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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Fascinating history. The presentation was a bit dry "if you were a slave in Greece, you would... ". The breadth of material, the etymologies woven in and the professo's passion made it enjoyable!
I love this lecture series and I want to give Robert Garland a big hug for being so flippin endearing.
Reading the other reviews, I agree with most of what people say (even sometimes the criticism) but I also want to add how great this was to listen to as a feminist. History is frustrating because you've got two layers of patriarchy to get through: the time itself, which didn't empower or record women's stories, and the modern era, which overlooks the few that do emerge and data anomalies. Garland makes an effort to really talk about what it was like being a woman in so many different societies, and it was awesome! Not just a rich woman, but a peasant, a nun, you name it. It's common for historians and anthropologists to employ strong cultural relativism, but his storytelling-style leaves room for him to say "Imagine you are a woman in Ancient Greece. Your life is probably pretty awful." It feels a lot more honest, hearing these assessments, even if I don't always agree with his views.
Reading the other reviews, I agree with most of what people say (even sometimes the criticism) but I also want to add how great this was to listen to as a feminist. History is frustrating because you've got two layers of patriarchy to get through: the time itself, which didn't empower or record women's stories, and the modern era, which overlooks the few that do emerge and data anomalies. Garland makes an effort to really talk about what it was like being a woman in so many different societies, and it was awesome! Not just a rich woman, but a peasant, a nun, you name it. It's common for historians and anthropologists to employ strong cultural relativism, but his storytelling-style leaves room for him to say "Imagine you are a woman in Ancient Greece. Your life is probably pretty awful." It feels a lot more honest, hearing these assessments, even if I don't always agree with his views.
informative
Solid! Hard with a field like this where the whole premise is that we don’t know much lol but it was a good time for my commutes
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Excellent course looking at the lives of "normal" people throughout Roman, Greek, Persian, Ancient Egyptian, Anglo Saxon, Norman, Celtic historical world. There is a bit dated talk (at some point Prof Garland says baby girls are still tossed aside for being girls in "modern" China, which may have been true at the time the course was presented but certainly isn't true in any majority anymore) but otherwise I really enjoyed this course and looked forward to each new lecture. Taking this look at the "normal" lives of people was truly eye opening. Human beings have always been this way, and it's moving to see artifacts like children's toys being similar across all cultures.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I really enjoyed this lecture series. Robert Garland's delivery and content was engaging and I found myself eager to continue.
This was a great overview of the history of average people in ancient times. I learned a lot about how people's day-to-day would have been like. I especially enjoyed the lectures focussing on women's lives in the different eras.
Overall, I found this really interesting and would love to check out more work by Robert Garland.
This was a great overview of the history of average people in ancient times. I learned a lot about how people's day-to-day would have been like. I especially enjoyed the lectures focussing on women's lives in the different eras.
Overall, I found this really interesting and would love to check out more work by Robert Garland.
This was very thorough, and i seriously loved the tone and humor of the author. I had a great time all in all.
That being said, it is true we simply dont know as much about common people than we do about famous or rich ones, and at times, it showed as Garland engaged in some padding, telling us that, as common people, we perceived the rich ones and their (detailed) occupations in such and such way.
So, really good all in all, but for a book that was so much about commoners, i wish we had talked about them a bit more.
That being said, it is true we simply dont know as much about common people than we do about famous or rich ones, and at times, it showed as Garland engaged in some padding, telling us that, as common people, we perceived the rich ones and their (detailed) occupations in such and such way.
So, really good all in all, but for a book that was so much about commoners, i wish we had talked about them a bit more.
This review is for the audiobook version.
This is a fascinating collection of classes, and easily one of my favorite Great Courses. Lots of info about the daily lives of people in some of the biggest western ancient civilizations, from Greece and Rome, the Egiptians, and barbarian and Middle Ages Europe. Lots of interesting infos about many facets of life back then, analysing point like class divisions, day to day life, religion and culture in general.
This is a fascinating collection of classes, and easily one of my favorite Great Courses. Lots of info about the daily lives of people in some of the biggest western ancient civilizations, from Greece and Rome, the Egiptians, and barbarian and Middle Ages Europe. Lots of interesting infos about many facets of life back then, analysing point like class divisions, day to day life, religion and culture in general.
Awesome look at the not-so-famous people of history and how they lived their lives.
informative
medium-paced