Listen free for 30 days
-
1177 B.C.
- The Year Civilization Collapsed
- Narrated by: Andy Caploe
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Ancient History
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £22.89
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Persian Fire
- The First World Empire, Battle for the West
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows, Tom Holland
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 480 BC, Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For 70 years, victory had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, shattering ancient kingdoms, storming famous cities, putting together an empire which stretched from India to the shores of the Aegean. Yet somehow, astonishingly, against the largest expeditionary force ever assembled, the Greeks of the mainland managed to hold out.
-
-
Accessible telling of fascinating history
- By Connor Sampson on 24-12-20
-
The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
-
-
tough history
- By Mark on 11-10-17
-
The History of the Renaissance World
- From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning in the heady days just after the First Crusade, this volume - the third in the series that began with The History of the Ancient World and The History of the Medieval World - chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition. Impressively researched and brilliantly told, The History of the Renaissance World offers not just the names, dates, and facts but the memorable characters who illuminate the years between 1100 and 1453 - years that marked a sea change in mankind's perception of the world.
-
-
Enjoyable exploration of high middle ages
- By Abigail WD on 08-05-20
-
A Brief History of the Vikings
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans?
-
-
Anti-Viking book on Vikings
- By NK on 01-02-21
-
Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites
- By: Eric H. Cline, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The work of archaeologists has commanded worldwide attention and captivated the human imagination since the earliest days of exploration, with groundbreaking discoveries such as the treasures of ancient Egypt, the lost kingdoms of the Maya, and the fabled city of Troy. Archaeology brings us face-to-face with our distant ancestors, with treasures of the past, and with life as it was lived in long-ago civilizations.
-
-
A wealth of experience - but unsettling ideology.
- By M. Harris on 17-06-21
-
Centuries of Change
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Mike Grady, Ian Mortimer
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a contest of change, which century from the past millennium would come up trumps? Imagine the Black Death took on the female vote in a pub brawl, or the Industrial Revolution faced the Internet in a medieval joust - whose side would you be on? In this hugely entertaining book, celebrated historian Ian Mortimer takes us on a whirlwind tour of Western history, pitting one century against another in his quest to measure change.
-
-
Though provoking approach to history
- By Kirstine on 28-11-17
-
Persian Fire
- The First World Empire, Battle for the West
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows, Tom Holland
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 480 BC, Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For 70 years, victory had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, shattering ancient kingdoms, storming famous cities, putting together an empire which stretched from India to the shores of the Aegean. Yet somehow, astonishingly, against the largest expeditionary force ever assembled, the Greeks of the mainland managed to hold out.
-
-
Accessible telling of fascinating history
- By Connor Sampson on 24-12-20
-
The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
-
-
tough history
- By Mark on 11-10-17
-
The History of the Renaissance World
- From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning in the heady days just after the First Crusade, this volume - the third in the series that began with The History of the Ancient World and The History of the Medieval World - chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition. Impressively researched and brilliantly told, The History of the Renaissance World offers not just the names, dates, and facts but the memorable characters who illuminate the years between 1100 and 1453 - years that marked a sea change in mankind's perception of the world.
-
-
Enjoyable exploration of high middle ages
- By Abigail WD on 08-05-20
-
A Brief History of the Vikings
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans?
-
-
Anti-Viking book on Vikings
- By NK on 01-02-21
-
Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites
- By: Eric H. Cline, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The work of archaeologists has commanded worldwide attention and captivated the human imagination since the earliest days of exploration, with groundbreaking discoveries such as the treasures of ancient Egypt, the lost kingdoms of the Maya, and the fabled city of Troy. Archaeology brings us face-to-face with our distant ancestors, with treasures of the past, and with life as it was lived in long-ago civilizations.
-
-
A wealth of experience - but unsettling ideology.
- By M. Harris on 17-06-21
-
Centuries of Change
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Mike Grady, Ian Mortimer
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a contest of change, which century from the past millennium would come up trumps? Imagine the Black Death took on the female vote in a pub brawl, or the Industrial Revolution faced the Internet in a medieval joust - whose side would you be on? In this hugely entertaining book, celebrated historian Ian Mortimer takes us on a whirlwind tour of Western history, pitting one century against another in his quest to measure change.
-
-
Though provoking approach to history
- By Kirstine on 28-11-17
-
The Pursuit of Power
- Europe 1815-1914
- By: Richard J Evans
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 41 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pursuit of Power draws on a lifetime of thinking about 19th-century Europe to create an extraordinarily rich, surprising and entertaining panorama of a continent undergoing drastic change. The aim of this audiobook is to reignite the sense of wonder that permeated this remarkable era, as rulers and ruled navigated overwhelming cultural, political and technological changes.
-
-
Very, very interesting.
- By M on 17-07-17
-
Conquistadors
- By: Michael Wood
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century was one of the most important and cataclysmic events in history. Spanish expeditions endured incredible hardships in order to open up the lands of the 'New World', and few stories in history can match these for drama and endurance.
-
-
Brilliant submersion into the New World
- By Grace on 21-06-16
-
Egypt, Greece and Rome
- Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 32 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long sources of mystery, imagination, and inspiration, the myths and history of the ancient Mediterranean have given rise to artistic, religious, cultural, and intellectual traditions that span the centuries. In this unique and comprehensive introduction to the region's three major civilizations, Egypt, Greece, and Rome draws a fascinating picture of the deep links between the cultures across the Mediterranean and explores the ways in which these civilizations continue to be influential to this day.
-
-
Great content poor choice of narrator
- By M N R on 03-01-19
-
Philip and Alexander
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 20 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A joint biography that investigates how, during their lifetimes, Philip and Alexander transformed Macedon from a weak kingdom into a globe-spanning empire. During his short life Alexander the Great carved out an empire stretching from the Balkans to Central India, re-drawing the map of the ancient world. Yet Alexander represents only half of the story, for his success was not just the product of his own genius, restless energy and ambition, but was built on decades of effort by his father.
-
-
Very detailed, but easy to listen to!
- By Connor Sampson on 02-01-22
-
The Enchiridion & Discourses
- By: Epictetus
- Narrated by: Haward B. Morse
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Enchiridion is the famous manual of ethical advice given in the second century by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. Born to a Greek slave, Epictetus grew up in the environment of the Roman Empire and, having been released from bonds of slavery, became a stoic in the tradition of its originators, Zeno (third Century BCE) and Seneca (first century CE).
-
-
Eternal wisdom, exciting performance
- By Amazon Customer on 14-01-18
-
Crusaders
- An Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the preaching of the First Crusade by Pope Urban II in 1095 to the loss of the last crusader outpost in the Levant in 1302-03, and from the taking of Jerusalem from the Fatimids in 1099 to the fall of Acre to the Mamluks in 1291, Crusaders tells a tale soaked in Islamic, Christian and Jewish blood, peopled by extraordinary characters, and characterised by both low ambition and high principle.
-
-
Excellent
- By A. S. Hunt on 25-02-20
-
A Brief History of the Cold War
- Brief Histories
- By: John Hughes-Wilso
- Narrated by: Philip Franks
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cold War was an undeclared war, fought silently and carefully between ideological opponents armed with the most fearsome weapons mankind has ever seen. Hughes-Wilson takes a cool look at this war, from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the USSR thereafter. He examines the suspicion and paranoia - on both sides - of the greatest stand-off in history.
-
-
A Highly Partisan History
- By Jayne Lee-Wright on 26-04-19
-
A Brief History of the Samurai
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
-
-
Anecdotes bring life to samurai history
- By Tweetingcheetah on 27-07-14
-
Kindred
- By: Rebecca Wragg Sykes
- Narrated by: Rebecca Wragg Sykes
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Kindred, Neanderthal expert Becky Wragg Sykes shoves aside the cliché of the shivering ragged figure in an icy wasteland and reveals the Neanderthal you don’t know, who lived across vast and diverse tracts of Eurasia and survived through hundreds of thousands of years of massive climate change. Using a thematic rather than chronological approach, this book will shed new light on where they lived, what they ate and the increasingly complex Neanderthal culture that is being discovered.
-
-
Was this recorded inside a biscuit tin?
- By hhj on 31-05-21
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
-
The definitive Audible purchase
- By Jim on 22-01-14
-
The History of the Ancient World
- From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled.
-
-
obsessed with royalty
- By Jason M Eshelby on 28-12-14
-
Moral Animal
- Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Greg Thornton
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics - as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.
-
-
Fascinating, and Frustrating
- By Greg Gauthier on 12-01-17
Summary
In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh’s army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen?
In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages", Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries.
A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age - and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece.
What listeners say about 1177 B.C.
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. R. Frost
- 24-04-14
Brilliant book: shame about the narrator.
Where does 1177 B.C. rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Notwithstanding the poor narration, this audiobook takes pride of place in my Ancient History collection.
What was one of the most memorable moments of 1177 B.C.?
Prof. Cline has satisfactorily resolved the issue of the Sea People.
What aspect of Andy Caploe’s performance might you have changed?
He reads this work as if it were a 'Gangster' novelette. He unnecessarily over-emphasizes words, and I found that I was listening to the delivery rather than the content.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, because I would carry out further research, after each section. This however was my choice.
Any additional comments?
It is a great pity that Prof. Cline was not allowed to read this work, himself. He is a great lecturer, (see the Great Courses on Audible) and would immediately engage and hold the listener. I shall buy the book.
22 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jim
- 06-04-14
Entertaining and Thought Provoking
1177 B.C. strikes a fine balance between telling a story and acknowledging the extent to which gaps in the evidence make it difficult to speak write with certainty about the ancient world. A personal problem with histories covering this period is that they can either be a bit too dry to appeal to the general reader; focusing on tussles between academics at the cost of maintaining the reader's interest; or they gloss over the fact that historians are working with partial documents in dead languages and fragmentary archaeological evidence which evokes a suspicion that they're offering a superficial summary. Eric Cline hits a real sweet spot in acknowledging the uncertainties while maintaining a gripping narrative drive as he describes Bronze Age civilization; charts its destabilization and draws lessons about how our own world parallels many of the factors that lead to the 1177 BC collapse. After one listen it's gone straight back to the beginning for a second time. Highly recommended for history fans
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lumpen-Doodle
- 17-11-20
A good ‘story’ rendered disappointing
May I just say to start with, that I listen to creepypasta on youtube, so I am used to American mispronunciations of, and wrong emphasis on names, places, and words in general. But in this case, I have found it to be quite wearying, and caused me to shout at the narrator until I started to flag.
I am also finding the writing style a bit “oooooh, look they TRADED!”, and “Why would they melt down the gold!”. Again, causing me to shout at an innocent inanimate object “Of course they would have traded, we do that, we always have!” and “oh, I don’t know, maybe they wanted to make a token/coin/a statue of their OWN God, duh”. All a bit “Gosh, chaps what else could these ancient folk do”.
And then there is the transposing of Britain and England, even in the same breath. Talking of the British Empire, and then stating “but even beyond the shores of England”, is a bit Little Englander, and should been left back in the 19th Century. What worries me more, is if an historian is so careless as to blithely make this glaring error, what other facts is he mistaken or careless over.
Also, is it me, or am I hearing the same stuff being repeated? I assume it is different letters being read, but it’s not coming over as easy to listen to, what with mispronunciations, and a style which feels a bit all over the place.
This is a great shame, as being a bit of a fan of Professor Mary Beard, and Barbara Tuchman, among many other historians, I am no stranger to either reading, or listening to books on ancient history.
This time though, it really isn’t doing it for me. Maybe I’m getting too old to have to wade through ‘stuff’ anymore to get to the decent information that is actually in this book.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sara D.
- 03-05-18
Spoiled by the narrator & the overuse of "However"
I feel that reading the book in the good old fashioned way would have been far more rewarding. For me, the narrator became irritating; the overuse of the word "However", emphasised by his accent & style, particularly so.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- james
- 01-06-20
Wealth of information at an enjoyable pace.
I have listened to this 2 or 3 times. It is so surprising how sophisticated the trade links were between these ancient civilisations . The book is full of letters from ancient Kings and Pharaohs painting a living and engaging picture of a thriving international community of interdependent peoples. A great listen!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R. Leather
- 23-01-20
A fascinating part of history
A fascinating history of the world made perhaps just s little less interesting by the lack of coherent narrative and constant number of lists presented. presumably this is due to the lack of finite detail of the period, but certainly could have been presented in the same format as Eric Cline's excellent YouTube presentation. Good, but not great.
Also, like so many audiobooks... the ending lacks any gravitas and takes you by surprise.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ragne
- 14-03-21
Gave up
I gave the story 3 stars, because I really don't know yet. I've now listened to about an hour, and realised that I haven't really heard anything. The narrator is a strange mix of sleep-inducing and irritating. And he's just wrong for the book.
Luck would have it I saw earlier today that the book is on sale on bookdepository, so I think I'll read the printed book instead.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul H.
- 09-04-20
Exceptional overview
The book is very well structured and leads into the topics logically, it lets you get to know the civilisations first and how well connected they were, which adds more weight to the mystery behind why they collaspe. It feels more like a story which helps keep the attention, with one event leading to the other. However, it is a bit hard to keep going sometimes, I listened to it on double speed because 8 hours was a bit much.
I learnt a lot of new things from this and was very surprised with the information it held, especially in regards to Cyprus and the Ugarit Kingdom in the Levant opposite them.
Most people say the conclusion doesn't carry much weight but I felt like it did a good job by identifying the possible causes and letting you make your own mind up.
I enjoyed it
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Martin
- 08-06-21
Moderately engaging history, ruined by narrator
The story itself is thought provoking and interesting, though quite repetitive. Probably more suited to print than audiobook. The narrator would be more suited to period detective fiction - he relates every sentence with bizarre emphasis and inflection (let alone pronunciation) as though each is an amazing revelation. When everything said is presented as an exclamation, nothing stands out.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr
- 28-01-19
A marvellous listen
Entertaining, intelligent, coherent, and, more importantly, persuasive.
Far from being a dry old tome, this text has quite a strong narrative, and when you’re dealing with timeframes most people find a bit confusing, including at times, me, this helps you keep track of the important facts.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Brett M Miller
- 12-09-14
Wanted to Like... And Did!
Where does 1177 B.C. rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I would rank 1177 B.C. in the top ten of my audiobook experiences. My academic training is in Ancient and Medieval History and Political Science, and I've enjoyed it enough to listen to it twice.
Many reviews criticize the prose or the narration, but I think those reviews miss the point. So, too, do the reviews that criticize the lack of scholarly notes/evidence in some areas. This is neither a novel nor a peer-reviewed, journal-level article. If you want the best dramatic readings, get Jim Dale. If you want to pore over notes and evidence, subscribe to the proper journals or get a membership to JSTOR.
However, if you want a coherent and interesting overview of the current state of scholarship regarding the Bronze Age Collapse, if you want an informative primer on that transitional period, this is a great book. It kept me awake and alert across the most boring parts of Wyoming, and added to the formulation of my research questions.
118 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Emily
- 15-04-14
But it was all going so well.....
What did you like best about this story?
What caused the almost simultaneous falls of so many great Bronze Age civilizations? The Minoans, the Hittites, the Trojans, the Babylonians and the Mycenaean Greeks all disappear around 1200 BC. What caused the decline and 2-step-back struggle of surviving Bronze Age civilizations in the Levant and Egypt? Who were these Sea Peoples which the ancient worlds' chroniclers wrote about with such dread?
What was going on?
Why did the world go through an Ancient Dark Age in 1177 BC?
Finally a comprehensive exploration of the current scholarship relating to what in the world was going on in the world around 1200 BC. Eric H. Cline presents the complicated history of the time through a cross-discipline survey of ancient literature, geology, archaeology, biblical scholarship, military accounts and diplomatic correspondence in a way that's well organized and easy to understand.
Great for anyone interested in ancient world history.
What does Andy Caploe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The narrator gives some strange accents when reading ancient diplomatic letters. The ancient documents have enough emotional tone on their face and the narrator's performance in these instances detracts from the poignancy.
63 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jacobus
- 14-04-14
The next "Best Popular Book on Archaeology" award?
In his newest book on the ancient Aegean Professor Eric H Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages at the George Washington University in Washington DC, USA, transports Everyman in his time machine to the lands surrounding the Ancient Aegean and Mediterranean Seas during the Late Bronze Age.
Once again this active digger and the winner of three “Best Popular Book on Archaeology” Awards (2000, 2009 and 2011) brings archaeology to the public. In “1177 BC. The Year Civilization Collapsed,” he starts off with the enigmatic ‘Sea Peoples’ of which the Philistines of Canaan was part. He recasts them into victims instead of presenting them as the conquerors who overrun the Ancient Aegean and Near East. Sketching a truly and surprisingly situation of flourishing cosmopolitan trade routes and political interaction between important Late Bronze cities, he gives a fresh and important look at this important era. The traditional stance that describes that the ‘Sea Peoples’ invaded and overrun the Ancient Mediterranean and Aegean lands, through conquest and due to their advanced technologies - especially the use of iron is seriously challenged in this book.
Cline spins a web which not only illuminates the mysterious late Bronze Age, but at the same time serves his argument. What I liked most about his book, was how he applied the past and what we learned from it on today. I never thought one could learn much about economy and its pitfalls from the Ancient World. Cline has proved it possible.
The book is the first book in a new series, ‘Turning Points in Ancient History” by Princeton University Press. It consists out of five chapters, each highlighting something that is significant to the Sea Peoples and the year 1177 BC. In the final chapter Cline pulls the strings together in a convincing crescendo.
I wish Audible had a PDF file with the maps and illustrations that you find in the hard copy available. If you use Whispersync, it will probably not matter or if you have bought the hard copy. That said the Audible version of the book is much cheaper than the written word, probably because it comes without illustrations and endnotes.
A last thing, I enjoyed Andy Caploe’s reading of the book. He actually brought some life in hard facts. His pronunciation was generally good.
I cannot say if this book will earn prof. Cline his fourth “Best Popular Book on Archaeology” award, but it definitely could.
47 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- M. Beauregard
- 06-05-14
Poor narration kills the experience
This didn't seem like a bad book. The subject matter is fascinating. Cline's prose wasn't particularly imaginative. He didn't seem to providing a unique or create synthesis of the available evidence - really he just reviewed a few hypotheses and used a middle-ground "they're all true" sort of construction. That's not a terrible structure for a popular audience book aimed at lay people. In fact, it may even be the ideal lay-audience structure.
The real problem with this book was the narration. Oh my god is Caploe terrible. He reads like he's performing story time to the preschool crowd at the local public library, with all sorts of over exaggerated tonal inflections. In an expository reading like this one, it's completely distracting and nearly impossible to follow the prose. I nearly gave up 10 minutes into the book. I stuck through it because the topic is really cool, but I probably absorbed less than half of the material.
I may listen to another Cline book at some point. I will never buy another book narrated by Caploe.
81 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jack
- 18-10-17
Astonishingly poor narration ruins it
As other reviews mention that narration is so bad as to make the book unlistenable unless you enjoy being spoken to like a child. Why in the world someone thought goofy teenage voices were appropriate for the handful of texts passed on from this time period I will never understand.
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mr Mock
- 16-08-17
Disorganized and rambling
I found this book to be a disorganized and rambling account of the pre-Iron Age world. While interesting, this book was presented as a tale of the Sea People invasions but proved to be a mashup and regurgitation of ancient and modern sources..basically repeating what is already known. While the narrator was excellent, I feel as if I could have obtained the same information in this book on Wikipedia or other general history sites. Quite unfortunate.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mark
- 15-05-14
Interesting Book
Prior to reading this book I had no idea that the Bronze Age seemingly ended so suddenly. The author presents a number of potential causes, although a strong case for an exact cause is still lacking. Only issue I had was I had hoped to learn more about the "sea peoples" that were referenced by he Egyptians and several other Mediterranean cultures. It is still uncertain who they were or where they came from. It was amazing to see not only the amount of trade that was taking place across the Mediterranean in the 13th Century BC, but also some of the correspondence between rulers and empires.
The Narration was decent, but not great.
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jean
- 04-10-14
Captivating
This is a major new account of the causes of the “First Dark Ages.” Eric Cline tries to explain how this happened. He describes multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasions, revolts, to earthquakes, drought and the cutting of international trade routes. Cline is a professor of Classics and anthropology at George Washington University. Cline explains the new archaeological and geological evidence that drought, famine, earthquakes, migration and internal rebellions all contributed to the end of the Bronze Age. Cline is writing for the average reader not the scholar so the book is easy to read.
The author brings to life the vibrant multicultural world of the great civilizations (Minions, Mycenaean, Trojans, Hittites, Babylonians, and Egyptian). The thriving economy, culture of the late second millennium B. C. from Greece to Egypt suddenly ceased to exist, along with the writing systems, technology and architectures.
The description, Cline presents in his book resemble our own today. And if you take into account the new NASA funded study, warning of the possibility for an irreversible collapse of our industrial civilization in just a few decades this book is relevant for us today. History may be repeating itself, making it an interesting time to be living. Andy Capole did a fair job narrating the book. If you are interested in history this is an interesting book for you to read.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ALeyrer
- 20-05-15
Excellent history, cringeworthy performance
What did you like best about 1177 B.C.? What did you like least?
I'll have to purchase the text to finish. The performance is overemphasized and over-acted in the manner one reads to a small child.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kindle Customer
- 07-03-17
Narrator Drove Me Crazy
What did you like best about 1177 B.C.? What did you like least?
The subject matter is very interesting although the backstory seems overly involved and protracted. What really stood out though was the sing song nature of the narration. It was like he was reading a children's book... or something.. his rhythm and tonalities weren't congruent with the subject matter.
16 people found this helpful