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Languages Are Good for Us
- Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
A celebration of the huge linguistic diversity that is open to all of us at birth and that has inspired and fascinated humans since the invention of speech.
The acclaimed novelist Sophie Hardach - a German native who writes in English - explores languages, and multilingualism, as an expression of human creativity and identity, and a way to connect in an often fractured world - a necessary and important pursuit in these politically divided times.
The book's chapters roughly follow the trajectory of a human life, tracing our relationship with language from the first muffled sounds we hear in the womb, to the comfort and companionship it can provide in old age. The author weaves together her own experiences of language as the mother of a multilingual child and explores the science and history of speech. Languages Are Good for Us offers a unique perspective on a subject that affects us all.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 231
In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences, and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century ("roe", in case you are wondering). Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient words ("loaf") to cutting edge ("twittersphere") and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ("and", "what") to the more fanciful ("fopdoodle"), Crystal takes us along the winding byways of language.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Random but entertaining
- By Sean on 04-01-13
By: David Crystal
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Papyrus
- The Invention of Books in the Ancient World
- By: Irene Vallejo, Charlotte Whittle - translator
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Long before books were mass-produced, scrolls hand-copied on reeds pulled from the Nile were the treasures of the ancient world. Papyrus is the story of the book’s journey from oral tradition to scrolls to codices, and how that transition laid the very foundation of Western culture. Irene Vallejo evokes the great mosaic of literature in the ancient world, all the while illuminating how ancient ideas about education, censorship, authority, and identity still resonate today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great read
- By Hunter Pechin on 12-15-22
By: Irene Vallejo, and others
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Essential Ásatrú
- Walking the Path of Norse Paganism
- By: Diana L. Paxson, Isaac Bonewits - foreword
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
In Essential Asatru, renowned author and priestess Diana Paxson demystifies an ancient, rich, and often misunderstood religion, and offers a practical guide for its modern followers. Filled with clear, concise instructions on living Asatru every day, this truly accessible guide takes you on a journey from Asatru's origins in Scandinavian and German paganism to its recognition as an official religion in the 1970s and its widespread acceptance today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A most excellent introduction
- By Steven Kok on 04-22-21
By: Diana L. Paxson, and others
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Aztec: A Captivating Guide to Aztec History and the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4 out of 5 stars 49
Explore the Captivating History and Mythology of the Aztec!
Nothing remains of the ancient Mesoamerican civilization who called themselves the Mexica, better known to us as the Aztecs. Nothing except for their remarkable story. In this audiobook, we discuss their enigmatic origins and how the Aztecs rose from nomadic tribes to the dominant power in Mesoamerica at an astounding speed. You’ll wander the streets of their great capital city of Tenochtitlán, known as “the Venice of the New World” among the Spanish Conquistadors, who spread the term all over Europe. You’ll discover the full extent of the city’s splendour, visiting its many market stalls, smelling fresh chocolate and vanilla pods. You’ll indulge in a taste of ripe, hand-picked avocados and freshly baked corn tortillas, as you decipher Náhuatl, the language spoken by the 50,000 merchants who visited Tenochtitlán every day.
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5 out of 5 stars
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not bad at all
- By gibran on 12-06-18
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F*ck You, I'm Irish
- Why We Irish Are Awesome
- By: Rasher Tierney
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
From battling oppression and famine in Ireland to overcoming poverty and discrimination in America, we Irish gained our fightin' moniker by standing up for our rights and earning the respect we deserve. Now, the amazing feats, astounding people and incredible facts in this fascinating book of Irish trivia will make you proudly say, “F*ck you, I'm Irish”.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Short Listen
- By YtowntoCleveland on 03-23-24
By: Rasher Tierney
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The Great Book of Ireland: Interesting Stories, Irish History & Random Facts About Ireland
- History & Fun Facts, Book 1
- By: Bill O'Neill
- Narrated by: Scott Miller
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
This book is packed with trivia facts about Ireland. Some of the facts you’ll learn in this book are shocking, some are tragic, and others will leave you with goosebumps. But they’re all interesting! Whether you’re just learning about Ireland or you already think you’re an expert on the state, you’ll learn something you didn’t know in every chapter. Your history teacher will be interesting at all of your newfound knowledge.
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4 out of 5 stars
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When’s the next book?
- By Margaret on 11-10-19
By: Bill O'Neill
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The Travels of Marco Polo
- By: Marco Polo
- Narrated by: Walter Covell
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 232
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4 out of 5 stars 132
Marco Polo (1254-1324), is probably the most famous Westerner who traveled on the "Silk Road." His journey through Asia lasted 24 years. He traveled the whole of China and returned to tell the tale, which became one of the world's greatest travelogues.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An educational experience.
- By Doug on 06-23-03
By: Marco Polo
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Ask a Historian
- 50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know
- By: Greg Jenner
- Narrated by: Dan Schreiber, Greg Jenner, Janina Ramirez, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Responding to fifty genuine questions from the public, Greg Jenner takes you on an entertaining tour through history from the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties, revealing the best and most surprising stories, facts and historical characters from the past. From ancient joke books, African empires and the invention of meringues, to mummies, mirrors and menstrual pads—Ask A Historian is a deliciously amusing and informative smorgasbord of historical curiosities.
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5 out of 5 stars
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best bonus content ever!
- By Matthew K Wendelken on 03-24-22
By: Greg Jenner
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The Writing of the Gods
- The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum every year, and yet most people don’t really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hieroglyphs For The People
- By Spike on 01-15-22
By: Edward Dolnick
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Toksvig's Almanac 2021
- An Eclectic Meander Through the Historical Year by Sandi Toksvig
- By: Sandi Toksvig
- Narrated by: Sandi Toksvig
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story5 out of 5 stars 49
Let Sandi Toksvig guide you on an eclectic meander through the calendar, illuminating neglected corners of history to tell tales of the fascinating figures you didn't learn about at school. From popes who gave birth during papal processions, to the inventor of Scrabble, to pioneering civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who refused to give up her seat on a train decades before Rosa Parks was born. As witty and entertaining as it is instructive, this is an essential companion to each day of the year.
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5 out of 5 stars
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simply one of my favorite people
- By Rae on 06-05-22
By: Sandi Toksvig
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The First Ghosts
- Most Ancient of Legacies
- By: Irving Finkel
- Narrated by: Irving Finkel
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 75
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Story5 out of 5 stars 75
There are few things more in common across cultures than the belief in ghosts. Ghosts inhabit something of the very essence of what it is to be human. Whether we personally 'believe' or not, we are all aware of ghosts and the rich mythologies and rituals surrounding them. They have inspired, fascinated and frightened us for centuries - yet most of us are only familiar with the vengeful apparitions of Shakespeare, or the ghastly spectres haunting the pages of 19th-century Gothic literature. But their origins are much, much older.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Ghosts Were Causing My Tinnitus!
- By James D on 01-08-22
By: Irving Finkel
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The Book of Yokai
- Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore
- By: Michael Dylan Foster
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 254
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 215
Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, listeners will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries on more than 50 individual creatures.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Pt 2 was delightful (+no cringey pronunciations!!)
- By Julieanne on 06-04-19
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Babylon
- Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization
- By: Paul Kriwaczek
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 688
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 587
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 583
Civilization was born 8,000 years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophisticated urban societies. In the cities that they built, half of human history took place. In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements seven thousand years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Bringing the people of this land to life in vibrant detail, the author chronicles the rise and fall of power during this period.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Solid overview 3000 years of history
- By Alsor2000 on 07-19-20
By: Paul Kriwaczek
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Sumerians
- A Captivating Guide to Ancient Sumerian History, Sumerian Mythology and the Mesopotamian Empire of the Sumer Civilization
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 132
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 112
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Story4 out of 5 stars 111
The sheer importance of Sumerian culture in regards to world culture as a whole is impossible to overstate. This civilization is single-handedly responsible for some of the most major innovations in nearly every field relevant to maintaining a civilized society - this includes religion, lawmaking, architecture, schooling, art, literature, and even entertainment. Naturally, most of what we see as negative aspects of society were established in ancient Sumer as well. There wasn’t an aspect of Sumerian life that wasn’t plagued with corruption or devastation of one form or another.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Lots of information in short book
- By Pamela on 01-04-19
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Beyond the North Wind
- The Fall and Rise of the Mystic North
- By: Christopher McIntosh, Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson - foreword
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 646
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 572
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 570
"The North" is simultaneously a location, a direction, and a mystical concept. Although this concept has ancient roots in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales, it continues to resonate today within modern culture. McIntosh leads listeners through the magical and spiritual history of the North, as well as its modern manifestations, as documented through physical records, such as runestones and megaliths, but also through mythology and lore. This mythic conception of a powerful, mysterious Northern civilization was known to the Greeks as "Hyberborea" - the "Land Beyond the North Wind".
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1 out of 5 stars
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Mostly fringe
- By Meg on 11-28-20
By: Christopher McIntosh, and others
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A Death in the Rainforest
- How a Language and a Way of Life Came to an End in Papua New Guinea
- By: Don Kulick
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Renowned linguistic anthropologist Don Kulick first went to study the tiny jungle village of Gapun in New Guinea over 30 years ago to document how it was that their native language, Tayap, was dying. But you can't study a language without settling in among the people, understanding how they speak every day, and even more, how they live. This book takes us inside the village as Kulick came to know it, revealing what it is like to live in a difficult-to-get-to village of 200 people, carved out like a cleft in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of a tropical rainforest.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding
- By Shipwrecked on 07-29-20
By: Don Kulick