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The First Samurai
- The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado
- Narrated by: Matt Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
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The First Samurai
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Publisher's summary
Was samurai warrior Taira Masakado a quixotic megalomaniac or a hero swept up by events beyond his control? Did he really declare himself to be the new emperor? Did he suffer divine retribution for his ego and ambition? Filled with insurrections, tribal uprisings, pirate disturbances, and natural disasters, this action-packed account of Masakado's insurrection offers a captivating introduction to the samurai, their role in 10th-century society, and the world outside the capital - a must-listen for those interested in early Japan, samurai warfare, or the mystique of ancient warriors.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 236
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 198
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 198
With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present, and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Brief Review of the Book
- By Than on 12-07-19
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The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 472
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 421
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 419
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
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1 out of 5 stars
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A New HIstory but not a better history
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
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The Mongol Invasions
- A Captivating Guide to the Mongol Invasions and Conquests along with the Life of Genghis Khan
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
The Mongols were known to be both merciful as well as tolerant. Moreover, their conquests weren’t aimed against civilized life; in fact, they helped connect numerous cultures and facilitated the spread of ideas and knowledge across the continent. Diving deep inside their culture and society, we’ll cast off their barbaric image. By the end of this guide of the Mongol conquests, you will get a better understanding of not only the history of the Mongols but of all of humankind as well.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Overview of Mongol History
- By D. Buxman on 07-06-20
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The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta
- The Persian Challenge
- By: Paul A. Rahe
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 217
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 203
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 199
More than 2,500 years ago, a confederation of small Greek city-states defeated the invading armies of Persia, the most powerful empire in the world. In this meticulously researched study, historian Paul Rahe argues that Sparta was responsible for the initial establishment of the Hellenic defensive coalition and was, in fact, the most essential player in its ultimate victory.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Investigation Undermined by Bad Editing
- By Richard on 02-12-16
By: Paul A. Rahe
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Marathon
- The Battle That Changed Western Civilization
- By: Richard A. Billows
- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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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5 out of 5 stars
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Effectively evokes the world of ancient greece
- By Aaron on 11-02-10
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The Sacred Band
- Three Hundred Theban Lovers Fighting to Save Greek Freedom
- By: James Romm
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
From classicist James Romm comes a thrilling deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes - and the saga of the greatest military corps of the age, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Stop now and don’t buy this book.
- By Robert Pitman on 06-08-21
By: James Romm
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God's Shadow
- Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Alan Mikhail
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 184
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 182
Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
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1 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining narrative, but poor scholarship
- By Yosemite on 09-15-20
By: Alan Mikhail
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The End of Empire
- Attila the Hun & the Fall of Rome
- By: Christopher Kelly
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
History remembers Attila, the leader of the Huns, as the Romans perceived him: a savage barbarian brutally inflicting terror on whoever crossed his path. Following Attila and the Huns from the steppes of Kazakhstan to the court of Constantinople, Christopher Kelly portrays Attila in a compelling new light, uncovering an unlikely marriage proposal, a long-standing relationship with a treacherous Roman general, and a thwarted assassination plot.
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3 out of 5 stars
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LISTEN TO THE SAMPLE
- By Chelsea on 03-23-21
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Ghost on the Throne
- The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire
- By: James S. Romm
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 181
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
When Alexander the Great died at the age of 32, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea in the west all the way to modern-day India in the east. In an unusual compromise, his two heirs - a mentally damaged half brother, Philip III, and an infant son, Alexander IV, born after his death - were jointly granted the kingship. But six of Alexander's Macedonian generals, spurred by their own thirst for power and the legend that Alexander bequeathed his rule "to the strongest," fought to gain supremacy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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ends a bit short
- By RIR on 06-14-21
By: James S. Romm
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The Viking Heart
- How Scandinavians Conquered the World
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 152
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
Scandinavia has always been a world apart. For millennia Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes lived a remote and rugged existence among the fjords and peaks of the land of the midnight sun. But when they finally left their homeland in search of opportunity, these wanderers — including the most famous, the Vikings — would reshape Europe and beyond.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Confused and not worth the time and money
- By Jacob The Dane on 08-16-21
By: Arthur Herman
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Alexander the Great
- The Hunt for a New Past
- By: Paul Cartledge
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 450
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 391
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Story4 out of 5 stars 391
Paul Cartledge, one of the world's foremost scholars of ancient Greece, illuminates the brief but iconic life of Alexander (356-323 B.C.), king of Macedon, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and founder of a new world order. Alexander's legacy has had a major impact on military tacticians, scholars, statesmen, adventurers, authors, and filmmakers.
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3 out of 5 stars
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NOT a Chronology of Alexander’s Life
- By Blane Richoux on 12-30-20
By: Paul Cartledge
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The Horde
- How the Mongols Changed the World
- By: Marie Favereau
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Favereau takes us inside one of the most powerful sources of cross-border integration in world history. The Horde was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the 13th and 14th centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. Its unique political regime - a complex power-sharing arrangement among the khan and the nobility - rewarded skillful administrators and diplomats and fostered an economic order that was mobile, organized, and innovative.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Golden Horde complete history, well done
- By Amazon Customer on 03-10-22
By: Marie Favereau
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Great State
- China and the World
- By: Timothy Brook
- Narrated by: Timothy Brook
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
The world-renowned scholar and author of Vermeer’s Hat does for China what Mary Beard did for Rome in SPQR: Timothy Brook analyzes the last eight centuries of China’s relationship with the world in this magnificent history that brings together accounts from civil servants, horse traders, spiritual leaders, explorers, pirates, emperors, migrant workers, invaders, visionaries, and traitors - creating a multifaceted portrait of this highly misunderstood nation.
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2 out of 5 stars
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No Cohesiveness
- By Mark on 05-21-20
By: Timothy Brook
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The Birth of Britain
- A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Volume I
- By: Sir Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,322
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 948
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 945
The English-speaking peoples comprise perhaps the greatest number of human beings sharing a common language in the world today. These people also share a common heritage. For his four-volume work, Sir Winston Churchill took as his subject these great elements in world history. Volume 1 commences in 55BC, when Julius Caesar famously "turned his gaze upon Britain" and concludes with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Birth of Britain
- By Terryl Pettengill on 02-11-07
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The Anarchy
- The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
- By: William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Sid Sagar
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,110
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 922
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 917
The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting audiobook to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent book but awkward narration
- By TexasVC on 02-25-20
What listeners say about The First Samurai
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SFDrummer
- 02-18-22
history
great history. story. it should be made into a movie. a true legend. first rebel samurai.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Matthew Stavros
- 10-29-20
outstanding narration
this is a classic history of the samurai read by a truly gifted narrator.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Sean
- 08-30-23
Mediocre in entirety
Reader can’t correctly pronounce English words most of the time and certainly none of the Japanese names and titles.
The books content is half researched and based heavily on assumptions that are common modern western mistakes. He compares often to medieval European battles which he clearly hasn’t researched making them doubly useless and poor writing. The first hour of this already short book doesn’t touch the synopsis provided or anything about ancient Japan or Samurai.
If you are more than half interested in this history or know about ancient Japan already don’t waste your time or money on this already overpriced
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- arrow
- 07-19-20
Fantastic read
Masakado’s story is used to provide insight into the social and political environment of Heian japan and sets up the transition to warrior rule.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Leonard S.
- 05-08-21
Fascinating
This period in Japanese history is a particular interest of mine. This book illustrates the Heian period shift in political power in considerable detail. The book explains much more than a simple biography of one man. My only complaint is that the recording quality and energy level of the performance varies every few lines. While I do find it distracting, it doesn't detract from the wealth if information contained in this book.
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