Famous Men of the Middle Ages
John Henry Haaren
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
“THE study of history, like the study of a landscape, should begin with the most conspicuous features. Not until these have been fixed in memory will the lesser features fall into their appropriate places and assume their right proportions.
The famous men of ancient and modern times are the mountain peaks of history. It is logical then that the study of history should begin with the biographies of these men.
Not only is it logical; it is also pedagogical. Experience has proven that in order to attract and hold the child’s attention each conspicuous feature of history presented to him should have an individual for its center. The child identifies himself with the personage presented. It is not Romulus or Hercules or Alexander that the child has in mind when be reads, but himself, acting under similar conditions.”
(Excerpt from the Preface) (4 hr 40 min)
Chapters
| Preface | 4:04 | Read by David Kleparek |
| The Gods of the Teutons | 11:22 | Read by Leon Mire |
| The Nibelungs | 13:06 | Read by Leon Mire |
| Alaric the Visigoth | 8:54 | Read by Andy |
| Attila the Hun | 9:56 | Read by David Kleparek |
| Genseric the Vandal | 10:53 | Read by David Kleparek |
| Theodoric the Ostrogoth | 7:20 | Read by ontheroad |
| Clovis | 10:34 | Read by Andy |
| Justinian | 10:01 | Read by David Kleparek |
| Mohammed | 12:32 | Read by David Kleparek |
| Charles Martel and Pepin | 10:27 | Read by Andy |
| Charlemagne | 9:13 | Read by Laura Caldwell |
| Haren-al-Raschid | 6:20 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
| Egbert the Saxon | 5:58 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
| Rollo the Viking | 10:19 | Read by Andy |
| Alfred the Great | 6:52 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
| Henry the Fowler | 5:50 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
| Canute the Great | 4:12 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
| The Cid | 8:05 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
| Edward the Confessor | 4:34 | Read by Kristine Bekere |
| William the Conqueror | 6:55 | Read by Roger Melin |
| Peter the Hermit | 7:05 | Read by Kristine Bekere |
| Frederick Barbarossa | 5:52 | Read by Kristine Bekere |
| Henry the Second and His Sons | 12:51 | Read by Kristine Bekere |
| Louis IX | 7:12 | Read by David Kleparek |
| Robert Bruce | 7:54 | Read by Andy |
| Marco Polo | 7:45 | Read by Kristine Bekere |
| Edward the Black Prince | 9:02 | Read by Kristine Bekere |
| William Tell and Arnold von Winkelreid | 6:54 | Read by Kalynda |
| Tamerlane | 5:05 | Read by ontheroad |
| Henry V | 7:50 | Read by John Lieder |
| Joan of Arc | 8:16 | Read by David Kleparek |
| Gutenberg | 6:48 | Read by Esther |
| Warwick the King-Maker | 10:02 | Read by Alec Daitsman |
Reviews
Not a lot of detail, but an interesting sampler.
Timothy Ferguson
You know how you can get those boxes of sampler chocolates, where you get to try things, so that you go "You know, I think I liked the hazelnut swirl, but didn't like the Turkish delight. I must get a box of those hazelnut swirls."? This book is a little like that, for medieval biograhpies. It's not, of itself, a deep biography of anyone, but there are some characters here that I now know I want to follow up elsewhere. Also, this is part of a series (Greece, Rome, "Modern") and I'll be following up those. So, good not so much for depth, as for the variety of things it dips into.
left out some important chapters
A LibriVox Listener
The text itself it great to use for grade school history. However, this audio leaves out a few chapters which discuss saints and their contributions to western civilization. Wonder if that was on purpose?
excellent short stories of interesting men
tb399
A LibriVox Listener
Dark ages yes, but boring, No. As enjoyable as the Famous Men of Modern Times collection. For the narration, some of the Scotch segments were appropriately and enjoyably read by Andy from, you guessed it, Scotland.
toro
poor sound quality. tahnks to the narator though