desertcart.com: The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome (Audible Audio Edition): Susan Wise Bauer, John Lee, Audible Studios: Books Review: A great read; useful for homeschooling; neither purely religious nor purely secular - Given the range of material Bauer covers in this tome, it is amazing how well she weaves the timelines and stories together. The first section of the book begins with the civilizations with only fragmentary records. None of her work is original, but she assembles stories of Sumer, what would become Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China into a coherent narrative. She then moves through the various twists and turns of various civilizations as the records improve, new technological and civic inventions grow, and cities become more prominent. What emerges is something that is more complex than the pictures of clay tables with cuneiform writing and fragments of pottery that I remember from my studies of history. Thankfully, she also expands the scope of her interest beyond a flyby of Mesopotamia leading to the Greeks and Romans and landing in a Euro-centric focus. What we get is a fairly balanced record of known civilizations, including those in the East, the Mid-East, and toward the West. Bauer is surveying four or five thousand years of history of multiple, integrated civilizations. It is amazing that she was able to sort through so much material. This, of course, means that there is a great deal detail left out and many places where Bauer was forced to pick a reading of history and run with it. It is clear from some of her footnotes that she is aware of alternate interpretations, but it’s a survey, not a monograph on a particular subject. The book is written in a manner that will displease some Christians and also anger vocal secularists. Bauer assumes an ancient earth and treats the Hebrew Bible in the same manner she treats other historical sources. This, of course, means that she is much less derogatory toward the value of those ancient documents than many secular scholars would be, which leads to accusations of religious bias. At the same time, she also does not hold to a young earth and sometimes floats assertions that the biblical record was sanitized to make certain kings look good. This perspective will tend to annoy some Christians, particularly homeschoolers seeking to rigorously shield their children from opposing views. (A quick scan of the desertcart reviews shows that both of these positions exist in decent numbers.) Frankly, as a conservative Christian, I think this book is an excellent way to introduce a child later in her schooling to critical sources. There will be a point at which our kids are going to have to engage with other voices to grow and learn, Bauer’s approach is good historically and at least fair toward the Judeo-Christian tradition. I can’t give advice to secularist parents, other than to note that her assumptions are pretty mild and certainly not satisfying in any religious way. This isn’t a book seeking to promote the Judeo-Christian tradition as the one, true religion. It also doesn’t go out of the way to bash Judaism and Christianity, either. As a religious text, it fails; as a history book, it’s pretty good. Aside from debates about Bauer’s biases, this is, above all, an extremely readable book. It certainly isn’t a novel, graphic or otherwise, but it was a pleasure to pick this book up and read a couple of chapters every day. I wouldn’t recommend the volume for elementary readers, but for a thoughtful high schooler this would make an excellent text for homeschool or as summer reading. I picked up an electronic copy of the study guide that goes with the book and it is well structured with enough questions and answers to help this integrate easily into the homeschooling parent’s life, without having to become an expert. This is the sort of book that I wish I had had access to when I was younger. I would have read the volume just for edification, beyond my regular school work. I am looking forward to the next two volumes in the series and very hopeful that Bauer writes the fourth and final volume in the very near future. Note: This is an edited version of a review posted at Ethics and Culture. Review: An excellent overview of ancient world history - The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome I enjoyed the book throughout, it could not have been an easy task for Ms. Bauer to begin her three book series by covering nearly four millennia of history. I ended up buying the entire series, The Medieval World and the Renaissance World, as I wanted to continue the story as she tells it so smoothly. In fact, she drew me into areas of history that I had not thought of exploring for the near term, such as the Shang, Zhou and Han dynasties of Ancient China, of which I have now saved more than a handful of books to explore for purchase. There were two small issues with this book, yet I still felt it earned a five star review. One is the map of Egypt was printed upside down a few times, whereas the other maps were correct with North facing upwards. Yes, Lower Egypt is in the North, and Upper Egypt is in the South, but that would not be a good reason to print the map upside down in my opinion. The other issue was with the extreme overuse of Ibid, which at times went back a few pages. It would have been more useful to do as is outlined below: "The 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style discourages the use of ibid., which previously was used to refer the same source cited in the previous footnote. Instead of using ibid., a shortened form of the citation may be used." Ms. Bauer is a wonderful story teller, I feel she will draw me further into areas of history that I had not yet considered, as I am currently reading her second book of the series. Thank you, well done
S**R
A great read; useful for homeschooling; neither purely religious nor purely secular
Given the range of material Bauer covers in this tome, it is amazing how well she weaves the timelines and stories together. The first section of the book begins with the civilizations with only fragmentary records. None of her work is original, but she assembles stories of Sumer, what would become Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China into a coherent narrative. She then moves through the various twists and turns of various civilizations as the records improve, new technological and civic inventions grow, and cities become more prominent. What emerges is something that is more complex than the pictures of clay tables with cuneiform writing and fragments of pottery that I remember from my studies of history. Thankfully, she also expands the scope of her interest beyond a flyby of Mesopotamia leading to the Greeks and Romans and landing in a Euro-centric focus. What we get is a fairly balanced record of known civilizations, including those in the East, the Mid-East, and toward the West. Bauer is surveying four or five thousand years of history of multiple, integrated civilizations. It is amazing that she was able to sort through so much material. This, of course, means that there is a great deal detail left out and many places where Bauer was forced to pick a reading of history and run with it. It is clear from some of her footnotes that she is aware of alternate interpretations, but it’s a survey, not a monograph on a particular subject. The book is written in a manner that will displease some Christians and also anger vocal secularists. Bauer assumes an ancient earth and treats the Hebrew Bible in the same manner she treats other historical sources. This, of course, means that she is much less derogatory toward the value of those ancient documents than many secular scholars would be, which leads to accusations of religious bias. At the same time, she also does not hold to a young earth and sometimes floats assertions that the biblical record was sanitized to make certain kings look good. This perspective will tend to annoy some Christians, particularly homeschoolers seeking to rigorously shield their children from opposing views. (A quick scan of the Amazon reviews shows that both of these positions exist in decent numbers.) Frankly, as a conservative Christian, I think this book is an excellent way to introduce a child later in her schooling to critical sources. There will be a point at which our kids are going to have to engage with other voices to grow and learn, Bauer’s approach is good historically and at least fair toward the Judeo-Christian tradition. I can’t give advice to secularist parents, other than to note that her assumptions are pretty mild and certainly not satisfying in any religious way. This isn’t a book seeking to promote the Judeo-Christian tradition as the one, true religion. It also doesn’t go out of the way to bash Judaism and Christianity, either. As a religious text, it fails; as a history book, it’s pretty good. Aside from debates about Bauer’s biases, this is, above all, an extremely readable book. It certainly isn’t a novel, graphic or otherwise, but it was a pleasure to pick this book up and read a couple of chapters every day. I wouldn’t recommend the volume for elementary readers, but for a thoughtful high schooler this would make an excellent text for homeschool or as summer reading. I picked up an electronic copy of the study guide that goes with the book and it is well structured with enough questions and answers to help this integrate easily into the homeschooling parent’s life, without having to become an expert. This is the sort of book that I wish I had had access to when I was younger. I would have read the volume just for edification, beyond my regular school work. I am looking forward to the next two volumes in the series and very hopeful that Bauer writes the fourth and final volume in the very near future. Note: This is an edited version of a review posted at Ethics and Culture.
R**O
An excellent overview of ancient world history
The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome I enjoyed the book throughout, it could not have been an easy task for Ms. Bauer to begin her three book series by covering nearly four millennia of history. I ended up buying the entire series, The Medieval World and the Renaissance World, as I wanted to continue the story as she tells it so smoothly. In fact, she drew me into areas of history that I had not thought of exploring for the near term, such as the Shang, Zhou and Han dynasties of Ancient China, of which I have now saved more than a handful of books to explore for purchase. There were two small issues with this book, yet I still felt it earned a five star review. One is the map of Egypt was printed upside down a few times, whereas the other maps were correct with North facing upwards. Yes, Lower Egypt is in the North, and Upper Egypt is in the South, but that would not be a good reason to print the map upside down in my opinion. The other issue was with the extreme overuse of Ibid, which at times went back a few pages. It would have been more useful to do as is outlined below: "The 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style discourages the use of ibid., which previously was used to refer the same source cited in the previous footnote. Instead of using ibid., a shortened form of the citation may be used." Ms. Bauer is a wonderful story teller, I feel she will draw me further into areas of history that I had not yet considered, as I am currently reading her second book of the series. Thank you, well done
I**R
An enjoyable and engaging history book
I'm always amused by people who throw a screaming fit at the slightest mention of the Bible or the God of the Bible. It is ironic that while these people loudly proclaim their allegiance to reason and logic, they will happily accept the most ridiculous historical theory as long as it contradicts the orthodox Judeo-Christian view (fans of Da Vinci Code come to mind). Most of the 1-star reviews of the "History of the Ancient World" come from this kind of crowd. Bauer's alleged crime: treating the Book of Exodus as a historical book. Never mind the fact that she clearly states that Egyptian records don't have any mention of the exodus. Never mind the fact that it's just one chapter out of 80+ chapters in the book. Never mind the fact she employs a similar strategy of using mythological or semi-mythological material in other places in the book. No, the enlightened ones fly into the angry frenzy and nothing shall appease them. I can't help but wonder, was Sunday School really this bad? If anything, the people who should be truly offended by this book are Christians. The birth, life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ are given less than a page of coverage. That's right, the most important event in the history human civilization, which shaped the course of events for at least two thousand years afterwards, is basically skimmed over as some minor incident involving "a wandering prophet". Meanwhile, Confucius, Buddha and Muhammad (in the sequel book "History of Medieval World") get a chapter each. This strikes me as quite unbalanced. Having said this, "The History of the Ancient World" is a wonderfully written and engaging history book. The author's style is lively and even funny at time. She covers all major civilizations of the ancient world. Numerous maps make the text easier to comprehend and to follow. By the time I was done with the book, I had a fairly good idea of what happened in the first three thousand years of human civilization. My only qualm with this book (in addition to the above-mentioned glossing over the person of Jesus) is that it could use just a little bit more descriptions of the cultures and day-to-day of ancient civilizations. I don't mind the relentless emphasis on kings and wars. But it would be nice to spend just a little more time on describing what life was like for these people, how their economy was structured, and what kind of society they generally had. Still, this is a great general overview of ancient history and I highly recommend it.
A**R
I really enjoy this book. Enough detail to teach you but not boring like typical history textbooks.
E**A
Livros de história geral, talvez por falta de espaço, normalmente passam muito rápido da pré-história para a antiguidade clássica (Grécia e Roma), falando muito pouco de Egito e Mesopotâmia. Não esse livro, que não tenta contar a história toda, mas apenas até a queda de Roma. Mais da metade do livro se prende basicamente a essas duas civilizações que já estavam decadentes quando a Grécia clássica chegava no seu apogeu. É um livro de História no sentido clássico. Reis e Rainhas, mitológicos ou não, o que se sabe sobre eles e algumas análises sobre o seu significado. Claro que existem informações advindas da arqueologia e sociologia, mas a autora deixa claro no prefácio que o sua prioridade é a história. O inglês não é dos mais difíceis e as notas de rodapé são ótimas. Pretendo ler a série toda. Recomendo para quem já leu livros mais generalistas. A quantidade de detalhes e nomes pode assustar. Nesse livro eu fiz a experiência de intercalar a leitura com a audição do áudio, disponível no Audible.com (o site é da Amazon, acho que não tem problema falar aqui). É uma experiência interessante, porque ajuda a "ler" (ouvir) em menos tempo total, pois você consegue avançar na "leitura" enquanto dirige (num livro de quase mil páginas, isso é interessante). O problema é que, só ouvindo, não tem como pegar as notas de rodapé (eu voltei aos capítulos no texto para procura-las). Eu gostei muito de ouvir e ler ao mesmo tempo, principalmente fazendo exercício na esteira. É o melhor de dois mundos, embora talvez seja um pouco mais lento que ler sem audição.
T**N
A stunner of a text and a real page-turner, interweaving the history of Europe, The Near East, China and India. Possibly one of the best history books I’ve read because of its narrative approach. *****
A**L
It is just an awesome book for someone who wants glorify its library showcases and racks. Absolutely stunning and Susan Wise Bauer did a great work. But I think there are two unique things which I have found while reading... 1st is that the content is scrambled, the division of content is on the basis of periods but not empires or kingdoms so like one may do comparative study while reading a particular section. 2nd the language is more of literature basis rather informative or conventional history books. Although a great purchase
G**M
Excelente.!!!
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