-
The Forge of Christendom
- The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the West
- Narrated by: James A. Gillies
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Forge of Christendom
Buy for $25.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
In the Shadow of the Sword
- The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 577
The evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. In this exciting and sweeping history - the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world - Tom Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Misleading title
- By Edd Huetteman on 04-08-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Persian Fire
- The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,381
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,202
In the fifth century BC, a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves, but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 02-16-17
By: Tom Holland
-
Dynasty
- The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,419
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,406
Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon—his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic—with Dynasty, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors. Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman emperors. It's a colorful story of rule and ruination, from the rise of Augustus to the death of Nero.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Accessible, enjoyable history
- By Mary on 01-28-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Pax
- War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 175
The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book!
- By Mic on 09-27-23
By: Tom Holland
-
Dominion
- How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Mark Meadows
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,010
Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion - an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus - was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only the forward is narrated by Holland.
- By Honora on 06-16-20
By: Tom Holland
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 144
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 117
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
In the Shadow of the Sword
- The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 577
The evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. In this exciting and sweeping history - the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world - Tom Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Misleading title
- By Edd Huetteman on 04-08-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Persian Fire
- The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,381
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,202
In the fifth century BC, a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves, but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 02-16-17
By: Tom Holland
-
Dynasty
- The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,419
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,406
Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon—his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic—with Dynasty, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors. Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman emperors. It's a colorful story of rule and ruination, from the rise of Augustus to the death of Nero.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Accessible, enjoyable history
- By Mary on 01-28-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Pax
- War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 175
The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book!
- By Mic on 09-27-23
By: Tom Holland
-
Dominion
- How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Mark Meadows
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,010
Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion - an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus - was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only the forward is narrated by Holland.
- By Honora on 06-16-20
By: Tom Holland
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 144
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 117
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame
- Penguin Monarchs, Book 2
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame by John Guy, read by John Banks. Henry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most notorious of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome, a talented, charismatic, imposing figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them.
By: John Guy
-
The Deluge
- The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931
- By: Adam Tooze
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 21 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 376
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 321
In the depths of the Great War, with millions dead and no imaginable end to the conflict, societies around the world began to buckle. The heart of the financial system shifted from London to New York. The infinite demands for men and materiel reached into countries far from the front. The strain of the war ravaged all economic and political assumptions, bringing unheard-of changes in the social and industrial order.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Not For The Faint of Heart
- By David on 07-15-15
By: Adam Tooze
-
William Tecumseh Sherman
- In the Service of My Country: A Life
- By: James Lee McDonough
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,467
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,306
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,298
General Sherman's 1864 burning of Atlanta solidified his legacy as a ruthless leader. Yet Sherman proved far more complex than his legendary military tactics reveal. James Lee McDonough offers fresh insight into a man tormented by the fear that history would pass him by, who was plagued by personal debts, and who lived much of his life separated from his family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very Fair and Balanced View of Sherman
- By Nostromo on 12-02-16
-
A Brief History of the Samurai
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 406
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 353
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 352
From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Excellent History of the Samurai
- By Michael on 08-08-14
-
The Anglo-Saxons
- A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 - 1066
- By: Marc Morris
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 882
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 774
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 770
Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Grand cities and luxurious villas were deserted and left to crumble, and civil society collapsed into chaos. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. The Anglo-Saxons traces the turbulent history of these people across the next six centuries. It explains how their earliest rulers fought relentlessly against each other for glory and supremacy, and then were almost destroyed by the onslaught of the vikings.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
"Pretty Good"
- By Stephen on 05-30-21
By: Marc Morris
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 840
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 763
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 758
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Powers and Thrones
- A New History of the Middle Ages
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,638
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,412
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,406
When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era—and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names—from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine—Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes listeners on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Hard to take a break from it!
- By Mariano's Music on 12-09-21
By: Dan Jones
-
Bolivar
- American Liberator
- By: Marie Arana
- Narrated by: David Crommett
- Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,388
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,211
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,206
It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and died relatively young, uncertain whether his achievements would endure.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
There will be blood.
- By Joselo on 08-02-13
By: Marie Arana
-
The German War
- A Nation Under Arms, 1939-1945; Citizens and Soldiers
- By: Nicholas Stargardt
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 813
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 724
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 715
As early as 1941, Allied victory in World War II seemed all but assured. How and why, then, did the Germans prolong the barbaric conflict for three and a half more years? In The German War, acclaimed historian Nicholas Stargardt draws on an extraordinary range of primary source materials - personal diaries, court records, and military correspondence - to answer this question. He offers an unprecedented portrait of wartime Germany, bringing the hopes and expectations of the German people to vivid life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great read for history buffs
- By marykk on 05-12-16
-
How to Be a Tudor
- A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life
- By: Ruth Goodman
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 569
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 487
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 478
On the heels of her triumphant How to Be a Victorian, Ruth Goodman travels even further back in English history to the era closest to her heart, the dramatic period from the crowning of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. Drawing on her own adventures living in re-created Tudor conditions, Goodman serves as our intrepid guide to 16th-century living. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the era.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent book!
- By Kathi on 02-18-16
By: Ruth Goodman
-
Augustus
- First Emperor of Rome
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,613
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,409
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,396
Caesar Augustus's story, one of the most riveting in western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. He began as a teenage warlord, whose only claim to power was as the heir of the murdered Julius Caesar. Mark Antony dubbed him "a boy who owes everything to a name," but in the years to come the youth outmaneuvered all the older and more experienced politicians and was the last man standing in 30 BC.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You know my name...say it.
- By Steven on 12-10-14
-
SPQR
- A History of Ancient Rome
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,842
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,251
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,216
In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Shallow and unsatisfying
- By Joe on 02-19-17
By: Mary Beard
Publisher's summary
At the approach of the first millennium, the Christians of Europe did not seem likely candidates for future greatness. Weak, fractured, and hemmed in by hostile nations, they saw no future beyond the widely anticipated Second Coming of Christ.
But when the world did not end, the peoples of Western Europe suddenly found themselves with no choice but to begin the heroic task of building a Jerusalem on Earth.
In The Forge of Christendom, Tom Holland masterfully describes this remarkable new age, a time of caliphs and Viking sea kings, the spread of castles, and the invention of knighthood. It was one of the most significant departure points in history: the emergence of Western Europe as a distinctive and expansionist power.
Related to this topic
-
In the Shadow of the Sword
- The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 577
The evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. In this exciting and sweeping history - the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world - Tom Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Misleading title
- By Edd Huetteman on 04-08-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame
- Penguin Monarchs, Book 2
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame by John Guy, read by John Banks. Henry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most notorious of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome, a talented, charismatic, imposing figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them.
By: John Guy
-
Lost to the West
- The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization
- By: Lars Brownworth
- Narrated by: Lars Brownworth
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,874
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,522
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,523
Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just a delight for anyone interested in history !
- By Cinders on 05-28-13
By: Lars Brownworth
-
Defenders of the Faith
- Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520-1536
- By: James Reston Jr.
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
In the best-selling Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston Jr. limned two epochal conflicts between Islam and Christendom. Here he examines the ultimate battle in that centuries-long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This drama was propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Though they represented two colliding worlds, they were remarkably similar.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good account of interesting period of history
- By ItalCali on 03-11-22
By: James Reston Jr.
-
God's Wolf
- The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders, Scourge of Saladin
- By: Jeffrey Lee
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great look into the life of a great crusader
- By Jon on 02-28-19
By: Jeffrey Lee
-
Joan of Arc
- A History
- By: Helen Castor
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 92
Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor's Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to 15th century France and tells the story forwards.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Maid of Orleans
- By Tad Davis on 06-08-15
By: Helen Castor
-
In the Shadow of the Sword
- The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 577
The evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. In this exciting and sweeping history - the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world - Tom Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Misleading title
- By Edd Huetteman on 04-08-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame
- Penguin Monarchs, Book 2
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame by John Guy, read by John Banks. Henry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most notorious of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome, a talented, charismatic, imposing figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them.
By: John Guy
-
Lost to the West
- The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization
- By: Lars Brownworth
- Narrated by: Lars Brownworth
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,874
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,522
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,523
Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just a delight for anyone interested in history !
- By Cinders on 05-28-13
By: Lars Brownworth
-
Defenders of the Faith
- Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520-1536
- By: James Reston Jr.
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
In the best-selling Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston Jr. limned two epochal conflicts between Islam and Christendom. Here he examines the ultimate battle in that centuries-long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This drama was propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Though they represented two colliding worlds, they were remarkably similar.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good account of interesting period of history
- By ItalCali on 03-11-22
By: James Reston Jr.
-
God's Wolf
- The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders, Scourge of Saladin
- By: Jeffrey Lee
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great look into the life of a great crusader
- By Jon on 02-28-19
By: Jeffrey Lee
-
Joan of Arc
- A History
- By: Helen Castor
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 92
Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor's Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to 15th century France and tells the story forwards.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Maid of Orleans
- By Tad Davis on 06-08-15
By: Helen Castor
-
The Templars
- The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,842
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,473
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,456
In 1307, as they struggled to secure their last strongholds in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Templars fell afoul of the vindictive and impulsive king of France. On Friday, October 13, hundreds of brothers were arrested en masse, imprisoned, tortured, and disbanded amid accusations of lurid sexual misconduct and heresy. They were tried by the Vatican in secret proceedings. But were they heretics or victims of a ruthlessly repressive state?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unexpected
- By Protogere on 10-30-17
By: Dan Jones
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,333
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 956
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 953
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Birth of Britain
- By Terryl Pettengill on 02-11-07
-
Armies of Heaven
- The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse
- By: Jay Rubenstein
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 73
Beginning in 1095 and culminating four bloody years later, the First Crusade represented a new kind of warfare: holy, unrestrained, and apocalyptic. In Armies of Heaven, medieval historian Jay Rubenstein tells the story of this cataclysmic event through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Long, too much moment-to-moment detail, dull
- By Christopher on 07-02-12
By: Jay Rubenstein
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 840
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 763
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 758
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
A Distant Mirror
- The Calamitous Fourteenth Century
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 28 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,352
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,685
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,698
The 14th century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
And you thought the twentieth century was rough...
- By Rob on 03-23-06
-
A World Lit Only by Fire
- The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,052
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 781
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 776
From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester leads us from a civilization tottering on the brink of collapse to the grandeur of its rebirth, the Renaissance.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ruined by the narrator
- By Wallen on 02-28-09
-
The Greatest Knight
- The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones
- By: Thomas Asbridge
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 885
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 795
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 787
In The Greatest Knight, renowned historian Thomas Asbridge draws upon the thirteenth-century biography and an array of other contemporary evidence to present a compelling account of William Marshal's life and times. Asbridge charts the unparalleled rise to prominence of a man bound to a code of honor yet driven by unquenchable ambition.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Biography of a Legend
- By Troy on 04-02-15
By: Thomas Asbridge
-
Sword and Scimitar
- Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West
- By: Raymond Ibrahim, Victor Davis Hanson - foreword
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 511
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 455
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 452
The West and Islam - the sword and scimitar - have clashed since the 17th century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the Roman emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad's order to abandon Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a centuries-long jihad on Christendom. Sword and Scimitar chronicles the decisive battles that arose from this ages-old Islamic jihad, beginning with the first major Islamic attack on Christian land in 636.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent read
- By Susan Stone on 01-25-19
By: Raymond Ibrahim, and others
-
Lords of the Horizons
- A History of the Ottoman Empire
- By: Jason Goodwin
- Narrated by: Grahame Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The Ottoman Empire has long exerted a strong pull on Western minds and hearts. For over 600 years the empire swelled and declined, rising from a dusty fiefdom in the foothills of Anatolia to a power which ruled over the Danube and the Euphrates with the richest court in Europe. But its decline was prodigious, protracted and total.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good introduction to the Ottomans, bad narration
- By Skeptical on 06-06-18
By: Jason Goodwin
-
The Dark Ages: 476-918
- By: Charles Oman
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 285
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 248
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 245
The Dark Ages is the story of the birth of Western civilization. It was a harrowing crucible of war, destruction, and faith. For over 100 years, Charles Oman's famous history has remained one of the finest sources for the study of this period. Covering a period of 500 years and an area stretching from Northern Germany to Egypt, this is the definitive history that will alter your conceptions of a period of history that gave birth to the civilization we live in today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Excellent Production
- By Ken on 08-11-17
By: Charles Oman
-
Warlords of Ancient Mexico
- How the Mayans and Aztecs Ruled for More Than a Thousand Years
- By: Peter G. Tsouras
- Narrated by: Paul Christy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 567
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 510
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 507
Learn the unbelievable true history of the great warrior tribes of Mexico. More than 13 centuries of incredible spellbinding history are detailed in this intriguing study of the rulers and warriors of Mexico. Dozens of these charismatic leaders of nations and armies are brought to life by the deep research and entertaining storytelling of Peter Tsouras. Tsouras introduces the reader to the colossal personalities of the period.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Written in 1996. Narration disrespectful
- By Amazon Customer on 04-30-20
By: Peter G. Tsouras
-
The Conquering Family
- By: Thomas B. Costain
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 217
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 156
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 149
Thomas B. Costain's four-volume history of the Plantagenets begins with The Conquering Family and the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, closing with the reign of John in 1216. The troubled period after the Norman Conquest, when the foundations of government were hammered out between monarch and people, comes to life through Costain's storytelling skill and historical imagination.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An Entrancing History of the Early Plantegenets
- By Peter on 01-20-09
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Persian Fire
- The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,381
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,202
In the fifth century BC, a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves, but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 02-16-17
By: Tom Holland
-
In the Shadow of the Sword
- The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 577
The evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. In this exciting and sweeping history - the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world - Tom Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Misleading title
- By Edd Huetteman on 04-08-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Dynasty
- The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,419
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,406
Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon—his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic—with Dynasty, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors. Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman emperors. It's a colorful story of rule and ruination, from the rise of Augustus to the death of Nero.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Accessible, enjoyable history
- By Mary on 01-28-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Pax
- War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 175
The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book!
- By Mic on 09-27-23
By: Tom Holland
-
Dominion
- How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Mark Meadows
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,010
Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion - an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus - was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only the forward is narrated by Holland.
- By Honora on 06-16-20
By: Tom Holland
-
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame
- Penguin Monarchs, Book 2
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame by John Guy, read by John Banks. Henry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most notorious of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome, a talented, charismatic, imposing figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them.
By: John Guy
-
Persian Fire
- The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,381
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,202
In the fifth century BC, a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves, but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 02-16-17
By: Tom Holland
-
In the Shadow of the Sword
- The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 584
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 577
The evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. In this exciting and sweeping history - the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world - Tom Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Misleading title
- By Edd Huetteman on 04-08-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Dynasty
- The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,419
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,406
Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon—his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic—with Dynasty, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors. Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman emperors. It's a colorful story of rule and ruination, from the rise of Augustus to the death of Nero.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Accessible, enjoyable history
- By Mary on 01-28-16
By: Tom Holland
-
Pax
- War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 175
The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book!
- By Mic on 09-27-23
By: Tom Holland
-
Dominion
- How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Mark Meadows
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,010
Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion - an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus - was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only the forward is narrated by Holland.
- By Honora on 06-16-20
By: Tom Holland
-
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame
- Penguin Monarchs, Book 2
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame by John Guy, read by John Banks. Henry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most notorious of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome, a talented, charismatic, imposing figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them.
By: John Guy
-
Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
From the Levant to London's society salons to the canals of Venice, famed poet Lord Byron embarks on a life of adventure as the world's most notable vampire, following a dark trail of long-hidden secrets, ancient black arts, and the depths of evil.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
abridged version
- By MEESHA on 10-11-15
By: Tom Holland
-
God's Wolf
- The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders, Scourge of Saladin
- By: Jeffrey Lee
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great look into the life of a great crusader
- By Jon on 02-28-19
By: Jeffrey Lee
-
God's Battalions
- The Case for the Crusades
- By: Rodney Stark
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 572
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 445
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 446
In God's Battalions, award-winning author Rodney Stark takes on the long-held view that the Crusades were the first round of European colonialism, conducted for land, loot, and converts by barbarian Christians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. To the contrary, Stark argues that the Crusades were the first military response to unwarranted Muslim terrorist aggression.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A lively and useful introduction
- By Tad Davis on 01-06-10
By: Rodney Stark
-
The Rest Is History
- From Ancient Rome to Ronald Reagan—History's Most Curious Questions, Answered
- By: Goalhanger Podcasts Ltd
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Dominic Sandbrook
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
This entertaining companion to the massively popular history podcast tackles everything from Alexander the Great to Agatha Christie, the Wars of the Roses to Watergate—with a unique blend of wit, wisdom, and good old-fashioned banter. Featuring an introduction from podcast hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, this book cleverly demonstrates that the past—from modern to ancient and every time in between—is both closer to us than we might realize and bafflingly strange, all at once.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Variety
- By Mark Mears on 07-06-24
-
Vanished Kingdoms
- The Rise and Fall of States and Nations
- By: Norman Davies
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 30 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 227
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 182
There is something profoundly romantic about lost civilizations. Davies peers through the cracks in the mainstream accounts of modern-day states to dazzle us with extraordinary stories of barely remembered pasts, and of the traces they left behind. This is Norman Davies at his best: sweeping narrative history packed with unexpected insights. Vanished Kingdoms will appeal to all fans of unconventional and thought-provoking history, from listeners of Niall Ferguson to Jared Diamond.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
needs a good editor.
- By Ryan Anderson on 09-25-21
By: Norman Davies
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 144
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 117
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
The Rise of Athens
- The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 613
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 538
Filled with tales of adventure and astounding reversals of fortune, The Rise of Athens celebrates the city-state that transformed the world - from the democratic revolution that marked its beginning through the city's political and cultural golden age to its decline into the ancient equivalent of a modern-day university town. Anthony Everitt constructs his history with unforgettable portraits of the talented, tricky, ambitious, and unscrupulous Athenians who fueled the city's rise.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good but not great. With some disturbing opinions.
- By Anthony on 06-25-19
By: Anthony Everitt
-
A Great and Terrible King
- Edward I and the Forging of Britain
- By: Marc Morris
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,052
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 944
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 933
Edward I is familiar to millions as "Longshanks", conqueror of Scotland and nemesis of Sir William Wallace (in Braveheart). Yet this story forms only the final chapter of the king's action-packed life. Earlier, Edward had defeated and killed the famous Simon de Montfort, traveled to the Holy Land, and conquered Wales. He raised the greatest armies of the Middle Ages and summoned the largest parliaments. Notoriously, he expelled all the Jews from his kingdom.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating book
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 04-13-15
By: Marc Morris
-
The Victory of Reason
- How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success
- By: Rodney Stark
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 90
In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark advances a revolutionary, controversial, and long overdue idea: that Christianity and its related institutions are, in fact, directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium. In Stark's view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and non-secular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of reason.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely incredible history book!
- By Daniel on 01-02-20
By: Rodney Stark
-
The Peloponnesian War
- By: Donald Kagan
- Narrated by: Bill Wallace
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 249
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 206
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
For almost three decades at the end of the fifth century BC the ancient world was torn apart in a conflict that was, within its historical context, as dramatic, divisive, and destructive as the great world wars of the 20th century. The Peloponnesian War pitted Greek against Greek: the Athenians, with their glorious empire, rich legacy of democracy and political rights, and extraordinary cultural achievement, against the militaristic, oligarchic Spartan state.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Just The Facts And You Will Need Maps
- By Nikoli Gogol on 01-22-12
By: Donald Kagan
-
The Eastern Orthodox Church
- A New History
- By: John Anthony McGuckin
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 81
In this short, accessible account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, John McGuckin begins by tackling the question "What is the Church?" His answer is a clear, historically and theologically rooted portrait of what the Church is for Orthodox Christianity and how it differs from Western Christians' expectations.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Solid, brief history of Eastern Orthodox Church
- By Pedro S. on 04-19-21
-
Medieval Christianity
- A New History
- By: Kevin Madigan
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
New Standard Text for This Period
- By Bill Martin on 10-22-16
By: Kevin Madigan
What listeners say about The Forge of Christendom
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ryan Stanley
- 11-22-18
A mile wide and an inch deep
This book covers a wide swath of early Christian history and details how encounters with various European groups shaped its evolution. Unfortunately because it covers so many topics the detail is often lacking to make a solid connection with the peoples and historical figures described and glosses over many historical events.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Darren
- 04-24-21
Epic history with brilliant Narration
I found it thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable. I highly recommend it to medieval history fans.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- William
- 08-28-19
Great academics, great story
This reads like a stunningly studied Ph. D. thesis, drawing all pieces together and presenting a picture of the time and how it relates to the central event in seamless fashion. This isn't to say it's dry and unreadable by non-experts; this is not the case at all. I was exceptionally impressed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- aintbuyinit
- 02-24-19
Not his best work IMHO# To much phoney dramatizat
It seems as though Holland has written in a manner that can be best described as too clever by a half,
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- james
- 05-23-19
Great Narrative History
Imminently listenable. Manageable scope. Fun. But also detailed and accurate. Well narrated. I recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ky
- 05-13-19
Very Interesting
An important part of history that is relevant to world culture today. balanced and free of propaganda.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elliott
- 11-28-19
Phenomenal, history written as it should be.
I know a lot about this topic, and Holland not only gets it right, but he does so with a verve and narrative power that is astounding. If you care about Western Civilization, this book is a must. One of the best history books I have ever read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Hollifield
- 02-11-23
Bravo!
A masterful achievement. As a student of church history, few books I’ve read have accomplished what Holland has here.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Wade F.
- 02-08-19
Probably better read than listened to
There is a lot going on in this book. It is hard to follow by listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- BC Ezerega
- 10-22-20
I would give the performance a million stars
admittedly my first time listening to this book I just couldn't I couldn't believe I had ordered a book this long about this subject that was so boring and so I stopped.
then many months went by and in my boredom I thought maybe I'll try this book again and I'm so glad I did the writing is like nothing I've ever experienced history comes alive in this incredibly detailed and well-atched monument to the history of Europe
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!