Kirby

Fantastic lecturer

Revisado: 04-16-23

I am not particularly interested in bourbon, but I had listened to Ken Albala’s other lectures on food history with the Great Courses. He is a superb lecturer with infectious enthusiasm. He made this rather narrow topic broad, engaging, informative, and entertaining. Excellent!

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Excellent overview of Al-Andalus

Revisado: 02-28-23

I really enjoyed this book, which I mostly read on kindle but also listened to on Audible using Whispersync. The content is thorough and scholarly, but entirely readable and compelling for a casual reader. I learned a lot about the region and often found myself smirking at the author’s subtle word play drawing subtle references to contemporary pop culture.

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Excellent and informative

Revisado: 11-19-22

One of the best Great Courses history lectures out there. The professor weaves a complex story together with human emotion, humor, and perceptive foreign policy insights.

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Erudite Nordic and Arctic History

Revisado: 04-18-22

This book does a remarkable job exploring and weaving together centuries of cultural and intellectual development around the idea of “the North.” I appreciated its breadth, stretching from antiquity to present and touching on multiple fields: science, geography, literature, and political sociology. The tone is erudite but not dry or overly academic. Highly recommended!

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Staggeringly good

Revisado: 02-07-19

I have listened to quite a few audio history courses, and I am surprised to report this is one of the best. The lectures on ancient and medieval cuisine are fascinating, and the later chapters on modern food history made me a more informed consumer. The lecturer is witty and intelligent, totally engaging through. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

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Modern culinary classic, well-narrated

Revisado: 12-27-18

Michael Pollan's work is already widely-known and well-regarded, and this book lives up to the reputation. It is informative, well-researched, and passionately argued. I was particularly please with the narration, which perfectly captured the wit and flow of Pollan's language. In another narrator's hands, the book could have fallen flat, but it was pleasant and engaging from start to finish.

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Excellent overview of Mesoamerican civilization

Revisado: 02-09-18

This was an excellent introduction to the history and archeology of Mesoamerican civilization, including not just the Aztecs and Mayans, but several more cultures from across Mexico and Central America. The lecturer is informed and engaging. He has a relaxed and conversational tone that makes for easy listening. I particularly like how he brings in stories about the field of archeology up to the present, so the listener is able to understand what represents academic consensus and what is still contested or in need of further research. I found the course improved my experience visiting the various sites he discusses.

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May need to be updated

Revisado: 08-11-13

Strange to say a book of history concerning the Cold War would need updating, but it really shows that Sowing Crisis was written during the Bush years and prior to the Arab Spring. Many references to the 'present' no longer hold in 2013.

Otherwise, the analysis and research is well worth considering, although very little will truly be new to anyone with a basic understanding of 20th century dynamics in the Middle East. This book will be more informative for the newcomer. I preferred Khalidi's other woks, particularly The Iron Cage.

My biggest complaint with the audio book is that the narrator should have been coached on pronunciations for various Arab and Israeli names. Every time he says 'Nasser' or 'Begin' is cringe-worthy. Otherwise, a competent reading.

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Excellent book, marred by narration

Revisado: 02-02-13

It goes without saying that an Orwell book comes recommended, and HOMAGE TO CATALONIA is indeed a fascinating account of the politics and lived experience of the Spanish Civil War. But the narration, while not the worst I have heard on audible, detracts from the overall experience. He fails to convey the irony and bemusement of the text, and as others have remarked, the accent doesn't sound right.

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Decent history of Obama's first term foreign polic

Revisado: 09-08-12

"The Obamians" is a Washington inside look at the people and politics shaping the foreign policy of Obama's first three years in office. It describes the evolution of the Democratic Party's foreign policy from the Vietnam War through the Clinton era up to Obama. This history is one of the best parts of the book. For people in the beltway, the names and bios will also be of interest, but I doubt that others will care for the play-by-plays. The narrator is also reasonably good--dry, perhaps, but effective at keeping listeners' interest. The greatest weakness of the audiobook is more structural: the fact that most of the actual reporting is for between 2-3 years of the Obama presidency--not a huge amount of time to collect details and observe patterns. On the whole, however, I would recommend this audiobook or the text version.

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