Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds

by Robert Garland

Macedonia, 336 B.C.E. - King Philip II is murdered under mysterious circumstances amid a cloud of intrigue.

Constantinople, 532 C.E. - The Byzantine Emperor Justinian nearly abandons the city to an angry mob until his wife, Theodora, persuades him to stay.

France, 1095 C.E. - Pope Urban II gives a speech that inspires thousands of his subjects to embark on a crusade to Jerusalem.

Time and again, moments shape history. We often examine history from a distant vantage, zooming in on a few kings and battles. But history is made up of individuals who were as alive in their time as we are today. Pausing on a few key individuals and magnifying specific moments in their lives allows us to experience history in a whole new way-as a vibrant story, full of life.

Living History: Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds takes you back in time and throws a spotlight on two dozen turning points where the tide of history changes irrevocably. These 24 dramatic lectures examine key events from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to medieval Europe and Asia. Spanning thousands of years and three continents, this course illuminates fascinating historical dramas on the individual scale.

More than covering great events that change the contours of history, Professor Garland takes you into the scene and allows you to hear what he terms the "heartbeat of history". Rather than merely reviewing the facts of events such as the Battle of Marathon, the arrest and trial of Jesus, and the coronation of Charlemagne, you'll engage with a variety of firsthand accounts and authentic primary and secondary sources to experience what it was like to live these events as they occurred. From reports by historians such as Herodotus and Livy to official scrolls and administrative records, these eyewitness sources and ancient documents take you back in time through the eyes of people who were there.

Listening Length: 12 hours and 38 minutes

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Ancient History, Ancient, Historical, Politics

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published May 29, 2015

About the author

Dr. Robert S.J. Garland is the Roy D. and Margaret B. Wooster Professor of the Classics at Colgate University. He earned his B.A. in Classics from Manchester University, his M.A. in Classics from McMaster University, and his Ph.D. in Ancient History from University College London.

A former Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the George Grote Ancient History Prize, Professor Garland has educated students and audiences at a variety of levels. In addition to teaching classics at Colgate University, he has taught English and Drama to secondary school students and lectured at universities throughout Britain as well as the British School of Archaeology in Athens.

Professor Garland is the author of numerous articles in both academic and popular journals and books capturing details of all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman life, including The Greek Way of Life: From Conception to Old Age; Introducing New Gods: The Politics of Athenian Religion; and Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. His expertise has been featured in The History Channel's "Last Stand of the 300," and he has repeatedly served as a consultant for educational film companies.

Reviews

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Garland states that he hopes his listener will have "lived inside' the history tour he takes them on in this lecture series. Well mission accomplished!

I first became aware of Garland's lectures when I stumbled upon, "The Other Side of History," which detailed the lesser known history of every day people in the ancient world. In short, everything about that lectures series was incredible. Then I listened to his series on Greece and Rome and and found it just ok. Then, I tried this lecture series and it was every bit as good as his Other Side of History lectures.

Recently I read Susan Wise Bauer's "History of the Ancient World," and while it was pretty thorough, it lacked the sensational quality that makes my mouth hang agape and my heart beat that much faster, imagining what life was like for the people in a particular time period. Garland brings his listener lots of delicious sensationalism, while also making sure to state the evidence or lack of evidence for each claim. Listening to this Garland lecture, one can't help but get lost in the Medieval world, imagining themselves as a slave, a sacrifice, a king, a wealthy or poor citizen, or any other character introduced in this series.

Also unlike Susan Wise Bauer's "History of the Ancient World," Garland is constantly helping his reader understand the relation between each time period and the big picture. He is always so clear about the evolution of cultural over time-- how do politics, theirs for violence, religion, morals, etc change over time.

If you want to get lost in history, this series is the place to go!

[Noah Goats · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook (actually a recorded series of lectures) provides interesting glimpses at a number of key moments of ancient and medieval history. I enjoyed it. The lecturer has a bit of a lisp, which I thought made his voice interesting, but some people might find it annoying. I’d listen to a sample before downloading.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garland attempts to give the reader a glimpse into what life was like in the past by focusing on individuals and telling their stories. The result is mostly a collection of short biographies of important people from ancient and medieval times. The bios are interesting, but there didn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to the subject matter and I really don’t think that “living history” is an accurate description of the course. If you are interested in roughly 24 short biographies of important figures from the past, you’ll enjoy this book.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This course purports to cover episodes from the ancient and medieval world that changed the course of history. The events included were always interesting and well narrated. However, a fair number--e.g., the opening games for the Roman coliseum--did not strike me as particularly important to the overall flow of history.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of The Great Courses and have listened to more than 200 courses over the years...several series by Dr Garland. In my mind he's one of the best lecturers on their docket. This set of lectures, however, can be characterized a pure 'edutainment', filled with random facts and situations, but lacking the depth and context that makes history really interesting. The lectures, for me, are nothing more that 30 minute 'blogs' that just aren't all that interesting.
I do recommend these lectures for the younger crowd so that they might engender an interest to learn more about the world's rich history.

[Mizrob A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I assumed from the title of the course that it would be a social and demographic history. But it turns out it's just a regular narrative history of certain events and people of ancient and medieval times. If you want to learn about Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, The Rise of Islam, The First Inquisition, etc. in 30 mins each, then go ahead and give it try.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Robert Garland pulls together the moments when he believes that the tides of history changed, for his Great Course on ancient and medieval times. There are twenty four lectures of about thirty minutes each. We are familiar with most of the events and the personalities involved. He begins with the Persian King Xerxes and Ramses II and moves forward to Socrates, Philip II, Hannibal, Anthony and Cleopatra, Jesus, Muhammad, Charles Martel and many others.

For me, the most interesting lectures profiled personalities that were new to me, such as Justinian’s wild wife Theodora, the Chinese concubine Wu Chou who became the empress Wu Zetian and Vladimir the Great, who converted to Christianity, so that he can marry Princess Anna, the sister of the Byzantine emperor.

Garland is a good storyteller. We listened to his stories in the car, over several months, while running errands, which means that we were not paying close attention to everything he told us. They are lectures that we might listen to, and enjoy again, in a few years.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit that I am not a knowledgeable student of Ancient and Medieval History, but am seeking to learn more about it. Most of the books I have read on this subject have been very detailed and dry making them difficult to digest. I have no idea exactly what others are looking for in a title about history. I certainly have my own biases that shape my own views. For me, this title was very interesting at many levels. Garland gave enough details about the included "Great Events" that made me feel I was there "Experiencing" them as the title indicates. I appreciate his passion about each of these events which I felt brought each of them to life. While indeed, this is a patchwork of events over an expansive amount of time, I am certain that I have learned quite a bit which helps create a framework for me as I continue to study.

[Mary A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. We were given a front-row seat to a number of events in the ancient world that changed the course of history. We witnessed the opening of the Colosseum, listened in the audience as Pope Urban II exhorted us to take part in the First Crusade, attended the banquet where Phillip II of Macedonia (father of Alexander the Great) was murdered, sat in on the trial of Jesus of Nazareth, were present in the Senate House when Julius Caesar was stabbed, watched Cleopatra commit suicide (or did she?) and much more.
Each lecture was only half an hour long, so nothing was covered in exhaustive detail, but there was enough to whet the appetite.
I also enjoyed being introduced to characters I knew nothing about, such as India’s Ashoka the Great, the Concubine Empress of China Wu Zetian, and Vladimir, the Grand Duke of Kiev.

[Christine]

I am going to start this review by addressing the elephant in the audiobook, the author does have a slight lisp that tends to come and go. If that bothers you then you might want to give this book a skip. If you can get over that then this is a book well worth listening to. Garland is able to take you through all sorts of aspects of history from a wide variety of points of view. The author does insert his opinion on how things might have gone differently if certain religions were not dominant at the time, so if that bothers you skip this, however I did not find it too offensive. For a fairly comprehensive look at certain aspects of history that created great change in the world, this is a good book. I would make sure that I had a decent understanding of the time periods being discussed and probably look up some other research after listening to this.

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cut-up nature of this narrative (or lack thereof), really kinda of spoiled this course for me. It seems that it was intended to provide a living glimpse into key historical moments, and the professor has a good track record of being able to do exactly that with his "Other side of History" course. He's usually able to bring to life the sights, smells, sounds, the "gritty realness" of the time period he's lecturing on, but with these lectures it fell flat (for me.) So with that failing, this course turned out to be was just a series of lectures on disconnected instances in history. Some of which were obviously momentous and world-changing, but others were less obviously important and it would have been nice for the professor to talk about the impact each event had on later history.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 1 out of 5]

(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).

The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the most significant things I listen to and read them and then post a review.

[Matt Tomaso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Garland masterfully lectures on a series of significant vignettes from world history, each of which is tied to important modern events in not-so-subtle and profound ways. His chronologically arranged lectures paint a powerful portrait of humanity. The narrative is composed as a series of well-written and satisfyingly self-contained short stories written in the active voice and threaded together by broad historical currents. One of the best in the Great Courses series.

[Elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Great Courses lectures. This one was very interesting. It reviewed events I already knew about, and introduced ones of which I knew nothing. The author's premise was to put you as a listener among the people and events of the time, experiencing the events as they happened. I found it quite enjoyable.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have studied a lot of these Great Courses. This is the first in which the lecturer is mostly a storyteller. He tells the background of each incident, and then describes it as if you are there. He has nice variety in the cases he discusses, with male & female heroes, war & peace, from various parts of the world!

[Charles Lupo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts out sort of slow for the first few stories, but I have to say I learned quite a bit by the end. Robert Garland is an excellent lecturer, and I will happily look for more Great Courses written/narrated by him.

[Nora MacLean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again I was expecting something completely different from this book. For some reason I thought it would be about reconstruction of domestic and every day life. I really should start reading the summaries :)

[Emily Finch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second Great Course I have listened to this guy. I have to listen a bit sped up because he can be slow at times, but he is a fantastic teacher and does an amazing job of bringing history to life.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning work, one of the best books I've listened to in years.
Each lecture takes you to a unique, important time in history and immerces you in that moment, with the sounds, smells and thoughts of the key players.

[Erin Kelch Zerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and engaging, I loved listening to the anecdotes he added to each story and how he tied each period together!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Dr. Garland's style of making it feel like you are there in the moment.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it involves Christianity he will find some way to make a subtle snide remark. Overall ok as a survey course.

[Bertie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice, short glimpses into the past. The characters are brought to life with personal anecdotes, so it isn't just a list of facts, but a narrative of human interaction. Well done.

[Enrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall pretty good course. As it is only 30 minutes per event it naturally jumps pretty quickly to completely different times of which some are more interesting than others.

[Layla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with others saying this isn’t exactly what it says on the tin but Garland is a great lecturer and I can hardly say I didn’t learn anything.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many errors in fairly common knowledge to trust anything else he says.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lectures, really enjoyed them, but the vast majority were about Europe with a quick trip to Asia. I think the title should have said European history.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at some pivotal events in history.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good but not great offering from The Great Courses. It purports to offer recreations of the most critical events in ancient and medieval history in an attempt to recreate what it must have been like to live in those key moments. Turning points of battles, speeches, and other such dramatic events over several millennia are presented. In ambition, this project is fantastic. In execution, it is slightly disappointing. While the events are indisputably important, only a handful of them are really described with a novelistic sense of description. Most of them are described rather historically, which is to say, dryly. If the title of the course was "Examining 24 Turning Points in Ancient and Medieval History," that might be more accurate. If this were a true college course, I would call it a 100-level course. I was a student of literature, not history, but I already knew of well over half the events described. So all in all, it certainly was not a bad course, but it did not quite deliver on its promise to make me "experience" the great events in history, and its scope was rather broad and superficial, and will appeal more to dabblers in history than to devoted students.

[Bill Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

These lectures probably deserve a rating better than a three. They might even warrant a four, had Professor Garland stopped at 20 lectures rather than stretching his course to 24. Doing so required that he work far too hard to "find" his last few "great" events. As a result, we are asked to accept as decisive turning points in history:

the opening of the Roman Coliseum;
the account by Ibn Fadlan of his 10th Century travels to Russia;
the appeal of Theodora to Justinian urging him to face down the Nika rioters; or
the reign of Chinese concubine empress Wu Zetian.

Compared to legitimate historical turning points (e.g., the sack of Rome or the battle Marathon), these are virtual hiccups, the last two seemingly included only so that both genders are represented in Garner's list. As listeners, we would have been better served by a shorter list, selected for true historical significance.