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History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration
12 hours and 59 minutes
Mutiny. Disease. Starvation. Cannibals. From the ancient wayfarers to modern astronauts, world explorers have blazed trails fraught with danger. Yet, as History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration vividly demonstrates, exploration continues to be one of humanity's deepest impulses.
Across 24 lectures that unveil the process by which we came to know the far reaches of our planet, you'll witness the awe-inspiring and surprisingly interconnected tale of global exploration. An award-winning history professor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, revolutionizes how you view the world as he introduces you to some of the greatest and most influential explorers ever known-successful as well as unsuccessful, admirable as well as flawed. You'll be spellbound as you learn of the treacherous, at times fatal, expeditions into the unknown these adventurers embarked upon, whether to the frozen Poles, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the ocean's depths, or the final frontier of space.
Through it all, you consider what drove these intrepid individuals, from proselytizing and pilgrimage to the lure of wealth, conquest, fame, and new lands, as evidenced by the Vikings' arrival in North America; Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road to China; Christopher Columbus' "Enterprise of the Indies"; the conquistadors' ravages in Latin America; and the tiny kingdom of Portugal's triumphant circumnavigation of Africa to seize control of trade in the Indian Ocean.
In every lesson, you'll follow these fascinating figures - including several remarkable women - as they venture into uncharted territory and put themselves, and often their crews, in dire peril. With Professor Liulevicius' uniquely global approach, you also get a meaningful portrait of the travels of non-Westerners, as well as the perspectives of discovered people.
Mutiny. Disease. Starvation. Cannibals. From the ancient wayfarers to modern astronauts, world explorers have blazed trails fraught with danger. Yet, as History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration vividly demonstrates, exploration continues to be one of humanity's deepest impulses.
Across 24 lectures that unveil the process by which we came to know the far reaches of our planet, you'll witness the awe-inspiring and surprisingly interconnected tale of global exploration. An award-winning history professor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, revolutionizes how you view the world as he introduces you to some of the greatest and most influential explorers ever known-successful as well as unsuccessful, admirable as well as flawed. You'll be spellbound as you learn of the treacherous, at times fatal, expeditions into the unknown these adventurers embarked upon, whether to the frozen Poles, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the ocean's depths, or the final frontier of space.
Through it all, you consider what drove these intrepid individuals, from proselytizing and pilgrimage to the lure of wealth, conquest, fame, and new lands, as evidenced by the Vikings' arrival in North America; Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road to China; Christopher Columbus' "Enterprise of the Indies"; the conquistadors' ravages in Latin America; and the tiny kingdom of Portugal's triumphant circumnavigation of Africa to seize control of trade in the Indian Ocean.
In every lesson, you'll follow these fascinating figures - including several remarkable women - as they venture into uncharted territory and put themselves, and often their crews, in dire peril. With Professor Liulevicius' uniquely global approach, you also get a meaningful portrait of the travels of non-Westerners, as well as the perspectives of discovered people.
13 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2014
14 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
23 books86 followersDistinguished Professor in the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences
Biography
Professor Liulevicius specializes in modern German history, with a particular focus on German relations with Eastern Europe. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Peace, and Revolution from 1994-95. He has taught at the University of Tennessee since 1995. From 2008 to 2021, he served as the director of the Center for the Study of War and Society.
Biography
Professor Liulevicius specializes in modern German history, with a particular focus on German relations with Eastern Europe. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Peace, and Revolution from 1994-95. He has taught at the University of Tennessee since 1995. From 2008 to 2021, he served as the director of the Center for the Study of War and Society.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
March 25, 2021
This Great Course (like many) falls into the category I like to call “intellectual cotton candy”—full of information curious enough to fascinate, but not complex enough to challenge. It is difficult not to enjoy. Besides, exploration is naturally compelling—the lure of the beyond, the confrontation with the unknown. Now that travel is impossible, I found the subject doubly poignant, as I have a serious case of pandemic cabin fever.
Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius has a conspicuously great name, and he is a skilled teacher. Each one of these lectures is a masterful balancing act between historical context and dramatic narrative, focusing on one particular explorer or group of voyages. Many consistent themes emerge: the tension between scientific curiosity and the lust for gain or fame, the mixture of bravery and recklessness that spurred so many explorers onward, the physical dangers (including novel illnesses, like scurvy or the bends) inherent in traversing new ground. But what stuck out the most for me was the amalgam of noble and base intentions that accompany these voyages.
On the one hand, there is the all-too-human urge to push the boundaries of the possible, the quixotic urge to see what has not been seen before—something I find wholly admirable, indeed one of the great virtues of our species. And yet, so many of the voyages in these lectures are connected with crimes: theft, kidnapping, enslavement, rape, murder, and even the wholesale destruction of cultures and seizure of lands. The cases of Columbus and the Conquistadores are obvious examples of this; but even scientific travelers (like Captain Cook), religious missionaries (like the Jesuits), or early tourists (like Ida Pfeiffer), are connected with the long history of colonialism that swallowed up so many non-Western cultures. And it struck me that, in modern-day mass tourism, this tension still exists (albeit on a smaller scale), as tourists can, say, drive up rental prices or cause environmental damage. Even so, it is hard to believe the world would be a better place if nobody left home.
Many of the explorers in these lectures will be familiar—Marco Polo, Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Columbus—but there will likely be some surprises. In my case, I had hardly even heard of Pytheas the Greek, and knew close to nothing about his amazing voyages. But as impressive as these figures are, what fascinated me most of all were the failures—those who ventured out, never to return again, such as Sir John Franklin’s quest to find the Northwest Passage. For it is in these cases, most of all, that the terrorible danger of exploration, the ever-present possibility of catastrophe, is most clearly apparent. Why do we humans continue with such folly, rather than stay put where we are? Simply because there is no pleasure like discovery.
Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius has a conspicuously great name, and he is a skilled teacher. Each one of these lectures is a masterful balancing act between historical context and dramatic narrative, focusing on one particular explorer or group of voyages. Many consistent themes emerge: the tension between scientific curiosity and the lust for gain or fame, the mixture of bravery and recklessness that spurred so many explorers onward, the physical dangers (including novel illnesses, like scurvy or the bends) inherent in traversing new ground. But what stuck out the most for me was the amalgam of noble and base intentions that accompany these voyages.
On the one hand, there is the all-too-human urge to push the boundaries of the possible, the quixotic urge to see what has not been seen before—something I find wholly admirable, indeed one of the great virtues of our species. And yet, so many of the voyages in these lectures are connected with crimes: theft, kidnapping, enslavement, rape, murder, and even the wholesale destruction of cultures and seizure of lands. The cases of Columbus and the Conquistadores are obvious examples of this; but even scientific travelers (like Captain Cook), religious missionaries (like the Jesuits), or early tourists (like Ida Pfeiffer), are connected with the long history of colonialism that swallowed up so many non-Western cultures. And it struck me that, in modern-day mass tourism, this tension still exists (albeit on a smaller scale), as tourists can, say, drive up rental prices or cause environmental damage. Even so, it is hard to believe the world would be a better place if nobody left home.
Many of the explorers in these lectures will be familiar—Marco Polo, Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Columbus—but there will likely be some surprises. In my case, I had hardly even heard of Pytheas the Greek, and knew close to nothing about his amazing voyages. But as impressive as these figures are, what fascinated me most of all were the failures—those who ventured out, never to return again, such as Sir John Franklin’s quest to find the Northwest Passage. For it is in these cases, most of all, that the terrorible danger of exploration, the ever-present possibility of catastrophe, is most clearly apparent. Why do we humans continue with such folly, rather than stay put where we are? Simply because there is no pleasure like discovery.
March 13, 2021
There were some familiar stories here - Marco Polo, Columbus, the Conquistadors, Lewis and Clark - and some not so familiar (to me) stories - St. Brendan, an Irish Monk from the 4th century who may or may not have found America before the Vikings; Xuanzang, a 7th century Buddhist who traveled all throughout Asia and the Middle East, despite being forbidden to do so (whoops); Ibn Battuta of Morocco in the 14th century and many, many more. It's the history of exploration of the world throughout the ages, from the innocent quests to learn and discover to the violent conquests to enslave and colonize to the explorations beyond our world. Some of it's inspirational, some of it is disgraceful (you can probably guess which parts) but all of it changed our world forever.
Prof. Luilevicius is easy to listen to and keeps to the material. The PDF provided is pretty comprehensive, so if you're trying to remember what he said about the Mariana Trench or about that dude Humboldt who we've all forgotten but who really was the Most Interesting Man on Earth in his time and forever changed how we view the ecosystem (by the fact that we even understand ecosystems exist), you'll be able to find it easily. No quizzes in this one :( but he does provide "food for thought" questions at the end of each section.
Prof. Luilevicius is easy to listen to and keeps to the material. The PDF provided is pretty comprehensive, so if you're trying to remember what he said about the Mariana Trench or about that dude Humboldt who we've all forgotten but who really was the Most Interesting Man on Earth in his time and forever changed how we view the ecosystem (by the fact that we even understand ecosystems exist), you'll be able to find it easily. No quizzes in this one :( but he does provide "food for thought" questions at the end of each section.
January 16, 2016
This is my second pass at a Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius course. The first lecture series was called Turning Points in Modern History, in which Liulevicius extolled the virtues of the potato. I had been slightly aware of the importance of the potato but Liulevicius' lecture claimed that the potato could be credited as one of the key players in allowing the human population, at large, to grow and flourish. It was also thanks to the potato, according to Liulevicius, that humans were able to make it to the industrial revolution. After all, the potato fueled us, in a life sustaining manner, that allowed us to exist long enough to invent and fuel machines to do the work we now see all around us. His lecture on the potato made me fall in love with him and the way he saw the world. With my newfound love of the potato, I bought a whole book on its history. Loved it.
Since Liulevicius had such a unique and passionate way of viewing history, I thought I would try his series on explorers. I sort of liked them in school. I came to love the story of how the natives saw Cortez on his horse and mistook him for a god, thus allowing him entry into to kill them all and steal their gold, much like what happened to the people of Troy when letting in the Trojan Horse. I wasn't quite sure I would be interested in the rest. My level of excitement for explorer stories tends to be on the low side. But, Liulevicius came through again. If you have updated your knowledge of explorers since elementary school, you might not find this series as exciting as I did. If it's been a while though, you might really enjoy this series.
The lecture series takes the listener through a history of exploration of Earth and later into space, conquering every area we were able to reach. Some explorers lied, some exaggerated, some gave what seem to be extremely accurate accounts of their travels. Liulevicius makes the listener feel part of the actual journey.
**********************the following contains a spoiler*******************
If a lecture series can have a spoiler, this is it: Despite the craze to name GPSs and hiking boots after Magellan, he was indeed not the first person to circumnavigate the globe. He died halfway through the journey. Considering this, the slogan for those GPSs and hiking boots should be, "Magellan GPS (boots), for those of you who only want to make it halfway through your journey."
Turns out the most likely candidate for the first person to successfully circumnavigate the globe is Magellan's slave Enrique. He was taken from an island by boat on a route that was in the opposite direction that he later took as a passenger on board Magellan's boat, which brought him back to that same island. In all likelihood, he continued circling the globe after already completing one full circle.
Since Liulevicius had such a unique and passionate way of viewing history, I thought I would try his series on explorers. I sort of liked them in school. I came to love the story of how the natives saw Cortez on his horse and mistook him for a god, thus allowing him entry into to kill them all and steal their gold, much like what happened to the people of Troy when letting in the Trojan Horse. I wasn't quite sure I would be interested in the rest. My level of excitement for explorer stories tends to be on the low side. But, Liulevicius came through again. If you have updated your knowledge of explorers since elementary school, you might not find this series as exciting as I did. If it's been a while though, you might really enjoy this series.
The lecture series takes the listener through a history of exploration of Earth and later into space, conquering every area we were able to reach. Some explorers lied, some exaggerated, some gave what seem to be extremely accurate accounts of their travels. Liulevicius makes the listener feel part of the actual journey.
**********************the following contains a spoiler*******************
If a lecture series can have a spoiler, this is it: Despite the craze to name GPSs and hiking boots after Magellan, he was indeed not the first person to circumnavigate the globe. He died halfway through the journey. Considering this, the slogan for those GPSs and hiking boots should be, "Magellan GPS (boots), for those of you who only want to make it halfway through your journey."
Turns out the most likely candidate for the first person to successfully circumnavigate the globe is Magellan's slave Enrique. He was taken from an island by boat on a route that was in the opposite direction that he later took as a passenger on board Magellan's boat, which brought him back to that same island. In all likelihood, he continued circling the globe after already completing one full circle.
October 23, 2019
It was good to be reminded of well-known explorers: St. Brendan, Marco Polo, Columbus, Magellan, von Humboldt, Captain Cook, etc.
However, I greatly enjoyed exploring unknown (to me) explorers: Xuanzang, Ibn Battuta, Ida Pfeiffer, and Mary Kingsley.
A joyous jolt of the reading life is learning something new, and then finding it somewhere else soon after. Prof. Liulevicius introduced me to Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveler who never retraced a route; and the next week I read about him in Louis L'Amour's memoir The Education of a Wandering Man.
Because of this course, my husband and I will watch two short films tonight: The Deepest Dive about the Trieste exploring the Mariana Trench and one on the famous photograph of the earthrise from Apollo 8.
However, I greatly enjoyed exploring unknown (to me) explorers: Xuanzang, Ibn Battuta, Ida Pfeiffer, and Mary Kingsley.
A joyous jolt of the reading life is learning something new, and then finding it somewhere else soon after. Prof. Liulevicius introduced me to Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveler who never retraced a route; and the next week I read about him in Louis L'Amour's memoir The Education of a Wandering Man.
Because of this course, my husband and I will watch two short films tonight: The Deepest Dive about the Trieste exploring the Mariana Trench and one on the famous photograph of the earthrise from Apollo 8.
September 23, 2021
Good course on a fascinating subject. Liulevicius covers a wealth of interesting material, though this is definitely a case where depth is sacrificed for breadth. I'd have liked to learn a lot more about some of these explorers and their journeys.
October 24, 2016
This might be my favorite Great Courses lecture that I've listened to. It's all about those individuals who, for reasons of religion, science, conquest, or a simple desire to see the world, go off into unknown territory. It covers the historic figures that you would expect to show up - Marco Polo, Magellan, Lewis and Clark - but there were plenty of people discussed that I knew little to nothing about. Their stories span from the Polynesians somehow making it to the islands of the Pacific, all the way to space exploration. In all, very interesting and easy to listen to. Highly recommended.
April 3, 2016
Exceptionally entertaining. My reading list has grown considerably after the many vignettes of explorers. I expect to return to this regularly.
August 28, 2022
Found this very enjoyable. The lecturer is engaging and entertaining.
Though mostly focuses on the voyages we would know about it does include specific lectures on non european voyages which I didn't know much about.
Would I recommend? - Yes.
Would I reread? - Yes.
August 20, 2022
A fascinating course. I highly recommend this this audiobook.
November 14, 2018
History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration was a fascinating and exciting listen. The audiobook was narrated by the author Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius (try saying that three times fast!) and I found him pleasant to listen to. You can tell he is passionate about the subject matter and his fervor really shines through as he recounts these amazing stories.
Mr. Liulevicius takes us on the boats of the early Genoese explorers who dared to enter the Atlantic Ocean, only to be never heard of again. We learn about Pytheas the Greek who left Rome and explored the great North. St. Brendan, an Irish Monk went all the way to Iceland, and possibly farther. Marco Polo and Leif Eriksson make an appearance, as do Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. Ibn Battuta left his home to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, only to go on and explore Asia and not return home for years! Want to learn about Mr. Henry Hudson and Captain James Cook and their treacherous journeys to North America? It’s all here.
I enjoyed the lectures immensely and the things and people I learned about added to my list of books for further reading. I find it fascinating how the world grew, little by little, by each explorer that dared to go out into the unknown. Some explored for conquest and riches, others for science and knowledge, and others simply for the sake of adventure and excitement. Some lived to tell the tale and others perished.
If you’re interested in world exploration and how the map of the world grew into what we know today, I highly recommend these educational and wonderful courses!
Mr. Liulevicius takes us on the boats of the early Genoese explorers who dared to enter the Atlantic Ocean, only to be never heard of again. We learn about Pytheas the Greek who left Rome and explored the great North. St. Brendan, an Irish Monk went all the way to Iceland, and possibly farther. Marco Polo and Leif Eriksson make an appearance, as do Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. Ibn Battuta left his home to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, only to go on and explore Asia and not return home for years! Want to learn about Mr. Henry Hudson and Captain James Cook and their treacherous journeys to North America? It’s all here.
I enjoyed the lectures immensely and the things and people I learned about added to my list of books for further reading. I find it fascinating how the world grew, little by little, by each explorer that dared to go out into the unknown. Some explored for conquest and riches, others for science and knowledge, and others simply for the sake of adventure and excitement. Some lived to tell the tale and others perished.
If you’re interested in world exploration and how the map of the world grew into what we know today, I highly recommend these educational and wonderful courses!
April 28, 2021
3.5 stars. What a great the premise for this lecture series—an intellectual tour of humanity’s greatest journeys! Each chapter corresponds with one or two main explorers, and they are organized chronologically. What the course offers in breadth, however, it lacks in depth. The chapters on Latin American colonial historiography felt particularly thin, but it may just feel that way to me since I’ve read several diaries kept by Spanish conquistadors. My favorite chapters were the two dedicated to female explorers. Ida Pfeiffer led quite the life! Overall, this was a nice break from the kinds of material I normally read.
May 10, 2016
This is the one of the most fascinating "classes" I have ever taken. Whatever I could say about it would not do it justice. Professor Liulevicius is engaging, knowledgeable, and presents the material in the most interesting, clear manner, helping the listener truly connect with the historical event, with the people involved I. It, and with the ways in which that event has shaped our world today. Very highly recommended.
January 30, 2016
recommended as an audio book. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Reliving my Antarctica journey.
Reliving my Antarctica journey.
December 13, 2015
Fun series of lectures covering a lot of ground, well-presented.
September 10, 2025
In-depth, academic-style overview of some of the great explorers and expeditions in history.
September 6, 2018
I really enjoyed this one; the scope was broad and the inclusive style of the author took in the whole world a lot better than I had expected. The chapters on the European -- Portuguese, Dutch, English or French -- navigators were also not as interesting as the additional sources who were drawn on to enlighten the reader on say Xuan Zang or the Japanese quest for Westernisation, though admittedly including the last was quite a weird move.
I also enjoyed the crossover with Alfred Lansing's 'Endurance' which I read a short time ago -- there was no doubt at any point, that Mr Shackleton and the ill-fated Imperial Transantarctic Expedition would be featured herein. What I was not so sure about was the tone with which the last chapters in space were described -- so many of the books I have read recently seem to be jumping off to conclusions about things which have not yet happened, such as man's future exploration in outer space without giving credence to the facts that are acting to limit this right now.
Overall, this was a very good overview of different peoples' explorations as well as some of the greatest names who have worked to advance science, whether it be Humboldt, Cook or Pytheas.
Originally posted here.
I also enjoyed the crossover with Alfred Lansing's 'Endurance' which I read a short time ago -- there was no doubt at any point, that Mr Shackleton and the ill-fated Imperial Transantarctic Expedition would be featured herein. What I was not so sure about was the tone with which the last chapters in space were described -- so many of the books I have read recently seem to be jumping off to conclusions about things which have not yet happened, such as man's future exploration in outer space without giving credence to the facts that are acting to limit this right now.
Overall, this was a very good overview of different peoples' explorations as well as some of the greatest names who have worked to advance science, whether it be Humboldt, Cook or Pytheas.
Originally posted here.
July 23, 2021
These are great summaries of historical explorations of importance. The 30 minute lectures are long enough to fully encapsulate the importance and general nature of each of Liulevicius' chosen voyages, by sea, land, underwater and in space. These summaries provide enough details to whet the appetite and encourage further reading, which I would like to do for: the missionaries who followed the Spanish conquistadors; Captain Cook, the "benevalent" leader of his ship and crew; Ida Pfeiffer, the Victorian traveler and writer who first developed interest in tourism via voyages; and the 1960 deep dive of the Trieste into the Mariana Trench by the US Navy, where marine life was unexpectedly discovered in spite of complete darkness 7 miles underwater at a pressure of around 17,000 psi! Liulevicius also correctly chooses the Apollo 8 mission as a space highlight, although the daring first manned space voyage by USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagain has to be the most courageous, with Yuri orbiting the earth rather than just traveling up into space and down to earth like the US' first 2 Mercury suborbital flights.
September 16, 2021
Professor Liulevicius tells us the story of some of the most famous explorers throughout history. Each chapter is focuses on a single journey or person, be it Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, or the Conquistador's domination of Latin America.
In these lectures, Liulevicius finds the perfect balance between telling an interesting and informative story and getting the listener bogged down in details. He tells us about the people and the journeys they took, how we know what we know about them, and some of the bits historians are still debating over.
Some of these stories are familiar, and some I had never heard of. All of us know about Ferdinand Magellan's discovery of a route around South America, but I never knew about his wild death. Other explorers, such as Henry Hudson, I had never heard of at all.
You'll likely gain more knowledge listening to Liulevicius's lectures than you would in an entire semester of college history.
In these lectures, Liulevicius finds the perfect balance between telling an interesting and informative story and getting the listener bogged down in details. He tells us about the people and the journeys they took, how we know what we know about them, and some of the bits historians are still debating over.
Some of these stories are familiar, and some I had never heard of. All of us know about Ferdinand Magellan's discovery of a route around South America, but I never knew about his wild death. Other explorers, such as Henry Hudson, I had never heard of at all.
You'll likely gain more knowledge listening to Liulevicius's lectures than you would in an entire semester of college history.
October 12, 2020
A fun little ride of dozens of audio chapters about great explorers. Impressively cross-cultural, meaning not just Europeans and Americans. But mostly :| Each one flies around its own narrative arc - sometimes telling tales over months. Other times, over decades. Each as fits the story. A nice listen. Ironically, I started reading this around the same time Lapham's Quarterly: Discovery.
While lip service is given to finding themes, there really aren't any.
While lip service is given to finding themes, there really aren't any.
March 1, 2018
Chocked-full of things that I did not know about famous explorers (or groups of explorers), and information about explorers that I never knew about to begin with (such as Ibn Battuta). They are all related within their time frames, their effects on our world (or as much of it as was known at the time), and their place in history are all given along with lots of other fascinating information.
The professor gives animated and interesting lectures for each. The audio is great listening!
The professor gives animated and interesting lectures for each. The audio is great listening!
January 1, 2021
A lecture series that covers historical travelers well-known to a western audience (Pytheas the Greek, Marco Polo, Magellan, etc.) and many others (Ibn Battuta, Ida Pfeiffer, Mary Kingsley, and many others). The lectures about the Arctic explorers are particularly riveting.
Like all of Dr. Liulevicius's content, the lectures are engaging, beautifully balanced, and carefully set in historical context. By far my favorite TGC lecturer!
Like all of Dr. Liulevicius's content, the lectures are engaging, beautifully balanced, and carefully set in historical context. By far my favorite TGC lecturer!
March 9, 2021
This was just fun. The lectures chart various explorations. Sometimes an explorer gets his or her own lecture and sometimes especially late in the course it is more about the exploration of a place such as the artic.
The instructor does a good job of setting the scene and spinning an interesting yarn which keeps you rivetted to the story he is telling. Plus it is educational. What more could you ask for?
The instructor does a good job of setting the scene and spinning an interesting yarn which keeps you rivetted to the story he is telling. Plus it is educational. What more could you ask for?
July 27, 2022
This provides a decent survey, as long as you are comfortable with each of your exploration venues condensed into half an hour. The stories themselves are interesting enough, but there's very little that's mind-broadening here. The author takes very few risks in revealing unflattering information about any of these explorers. As a survey, though, it is generally interesting, particularly in the connections and commonalities drawn among the different venues of exploration.
January 22, 2021
Engaging lecture series that covers many well lnow explores as well as some I was not familiar with. Covers a vast swath of history but not as a survey but rather important examples. I was left wanting more and the course could have easily been twice as long and I would still have been asking for more.
August 8, 2020
I’ll admit I’m a middle brow, middle class, white guy who is a sucker for learning. I’ll probably like any material from “The Great Courses,” but I especially liked this look at mankind’s innate desire “to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
October 26, 2020
P pretty good overview of interesting explorerers and their stories at a high level. I wish that it could go deeper on some of these stores but as potentially a good jumping off point for readers interested in additional details in other material.
June 2, 2021
This is a fascinating course from The Great Courses. From the earliest explorers on, the listener is treated to an excellent history of exploration. If you are interested in exploration you will love this course. With the professor`s extensive knowledge it is certain you will learn something new.
July 7, 2017
An excellent professor who crafts each lecture with both precision and interesting stories!
February 5, 2019
Just finished listening the audiobook, read by the author. Really enjoyed the style and scope of the classes.
October 4, 2023
I enjoyed this novel and was very entertained by the stories of some early explorers that I did not know of. I think I might have even rated this a five just because of the extensive information if it hadn't done a disservice to two people who deserved a much better representation in this book.
The first would be the Canadian explorer McKenzie who went to the west coast in Vancouver a full 10 years before Lewis and Clark reached Oregon.( after erroneously following the wrong river to the Arctic Circle which is now of course the MacKenzie River in Canada.) I realized the significance of Lewis and Clark's expedition opened up the whole Western United States, but McKenzie did it first and should have been more than just a passing mention of little more than one sentence.
The second would be the fact that they skipped over all the early astronauts when they finally started talking about space exploration, and jumped right to the first manned to moonshots and really did not honor the early explorers of the space race like they did the early explorers of the rest of this planet.
However, I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you are interested in the early explorers. It's a fascinating book.
The first would be the Canadian explorer McKenzie who went to the west coast in Vancouver a full 10 years before Lewis and Clark reached Oregon.( after erroneously following the wrong river to the Arctic Circle which is now of course the MacKenzie River in Canada.) I realized the significance of Lewis and Clark's expedition opened up the whole Western United States, but McKenzie did it first and should have been more than just a passing mention of little more than one sentence.
The second would be the fact that they skipped over all the early astronauts when they finally started talking about space exploration, and jumped right to the first manned to moonshots and really did not honor the early explorers of the space race like they did the early explorers of the rest of this planet.
However, I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you are interested in the early explorers. It's a fascinating book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews