История Древнего мира. От истоков Цивилизации до падения Рима

История Древнего мира – от самых ранних, научно документированных событий и до падения Римской империи.

В этой книге Сьюзен Бауэр выдвигает и доказывает интереснейшую теорию взаимодействия и взаимопроникновения культур самых разных западных и восточных цивилизаций.

Не просто сухие факты, но подробный и яркий рассказ о внешней и внутренней политике государств древности, об их История Древнего мира – от самых ранних, научно документированных событий и до падения Римской империи.

Не просто сухие факты, но подробный и яркий рассказ о внешней и внутренней политике государств древности, об их литературе, религии и мифологии, повседневной жизни и системе управления.

Результатом становится потрясающая мозаика событий, свидетельств и документов, в которой в равной степени важен каждый элемент. . more

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I feel like I was listening to this book for so long that NOT listening to it feels strange. The end just kind of came out of nowhere. One minute I'm listening to the fall of Rome, and the next Audible is hoping that I enjoyed the program.

Did I enjoy it? Mostly. I liked the subtle humor that made these historical figures personable and relatable (relatively speaking). It served to make this a bit less like a 26 hour stint in Professor Binns' class - though for much of it, it is simply a recap I feel like I was listening to this book for so long that NOT listening to it feels strange. The end just kind of came out of nowhere. One minute I'm listening to the fall of Rome, and the next Audible is hoping that I enjoyed the program.

Did I enjoy it? Mostly. I liked the subtle humor that made these historical figures personable and relatable (relatively speaking). It served to make this a bit less like a 26 hour stint in Professor Binns' class - though for much of it, it is simply a recapping of a lot of facts and names and dates and places. This gives us a bit of narrative, making it a little more storylike. but only a little.

The format of this book is not ideal. I'm not really sure what a better method would be, since the world is a big place and contained many civilizations getting their feet wet all at the same time. I think that there should have been, or could have been, a bit more referential material though. Don't rely on me to remember what happened in 3,000 BC in Egypt AND China AND wherever else. Link it together for me. "At the same time Pharaoh whoever was doing this thing, over in China, Emperor whoever was starting this war."

Or maybe year range sections would be good. That way I kind of have a frame of reference - all of the things I'm hearing about are happening at the same time. That would be better for me than subject breakdowns. Sure, they are interesting - The origins of Kingship, or the Persian Wars, etc. but I tend to think more linearly than that, so this format was a bit hard for me to follow and get the most out of. It likes to start with a topic, and then choose a location, discuss the topic's relevance there, jump to a new place, repeat. Usually it's around the same time period. but I couldn't tell you because as hard as I tried, listening with my full attention just wasn't happening.

Anyway. mostly enjoyable, but a bit tedious at times. I'd still recommend it though if you're into history. . more

Although an impressive scope, the approach I feel was flawed.

First, the author takes a "big person" historiographical approach. This seems terribly cartoonish.

Next, the history seems questionable. Take the exodus, for example. Now, there is no archaelogical evidence for the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, there is no empirical evidence supporting it. the only document mentioning the exodus is the Torah, written some 500+ years after the event. (Imagine how accurate a description one would have of s Although an impressive scope, the approach I feel was flawed.

First, the author takes a "big person" historiographical approach. This seems terribly cartoonish.

Next, the history seems questionable. Take the exodus, for example. Now, there is no archaelogical evidence for the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, there is no empirical evidence supporting it. the only document mentioning the exodus is the Torah, written some 500+ years after the event. (Imagine how accurate a description one would have of someone guessing at Christopher Columbus discovering America!) But it's taken as "fact", despite sloppy mentions of how ambiguous the dating is.

Worse the history seems to correlate Biblical events with historical events. If I wanted cheezy Biblical explanations, I'll dig out genesis. Besides, this was attempted once before (well, many times) in the 19th century. Spoiler alert: they didn't work.

Well, this is a 21st century resurrection. I'd suggest skipping it. . more

I'm about halfway through this book, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. In a style similar to her history books for school-age children, the author presents short episodes of history, always formed as narratives based around human interactions and personalities, and jumping between centers of civilization in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and the Mediterranean. Personalities arise from the mists of history, even from the evidence of fragmentary clay records and broken and buried monuments. Patte I'm about halfway through this book, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. In a style similar to her history books for school-age children, the author presents short episodes of history, always formed as narratives based around human interactions and personalities, and jumping between centers of civilization in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and the Mediterranean. Personalities arise from the mists of history, even from the evidence of fragmentary clay records and broken and buried monuments. Patterns develop, and one can hear the song of history rhyming if not repeating through the ages. The book is incredibly well-researched, and Bauer does a great job of presenting the scholarship and controversies over different interpretations, even while she sensibly picks some over others in order to synthesize her own narratives.

My only complaint with this book would be the way that she treats biblical subjects. I'm guessing that for her this must be a complicated issue. Her sharp intellect comes through both in this book and in her other two books on home- and self-education. She is obviously brilliant, with a critical mind for reading evidence and stories and understanding not only the motivations of the readers but the writers. But she also has an audience to maintain/humor, as one of her biggest customer bases is homeschooling parents, a group largely consisting of fundamentalist Christians, especially on the east coast. Because of this (and perhaps also because of her own inner convictions) she presents two biblical figures as historical figures, Abraham and Moses, and treats their stories as largely based on actual events. She does note that there is not one shred of archeological evidence for the exodus, and of course nothing to affirm the existence of any of the patriarchs. Once she reaches more historical parts of the bible, with kings like Omri and Ahab whose existence has been confirmed, she is on firmer ground.

The stories of the old testament were written down sometime after the return of the exiles from Babylon, and for the people of the Levant, lying between and being conquered repeatedly by the huge kingdoms of Egypt and Assyria/Babylon (and the Hittites, too), claiming ancestry out of these two areas is not surprising. Abraham provides the Mesopotamian link, Moses the Egyptian. Here is one example of what I am talking about: the story of Moses, the baby set afloat in a basket on a river, echoes that of a Mesopotamian king, Sargon, from centuries earlier (just as the story of Noah and the great flood is originally a Mesopotamian myth). The most likely interpretation of that fact is that the exiles, having just lived in Babylon for decades, picked that story up and added it to their Moses myth. Bauer gives that as an interpretation, but presents as her explanation that Moses' mother knew the myth of Sargon and decided to copy it in setting her son afloat. That logic doesn't pass the smell test, or Occam's razor. In the same way, she treats Sarah's geriatric pregnancy (and Abraham's comical episodes where he has to disguise himself because his aging wife is so hot) largely at face value.

Apart from these off-key notes, this is an important and very edifying book, an incredible source of information, well-illustrated, clearly written, and beautifully organized.

I've finished the book and it was excellent - told at a very entertaining level of detail and well edited. What is interesting is that the subtitle is not at all right. The history goes up to about 311AD, when Constantine converts to Christianity and unites the Roman Empire, not to 476AD and "The Fall of Rome" as is claimed on the cover. The emphasis at the end is the comparison with what is happening in the Mediterranean and what is happening in China, with different dynastic and revolutionary claims to the thrones of those great empires. Well done all around. . more

The first 3,000 years of known history in Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China, etc"History is just one damn thing after another" is a famous quote misattributed to the venerable historian Arthur Toynbee. What he actually said was:

"Life is just one damned thing after another, whether it is private or public life. And looking back upon history (which in reality, of course, has never stopped happening, even during our brief halcyon days), one can see that in almost every age in almost every part of th The first 3,000 years of known history in Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China, etc"History is just one damn thing after another" is a famous quote misattributed to the venerable historian Arthur Toynbee. What he actually said was:

"Life is just one damned thing after another, whether it is private or public life. And looking back upon history (which in reality, of course, has never stopped happening, even during our brief halcyon days), one can see that in almost every age in almost every part of the world, human beings have had to live their normal lives and do their normal business under conditions of uncertainty, danger and distress. . ."

Well, I don't know who co-opted his expression, but it's an amusingly cynical view of history. Is there no rhyme or reason, no ebb and flow, no discernible pattern to the rise and fall of empires, kingdoms, royal families, noble houses, great leaders and generals, shrewd politicians, religious figures, powerful merchants, meticulous scholars, and petty bureaucrats, not to mention priests, commoners, farmers, criminals, slaves, and thieves? Surely history is an infinitely complex and grand tapestry throughout which the joys and despair of men, women, and children are woven, in often mysterious and conflicting patterns, but making up a gloriously gripping narrative of human existence?

Well, I'm no historian but I certainly find myself increasingly drawn to history precisely because enough time has passed to gain some distance and perspective away from current events. Given the state of the world today, with its myriad thorny and seemingly unsolvable problems such as economic and political disparity, environmental destruction, overpopulation, social class and religious conflicts, relentless invasion of technology into our daily lives, and growing moral relativism as traditional belief systems are undermined, there is something very attractive about casting our gaze back into previous millennia, not because they were simpler or better times, necessarily, but because we can see some of the same delusions of certainty, righteousness, justice, and equality then that persist now in stark contrast to the messy reality of the world we live in today.

This series of books by Susan Wise Bauer seeks to capture huge swaths of history not simply with sweeping generalizations and explanations, but rather covering a seemingly endless series of empires and leaders rising and falling in different parts of the ancient world, sometimes achieving greatness, oftentimes megalomaniac and despotic, but quickly seeing their demise in favor of the next to seize power. So in many ways, this book could be described as "History is just one damn crazy leader after another", and Bauer makes a great effort to make these colorful individuals into real characters with good and bad traits, outlandish ambitions, sadistic tendencies, and often incredible duplicitousness.

There are no angels out there who rose to power - hardly - but there weren't pure devils either. They were just as conflicted and confused as we are, just in a less complex and smaller-scale world than the global societies of today. But the same dynamics of religious, military, political, and economic power and the struggle for control operate. In this book we get a never-ending parade of individual dramas from different eras and regions of the world, a thousand variations of the same efforts to establish and maintain order in increasingly large empires with the inevitable collapses due to external battles with rival empires or, just as frequently, the internal struggles for power and sudden betrayals of family and allies.

It is a bloody affair, and Bauer describes the many treacherous and cruel actions of rulers to keep power with unflinching enthusiasm, in fact a certain maniacal glee at their brutality. With absolute power in the ancient world, anything was possible, and tens of thousands of people could be slaughtered as cities were sacked by armies, or tortured and executed as traitors, or enslaved for generations, a story repeated again and again, and yet also there were moments of impressively enlightened ideas of collective and individual political rights to protect citizens from tyranny, to protect property rights, and so forth, which are the underpinnings of our modern democracies and capitalist/market economies. We may have plenty of inequalities and injustices still persisting today, but we are less likely to be persecuted and executed by a capricious leader on a whim. So there is such a thing as progress, though it is far from universal and far from guaranteed.

To sum up, I enjoyed this 26-hour pageant of history. If you asked me to repeat most of the leaders and kingdoms and battles and when/where they took place, I would be very honest in saying it's all a blur, a flood of information that flowed over my ears and mind over many a dog walk in the neighborhood during lockdown, but I was enriched by it and left thirsty for more, which is perfect since there are two more hefty installments, one on the Medieval World and the next on the Renaissance World, coming up next. . more

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