliot Rappaport
What listeners say about The Written World
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Z
- 11-23-18
Captivating narration and excellent history
Phenomenally informative history that provokes Google searches along the way for an interactive experience. Rare.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jim
- 01-06-23
I found this a worthwhile listen
Helped me see classics I knew in a new light - Exposed me to classics I don't yet know. Following Puchner's ideas on literature, the evolving technology supporting story telling, and the contextual importance of place offered me new vantage points.
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- Aida Bohm
- 06-06-19
A Must Have in anyone's library.
I truly enjoyed listening to the audio version of this work. I honestly didnt want it to end and secretly wished every classic work of art can be reviewed by the author. I have understood and retained a historical aspect of the world's history better than in any class or coursework I have taken. I never liked history for that reason. Martin Puchner has done: I love history if it is told so eloquently and accessibly. Most importantly, I enjoyed a scrupulous, fair and unbiased interpretations of the literature pieces discussed in this book. one tiny note, though, the battle in July of 571 between Chinese and Arabs if to be affiliated to the area if Kazakhstan, then it should be called Talas region. The battle is said to have happened in Talas city, and that would be Kyrgyzstan. its minor really, but either switch city to region and keep Kaxakhstan or keep Talas CITY and correct the country to Kyrgyzstan.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gloria J. Petit-Clair
- 12-04-17
Powerful and illuminating!
I went to college in the early 1960s and was only introduced to British and American literature. There were significant gaps in my knowledge of literature from both ancient civilizations and emerging nations. Dr. Puchner brings a wealth of knowledge and places it within a vast frame. He blends literature, history, economics, religion and political movements. His lively writing style engages readers as he travels the world in search of foundational texts. This is a must read!
Anthony Bourdain is to food as
Rick Steves is to travel as
Neil Degrasse Tyson is to astrophysics as
Martin Puchner is to the written world, and
Probably more entertaining.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Thomas R.
- 03-01-19
Excellent information
The influence of books and stories through history will amaze you as you read. Several books they rate as a big cultural influences, I initially did not agree with but I was soon convinced as the back story to what brought about and it’s continuing influence will change your mind.
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1 person found this helpful
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- crystal p
- 03-18-19
A Strong Start
The histiry of how writing influenced society is fascinating. The story slowed at the end.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Heitor Medrado de Faria
- 04-18-20
Excelent book
As a men I prefer a woman narrator, but it is great anyway. Read in one day.
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- David
- 03-06-23
Too long for so little content
Could have been a 1hour book. Full of meandering personal anecdotes which do not further the ideas, and seem to be there as part memoir, part filler. Any high school English teacher would have crossed those sections out in red… not sure how the author got it past a professional editor.
The narrator’s delivery is a flat, dull monotone, and he mispronounces several proper names.
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1 person found this helpful