History

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Mythos cover art

  • Mythos

  • By: Stephen Fry
  • Narrated by: Stephen Fry
  • Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,710
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 1,575
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,568

The Greek myths are amongst the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce....

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Brilliant!

  • By Anonymous User on 07-12-2017
21 Lessons for the 21st Century cover art

  • 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

  • By: Yuval Noah Harari
  • Narrated by: Derek Perkins
  • Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars 316
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 279
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 279

Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus looked to the future. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century explores the present....

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Great!

  • By Michael Matusik on 13-09-2018
A Short History of Nearly Everything cover art

  • A Short History of Nearly Everything

  • By: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: William Roberts
  • Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,463
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,315
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,310

A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization....

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Not what I expected but brilliant!

  • By Michael on 27-11-2015
Harry Potter: A History of Magic cover art

  • Harry Potter: A History of Magic

  • By: Pottermore Publishing, Ben Davies
  • Narrated by: Natalie Dormer
  • Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    3.5 out of 5 stars 14
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars 14
  • Story
    3.5 out of 5 stars 14

Harry Potter: A History of Magic reveals some of the hidden stories behind real-world magic and explores some of J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their folkloric, cultural and historical forebears.... 

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • More Documentary than book.

  • By Amazon Customer on 11-10-2018

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An Economic History of the World since 1400 cover art

  • An Economic History of the World since 1400

  • By: Donald J. Harreld, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: Donald J. Harreld
  • Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
  • Original Recording
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 132
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 119
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 116

Most of us have a limited understanding of the powerful role economics has played in shaping human civilization. This makes economic history - the study of how civilizations structured their environments to provide food, shelter, and material goods - a vital lens through which to think about how we arrived at our present, globalized moment. Designed to fill a long-empty gap in how we think about modern history, these 48 lectures are a comprehensive journey through more than 600 years of economic history.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • I have learnt a lot

  • By Anonymous User on 19-06-2018
The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague cover art

  • The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague

  • By: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong
  • Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
  • Original Recording
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 55
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 49
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 49

Many of us know the Black Death as a catastrophic event of the medieval world. But the Black Death was arguably the most significant event in Western history, profoundly affecting every aspect of human life, from the economic and social to the political, religious, and cultural. In its wake the plague left a world that was utterly changed, forever altering the traditional structure of European societies and forcing a rethinking of every single system of Western civilization: food production and trade, the church, political institutions, law, art, and more.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Fascinating & gripping

  • By Ballina Beach on 08-10-2016
The Vikings cover art

  • The Vikings

  • By: Kenneth W. Harl, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: Kenneth W. Harl
  • Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
  • Original Recording
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 55
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 53
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 53

As raiders and explorers, the Vikings played a decisive role in the formation of Latin Christendom, and particularly of western Europe. Now, in a series of 36 vivid lectures by an honored teacher and classical scholar, you have the opportunity to understand this remarkable race as never before, studying the Vikings not only as warriors, but in all of the other roles in which they were equally extraordinary - merchants, artists, kings, raiders, seafarers, shipbuilders, and creators of a remarkable literature of myths and sagas.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • Vikings more than horned helmets

  • By Stan on 27-12-2016
The Story of Human Language cover art

  • The Story of Human Language

  • By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: John McWhorter
  • Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins
  • Original Recording
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 63
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 57
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 55

Language defines us as a species, placing humans head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. But it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries, allowing us to ponder why different languages emerged, why there isn't simply a single language, how languages change over time and whether that's good or bad, and how languages die out and become extinct.

  • 3 out of 5 stars

  • This is from 2005

  • By David on 26-07-2018
The Fall and Rise of China cover art

  • The Fall and Rise of China

  • By: Richard Baum, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: Richard Baum
  • Length: 24 hrs and 8 mins
  • Original Recording
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars 73
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 67
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars 66

For most of its 5,000-year existence, China has been the largest, most populous, wealthiest, and mightiest nation on Earth. And for us as Westerners, it is essential to understand where China has been in order to anticipate its future. These 36 eye-opening lectures deliver a comprehensive political and historical overview of one of the most fascinating and complex countries in world history.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • Excellent Analysis

  • By Tomas on 13-10-2018
The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World cover art

  • The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World

  • By: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
  • Narrated by: Robert Garland
  • Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
  • Original Recording
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars 89
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 80
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars 79

Look beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts. Over the course of 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Garland covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people, from its earliest beginnings through the Middle Ages.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • An eye-opening account of the ancient 99%

  • By Nelson C on 09-07-2015

New Releases

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Titans of History cover art

  • Titans of History

  • The Giants Who Made Our World
  • By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
  • Narrated by: Steve West
  • Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    0 out of 5 stars 0
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The giant characters of history - from Mozart to Michelangelo, Shakespeare to Einstein, Henry VIII to Hitler, Catherine the Great to Margaret Thatcher, Jesus Christ to Genghis Khan - lived lives of astonishing drama and adventure, debauchery and slaughter, but they also formed our world and will shape our future. In this eclectic and surprising collection of short and entertaining life stories, Simon Sebag Montefiore introduces his choice of kings, empresses, sultans and conquerors as well as prophets, explorers, artists, actresses, courtesans and psychopaths. 

1415: Henry V's Year of Glory cover art

  • 1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

  • By: Ian Mortimer
  • Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
  • Length: 25 hrs and 43 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    0 out of 5 stars 0
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In this ground-breaking audiobook, Ian Mortimer portrays Henry in the pivotal year of his reign. Recording the dramatic events of 1415, he offers the fullest, most precise and least romanticised view we have of Henry and what he did. At the centre of the narrative is the campaign which culminated in the battle of Agincourt: a slaughter ground intended not to advance England’s interests directly but to demonstrate God’s approval of Henry’s royal authority on both sides of the Channel. 

The Third Reich Is Listening cover art

  • The Third Reich Is Listening

  • Inside German Codebreaking 1939-45
  • By: Christian Jennings
  • Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
  • Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    0 out of 5 stars 0
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The codebreakers at Bletchley Park have been immortalised in films such as The Imitation Game and Enigma, but the Germans were also breaking Allied ciphers. The Third Reich Is Listening is the comprehensive account of the successes, failures and science of Germany's codebreaking and signals intelligence operations from 1935 to 1945. This fast-moving blend of modern history and popular science is told through colourful personal accounts of the Germans at the heart of the story.

The Bomb and America's Missile Age cover art

  • The Bomb and America's Missile Age

  • By: Christopher Gainor
  • Narrated by: Tom Perkins
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    0 out of 5 stars 0
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The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), designed to quickly deliver thermonuclear weapons to distant targets, was the central weapons system of the Cold War. ICBMs also carried the first astronauts and cosmonauts into orbit. More than a generation later, we are still living with the political, technological, and scientific effects of the space race, while nuclear-armed ICBMs remain on alert and in the headlines around the world. Christopher Gainor explores the US Air Force's decision, in March 1954, to build the Atlas, America's first ICBM. 

Dear Mr Murray cover art

  • Dear Mr Murray

  • By: David McClay - editor
  • Narrated by: Tim Bentinck, Angus King, Patrick Moy, and others
  • Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    0 out of 5 stars 0
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The publishing house of John Murray was founded in Fleet Street in 1768 and remained a family firm over seven generations. Published to coincide with this remarkable achievement' and in the anniversary year, Dear Mr Murray is a collection of some of the best letters from the hundreds of thousands held in the John Murray Archive. They reveal not only the story of some of the most interesting and influential books in history but also the remarkable friendships - as well as occasional animosities - between author and publisher as well as readers, editors, printers and illustrators.

Double Entry cover art

  • Double Entry

  • How the Merchants of Venice Shaped the Modern World – and How Their Invention Could Make or Break the Planet
  • By: Jane Gleeson-White
  • Narrated by: Julia Farhat
  • Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    0 out of 5 stars 0
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A fascinating exploration of how a simple system used to measure and record wealth spawned a cultural revolution. Prepare to have your idea of accounting changed forever. 'The rise and metamorphosis of double-entry bookkeeping is one of history's best-kept secrets and most important untold tales. Through its logic we have let the planet go to ruin - and through its logic we now have a chance to avert that ruin.'