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The Martyrdom of Man
- Narrated by: Denis Daly
- Length: 18 hrs and 3 mins
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The Martyrdom of Man
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Publisher's summary
Explorer, journalist, and novelist, William Winwood Reade was born at Murrayfield, near Crieff in 1838, and died at Wimbledon in 1875.
A nephew of Charles Reade, he explored a wide range of literary genres, including history, travelogues, and fiction.
First published in 1872, The Martyrdom of Man has been described as the first synoptic history of mankind. It was one of the first surveys of history based on the then-controversial principle of organic evolution. The book received a very mixed reception: Cecil Rhodes lauded the work, stating that it had "made him the man he was", while William Ewart Gladstone stated that it was so dangerous that it should be banned.
The book is divided into four lengthy chapters: War, Religion, Liberty, and Intellect. Reade expresses his view of human development in the final chapter: "Society is not maintained by the conjectures of theology, but by those moral sentiments, those gregarious virtues, which elevated men above the animals, which are now instinctive in our natures, and to which intellectual culture is propitious."
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The Middle Ages
- By: Morris Bishop
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 192
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
In this indispensable volume, one of America's ranking scholars combines a life's work of research and teaching with the art of lively narration. Both authoritative and beautifully told, The Middle Ages is the full story of the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance - a time that saw the rise of kings and emperors, the flowering of knighthood, the development of Europe, the increasing power of the Catholic Church, and the advent of the middle class.
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3 out of 5 stars
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"It's All left to the imagination."
- By Dave Miller on 09-22-17
By: Morris Bishop
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization
- By: Anthony Esolen
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 419
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 351
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 351
Western civilization is under attack. At universities and in the media, professors and pundits decry Western civilization as exploitative, destructive, and without value. But fear not: coming to its defense is this "P.I." guide to Western civilization.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Holy Neo-Nazism Batman!
- By Douglas on 12-03-11
By: Anthony Esolen
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Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities
- By: Bettany Hughes
- Narrated by: Bettany Hughes
- Length: 24 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 171
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 146
From the Koran to Shakespeare, this city with three names - Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - resonates as an idea and a place, real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between East and West, North and South, it has been the capital city of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. For much of its history it was the very center of the world, known simply as "The City", but, as Bettany Hughes reveals, Istanbul is not just a city but a global story.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A daunting undertaking pulled off superlatively
- By SGS on 12-24-17
By: Bettany Hughes
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Genghis Khan and the Quest for God
- How the World's Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
Throughout history the world’s greatest conquerors have made their mark not just on the battlefield, but in the societies they have transformed. Genghis Khan conquered by arms and bravery, but he ruled by commerce and religion. He created the world’s greatest trading network and drastically lowered taxes for merchants, but he knew that if his empire was going to last, he would need something stronger and more binding than trade. He needed religion.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating history
- By R. C. Haynes on 12-29-18
By: Jack Weatherford
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History of the Conquest of Mexico
- By: W.H. Prescott
- Narrated by: Kerry Shale
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 154
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
In 1519, Hernando Cortés arrived in Mexico to investigate stories of a wealthy empire. What he encountered was beyond his wildest dreams; an advanced civilization with complex artistic, political, and religious systems (involving extensive human sacrifice) and replete with gold. This was the Aztec empire, headed by the aloof emperor, Montezuma.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping story
- By Roger Conner on 11-05-04
By: W.H. Prescott
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The Histories
- By: Herodotus
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 27 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 414
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 248
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Herodotus is not only the father of the art and the science of historical writing, but also one of the Western tradition's most compelling storytellers. In tales such as that of Gyges, who murders Candaules, the king of Lydia, and usurps his throne and his marriage bed, thereby bringing on, generations later, war with the Persians, Herodotus laid bare the intricate human entanglements at the core of great historical events.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Pater historiae: Latin, b/c who gets Greek jokes?
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Herodotus
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Primitive Mythology
- The Masks of God Series, Volume I
- By: Joseph Campbell, David Kudler - editor
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
The author of such acclaimed books as The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth discusses the primitive roots of mythology, examining them in light of the most recent discoveries in archaeology, anthropology, and psychology.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Epic speculation into the origins of our mythic consciousness
- By BGZ on 01-10-19
By: Joseph Campbell, and others
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Self Reliance
- By: Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Narrated by: Alana Munro
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,015
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 857
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Story4 out of 5 stars 847
The most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson's most famous quotations, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." This essay is a considered a watershed moment in which transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. An American classic.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Don't buy this
- By Leah L on 07-31-16
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Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
- By: Charles MacKay
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 27 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 111
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4 out of 5 stars 99
Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the '80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay's classic - first published in 1841 - shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds.
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5 out of 5 stars
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People don't change
- By J. on 07-05-16
By: Charles MacKay
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The Histories
- The Persian Wars
- By: Herodotus, A. D. Godley Translator
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 137
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 120
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Story5 out of 5 stars 120
Herodotus was a Greek historian born in Halicarnassus, subject at the time of the great Persian Empire. He lived in the fifth century BC (c. 484 - c. 425 BC), a contemporary of Socrates. He is often referred to as "The Father of History", a title originally conferred by Cicero. Herodotus was the first historian known to have broken from Homeric tradition in order to treat historical subjects as a method of investigation, specifically by collecting his materials in a critical, systematic fashion and then arranging them into a chronological narrative.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Popular for a reason
- By Reader on 11-17-18
By: Herodotus, and others
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Native American Wisdom
- By: Kent Nerburn Ph.D., Louise Mengelkock M.A.
- Narrated by: Kent Nerburn, Marc Allen
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
Capture the beauty, power, and wisdom of the Native American oral tradition with this superlative collection of readings taken from the writings and speeches of people from many different tribes. The collection offers insights into Native American ways of living, learning, and dying, and helps us to feel a reconnection with the land and ourselves. The words of Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Ohiyesa, Black Elk, and others create a powerful listening experience.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not the right format, and maybe not the right book
- By Mark Grannis on 07-09-04
By: Kent Nerburn Ph.D., and others
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Venice
- Pure City
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4 out of 5 stars 70
The Venetians' language and way of thinking set them aside from the rest of Italy. They are an island people, linked to the sea and to the tides rather than the land. This latest work from the incomparable Peter Ackroyd, like a magic gondola, transports its listeners to that sensual and surprising city. His account embraces facts and romance, conjuring up the atmosphere of the canals, bridges, and sunlit squares, the churches and the markets, the festivals and the flowers.
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2 out of 5 stars
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An endless droning list.....
- By jack on 03-15-11
By: Peter Ackroyd
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Paradise of the Pacific
- Approaching Hawaii
- By: Susanna Moore
- Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
The history of Hawaii may be said to be the story of arrivals - from the eruption of volcanoes on the ocean floor 18,000 feet below, the first hardy seeds that over millennia found their way to the islands, and the confused birds blown from their migratory routes to the early Polynesian adventurers who sailed across the Pacific in double canoes, the Spanish galleons en route to the Philippines, and the British navigators in search of a Northwest Passage....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Overview
- By tmiq on 08-20-16
By: Susanna Moore