Martien Halvorson-Taylor weaves a tale that spans thousands of years, using what we know about the ancient history of the Near East to piece together Martien Halvorson-Taylor weaves a tale that spans thousands of years, using what we know about the ancient history of the Near East to piece together the who's, how's, and why's of the texts we call the Old Testament. The stories make sense when you step back and look at them through a historical lens, and I've been looking for a lecture that covered it this way for quite some time.
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Her love of the history of the Old Testament is evident in the way she explains the stories behind the stories in the Bible. You can tell she's very aware that she is dealing with a religious text that means a great deal to people around the world and is respectful of that, while still giving a secular lecture about the origins of the scriptures.
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She not only goes into the history of the Bible but also goes into the history of the scholars throughout the ages who have tried to figure out the origins of the stories in the Bible. For example, the Documentary Hypothesis is something that anyone who has looked into this subject will have heard a lot about, and she does an excellent job explaining what it is, how it came about, and why it is generally thought of as flawed in some ways.
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The little oddities in translation that gave us stories like Joseph's coat of many colors, instead of a long-sleeved tunic, is just one of the ways that the text has changed and morphed and become something for new generations of readers. Regardless of how it came to be, it has become part of our own lore and new authors have taken the core story and made it into something present-day people find recognizable and perhaps relatable.
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I was particularly interested in the origins of the Septuagint, having just listened to a lecture on ancient Egypt. I didn't realize that it was so different from the Masoretic Text that is (mostly) used in English translations of the Christian Bible. Very cool.
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I found the parts about King Josiah far more interesting than I originally anticipated. The idea that the written word was possibly considered sketchy at first was a new concept to me. The prophet Jeremiah seems to be saying that perhaps the word of God should not be written down but only spoken through prophets like himself. This might have been a reflection of a turning point when the oral traditions were starting to become written traditions. Jeremiah 8:8 New Revised Standard Version How can you say, “We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us,” when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie?
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It's a fascinating lecture on a misunderstood and sometimes maligned ancient text. Check it out....more
A big downside to this book was caused by a pet peeve of mine.
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I absolutely can not stand it when people "correctly" pronounce words from anotheA big downside to this book was caused by a pet peeve of mine.
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I absolutely can not stand it when people "correctly" pronounce words from another language as if they are speaking in that language. I get it. I know how to correctly pronounce croissant in French, but only a pretentious asshole has to bust out the French accent when ordering something in an American restaurant. And this guy! It was seemingly impossible for him to make it through even a few sentences without pulling out obnoxious accents for everything. At some point in the lecture, I just wondered what kind of a nightmare he must be in real life. At a party, I would imagine he must be on par with guitar man & magic trick guy. And don't pop up on my thread with your "well, aaaaaactually..." bullshit. It's annoying. And if you don't think it's annoying, then I can promise you that you are the person at the party that people are actively avoiding.
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Ok. Beyond that? It was alright. There was an undercurrent of Jack-of -all-trades-master-of-none to Isbouts. Like he was a celebrity Bible writer? I don't know how else to explain it, but as interesting as his opinions were, I'm not exactly sold on this guy being the real deal. It's just a feeling and I have ZERO facts to back that statement up. So. Isbouts takes you on a tour of the entire Bible, starting in Genesis, and tries to show how each book was a product of the time it was written in. Not only that, but how the oral traditions of the surrounding civilizations worked their way into the lore of the stories. He is of the opinion that a lot of the characters in the Jewish tales were more than likely cobbled together out of both reality and legend. He's a Christian, but not a literalist. This means he's trying to find a way to ground myth with archaeology and meld it into a spiritual thing. Bottom line, don't go into this thinking he's out there digging around for Noah's Ark. You will be sorely disappointed, if so.
When he got to the New Testament stuff you can see he really buys into the Gospel stories as for-real things that happened. I was a tad shocked that he thought Jesus healed with some sort of "energy" by laying hands on people, and casually mentioned that energy healers are a thing today that help a lot of people. Well. Ok, then. That's one idea. I'm not saying it isn't possible, just that I'm not used to hearing this sort of stuff in Great Course lectures. Another thing I'm not used to hearing is what historical figures "must have thought" in relation to ancient texts. One phrase that caught my attention was, "I can only imagine poor Mary and Martha cooking up a storm for their large group of guests who they obviously expect to return..." while talking about Jesus losing his temper in the temple, getting trapped in the city by guards looking for him, and Isbouts saying this is why he thinks the Last Supper took place in a rented room. None of this is something I would expect from a historian, in that nothing about his story is provable in a historical sense. It smacked of what he wanted to believe and what made a great story. It would, however, be lovely coming from a pulpit on Sunday morning.
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Overall, I thought this was a cool trip through the Bible that included what may (I stress may because I have serious doubts about Isbouts) have been going on in the ancient world at around the same times that these stories were being told. If you're just looking for an overall view of what happened and when, then you should probably get a kick out of this one.
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Alright. There are moments when I'm reading or listening to a book and I realize something about myself. I know I can't be the only one.
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And I read about religion as a way to kind of figure myself out anyway. Come to terms with my past, try to understand why I ended up on such a different path than the one I started out on, and accept who I am now without becoming bitter. The more I try to learn, the less angry I become because curiosity takes over, and dammit, I can't help but be enthralled by our collective world history.
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So what did I realize? <--is the question you weren't asking. I'm telling you anyway because nobody reads the reviews for The History and Archaeology of the Bible, so if you're somehow here looking at this? Well, it's your fault that you've let me ramble on this far without skipping past. But I will spoiler-tag it because I'm not a total monster and this is basically just a free therapy session for myself.
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(view spoiler)[ As I listened to Jean-Pierre Isbouts talk about how physicists are saying that there might be some "energy" that created the universe, that the Bible talks about water and scientists think we evolved from the water, etc., etc., etc., I had an epiphany about necessary lies. I think we all tell ourselves lies and then we force ourselves to believe them. And that's not even a bad thing. I think there are times we absolutely need to lie to ourselves. When my youngest daughter had leukemia, it was a long process of treatments that lasted several years, followed by one nail-biting test after another once she stopped treatment. And for those of you who have ever been in a situation like that, you know that you live day-to-day in a type of surreal survival mode. Now, during that time, I had a mantra that I repeated to myself - I will not lose a kid today. As though I could stand guard at an invisible gate and keep her alive through the sheer force of my will. That is not how reality works. I knew that, but I bought into that lie with every bit of my crusty heart. Because I had to. I would have collapsed under the mental strain and wouldn't have been able to function as a caregiver if I had let my fear and anxiety over this wildly out of my control situation take hold of my mind. So. That was the epiphany. The vast majority of people need the exact same thing I did, which is to buy into a necessary lie that allows them to continue on in a world that will always spin out of our control. I shouldn't be angry, or confused, or disappointed if they don't want to shine a light on their own version of the thing that gets them through the day. I get it. I nearly chewed my well-meaning husband's head off when he told me I might need to prepare myself for...a not-good scenario. You need to hold on to something that defies logic sometimes. And if that thing is belief in a God or gods or whatever, then I think I can get behind that a bit better than anything else. So maybe this will help me in my personal journey to understand the religious people in my life. (hide spoiler)]
DNF 13% I might come back to this but I doubt it. I wanted something that gave me facts- or as close to facts as we have at the moment. You know, what aDNF 13% I might come back to this but I doubt it. I wanted something that gave me facts- or as close to facts as we have at the moment. You know, what archeologists have found over the years and when, and what do we know about Akhenaten and Nefertiti's reign? What's the best guess about this famous ancient couple? How do other Egyptologists think it all went down and how does that differ (if at all) from what you think?
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But the authors seem to be trying their hands at giving the reader a bit of historical fiction and have inserted storyline "scenes". The one that stuck out to me was the queen getting pregnant by her god-husband. What? You obviously know that nothing that happened in said scene is based in reality and it's just a way to engage the reader and put them in ancient Egypt, but I find this kind of thing annoying. I just want to learn something and you're dragging it out with some sort of might-have-been fairytale. Blech....more
For a comic about a serial killer operating in Nazi-occupied Paris, this was shockingly dull. It's a true story, and maybe Phillips didn't want to sensFor a comic about a serial killer operating in Nazi-occupied Paris, this was shockingly dull. It's a true story, and maybe Phillips didn't want to sensationalize it, but it could have used several more issues to flesh out what happened.
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I mean, since it was a true story, you already know the guy got caught, but even so, there should have been some feeling of suspense to the story while I was reading. Worse, it seemed to flip around from Nazi characters to French police to victims without much finesse. I don't even know why some of the characters (especially the Nazis) were even in this. I get it, in that Germany had taken France, but the conversations of Nazi officers at a party really had little to no impact on what was happening with the serial killer storyline.
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The ending courtroom scene wasn't even all that good. It may have even been word-for-word what happened, but it was just badly told. Same thing with his execution. I think that could have been great, but it fell flat. You know what this reminded me of? One of those books geared toward 12 year olds who are just learning about history that's trying to make it seem interesting without going into too much detail.
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The art didn't do this thing any favors, either. There was nothing here visually that didn't make me just wish I could close my eyes and hope it would look different when I opened them again.
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It's an interesting true crime story about a serial killer who pretended to work with the resistance and used people's desperation and panic as a way to feed his sick desire to kill. But at the end of the day, I'd like someone else to take a crack at telling this one....more
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. My opinion had always been that you don't have to believe Jesus was the Son of God to believe he wTalk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. My opinion had always been that you don't have to believe Jesus was the Son of God to believe he was a real historical figure who lived and died. One of these things does not have to equal the other.
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I wasn't sure who was even asking this question, but this was one of those books that I found after falling down a rabbit hole. I read The Case for Christ and one of the things Lee Strobel "debunked" was that Jesus never existed. I was like, oh? is this a thing people are actually saying?, and I decided to check into it. Hence, this book.
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Ehrman is an agnostic professor of the New Testament who undertakes the task of pointing out why most historians believe the probability that Jesus actually walked the earth was high. In doing so, he sets out to disprove the mythicists who claim that Jesus wasn't a real person but only concocted later on as a mystic figure to head Christianity. And I think he did.
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Turns out there really aren't that many people claiming Jesus wasn't a historical figure. As I originally thought, it's kind of a stupid thing to postulate. And as long as I'm throwing my personal 2 cents in, I think it's mainly done by angry atheists. Who hurt you, honey? I get the frustration, but coming up with and promoting cockamamie theories like this isn't helpful. You're becoming the very kind of person that you don't like.
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I'm not sure who would be interested in this because it's kind of a niche subject, but I thought it was a very well-done book for the layperson on this subject matter. Recommended. If you're into this kind of thing....more
I feel super smart now. Don't worry, I'm still me - my dumbassery knows no bounds. Now, this a fairly long lecture, clocking in at 24 hours and 25 minutI feel super smart now. Don't worry, I'm still me - my dumbassery knows no bounds. Now, this a fairly long lecture, clocking in at 24 hours and 25 minutes, and you really get your money's worth out of every minute. I'm not even going to try to go into all the things I learned, but I thought I'd hit some of the fun highlights.
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Did you know that Ramesses the Great's mummy was growing fungi due to the initial neglect? Nobody thought of the mummies as a treasure at first and just sort of stuffed them in the back rooms of museums. The two easiest ways to get rid of the fungi would have been to freeze it or heat it up, but they couldn't do that because it would have damaged the mummy. So to save him, they used gamma radiation. YES. And that, kids, is the true story of how Ramesses the Great became The Incredible Hulk.
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Did you know the Egyptians never lost a battle? Ok, not really. But they were big believers in writing, re-writing (re-chiseling?), and leaving out anything they didn't feel made them look good when it came to their own history. I'm thinking that's something that I need to do when I write my (much anticipated) autobiography.
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Did you know that the scene in Fantasia with Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice is based on an ancient Egyptian story about a magician who tries to get his brooms to fetch water? So much for the older generations not being lazy. Two miles uphill both ways in the snow, my ass...
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Did you know that the ancient Egyptians gave colicky babies ground up poppy? A little dab of opium will do you, dear. GENIUS! <--where was this when I needed it?
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Also, it is entirely worth listening to all 24 hours of this just to hear him pronounce the word "trauma" over and over again in his adorable little New York accent during one of the lectures. TROW-MAH.
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The bottom line was I really enjoyed the way Bob Brier taught this subject. He's enthusiastic about Egyptology and lets you know up front that his goal isn't to cover everything but to spur you on to want to learn more. He's got a good sense of humor and speaks in a way that someone without a degree can understand. Highly Recommended. For those of you who have it, this one is included in your Audible membership....more
Five stars worth of "educational book" with a lot of funny nonsense thrown in. You might learn something new and you'll get a few laughs. I can't see tFive stars worth of "educational book" with a lot of funny nonsense thrown in. You might learn something new and you'll get a few laughs. I can't see that as anything but winning.
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Most of the dry & crunchy stories from world history are easier (for me) to digest when the person telling the story has a sense of humor about it. I mean, I'm an adult reading this stuff for my personal benefit and it's not like I have to take a quiz at the end. So yeah. I know there are more just-the-facts-ma'am books, but I doubt any of them will make you lol like Mitchell's version.
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Side note: I know this has nothing to do with England's kings, but the most memorable part of the book for me was when Mitchell skewered the last Daniel Craig Bond film as a huge disappointment because they killed Bond off in the end. Why would you do that?! Why would you do that?! Bond doesn't die! The entire point of Bond (and characters like him) is that they live past all of us. You don't fucking kill them off.
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Marvel should take note of this because recasting IS a viable option for fictional characters. And let's face it, probably would have saved their entire franchise, as it is currently circling the toilet, while they scrambled to dig up more and more obscure characters to be played by less and less expensive actors. Just recast Iron Man, Captain America, & Black Widow! Is Hollywood really only peopled with fucktards? Apparently. Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. But I've been wanting to get that off my chest for a while now.
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If you've ever wanted to learn about the beginning of England's royal whatnot and all the rigamarole that goes with the pomp and circumstance, this is the book for you. But listen to the audiobook because David Mitchell's comic timing is hilarious. Highly Recommended even if you don't give two shits about the subject matter....more
The first bit of the lecture was the most interesting to me. Fossil records and whatnot. He did a good job giving an overview of the why, where, and hThe first bit of the lecture was the most interesting to me. Fossil records and whatnot. He did a good job giving an overview of the why, where, and how they think humanity got its kickstart. But I think some of it might be outdated because he mentioned that it was biologically impossible for Neanderthals to breed with modern humans, and I'm pretty sure they've changed their minds on that one.
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The middle had interesting parts but it was mostly a history of agriculture, animal domestication, and climate changes. Less interesting, but I still learned quite a bit.
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Toward the end, he gave a very broad look at all the major civilizations. And I hate to admit it, but I could feel myself zoning in and out on the regular. It was too much and not enough. Which was fair! He was trying to give an overview of the entire world.
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One of the things I liked was the way he admitted how quickly our knowledge can change with new discoveries. One day we think one thing is what happened in the past, and then someone digs something up that upends everything and sheds a whole new light on it.
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Now, to be completely honest, I'm not some sort of intellectual or scholarly smarty-pants. I'm just a middle-aged chick who is done raising kids and started listening to lectures because I'm interested in expanding my overall knowledge base. I can't be the only one! So, if you're trying to find something to fill in the gaps and get an extremely condensed picture of prehistory, this should fit the bill nicely.
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I also thought it was funny that at the start of the lecture, he said he was just going to be covering actual archaeological and scientific evidence and was not going to be catering to the theory of Ancient Aliens. That made me laugh and prompted me to grab Chariots of The Gods for shits and giggles.
Informative, but... I thought this was going to be a deeper dive into some of the more influential pharaohs but what it ended up being was the skinny vInformative, but... I thought this was going to be a deeper dive into some of the more influential pharaohs but what it ended up being was the skinny version of The History of Ancient Egypt, which is also by Bob Brier.
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Which is good if you don't want to spend 24-plus hours on a course about ancient Egypt. But bad if you thought this was going to have more information on pharaohs and had already listened to 24-plus hours about ancient Egypt. I'm guessing you know which side of that fence I happened to fall on.
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Bottom line? Everything here is covered in the longer course. And I would recommend anyone who is interested in the subject to just go ahead, bite the bullet, and grab the biggun. It's awesome and there's just so much cool information covered in that course that I think you should just go for it.
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However, if you're maybe just wanting to test the waters? Dip your toes in without committing to a seemingly daunting lecture because it seems too scary?
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Well, then by all means grab this one. It's excellent. Recommended....more
The European High Middle Ages. I mean, there was an entire world going on and this only covers part of it. But then again, the "dark ages" are kind of The European High Middle Ages. I mean, there was an entire world going on and this only covers part of it. But then again, the "dark ages" are kind of reserved for this little chunk of the world. It all works out in the end, I say.
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I enjoyed this because I enjoy stuff about the Middle Ages. Most of it I'd heard before while listening to other books or lectures, but I did really get a lot out of the religious parts - like the stuff about Augustine & Thomas Aquinas. One thing I hadn't thought about was that the Inquisition gets a bad name because they tortured people. BUT. All law enforcement used torture back then.
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And the church actually put limits on what the inquisitors could and couldn't do to get confessions, with the end result being the accused hopefully recanting their heresy and coming back to the church. <--with penance It seems far less scary when you look at it through that lens.
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Another thing that might be worth a mention, since this is a lecture and Philip Daileader is the lecturer, is the way he speaks. Lots of sighs and pausing. between. each. word. for. emphasis. I didn't mind it so much but it might be a deal breaker for you.
Recommended for fans of the High Middle Ages!...more
All roads lead to Rome, right? I've been reading a lot of stuff about European Medieval history lately, and the decline of the Roman Empire is the cataAll roads lead to Rome, right? I've been reading a lot of stuff about European Medieval history lately, and the decline of the Roman Empire is the catalyst that set off what most people call the Dark Ages in that part of the world. And that got me interested in learning more about ancient Rome.
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This was an interesting overview of a massive chunk of time, starting with the first emperor Gaius Octavius, known as Augustus Caesar, to the slow decline and eventual "fall" of the empire. I don't even know if you can call it a fall really. More of a contraction. We were BIG. Now we're just Italy.
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Also, if you haven't looked up ancient graffiti, you should. It's nice to know that people don't really change.
Severus: Successus, a weaver, loves the innkeeper’s slave girl named Iris. She, however, does not love him. Still, he begs her to have pity on him. His rival wrote this. Goodbye.
Successus: Envious one, why do you get in the way. Submit to a handsomer man and one who is being treated very wrongly and good looking.
Severus: I have spoken. I have written all there is to say. You love Iris, but she does not love you.
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Obviously, there's just too much to cover anything in real detail but I thought this was very well done as a rundown of the more flashy and important bits. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who, like me, is curious about the history of this incredibly influential empire....more
Another really humorous look at European medieval history. Moving at a fast pace, this tongue-in-cheek look at this one year chunk in time is for all oAnother really humorous look at European medieval history. Moving at a fast pace, this tongue-in-cheek look at this one year chunk in time is for all of you out there want your history served in a not very serious way. Just in case you didn't know... The big match-up in 1066 is THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS!
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Harold Godwinson aka the crowned King of England vs. Duke William of Normandy aka Willaim the Conquer
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However, before we get to the main fight, Harold has to get through Harald Hardrada, who has teamed up with Godwinson's exiled brother, Tostig. WHAT?! Yes. His own brother has joined the opposing team. It's soap opera city, I'm telling you!
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There's a lot more to it than this. Because of course there is! And as silly as Ed West is, he actually does a decent job of hitting all the highlights. If you're looking for something more in-depth, try the lecture 1066: The Year That Changed Everything. However, if you're just wanting to get a few laughs and learn the basics, this will do quite nicely. Recommended....more
A funny look at how even the world's worst humans can be responsible for creating something great. Well, as long as other people decide they've had enoA funny look at how even the world's worst humans can be responsible for creating something great. Well, as long as other people decide they've had enough of their shit and blackmail them into signing a document. A document that didn't make any real difference to the barons that made John put his name to paper, but is quoted by countries all over the world as this sort of linchpin to democracy.
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Steven Crossley hilariously narrates Ed West's tongue-in-cheek romp through what led up to the signing of the Magna Carta, what happened immediately afterward, and what the document meant in the long run. There are definitely more in-depth books out there for people who are looking to study the history of that time period, but for anyone looking for something fun and quasi-educational, this is the way to go.
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I gotta say that I'm sad to be done with The Very, Very Short History of England series. I would really love to find more stuff like this to fill my day with, so if anyone has any recommendations, I'd truly appreciate them. Recommended....more
1066. A long time ago, on a continent far, far away...
My biggest takeaway was that the reason the English language has so many different words that all1066. A long time ago, on a continent far, far away...
My biggest takeaway was that the reason the English language has so many different words that all mean basically the same thing is due to the Norman conquest blending so many French words into Ye Olde English. And that was really all that stood out to me as cool new information.
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Paxton's lecture did a good job covering all the little ins and outs of who was related to whom, how the English line of succession broke down to start with, and why that darn William thought he should conquer England in the first place.
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If you're interested in English medieval history, and the importance of the Battle of Hastings in particular, this would be as good a place to start as any....more
This is my jam. And you can truly tell that Dorsey Armstrong lives and breathes Arthurian legend. She's not just an expert, she's a superfan.
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AnThis is my jam. And you can truly tell that Dorsey Armstrong lives and breathes Arthurian legend. She's not just an expert, she's a superfan.
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And I learned a lot from her. What I was mostly interested in was learning who or what these stories came from, and whether or not they were based on any sort of a real-life person or kingdom. The short answer is KINDA. And the kinda is pretty fascinating to me because (while this isn't a universal consensus) there are some scholars, Armstrong included, who think that there is an odd little snippet in the time after Rome started to fall apart where someone turned back the invaders for a few decades in part of Briton. Around 500 AD was when this Celtic Arthur type figure emerged, but unfortunately, 410 - 600 was a dark age for Briton when it comes to written history, so there's little to go on. But it is notable that in the middle of the 6th century four royal houses in Briton named their firstborn sons Arthur. Heeeey. That's pretty cool, right?
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The rest of the book covers SO MANY of the important Arthurian works, up to and including modern-day movies. And through everything, Armstong is just fangirling. My favorite part of the whole lecture is where she unashamedly admits that she acted like a complete tourist in Glastonbury at the Chalice Well, including dipping her feet in and paying for the plastic chalice full of Grail water, that she promptly drank. This is my second time listening to one of her speak about medieval stuff and I think she's a complete delight.
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Having said that, this isn't a regular audiobook with a professional narrator. It's a Great Courses lecture, and you're listening to the person who teaches the subject give those lectures. And Armstrong's excitability over the material causes her to stumble over words on occasion. So it's exactly like listening to a professor talk to her students. I don't have a problem with that at all, but it's something to consider if that sort of thing bothers you.
A fun look at The Hundred Year's War & Black Death! King Edward I (but not really the 1st), known as Edward Longshanks is the guy we all remember as thA fun look at The Hundred Year's War & Black Death! King Edward I (but not really the 1st), known as Edward Longshanks is the guy we all remember as the villain from the highly inaccurate Mel Gibson film, Braveheart. But he was so much more than just that. He was a man who enjoyed burning someone's intestines while they were still alive in front of them. And the English loved him for it.
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Because even as brutal as he was, he wasn't as hated as his son Edward II. Mainly, because he kept giving his gay lover all the goodies that should have gone to his wife. Or more importantly, his barons. Neither was thrilled with him, to say the least. Eventually, the barons complained about his preferential treatment so much that Ed had to exile his annoying boyfriend. And yet, the guy kept turning up like a bad penny over and over again. It was kind of hilarious. Well, until everyone had enough and Edward II was deposed. And died shortly thereafter. I'm sure it was a coincidence.
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And the Black Death! Ah, the good old days... Unsurprisingly people thought they were living in the end times, blamed the disease on sin, and warned that this was God's wrath upon them. And yet, rats and poor hygiene seem to be the actual culprit. Things change but things never change, do they?
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There's more between the pages than just this, though. And once again, the series delivers a concise and often funny look at a large chunk of history. Recommended for those who are not looking for an in-depth study, but an overall view of what was going on during the time period these things took place....more
Who knew history could be this funny? I laughed quite a bit while listening to this, and now have to say I'm a lot more interested in finding out more Who knew history could be this funny? I laughed quite a bit while listening to this, and now have to say I'm a lot more interested in finding out more about the people we call Vikings.
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And while I don't think this is exactly comprehensive, it is a very fun introduction to some of what was going on during the period. And this cover quite a bit of time. Mostly it's about the weird (but surprisingly Great) King Alfred and how his interaction with the Vikings helped shape many of the changes he made for the betterment of his kingdom.
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BUT. It also gives quite a bit of the (highly condensed) history of who and what came before his reign. So, you feel like you are getting a nice broad look without getting weighed down with all the muck. Not to say there's anything wrong with a more in-depth study, but if you're kind of on the fence about whether or not you care about this particular period in time, this audiobook is a fantastic way to take a peek. Recommended....more
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