Audio only
The Birth of the West
Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth CenturyBy Paul CollinsNarrated by Grover GardnerLength21h 29m
About this audiobook
The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne’s empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture’s birth, of the emergence of our civilization into the light of day.
The Birth of the West tells the story of a transformation from chaos to order, exploring the alien landscape of Europe in transition. It is a fascinating narrative that thoroughly renovates older conceptions of feudalism and what medieval life was actually like. The result is a wholly new vision of how civilization sprang from the unlikeliest of origins, and proof that our tenth-century ancestors are not as remote as we might think.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.6 (443)
Includes Goodreads
GenreHistory, Travel
Length21 hrs 29 mins
Narrated byGrover Gardner
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateOct 25, 2022
LanguageEnglish
More from Paul Collins
The Murder of the CenturyPaul Collins9h 42m3.8 (11K)$26
The Trouble with TomPaul Collins9h 8m3.8 (327)$20
The Book of WilliamPaul Collins6h 43m4.1 (682)$17
Duel with the DevilPaul Collins7h 58m3.8 (3.5K)$26 · $0.00
Not Even WrongPaul Collins6h 51m4.0 (1.3K)$17
Blood & IvyPaul Collins8h 19m3.8 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
Banvard's Folly, Revised EditionPaul Collins9h 51m4.0 (1.3K)$20
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
Ghosts of HiroshimaCharles Pellegrino8h 59m4.5 (877)$23
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
A Cook's TourAnthony Bourdain5h 50m4.2 (38.2K)$28 · $0.00
Will's Red CoatTom Ryan8h 23m4.5 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
South! - The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917 (Annotated)Ernest Henry Shackleton17h 9m4.4 (14.3K)$2 · $0.00
Little PrincesConor Grennan9h 38m4.3 (27.6K)$29 · $0.00
We are Soldiers StillHarold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway7h 46m4.4 (2.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Road to San DonatoRobert Cocuzzo7h 29m4.4 (397)$17 · $0.00
Around the World in 60 SecondsNuseir Yassin7h 48m4.4 (836)$26 · $0.00
The Midwest Survival GuideCharlie Berens6h 6m4.3 (4.9K)$24 · $0.00
The Home of the Blizzard (Annotated)Sir Douglas Mawson19h 2m4.3 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Local WondersTed Kooser6h 21m4.4 (978)$14 · $0.00
Over the Edge of the WorldLaurence Bergreen6h 14m4.3 (23.2K)$24 · $0.00
What Really Happened In WuhanSharri Markson16h 28m4.3 (4.8K)$40 · $0.00
American RambleNeil King10h 58m4.3 (2.8K)$29 · $0.00
In The Footsteps Of RamaVikrant Pande, Neelesh Kulkarni9h 45m4.3 (778)$16 · $0.00
Never Leave the Dogs BehindBrianna Madia5h 37m4.2 (7.8K)$24 · $0.00
Touch the Top of the WorldErik Weihenmayer11h 18m4.3 (2.9K)$20 · $0.00
Mud, Sweat, and TearsBear Grylls9h 25m4.2 (20K)$29 · $0.00
NorthboundNaomi Arnold7h 21m4.3 (669)$24 · $0.00
China RoadRob Gifford10h 35m4.2 (4.7K)$20 · $0.00
Love, AfricaJeffrey Gettleman11h 55m4.2 (3.1K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
The Brothers YorkThomas Penn23h 14m4.3 (1.8K)$30
CoriolanusWilliam Shakespeare3h 21m4.0 (26.5K)$18 · $0.00
My Kingdom for a HorseEd West6h 23m4.2 (307)$17
The Tragedy of CoriolanusWilliam Shakespeare4h3.9 (25.2K)$2 · $0.00
Peter the GreatJacob Abbott6h 53m4.1 (888)$6 · $0.00
What is to be done?Vladimir Lenin7h 23m4.2 (8.2K)$4 · $0.00
The Black TulipAlexandre Dumas8h 38m4.0 (57.1K)$1.20 · $0.00
Secret EmpiresPeter Schweizer6h 54m4.2 (3.4K)$24 · $0.00
In the Graveyard of EmpiresSeth G. Jones13h 10m4.0 (2K)$28
The Black TulipAlexandre Dumas7h 33m4.0 (31.5K)$15 · $0.00
History of Florence and of the Affairs of ItalyNiccolò Machiavelli18h 49m4.0 (738)$2 · $0.00
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Andrew JacksonVarious12h 52m$2 · $0.00
History of the United States: The Administration of Thomas Jefferson (Annotated)Henry Adams52h 28m$3 · $0.00
The Life and Legacy of Lorenzo de' MediciAlfred von Reumont37h 7m4.0 (17)$1 · $0.00
The History of Rome: Rise and Fall of the Empire (Annotated)John Bagnell Bury73h 2m$2 · $0.00
Fourth State of the Union AddressFranklin Pierce1h 13m$1 · $0.00
Battlefield Church, Salop: an historical and descriptive sketchW. G. D. Fletcher53m$2 · $0.00
Richard IIJacob Abbott5h 18m3.2 (69)$6 · $0.00
The Struggle between President Johnson and Congress over ReconstructionCharles E. Chadsey2h 57m$2 · $0.00
The Day of the Confederacy: A Chronicle of the Embattled SouthNathaniel W. Stephenson3h 11m3.9 (27)$1 · $0.00