This very short introduction offers listeners a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life.

In How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance, you’ll study the remarkable trajectory of the Medici from the late 14th century to 1737, when the Medici dynasty ended. Across that span of time, you’ll witness the birth of the Italian Renaissance, and the rise of the Medici as an economic powerhouse under founder Giovanni de’ Medici. You’ll learn how the Medici came to dominate Florence and how they played diverse roles in politics, religion, and culture.

What can we still learn from C.S. Lewis? Find out in these 12 insightful lectures that cover the author's spiritual autobiography, novels, and his scholarly writings that reflect on pain and grief, love and friendship, prophecy and miracles, and education and mythology.

Grammar! For many of us, the word triggers memories of finger-wagging schoolteachers, and of wrestling with the ambiguous and complicated rules of using formal language. But what is grammar? In fact, it's the integral basis of how we speak and write. As such, a refined awareness of grammar opens a world of possibilities for both your pleasure in the English language and your skill in using it, in both speech and the written word.

Civilization was born 8,000 years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophisticated urban societies. In the cities that they built, half of human history took place. In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements seven thousand years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Bringing the people of this land to life in vibrant detail, the author chronicles the rise and fall of power during this period.

The Tibetan Buddhist tradition has known over 13 centuries of continuous development. During that time, it has spread among the neighboring peoples - the Mongol, Himalayan, and Siberian peoples, Manchus and Chinese. At its height, it has been practiced in regions as far west as the Volga river and to the east in Beijing. Its capacity for creative adaptation is demonstrated by its recent growth in Europe and America.

抗争、分裂、外圧・・・ 先人たちは、人生の難題をどう解決したのか?

Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University takes you back through time and around the world, following the linguistic trails left by generations of humans that lead back to the beginnings of language. Utilizing historical theories and cutting-edge research, these 34 astonishing lectures will introduce you to the major language families of the world and their many offspring, including a variety of languages that are no longer spoken but provide vital links between past and present.

本書は、新発見の、あるいはこれまで省みられなかった資料を利用し、おざなりの（リベラル歴史家に都合の良い）解釈で終わっている重要事件の深掘を試みるものである。たとえば、第二次世

Look beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts. Over the course of 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Garland covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people, from its earliest beginnings through the Middle Ages.

China and Japan have cultural and political connections that stretch back 1,500 years. But today, their relationship is strained. China's military buildup deeply worries Japan, while Japan's brutal occupation of China in World War II remains an open wound. In recent years, less than 10 percent of each population had positive feelings toward the other, and both countries insist that the other side must deal openly with its history before relations can improve. Ezra Vogel's China and Japan examines key turning points in Sino-Japanese history.

Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Regarded as one of the most mesmerizing performers of his day, he lives on in his music – his waltzes, mazurkas, études, preludes, nocturnes, three piano sonatas, two piano concertos, and much more. Here, his life, from his birth in Poland, his famous affair with the French writer George Sand, to his death at the age of 39 in Paris, is told with his music featuring prominently. We think of Chopin as a "frail, sheltered genius" but this forthright portrait demonstrates he was far more boisterous than that.

【内容紹介】大仏建立や聖武天皇、遣唐使など、奈良時代を象徴する出来事や人物について、「世界一受けたい授業」でおなじみの河合敦氏が判り易く語る。 【講師紹介】作家 河合敦- 1965年、東京都生まれ。現役の教師として日本史を分かりやすく教えるかたわら、執筆活動を行う。著書『人物で読む平城京の歴史』『早わかり日本史』など多数。

Between 1861 and 1865, the clash of the greatest armies the Western hemisphere had ever seen turned small towns, little-known streams, and obscure meadows in the American countryside into names we will always remember. In those great battles, those streams ran red with blood-and the United States was truly born.

Brett L. Walker tackles key themes regarding Japan's relationships with its minorities, state and economic development, and the uses of science and medicine. The book begins by tracing the country's early history through archaeological remains, before proceeding to explore life in the imperial court, the rise of the samurai, civil conflict, encounters with Europe, and the advent of modernity and empire. Walker's vibrant and accessible new narrative then follows Japan's ascension from the ashes of World War II into the thriving nation of today.

体系的に歴史を学ぶのに最適の教材は、教科書です。必要不可欠の情報がコンパクトにまとまっていて、とてもスムーズに歴史を学ぶことができます。この作品では、文部科学省検定世界史教科書を六つの時代に分け、全史を総時間数12時間47分で半分の時間に読み上げ速度を上げた速聴用倍速版です。最初は聞き分けるのが難しいかと思いますが、慣れれば手軽に情報取得が可能になります。1.古代編:人類の誕生、ローマ帝国の興亡、ビザンツ帝国、唐帝国2.中世編:イスラーム世界の拡大、ヨーロッパ中世社会、ビザンツ帝国の興亡、モンゴル帝国・明帝国の成立・発展3.近世編:大航海時代・ルネサンス・オスマン帝国・ムガル帝国・清帝国の時代4.近代編:産業革命・アメリカ独立革命・フランス革命、アジア・アフリカ・ラテンアメリカの変貌ぶり5.現代編:第一次世界大戦~第二次世界大戦6.戦後編:冷戦体制の成立~現在まで ・・・世界史学習の際の良き協力者としても、また、時事問題を読み解くための幅広い教養を身につけるためにも、通勤・通学途上や様々な学習の場面で、「聞く教科書」を活用してください。高校生・受験生や学校関係者はじめ、広く一般社会人の方にも是非聞いていただきたい作品です。

The Middle Ages was a time of major historical shifts and transformations. This amazing era reverberates with discoveries, innovations, events, and historical processes that are integral to the world we know now. In these 24 enthralling lectures, Professor Salisbury leads you on a sumptuous tour of this incredible historical epoch, making clear that the remarkable historical currents and advances of the Middle Ages unfolded not only in the West, but across the globe, from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East to Asia, the Americas, and beyond.

By the time the First World War ended in 1918, eight million people had died in what had been perhaps the most apocalyptic episode the world had known. This Very Short Introduction audiobook provides a concise and insightful history of the Great War - from the state of Europe in 1914, to the role of the US, the collapse of Russia, and the eventual surrender of the Central Powers.

Eminent biblical scholar Michael D. Coogan offers here a wide-ranging and stimulating exploration of the Old Testament, illuminating its importance as history, literature, and sacred text.