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A History of the World

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A History of the World

By: Andrew Marr
Narrated by: Andrew Marr, David Timson
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About this listen

Fresh, exciting and vividly readable, this is popular history at its very best.

Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents and old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey, political journalist Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece and Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to the Caribbean. He looks at cultures that have failed and vanished, as well as the origins of today’s superpowers, and finds surprising echoes and parallels across vast distances and epochs.

A History of the World is a book about the great change-makers of history and their times, people such as Cleopatra, Genghis Khan, Galileo and Mao, but it is also a book about us. For ‘the better we understand how rulers lose touch with reality, or why revolutions produce dictators more often than they produce happiness, or why some parts of the world are richer than others, the easier it is to understand our own times.’

©2012 Andrew Marr (P)2012 Macmillan Digital Audio Civilization World Middle Ages Ancient History Africa Latin American Imperialism Middle East China Socialism Iran Self-Determination Thought-Provoking Funny Military Capitalism War Social justice Refugee Soviet Union Ancient Greece Russia British Empire Crusade Interwar Period

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All stars
Most relevant
I embarked on listening to this epic and well-researched book on the history of civilisation with some trepidation. There are after all, a total of 92 Chapters (26.5 hours) to work through and this is a formidable listening marathon by any stretch of the imagination. However, I found them all totally worth the effort. I am pleased Andrew Marr opened the narration by lending his voice to the introduction. This is a very expansive work as Mr. Marr draws references to a research base of some 2,000 or so books. In addittion, David Timson's highly expressive narration that followed is clear, assertive and a joy to listen to as it is consistenly intonated throughout without ever being condescending. You don't have to be a professional historian to appreciate the amount of effort that has gone into producing this book and the (at times) rather violent TV series to which this is a perfect accompaniment. The passion for the subject, dedication and commitment shine through at all times and for me, this is a notable quality of the book. Overall, a highly recommended purchase indeed which takes pride of place on my Audible bookshelf!

Awsome, educational and epic work

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You might think listening to over 26 hours of history would be heavy-going: not so. Well-written text that lends itself to being read, and read with verve, kept me listening and eager to continue. Inevitably superficial over detail, owing to the sheer scale of the undertaking, it emphasizes the chronological progression of history and the points up the parallel events in different part of the world.

An engaging sweep of history

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This is a truly remarkable work, always interesting. Marr weaves a clever and consistent line through world history, largely avoiding editorialising.

David Timson's rich narration, meanwhile, brings the book to life, creating one of the most engaging non-fiction audiobooks I've ever bought.

This should be a compulsory text for older kids studying history, as it fills in so many of the gaps necessarily left by the selective, more detailed approach to history teaching.

Buy it! You won't regret it.

Best non-fiction audiobook ever

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This really has been a great book to listen to on my daily commute. The only criticism is the heavy weighting towards the recent past which I guess is down the available resources. Overall highly recommended.

Educational entertainment

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All those historical names you've heard, but don't know quite where to place in history. This books tells you where, why and how they influenced the world that we live in. The performance is great, and you can listen for hours and hours at the time.

A great summary of the history of the world

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The book takes you almost seamlessly from the first humans to modern days. Giving enough information to inform but not too much as to get bogged down. A good introduction to a huge variety of historical periods. Not just European and western history either, the African and far eastern (The Chinese sections particularly) are remarkably informative and will be new to many western amateur historians.



David Timson provides a clear and emotive narration from start to finish. Top class.

A wide ranging and excellent intro

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Brilliant. I'm not a history buff and this book taught me so much about history, politics, religion and humanity. A must read.

Easy listening, detailed, funny and constantly interesting.

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As an understandable and wholly interesting synopsis of our world history this cannot be faulted. Read or, as I did, listen to this book if you want to gain an understanding of how it works and the events which and the personalities who have shaped us. Very enjoyable!

Read this book!

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This book is very ingesting and highlights some of the key people in history which is an interesting way to approach human history. I felt that the book was slightly unbalanced focusing on more recent history for longer than the more ancient.

An enlightening whirlwind through history

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I play this in the car as I take my teenage son to school. Fortunately the traffic is so bad he is able to really get into it. For a 'dry' subject this makes history exciting. The style is easy to listen to and filled with droll insights which make him laugh but also want to ask questions and find out more. Andrew Marr is to be congratulated on making such a huge subject so accessible whilst the narrator deserves special mention for his skill at pacing the story with just the right amount of gravity and levity. The combination of sex, violence and comedy keeps us interested together with a serious discussion as to why world events have ebbed and flowed so dramatically over the years. As a result each era makes sense and any book which makes a modern teenager want to hear more and stimulates discussion has my strongest recommendation.

Gravity and levity at the same time?

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