What do you think?
Rate this book
Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor
12 Lectures/30 minutes per lecture
Lecture 1: Introduction to Anatolia
Lecture 2: First Civilizations in Anatolia
Lecture 3: The Hittite Empire
Lecture 4: Hattusas and Imperial Hittite Culture
Lecture 5: Origins of Greek Civilization
Lecture 6: The Legend of Troy
Lecture 7: Iron Age Kingdoms of Asia Minor Lecture 8: Emergence of the Polis
Lecture 9: Ionia and Early Greek Civilization
Lecture 10: The Persian Conquest
Lecture 11: Athenian Empire and Spartan Hegemony
Lecture 12: Alexander the Great and the Diadochoi
Part 2 of 2, 12 Lectures/30 minutes per lecture, 2 DVD's:
Lecture 13: The Hellenization of Asia Minor
Lecture 14: Rome versus the Kings of the East
Lecture 15: Prosperity and Roman Patronage
Lecture 16: Gods and Sanctuaries of Roman Asia Minor
Lecture 17: Jews and Early Christians
Lecture 18: From Rome to Byzantium
Lecture 19: Constantinople, Queen of Cities
Lecture 20: The Byzantine Dark Ages
Lecture 21: Byzantine Cultural Revival
Lecture 22: Crusaders and Seljuk Turks
Lecture 23: Muslim Transformation
Lecture 24: The Ottoman Empire
Perhaps no other region of the world has played so many different roles in culture, religion, and politics, for so long a period of time, as the peninsula of Asian Turkey, known to the Greeks as Anatolia and to the Romans as Asia Minor. Though today we call it Turkey, that name dates back only to the Middle Ages.
9,000 Years of History
From 7000 B.C., when Neolithic hunters began the transition to a pastoral and agricultural lifestyle, to the founding of modern Turkey in the 20th century, this varied geographical area about the size of Texas has been a crossroads of history.
Homer composed the Iliad and Odyssey on the shores of Asia Minor. All seven of the great ecumenical councils that defined Christian theology in the centuries after the conversion of Constantine took place within the boundaries of modern Turkey. To study the region is to study a land that has nurtured successive civilizations that have defined the Western and Muslim traditions that embrace so many of the modern world's inhabitants.
A Hands-On Professor
Professor Kenneth W. Harl bases these lectures on both a lifetime of academic study and decades of his own firsthand fieldwork at sites throughout Turkey. He is Professor of History at Tulane University, where he has taught since 1978, after receiving his Ph.D. in History from Yale University. At Tulane, he has received the annual Student Award for Excellence in Teaching eight times. In Fall 2001, he was the national winner of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.
Conquest and Culture
The history of the region includes these milestones:
the rise of the Hittites, a chariot-borne warrior people who struck out from their Anatolian heartland to overrun the Babylonian Empire and fight the armies of Egypt's Ramses II to a standstill
the Trojan War, a legend created from historical events of the late Bronze Age, when Achaean merchant princes and adventurers clashed swords with Hittite emperors in Asia Minor
the birth of Western philosophy in the search for a rational account of all things by thinkers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus—all Greek-speaking sages from what is now the Aegean coast of Turkey
the fiery revolt of the Ionian Greek cities that led to the Persian Wars (499-479 B.C.) and the rise of Periclean Athens as both the world's first democracy and the leader of a maritime empire wealthy enough to build the Parthenon
the great early victories of Alexander the Great that paved the way for the period of brilliant cultural and spiritual creativity we call the Hellenistic Age
the spread of early Christianity under the guidance of St. Paul, a native of Tarsus on the southern coast of Asia Minor
the golden age of the Byzantine Empire, which preserved the Greek classics and repeatedly saved Europe from nomadic invasion
the Muslim transformation of Asia Minor culminating in the Ottoman Empire, which at its height in the 16th century threatened to take over Europe itself.
Change and Continuity
Cultural change and continuity, says Professor Harl, are the main themes of this course. Each successive civilization inherited and modified the political, social, religious, and economic institutions of its predecessor.
The scope of Anatolian history can be best understood as a series of transformations in the religious landscape of the peninsula. Anatolia has experienced a number of major cultural and religious rewrites: first by the Hittite emperors; then by the elites of Hellenic cities; next by their Hellenized descendants in the Roman age; then by Christian emperors and bishops in the Byzantine age; and, finally, by Turkish rulers and Muslim mystics.
The final chapter, the transformation of Muslim Turkey into a modern secular nation-state, is still in progress. In looking at cultural changes, certain archaeological sites and important monuments will be featured as exam...
Lecture 1: Introduction to Anatolia
Lecture 2: First Civilizations in Anatolia
Lecture 3: The Hittite Empire
Lecture 4: Hattusas and Imperial Hittite Culture
Lecture 5: Origins of Greek Civilization
Lecture 6: The Legend of Troy
Lecture 7: Iron Age Kingdoms of Asia Minor Lecture 8: Emergence of the Polis
Lecture 9: Ionia and Early Greek Civilization
Lecture 10: The Persian Conquest
Lecture 11: Athenian Empire and Spartan Hegemony
Lecture 12: Alexander the Great and the Diadochoi
Part 2 of 2, 12 Lectures/30 minutes per lecture, 2 DVD's:
Lecture 13: The Hellenization of Asia Minor
Lecture 14: Rome versus the Kings of the East
Lecture 15: Prosperity and Roman Patronage
Lecture 16: Gods and Sanctuaries of Roman Asia Minor
Lecture 17: Jews and Early Christians
Lecture 18: From Rome to Byzantium
Lecture 19: Constantinople, Queen of Cities
Lecture 20: The Byzantine Dark Ages
Lecture 21: Byzantine Cultural Revival
Lecture 22: Crusaders and Seljuk Turks
Lecture 23: Muslim Transformation
Lecture 24: The Ottoman Empire
Perhaps no other region of the world has played so many different roles in culture, religion, and politics, for so long a period of time, as the peninsula of Asian Turkey, known to the Greeks as Anatolia and to the Romans as Asia Minor. Though today we call it Turkey, that name dates back only to the Middle Ages.
9,000 Years of History
From 7000 B.C., when Neolithic hunters began the transition to a pastoral and agricultural lifestyle, to the founding of modern Turkey in the 20th century, this varied geographical area about the size of Texas has been a crossroads of history.
Homer composed the Iliad and Odyssey on the shores of Asia Minor. All seven of the great ecumenical councils that defined Christian theology in the centuries after the conversion of Constantine took place within the boundaries of modern Turkey. To study the region is to study a land that has nurtured successive civilizations that have defined the Western and Muslim traditions that embrace so many of the modern world's inhabitants.
A Hands-On Professor
Professor Kenneth W. Harl bases these lectures on both a lifetime of academic study and decades of his own firsthand fieldwork at sites throughout Turkey. He is Professor of History at Tulane University, where he has taught since 1978, after receiving his Ph.D. in History from Yale University. At Tulane, he has received the annual Student Award for Excellence in Teaching eight times. In Fall 2001, he was the national winner of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.
Conquest and Culture
The history of the region includes these milestones:
the rise of the Hittites, a chariot-borne warrior people who struck out from their Anatolian heartland to overrun the Babylonian Empire and fight the armies of Egypt's Ramses II to a standstill
the Trojan War, a legend created from historical events of the late Bronze Age, when Achaean merchant princes and adventurers clashed swords with Hittite emperors in Asia Minor
the birth of Western philosophy in the search for a rational account of all things by thinkers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus—all Greek-speaking sages from what is now the Aegean coast of Turkey
the fiery revolt of the Ionian Greek cities that led to the Persian Wars (499-479 B.C.) and the rise of Periclean Athens as both the world's first democracy and the leader of a maritime empire wealthy enough to build the Parthenon
the great early victories of Alexander the Great that paved the way for the period of brilliant cultural and spiritual creativity we call the Hellenistic Age
the spread of early Christianity under the guidance of St. Paul, a native of Tarsus on the southern coast of Asia Minor
the golden age of the Byzantine Empire, which preserved the Greek classics and repeatedly saved Europe from nomadic invasion
the Muslim transformation of Asia Minor culminating in the Ottoman Empire, which at its height in the 16th century threatened to take over Europe itself.
Change and Continuity
Cultural change and continuity, says Professor Harl, are the main themes of this course. Each successive civilization inherited and modified the political, social, religious, and economic institutions of its predecessor.
The scope of Anatolian history can be best understood as a series of transformations in the religious landscape of the peninsula. Anatolia has experienced a number of major cultural and religious rewrites: first by the Hittite emperors; then by the elites of Hellenic cities; next by their Hellenized descendants in the Roman age; then by Christian emperors and bishops in the Byzantine age; and, finally, by Turkish rulers and Muslim mystics.
The final chapter, the transformation of Muslim Turkey into a modern secular nation-state, is still in progress. In looking at cultural changes, certain archaeological sites and important monuments will be featured as exam...
281 pages, Audio CD
Published January 1, 2001
7 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth W. Harl
24 books124 followersDr. Kenneth W. Harl is Professor of Classical and Byzantine History at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he teaches courses in Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader history. He earned his B.A. from Trinity College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University.
Recognized as an outstanding lecturer, Professor Harl has received numerous teaching awards at Tulane, including the coveted Sheldon H. Hackney Award two times. He has earned Tulane's annual Student Body Award for Excellence in Teaching nine times and is the recipient of Baylor University's nationwide Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.
In 2007, he was the Lewis P. Jones Visiting Professor in History at Wofford College. An expert on classical Anatolia, he has taken students with him into the field on excursions and to assist in excavations of Hellenistic and Roman sites in Turkey.
Professor Harl has also published a wide variety of articles and books, including his current work on coins unearthed in an excavation of Gordion, Turkey, and a new book on Rome and her Iranian foes. A fellow and trustee of the American Numismatic Society, Professor Harl is well known for his studies of ancient coinage. He is the author of Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East, A.D. 180–275 and Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700.
Recognized as an outstanding lecturer, Professor Harl has received numerous teaching awards at Tulane, including the coveted Sheldon H. Hackney Award two times. He has earned Tulane's annual Student Body Award for Excellence in Teaching nine times and is the recipient of Baylor University's nationwide Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.
In 2007, he was the Lewis P. Jones Visiting Professor in History at Wofford College. An expert on classical Anatolia, he has taken students with him into the field on excursions and to assist in excavations of Hellenistic and Roman sites in Turkey.
Professor Harl has also published a wide variety of articles and books, including his current work on coins unearthed in an excavation of Gordion, Turkey, and a new book on Rome and her Iranian foes. A fellow and trustee of the American Numismatic Society, Professor Harl is well known for his studies of ancient coinage. He is the author of Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East, A.D. 180–275 and Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 16, 2023
As with the rest of Harl’s lectures based on a geographic region and/or time period, this is an overview of the history and doesn’t go into much detail. I’ve listened to a number of these and this is one of my favorites of his.
He skips around to people and events that he thinks are critical for understanding the greater story of history for the region, and if you expect 30 hours of lectures all about the Hittites you will be very disappointed. To get high-detail lectures from this particular professor look for titles about specific people/events such as his Alexander the Great or The Peloponnesian War, but know they assume you have preexisting general knowledge of the region and time.
This is a great starting point for this branch of history, it will give you a nice chronological view of how the dynamics and cultures changed over the centuries and gives plenty of tempting snippets to later hone in on independently.
I went in already knowing a decent bit about a few of the cultures that were discussed and I appreciated the context Harl added to my existing knowledge.
He skips around to people and events that he thinks are critical for understanding the greater story of history for the region, and if you expect 30 hours of lectures all about the Hittites you will be very disappointed. To get high-detail lectures from this particular professor look for titles about specific people/events such as his Alexander the Great or The Peloponnesian War, but know they assume you have preexisting general knowledge of the region and time.
This is a great starting point for this branch of history, it will give you a nice chronological view of how the dynamics and cultures changed over the centuries and gives plenty of tempting snippets to later hone in on independently.
I went in already knowing a decent bit about a few of the cultures that were discussed and I appreciated the context Harl added to my existing knowledge.
January 20, 2021
I really wish this lecture series had focused more on what makes Asia Minor unique and not spent so much time on Roman and Greek events happening elsewhere. I was very disappointed that he only spent two lectures discussing the Hittites, which is really what I got the audiobook to learn about.
Major warning for the very ending — I find it extremely weird/disturbing to finish a series like this by talking up Atatürk without discussing the ethnic cleansing of Turkey during World War I. I think it’s historically egregious to gloss over the atrocities of that period, and given that this is supposed to be a series about ancient Asia Minor, it wasn’t really necessary to bring it up if he wasn’t going to handle it well.
Major warning for the very ending — I find it extremely weird/disturbing to finish a series like this by talking up Atatürk without discussing the ethnic cleansing of Turkey during World War I. I think it’s historically egregious to gloss over the atrocities of that period, and given that this is supposed to be a series about ancient Asia Minor, it wasn’t really necessary to bring it up if he wasn’t going to handle it well.
April 26, 2022
I really thought this was going to be a series of lectures about the Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor. Crazy me, why on earth would I have thought that? Unfortunately, more than half of this series focused on Byzantium and the early Turkish period. I think he spent more time talking about the Ottomans than he did the Phrygians, Urartu, Lycians, Lydians, and Carians combined. He spent more time talking about what the Greeks and Romans were doing on the other side of the Aegean sea than he did on the Hittites.
Also, his primary premise was that as various civilizations came and went, cultural life in Anatolia didn't drastically change with them but rather only slowly evolved. I wasn't convinced. In fact, as he presented his material I only became more convinced that there have been three major swift cultural changes on the peninsula. The first was the advent of the Greeks. When they began arriving in force, life very quickly changed. The second was the advent of Christianity. Within roughly a century from Paul's first visit, the church turned that world upside down. The third major change was with the arrival of the Turks. As they conquered their way westward, life for those who fell under their influence was greatly and very swiftly changed. A fourth major change would have been about a hundred years ago with the Armenian genocide and the forced expulsion of the Greeks, but even though he touches on this at the end, it largely fell beyond the purview of this series.
In all, this is a decent series although misnamed. It is well researched and well presented. But I would suggest he change the name of this class to more appropriately fit the material. Also, someone needs to coach him on his pronunciation of Turkish cities and other place names. My Turkish is horrible considering how long I have lived here, but even still I cringed every single time a Turkish word entered into one of his lectures.
Also, his primary premise was that as various civilizations came and went, cultural life in Anatolia didn't drastically change with them but rather only slowly evolved. I wasn't convinced. In fact, as he presented his material I only became more convinced that there have been three major swift cultural changes on the peninsula. The first was the advent of the Greeks. When they began arriving in force, life very quickly changed. The second was the advent of Christianity. Within roughly a century from Paul's first visit, the church turned that world upside down. The third major change was with the arrival of the Turks. As they conquered their way westward, life for those who fell under their influence was greatly and very swiftly changed. A fourth major change would have been about a hundred years ago with the Armenian genocide and the forced expulsion of the Greeks, but even though he touches on this at the end, it largely fell beyond the purview of this series.
In all, this is a decent series although misnamed. It is well researched and well presented. But I would suggest he change the name of this class to more appropriately fit the material. Also, someone needs to coach him on his pronunciation of Turkish cities and other place names. My Turkish is horrible considering how long I have lived here, but even still I cringed every single time a Turkish word entered into one of his lectures.
September 4, 2012
This is really Professor Harl's bread and butter subject. He knows the history of Asia Minor like he knows the back of his hand. To have such a longitudinal perspective done in such a masterful way was an excellent learning experience. I have never really understood much about how Asia Minor became Hellenized or Turkicized (if that is a term) and this work goes a long way towards explaining those, although resources on those are mostly archaeological, so it will always be hard for historians to give a lot of concrete detail.
A couple of interesting facts I learned which I had not known before just a sample of what I learned: 1. that many of the Hellenized Jews living in Asia Minor in New Testament times had originally been planted there by the Selucid rulers as military colonies to help sustain Selucid rule in Asia Minor in the centuries leading up to the birth of Christ. 2. That estimates are that roughly 500,000 Turkish people migrated to Asia Minor in the period from roughly 900 AD to 1400 AD.
All in all, the conclusion of this work is that many things have stayed the same over the years in Asia Minor and that most of the people living there are descended from ancestors who have lived in Asia Minor probably for thousands of years, despite the enormous differences in religion, language, military/political rule, etc. This was also the general conclusion about Britain in Vikings, Saxons, and Celts.
For now, I am taking a break from Harl, but I will be back for his Romans and Barbarians ones very soon.
A couple of interesting facts I learned which I had not known before just a sample of what I learned: 1. that many of the Hellenized Jews living in Asia Minor in New Testament times had originally been planted there by the Selucid rulers as military colonies to help sustain Selucid rule in Asia Minor in the centuries leading up to the birth of Christ. 2. That estimates are that roughly 500,000 Turkish people migrated to Asia Minor in the period from roughly 900 AD to 1400 AD.
All in all, the conclusion of this work is that many things have stayed the same over the years in Asia Minor and that most of the people living there are descended from ancestors who have lived in Asia Minor probably for thousands of years, despite the enormous differences in religion, language, military/political rule, etc. This was also the general conclusion about Britain in Vikings, Saxons, and Celts.
For now, I am taking a break from Harl, but I will be back for his Romans and Barbarians ones very soon.
February 22, 2015
Audio download (augmented with online maps and outside sources); 24 30 minute lectures.
This lecture series is the ninth series (of eleven) from the "Harl Collection" of lectures...dealing with not only the eastern Mediterranean, but the Viking, Roman, and Steppe Barbarians lectures...that I have had the pleasure of hearing (all have been audio with augmentation). For those considering purchasing these lectures please understand that, unless you are very well versed in the geography of this part of the world (and few are here in the US), you may be better served by the video versions, unless you have the luxury of pausing and checking things out on Google Earth and other sources. In addition, there is a fair amount of repetition within the Harl repertoire, but that shouldn't surprise you since the history of this part of the world within this historic time frame is intricately interwoven...each lecture series reinforcing the others...each series stressing a particular aspect that allows a bit more depth, and an increase in curiosity.
I thoroughly enjoyed these lectures (even though #24 seemed a bit rushed), and could easily have given them a '5'...but I didn't...we want to keep the good Professor humble, don't we?
Dr Harl is probably my favorite lecturer and I appreciate his no-nonsense, direct lecture style and wry sense of humor...you might, as well.
Recommended, but wait for a sale...and coupon.
This lecture series is the ninth series (of eleven) from the "Harl Collection" of lectures...dealing with not only the eastern Mediterranean, but the Viking, Roman, and Steppe Barbarians lectures...that I have had the pleasure of hearing (all have been audio with augmentation). For those considering purchasing these lectures please understand that, unless you are very well versed in the geography of this part of the world (and few are here in the US), you may be better served by the video versions, unless you have the luxury of pausing and checking things out on Google Earth and other sources. In addition, there is a fair amount of repetition within the Harl repertoire, but that shouldn't surprise you since the history of this part of the world within this historic time frame is intricately interwoven...each lecture series reinforcing the others...each series stressing a particular aspect that allows a bit more depth, and an increase in curiosity.
I thoroughly enjoyed these lectures (even though #24 seemed a bit rushed), and could easily have given them a '5'...but I didn't...we want to keep the good Professor humble, don't we?
Dr Harl is probably my favorite lecturer and I appreciate his no-nonsense, direct lecture style and wry sense of humor...you might, as well.
Recommended, but wait for a sale...and coupon.
August 27, 2020
I happen to love professor Harl's lecture style and his passion for the subjects he presents. His verbal ticks in this one were fine after the introduction and as he gets rolling they all but disappear. I state this up front because this is the most common complaint I here about him and its usually the only substantive one I can give about this one as well.
This is the history of the crossroads of Europe and Asia from the Hitites to the Ottomans a favorite subject of mine and one that Mr. Harl does justice. If I had one other nit-pick it would be that I wished he focused just a bit more on the hinterlands of Asia Minor but this is a minor complaint.
This is the history of the crossroads of Europe and Asia from the Hitites to the Ottomans a favorite subject of mine and one that Mr. Harl does justice. If I had one other nit-pick it would be that I wished he focused just a bit more on the hinterlands of Asia Minor but this is a minor complaint.
May 3, 2024
This course outlines the history of Asia Minor, or Anatolia, from the Hittites onwards. Hittites > Greeks > Romans > Byzantines > Seljuk Turks > Ottomans. The amount of cultural transformation that this piece of land has gone through is tremendous. But with that, I think we also see the enduring impact of Greek culture on everything that came after it. Greek culture provided a lot of the civic and governmental structure that proceeding empires used.
Harl is as good as always, providing details that show the personality of people and governments and puts things in a framework that helps them make more sense.
Harl is as good as always, providing details that show the personality of people and governments and puts things in a framework that helps them make more sense.
June 10, 2019
This was such a great course! In every study of the Graeco-Roman world, we have always heard that "the East" was where the wealth was. It's only after going through this lecture series that I paid any heed to "the East". My notion of Turkish history revolved around only Istanbul but there is so much more to it! Prof. Harl, as always, manages to balance detail and comprehensiveness. He never loses his focus on the Turkish peninsula while traversing the histories of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome; something which many others get tempted into.
November 6, 2015
Kenneth Harl is my favorite. His course on the Vikings was really interesting. I think this is more his usual topic, but not so much mine. It was all right. A lot of information to cover and it goes fast. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had read more extensively in the subject BEFORE listening.
December 5, 2024
These were interesting.
October 19, 2023
Even if you’ve read the second half of Gibbon, there’s much to learn from these lectures about an influential region. Professor Harl’s coverage of the Hittites was fascinating, though I would have liked more detail. The lectures on the classical period were quite an eye-opener; I’d known some of the details, but never quite added them up to realize how much of what we call Greek was Anatolian.
I will respectfully disagree with reader123’s scepticism about the audio-only version of the course; I listened to this in the gym, though I do recommend getting the associated PDF. (Even if you didn’t buy the course from The Great Courses, they can sell you a hard copy directly.) For once the company did an excellent job of providing the necessary maps.
((Re-)watching October 2023, in preparation for a company trip to Constantinople.)
I will respectfully disagree with reader123’s scepticism about the audio-only version of the course; I listened to this in the gym, though I do recommend getting the associated PDF. (Even if you didn’t buy the course from The Great Courses, they can sell you a hard copy directly.) For once the company did an excellent job of providing the necessary maps.
((Re-)watching October 2023, in preparation for a company trip to Constantinople.)
February 21, 2023
I liked it.
I checked it out from my digital library during a road trip without really reading the description. I just wanted something nonfiction and thought some history would be good for me. I didn't realize that this is a series of lectures. I really enjoyed it! It took me a while to finish, after the road trip ended, so it's not particularly gripping, but I didn't expect it to be. The lecturer speaks well without annoying habits (at least not that I noticed), and the material is presented clearly. I would recommend looking at a map before starting, though, just to have an idea of where all the locations are. :)
I checked it out from my digital library during a road trip without really reading the description. I just wanted something nonfiction and thought some history would be good for me. I didn't realize that this is a series of lectures. I really enjoyed it! It took me a while to finish, after the road trip ended, so it's not particularly gripping, but I didn't expect it to be. The lecturer speaks well without annoying habits (at least not that I noticed), and the material is presented clearly. I would recommend looking at a map before starting, though, just to have an idea of where all the locations are. :)
March 30, 2021
Amazing!
This is now one of my all time favorite Great Courses so far, right up there with The History of Ancient Egypt by Dr. Bob Brier.
Turkey, Hittite, Troy, Greece, Rome, Persia.. even a dash of Egypt. This covers so many different ancient civilizations and is presented in just such an enjoyable format. It just was simply an absolute pleasure to go through. Instead of "couldn't put it down", ... I couldn't turn it off.
Dr. Harl did an outstanding job. I highly recommend this Great Course.
This is now one of my all time favorite Great Courses so far, right up there with The History of Ancient Egypt by Dr. Bob Brier.
Turkey, Hittite, Troy, Greece, Rome, Persia.. even a dash of Egypt. This covers so many different ancient civilizations and is presented in just such an enjoyable format. It just was simply an absolute pleasure to go through. Instead of "couldn't put it down", ... I couldn't turn it off.
Dr. Harl did an outstanding job. I highly recommend this Great Course.
June 30, 2015
The lecturer does a really good job of making the material interesting and is obviously knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his subject. The lectures cover civilizations in Turkey from the earliest known civilizations until the Ottoman era. Since I'd read quite a bit of fiction and nonfiction about these civilizations and had several world history classes in college a lot of it was familiar. So really the three stars are the result of that. Otherwise I'd have rated it four.
September 13, 2015
An interesting set of lectures. Most of my classics courses were slightly farther west - Greece and Rome - so I didn't come into this knowing a lot about the civilizations of Asia Minor.
Reinforced my opinions that the Crusades were a terrible thing on all sides, though.
Reinforced my opinions that the Crusades were a terrible thing on all sides, though.
September 19, 2020
For retirement my wife gave me a cruise to Istanbul. It was wasted on a guy who knew so little of the city. Make sure you at least listen to this before making any such trip. One can actually feel Harl jumping up and down with excitement in his voice as he lectures of Turkey.
September 12, 2021
I’ve been listening to lots of courses on the history of the Bible lands and history of the ancient Mediterranean world. So this course on what’s basically Turkey today really filled out the edges of both biblical study and Greek and Roman study. A well done and interesting course.
April 9, 2015
Fantastic intro into Asian history.
February 1, 2016
Recommended by a friend whose future book recommendations I will implicitly trust.
June 29, 2016
The information is very interesting, but the narrating professor drives me bonkers with his nonstandard pronunciations and use of "uh"- often multiple times- in nearly every sentence.
January 23, 2017
Informative lectures with a good balance between generalities and specific incidents and facts, decently delivered.
August 25, 2019
A very good option to listen about the history of the frontier between west and east! Assyrians vs Hitites, Greeks vs Persians, Romans vs Turks (and arabs and crusaders...).
December 27, 2020
Very enjoyable and informative set of lectures.
September 17, 2021
The subject matter was interesting, but I didn't like the professor's style/delivery.
December 26, 2022
Before reading these lectures, I could not even imagine that Anatolia was such a central region for the ancient history. Great for overall historical erudition.
November 14, 2023
Fantastic intro into Asian history.
February 16, 2026
I love Kenneth Harl.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews