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Babylon
- Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
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Babylon
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Summary
Civilization was born 8,000 years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophisticated urban societies. In the cities that they built, half of human history took place.
In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements seven thousand years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Bringing the people of this land to life in vibrant detail, the author chronicles the rise and fall of power during this period and explores the political and social systems, as well as the technical and cultural innovations, which made this land extraordinary. At the heart of this book is the story of Babylon, which rose to prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi from about 1800 BCE. Even as Babylon's fortunes waxed and waned, it never lost its allure as the ancient world's greatest city.
Engaging and compelling, Babylon reveals the splendor of the ancient world that laid the foundation for civilization itself.
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What listeners say about Babylon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alice
- 20-10-19
Highly enjoyable
A fascinating book, well-structured and full of interesting information. The author’s passion for the subject really comes across. Just what I was looking for.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jon lanģley
- 01-02-20
good listen
very good factual account of the city and area. not the best, but worth every penny.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-03-21
Great book
Derek Perkins narrates this brilliantly
The author has given just the right amount of information about this fascinating area of the world and its people, we owe so much to them .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kate
- 14-04-22
Mesopotamia
This is simply excellent. It’s much more than a history of Babylon, going right back to Sumer. It’s not simply a chronological history, but goes into customs, religion and philosophy. The performance is top tier, expressive without being intrusive. One of the best buys I’ve had from Audible.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-11-22
Obscene modern political propaganda
This is a comment about the book, not the recording.
The author continuously introduce his political opinions as historical facts. Across the book, he makes ahistorical judgements about how progressive the Mesopotamian were. Although a conservative, I don't mind reading progressive opinions, what I don't like is buying a book to learn about history and finding a political essay.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sam Lucas
- 07-02-21
engaging over view
engaging and well researched over view. The author attempts to draw parallels with modern times that are not always appropriate, however it did not affect my enjoyment of the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-03-22
Not just Babylon
This is one of the best histories I have listen to (and I've listened to a lot). Despite the name, it covers all of the major Mesopotamian cities, from the earliest settlements to the final conquest by the Persians. It's well written and narrated, providing plenty of detail without being dull or dry. Thoroughly recommended if you have any interest in ancient history or the middle east.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paulmac
- 24-07-21
i found this to be a great audiobook
I have listened to this several times now and each time it gets better for me as there is so much information to take in. I also find the narrator excellent to listen to.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 15-02-22
Optional
Interesting but most of it not about Babylon
But ok all the same I guess
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- George Parish
- 28-08-21
Author makes for a poor historian.
Often a good detail of information, but keeps making parallels to modern societies that gives the reader a very false impression of what these ancient societies might have been like. Author offshoots into many diatribes in this way, but no matter how many times he mentions it, I simply will not associate Akkad with Communist societies, simply because they had some level of centralised redistribution and built tall buildings ... And to top it off, his opening statement equates studying history for history's sake as useless antiquarianism ... No wonder he makes such a poor historian with judgements such as that. Put firmly into popular non-fiction camp that is very loose with interpretation of evidence.
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1 person found this helpful