history's greatest voyages of exploration

History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration

Vejas gabriel liulevicius.

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2014

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History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration

• By: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius , The Great Courses
• Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
• Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
• 4.6 out of 5 stars 4.6 (1,960 ratings)

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Publisher's summary

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

• Series: The Great Courses: Civilization & Culture
• Categories: History

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Good for even a non-existentialist

• By Gary on 07-24-15

By: Robert C. Solomon , and others

The Iliad of Homer

• By: Elizabeth Vandiver, The Great Courses
• Narrated by: Elizabeth Vandiver
• Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,650
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,462
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,453

For thousands of years, Homer's ancient epic poem the

Iliad has enchanted readers from around the world. When you join Professor Vandiver for this lecture series on the Iliad, you'll come to understand what has enthralled and gripped so many people. Her compelling 12-lecture look at this literary masterpiece -whether it's the work of many authors or the "vision" of a single blind poet - makes it vividly clear why, after almost 3,000 years, the

Iliad remains not only among the greatest adventure stories ever told but also one of the most compelling meditations on the human condition ever written.

Vandiver never disappoints

• By Machteacher on 07-23-13

By: Elizabeth Vandiver , and others

The Life and Death of Stars

• By: Keivan G. Stassun, The Great Courses
• Narrated by: Keivan G. Stassun
• Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 236
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 200
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 198

We understand the stars at a much deeper level, not as legendary figures connected with constellations, but as engines of matter, energy, and the raw material of life itself. The Life and Death of Stars introduces you to this story in 24 half-hour lectures that lead you through the essential ideas of astrophysics - the science of stars. Your guide is Professor Stassun, an award-winning teacher and noted astrophysicist. He provides lively, eloquent, and authoritative explanations at a level suitable for science novices as well as for those who already know their way around the starry sky.

Stassun keeps referring to visual material

• By pondo on 12-27-18

By: Keivan G. Stassun , and others

Renaissance: The Transformation of the West

• By: Jennifer McNabb, The Great Courses
• Narrated by: Jennifer McNabb
• Length: 26 hrs and 35 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 260
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 228
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 229

While it’s easy to get caught up - and, rightfully so - in the art of the Renaissance, you cannot have a full, rounded understanding of just how important these centuries were without digging beneath the surface, without investigating the period in terms of its politics, its spirituality, its philosophies, its economics, and its societies. Do just that with these 48 lectures that consider the European Renaissance from all sides, that disturb traditional understandings, that tip sacred cows, and that enlarges our understanding of how the Renaissance revolutionized the Western world.

Reads like a bad high school essay.

• By Matthew Dennis on 10-29-18

By: Jennifer McNabb , and others

What listeners say about History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration

• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 1,344
• 4 Stars 473
• 3 Stars 116
• 5 Stars 1,223
• 4 Stars 408
• 5 Stars 1,224
• 4 Stars 383

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.

• Overall 5 out of 5 stars
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 5 out of 5 stars

So much fun!

The author achieves a great story arc even though each lectures tackles a different explorer, a different time. I learned about well known travelers and obscure trail blazers. Easy to listen to. Clear sentence structure, almost conversational.

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2 people found this helpful

• Performance 4 out of 5 stars

Great review

Any additional comments?

Excellent review of important voyages of exploration from antiquity to modern times. My only (minor) complaint is the professor's determination to pronounce every name in the language of that person rather than English. At times sounds forced and is annoying.

Worth Exploring

I was not sure exactly what to expect with this course, but I previously listened to the same professor's course on World War I and decided to give this a shot. In full disclosure, I'm a huge history buff, so I generally like anything related to history. This course did not disappoint. The professor covered an extraordinarily wide range of stories from very early, barely historic voyages of exploration through modern space exploration. Every lesson contained some aspect of history that I did not know before. Each lesson was interesting and kept my attention as the professor told of great voyages of exploration, some incredibly famous and others obscure. The professor did a good job organizing and condensing the materials. The professor also did a good job explaining why some of the famous voyages of exploration are still relevant today.

• Overall 4 out of 5 stars
• Story 4 out of 5 stars

Around the World in Twenty-four Lectures

Useful and engaging. Of course, as with the format for so many Great Courses (which I love, so this is not a slam), limited time means limited information. But what was there was fascinating and Prof. Liulevicius, whose World War I lectures I have heard, is a capable and erudite teacher!

• Playful Red

fantastic read!

this is a fantastic course; I'll be listening to it again and again! and gifting it!

• Riley Burnham

hmmm... grain of salt(!)

that seems to be the necessity of books like these, as they appear to include 'mythology' as well as "real tales," lol again, tho, w/ chapters on Space Exploration, it's immediately evident that either the author is lying blatantly or completely missing the more pressing issue of, erm, astronaut hoaxes & our beloved flat Earth i appreciated tidbits of insight throughout, although it's hard to believe tales like deep-sea dives w/ leaking [& magically stopping] windows & explosions w/ only chocolate bars to eat tales of polar exploration are notoriously questionable, ESPECIALLY when being claimed as South Pole [anything other than a ring of ice i'm more or less calling BS] guess i enjoyed it, hehe

• RedDogRunning

A tear in the space/time continuium

If you could sum up History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration in three words, what would they be?

Passion, Adventure and Discovery

Who was your favorite character and why?

St. Brendon. This Irish Monk's tale of adventure is fascinating in the extreme. I need to learn much more about his travels and what really happened in Newfoundland.

Have you listened to any of Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is a masterpiece, I am still reading his "World War I: The Great War"

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Step through a tear in the Space-Time Continuium to a new universe of Passion, Adventure and Exploration

I feel I have found a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum, stepped through, and found a new universe unbelievably rich with passion, excitement, adventure and discoveries. My brain is on fire! This feeling comes from having completed The Great Courses “History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration – an audible book of 24 lectures supported with a 159 page guidebook. Although I was somewhat familiar with several of the “voyages” described in this course even the lectures on those had a lot of new insights and exciting information to capture my attention. However, the gold was in those lectures that introduced me to explorers that I knew nothing, or next to nothing, about. These were totally transfixing; they kept me engrossed to the exclusion of nearly everything else – transporting me completely to another world. For example, I had not been aware of the a Phoenician fleet, contracted by an Egyptian pharaoh in the 7th century BC, that had sailed around the southern tip of Africa; nor did I have any knowledge of the journeys of Pytheas The Greek who, around 340-325 BC, ventured from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe to seek the edge of the world, doing such things as walking the circumference of Britain and then sailing north to perhaps what is now known as Iceland. I particularly want to learn more about St. Brendan (480-575 BC), an Irish Monk, who traveled in a leather boat to perhaps discover Newfoundland and other fascinating areas of the frozen north. I was intrigued to read that when the Vikings reached Newfoundland the Native Americans told them that white men in white robes had already been there and had left (monks apparently were not good at procreation and colony establishment). Additional new revelations included: • Buddhist monk Xuanzang’s journey to the West in the 600s – his unapproved departure from China on a quest for holy writings. This journey, decades long, resulted in his returning to China with a caravan loaded down with hundreds of boxes of scrolls and religious artifacts. He became a Buddhist saint across several Asian cultures. • Ibn Battuta’s epic journey to explore the world and never take the same route next. He left Morocco in 1325; not see his hometown or family again for 24 years. Travelling through the Middle East, India, Asia, eastern Africa and Spain, staying the entire time within the network of Muslim civilization, he illustrates how the traveler binds together the world These and much, much more made this course a magnificent portal to new great reads. Lastly, the Bibliography of the guidebook is a rich resource for future reading. There is enough there to keep me going for the next 100 years and perhaps beyond – great stuff!

14 people found this helpful

• Adam J McDaniel

Could not put it down. Was sad it had to end.

This was an excellent course all around. I will be looking for more courses by this lecturer for my next credits.

12 people found this helpful

• Eric James Johnson

Cascading connections

What did you love best about History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration?

I'm a sucker for a story, I suppose, but each one of these explorations seemed to be the lynchpin of human history-- until the next episode was given! It just kept getting better. Professor Liulevicius' delivery is impeccable.

What was one of the most memorable moments of History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration?

I had not realized how determined "The West" had been to avoid Mediterranean pirates-- find the Northwest Passage. It seems to have been one motivator in quite a few explorations.

Which character – as performed by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius – was your favorite?

Unbelievably perfect.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Sacajawea's 'point-man' position during L&C expedition.

Get it. You won't be disappointed.

9 people found this helpful

The best! Highly Recommended!

I listened to all 24 lectures completely spellbound and awed at the intense yearnings of the human spirit to be out there, to see, to conquer, to go farther... Professor Liulevicius has crafted a gem of a course, and I am very grateful I had the opportunity to listen to it. Highly recommended!

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History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration Audio CD – January 1, 2015

• Publisher The Great Courses
• Publication date January 1, 2015
• ISBN-10 1598039113
• ISBN-13 978-1598039115
• See all details

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B014QPRL8I
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Great Courses (January 1, 2015)
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1598039113
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1598039115
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
• #50,279 in Books on CD

About the author

The great courses.

It all began with just a few videotapes—and a brilliant inspiration.

Tom Rollins, the founder of The Great Courses, was a law student at Harvard University and was facing an important exam on the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence—an exam for which he wasn't prepared.

Dreading the notoriously boring subject but knowing his success depended on understanding the material, Rollins obtained videotapes of 10 lectures by a noted authority on the subject, Professor Irving Younger. Rollins planted himself in front of his television late at night and put the first tape into his VCR. What he discovered changed his life.

The tapes were unlike anything Rollins had experienced in his Harvard lecture halls. Professor Younger's lectures were outrageously insightful, impressively thorough, and engagingly witty. Most important: They hammered home the concepts in a way that made the subject both accessible and interesting. They made learning not a chore to be accomplished but an adventure to be experienced.

Rollins played all 10 hours of those lectures nearly nonstop. A few days later he passed his exam and went on to make an "A" in the course.

He never forgot the unique power of recorded lectures by a great teacher—the way that a bright mind could ignite a passion for lifelong learning. And years later, in 1990, Rollins founded The Great Courses to share that unforgettable experience with the rest of the world.

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