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The History of the Ancient World

From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

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About this listen

A lively and engaging narrative history showing the common threads in the cultures that gave birth to our own.

This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2007 Susan Wise Bauer (P)2013 Audible, Inc. Ancient Civilization Europe Greece Rome World Middle East Middle Ages Thought-Provoking Africa Greek Mythology Ancient Egypt Mythology
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Covers the earliest civilizations which had written records: flitting between mesopotamia, China and the early Mediterranean kingdoms, roughly in parallel timeframes.
if you get the audio book, you'll find it really helpful to download and review the PDF maps before you listen to each chapter.

a very impressive tour of ancient civilizations.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the journey through the ages, especially the earlier accounts. Would recommend this book to those with a fascination for ancient societies

Informative, witty and fascinating

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Ubiquitous narrator
Overly detailed story

Overall enjoyable but the constant empire building and falling ends up feeling irrelevant and the narrative could do with editing

Detailed textbook

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John Lee does a great job of reading this history, however, it would give it more depth if all the extracts from other sources were read by someone else.

Well read, but could do with a second narrator.

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Who was your favorite character and why?

With so many kings, queens and warriors, it is hard to choose just one. I enjoyed hearing about Abraham, who seemed more intent on living a good life than fighting a good war.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The few scenes that were not covered with dead bodies. Also, the pyramids were rather splendid.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

How it all began...

Any additional comments?

Fantastic narration, good pacing and at times even light hearted.

A wonderful Audio Book

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