Interesting

The lectures were presented very nicely that encouraged the listener to follow the subject attentively

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Outstanding

A pleasure to find a well narrated course, amazing performance, she doesn't speak fast and has a good pronunciation and nice voice. The content is also great. I'll certainly listen it again.

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Interesting Information. Very dry

I'm struggling through this. Duty forbids me to stop as I want to get my money worth. the information is good, as it relates to my area of interest, the Bible and the history surrounding it. But it just feels like a long list of facts. The lecturer seems nice enough, and her voice is bad. But very little life is put into it. It's all at the academic level. Other lecturers I've listened to on similar topics such as the Early Church or the Dead Sea Scrolls make fresh and exciting it comes alive in your mind. If I didn't have the interest and background that I do in Biblical history I probably would not be able to finish this, but it is interesting how so much of what we see in the Bible is mirrored in more powerful surrounding nations of ancient Israel. And the question is who influenced who? I think it's clear that in almost all cases the bigger more powerful cultures and nations always influence the smaller ones. But of course Biblical literalists amd inerrantists will tell us otherwise.

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1 person found this helpful

Execellent, informative Series

Execellent indepth and informative series that kept me enaged from start to finish. Well sourced, flows well and the lecturer is Knowelgable.

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Excellent Overview

A thoroughly enjoyable tour of the earliest civilisations and the later history of the fertile crescent up until Alexander. It should be noted that due to the nature of the subject material this is as much a course about archaeology as about history.

The chronological account is interspersed with fascinating asides into themes such as writing, religion, government, law, medicine, food etc..

There are a number of complaints in other reviews about Prof Castor's delivery with which I cannot sympathise. I had no problems with it and felt it was eloquent and clear.

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3 people found this helpful

Educational and interesting

Would you consider the audio edition of Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version so I cannot compare.

What did you like best about this story?

It was factual, yet kept my interest without being patronising

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This was not really an emotional type of book - more of an audio text book, so I was not expecting to laugh of cry, but it did make me think, which is what I want from such a book.

Any additional comments?

The pre-set reveiew questions do not seem particularly appropriate for an academic lecture series.

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2 people found this helpful

Outstanding

Educational, enlightening and entertaining. Outstanding insight into ancient lives. Just the same as us really!

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1 person found this helpful

Fascinating detailed history

This course is absolutely packed with information in a comprehensive account of this area. It is aimed at an audience seeking a real depth of knowledge rather than having a passing interest and I found it really fascinating.
The lecturer presents the information well and varies her delivery and approach to the subject matter. However, a word of warning here - I found her voice had a strangely hypnotic quality. This was particularly apparent while I was driving leading to drooping eyelids and necessitating frequent caffeine stops ! Im very happy to recommend this course but take care !

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4 people found this helpful

Highly recommended read

I really enjoyed this course of lecturers that covers such an a ancient and long period of history in such a comprehensive and enjoyable way.

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Comprehensive, Intelligent but incomplete

Would you consider the audio edition of Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia to be better than the print version?

The needlessly flamboyant music and obviously fake applause are clearly aimed at a more childish audience, hard to think why they'd do that.
The audio version was very well read apart from that and the author clearly knows her subject.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia?

The subject was well set out and delivered as a whole.
A map or maps would have been extremely helpful though.

Have you listened to any of Professor Alexis Q. Castor’s other performances? How does this one compare?

n/a

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would want to but it's too long to do that practically.

Any additional comments?

Supplementary learning material, critical to make cohesive sense and memory of this great course is widtheld from customers. A mistake that undermines the value of the book immensely.

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8 people found this helpful