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The Foundations of Western Civilization

By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
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Summary

What is Western civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.

Within this series of 48 lectures, you'll discover the many ways in which Western civilization has addressed those questions, from its first stirrings in the great river valleys of Iraq and Egypt in 3000 B.C to the beginning of the 17th century and the dawn of the modern world. Your learning will cover vast amounts of territory and thousands of years, beginning in the ancient Near East and moving to Greece and then Rome. You'll explore ancient empires, including those of Persia, Alexander the Great, and Rome.

You'll watch as western Europe gradually expands, both physically and culturally. And you'll examine the globalizations of Western civilization with the Portuguese and Spanish voyages of exploration and discovery.

This broad and panoramic series, ripe with the telling detail on which history can turn, will help you pull an enormous sweep of history together into one coherent - though by no means closed - framework as you watch history develop under the influence of such critical factors as ecology and environment, geography, and climate; government and economics; technology; religion; work and leisure; philosophy; literature; art and architecture; and virtues, values, and aesthetics.

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

©2002 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2002 The Great Courses
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What listeners say about The Foundations of Western Civilization

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Excellent

Excellent course, well presented.Helped put several topics I already knew into perspective.Names of people I did not know sometimes difficult to identify.

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Excellent experience 👏

Well done great courses this was very well done and I learned a lot.

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Very interesting and enjoyable

It was great to hear a really long chronological sweep through history. I had encountered something of most of the periods covered before but it was fascinating to hear them connected together. In particular I had heard very little about the Norther Renaissance and how that impacted political and religious developments.

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A broad sweep through so much history.

My word what a fantastic exploration the the development of ‘Western Civilisation’. I now need to take a memory course so that I can listen to it all again and retain the many gems of information that strewn throughout it.

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1 person found this helpful

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Western Civ has to go ? No no no!

I’m very glad that I’ve listened to this presentation. Its connected, chronological format greatly enhances one’s understanding, Often, history is given in time-period or subject -matter chunks which can be a bit of an impediment to understanding, being taken out of context as it were,

One would think that with such a vast subject the treatment would be shallow but in fact the depth can be surprising.

I have no criticisms to make at all, except perhaps that the professor’s style is a little idiosyncratic, I shall be listening to all these lectured again when I need to have my memory refreshed,

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Well told and very interesting

If you're interested in history but never had the time to study it, curious about the Greeks, Romans, the church and just how Europe came to be how it is? If you kind of know the famous names and event and phrases but not really in any great detail or context then you'll love this relatively unbiased appraisal of western history. Brilliantly told and engaging.

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4 people found this helpful

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Great course indeed

Very refreshing if you got some knowledge of subject already and has lots of unexpectedly enlightening bits in it too.

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2 people found this helpful

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Really entertaining!

The lecturer has got the balance just right between detail and keeping the flow going.I was completely hooked as a absolute novice to most of the content. I thoroughly recommend it as great value!

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amazing book

Very interesting and better understanding of the history compare what I had to learn at school in my country. really enjoyed it and I have downloaded the second book of this lecture.

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Lots of good stuff

I have been positively impressed by the amount of ideas that Prof. Noble managed to present. Not only that, but he's really good at showing similarities in ideas between different cultures living in different times. One can hear echoes of the ideas that were popular 3000 years ago even today. It teaches you humility, I'd say.
I was a bit disappointed by the fact that the course ends almost right after Columbus discovers America.

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5 people found this helpful