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Heroes
- From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
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Publisher's summary
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Paul Johnson's book is a refreshing return to a concept whose time has come once again: the Great Man theory of biography. It serves as "the greatest possible refutation of those who hold that events are governed by forces, classes, economics, and geography rather than the powerful wills of men and women". Napoleon truly was the Great Man of his age, a towering and terrible genius who managed to conquer the Continent.
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Not your standard biography
- By Mark Grannis on 04-24-05
By: Paul Johnson
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Cleopatra
- A Life
- By: Stacy Schiff
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order.
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Approach this book with caution
- By GolfZilla on 12-02-10
By: Stacy Schiff
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Amazing Grace
- William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
- By: Eric Metaxas
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce's extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament. At the center of this heroic life was a passionate 20-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies.
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A Marvelous Story Gloriously Told
- By Douglas on 02-24-13
By: Eric Metaxas
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The Medici
- Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Against the background of an age that saw the rebirth of ancient and classical learning, Paul Strathern explores the intensely dramatic rise and fall of the Medici family in Florence as well as the Italian Renaissance, which they did so much to sponsor and encourage. Interwoven into the narrative are the lives of many of the great Renaissance artists with whom the Medici had dealings, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello as well as scientists like Galileo and Pico della Mirandola.
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Fun Story Bad History
- By Elizabeth Barrett on 05-09-16
By: Paul Strathern
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Rome's Last Citizen
- The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus Porcius Cato: aristocrat who walked barefoot and slept on the ground with his troops, political heavyweight who cultivated the image of a Stoic philosopher, a hardnosed defender of tradition who presented himself as a man out of the sacred Roman past-and the last man standing when Rome's Republic fell to tyranny. His blood feud with Caesar began in the chamber of the Senate, played out on the battlefields of a world war, and ended when he took his own life rather than live under a dictator.
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Unfortunate
- By Olivia N. on 11-06-20
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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The Death of Caesar
- The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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William Shakespeare's gripping play showed Caesar's assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals' plot put together by Caesar's disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man - Decimus. He was the mole in Caesar's entourage, one of Caesar's leading generals, and a lifelong friend.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 03-24-15
By: Barry Strauss
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Superlative Account of Churchill
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Plat-Soc-Paul
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Johnson's monumental history of the United States, from the first settlers to the Clinton administration, covers every aspect of American culture: politics, business, art, literature, science, society and customs, complex traditions, and religious beliefs. The story is told in terms of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character.
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A British conservative's view of American history.
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-17-09
By: Paul Johnson
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A British conservative's view of American history.
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-17-09
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What listeners say about Heroes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- frequent buyer
- 01-08-15
Broad collection of interesting essays
Johnson covers much ground rampaging through history discussing innumerable historical figures and their heroic significance. The work of a towering intellect, it requires full attention.
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- William Richardson
- 06-09-24
Concise, varied history of the Hero
Paul Johnson’s abilities to make history a lively story is well known and much appreciated. His common sense and well balanced approach to me is an antidote to the Left.
I had just finished Mr. Johnson’s A History of the American People which I found to be superb, and a needed counterbalance to the propaganda and hatred apparently of all things American Howard Zin’s grim view of America.
I found the Heroes from the Biblical
, Roman, world war times to be the most fascinating for me because that was the weakest area of my knowledge. I also appreciated that he brought women -Heroins into the fold of people who changed their times.
For me, the latter part of the book showcasing the women who gave salons, Paris, and then London we’re interesting but not quite as dramatically important in my mind. p
Perhaps two or three could’ve been left out and it would’ve improved the book. On the other hand, the biblical women were ferocious and amazing to read about that section was very stimulating to listen to an area. I knew absolutely nothing about, so I appreciate his bringing the powerful women into the fold of being a hero.
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- Jay
- 04-24-16
Good stories, but not well delineated
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Breaking each individual covered into a chapter would have been helpful for the purposes of learning and memory. For now, these all flow together into one long narrative, and I have trouble separating out names/dates/chronology of these historical figures.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Less of the dramatized stories of British nobility. Good for entertainment, but few takeaways.
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- James Cannon
- 01-11-20
The best narrator yet. Perfect for the author.
Exceptional narration and an incredible narrative from a favorite historian! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning from and emulating the greats of history.
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Overall
- Mike From Mesa
- 12-06-08
Very good although somewhat puzzling
I seem to be out of sync with the other reviewers. I really enjoyed this book although it was not what I expected based on the title. And I am puzzled as to why some of those listed as heroes were included and why some others were not.
Nevertheless the short histories and vignettes given for each taught me much that I did not know of the people involved, it is, as all of Paul Johnson's works, well written and very well narrated.
But do not expect a deep examination of the concept of "hero" or consistent explanations as to why some people are included. If you can just relax and listen to the book you may enjoy it as much as I did.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Kennet
- 12-27-07
Interesting, but deeply flawed
The book is an entertaining and informative menagerie of historical characters, many of whom arguably demonstrate heroic traits. The author clearly makes an attempt to represent heroism in all its forms, even explicitly voicing a distaste for overvaluing martial heroism (even so, heroic soldiers compose the gross majority of the list). Little effort is made to define or generalize heroism, leaving it as a subjective attribute. I find this ambiguity acceptable, but be forewarned that this book does not address the question of what it means to be a hero.
The book contains a number of serious flaws detracting both from my enjoyment and the informative value of the book.
With mild regularity the author lapses into French and Italian: whole, non-trivial sentences, without accompanying translation. This seemed either careless or pretentious.
The heroes from the modern era seem to have been chosen, not for any heroic attributes (two of whom, arguably demonstrate no heroism whatsoever), but instead because they embodied ideology that the author favored. Those chapters could just as well be renamed, "People I Agree With." His overly long section on Wittgenstein is speaks more of ideological worship by the author than heroism by Wittgenstein. On the same lines, the author's occasional personal anecdotes smack of pretentious name dropping.
Large swaths of geography and history are entirely overlooked. The list of heroes may be an adequate catalog of players in the history of Western European civilization, but is hardly a list of world heroes. With the exceptions of the classical heroes, biblical heroes, and Pope John Paul II, every person on the list is of British, French, or Germanic descent. South America, Asia, Africa, South and Eastern Europe are entirely unrepresented.
All told, this book is an entertaining, but forgettable read. The quality of the reading is excellent and the subject is interesting. However, there is little of lasting value.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Barry Frieder, MD
- 08-10-18
wonderful presentation!
settle and richly textured descriptions of real people. don't miss it!.. moving and detailed descriptions let's. much to be learned here.
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Overall
- DJ
- 03-19-08
Brittish-centric
Sure, there are a handful of heros from Brittian - but what about the REST of the known world? Don't get this book unless you want to learn about a number of Brittish admirals and generals that are heros to only one small culture.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Dave K
- 08-04-08
Disappointing
I have loved Paul Johnson's work for at least 15 years, but this book simply doesn't measure up. I finally put it aside, perhaps to finish at some later date.
In his introduction, Johnson writes "I have put into this collection one or two heroes and heroines of my own, believing that an element of idiosyncrasy is a legitimate part of hero worship." I don't object to this, but he then owes his readers an explanation of why an obscure British figure is included as a hero. Lady Jane Grey is one such character. After a short summary of her brief life (she was executed at age 16), he makes no explanation of why she should be considered a heroine. A tragic figure, yes, but a heroine? He simply doesn't make his case or even explain why she is included.
He assumes that his reader is familiar with both British history and events, which is problematic for his American readers (including me). For example, he mentions Nancy Mitford, a writer whom I had never heard of. (I Googled to find out that she was "an English novelist and biographer" who died in 1973. His mention of Ms. Mitford is completely extraneous - she told him that she masturbated while "thinking about Lady Jane Grey."
The book is also poorly edited. He has long, complex sentences that sometimes make it almost impossible to understand who he is talking about - especially when he is discussing Mary Queen of Scots and Mary Stuart at the same time.
Johnson will be 80 this fall. Maybe he is just getting too old to maintain the excellence he has had in the past.
I rated the book 3 stars because his stories and anecdotes about the heroes he has chosen are often interesting.
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6 people found this helpful