Kenneth W Harl
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English
Description
A narrative history of how Attila, Genghis Khan and the so-called barbarians of the steppes shaped world civilization. For readers of The Storm before the Storm, The Silk Road and Ten Caesars.
The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced some of the world's greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane,...
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English
Description
Byzantium is too-often considered merely the "Eastern rump" of the old Roman Empire, a curious and even unsettling mix of the classical and medieval. Yet it was, according to Professor Harl, "without a doubt the greatest state in Christendom through much of the Middle Ages," and well worth our attention as a way to widen our perspective on everything from the decline of imperial Rome to the rise of the Renaissance. In a series of 24 tellingly detailed...
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Great Courses volume 27
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English
Description
On December 23, 1876, Sultan Abdül Hamid II proclaimed the first Ottoman constitution. Eleven months later, it was suspended, along with its Parliament. Go inside this period of continued reform, which tied "the Porte" to an alliance with Germany and ultimately led to Sultan Hamid II's downfall.
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Great Courses volume 4
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English
Description
Meet the sultans who transformed the Ottoman sultanate into an imperial state. Among these: Orhan, who made Bursa the state's capital; Murad I and Bayezid I, who incorporated Asia Minor into the Ottoman state; and "the Thunderbolt," who forged an empire of tributaries in the Balkans and Anatolia.
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Great Courses volume 19
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English
Description
How did Muslim civilization emerge? Why did it burst upon the scene so dramatically? And how did it come to play such a significant role among Turkish-speaking nomads? Get background on the caliphate and its divisions, the teachings of Muhammad, and how a Muslim capital at Baghdad and associated cities spread Islam through trade connections.
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Great Courses volume 10
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English
Description
Continue exploring the importance of the Silk Road, but progress to a discussion of religions spread and practiced along the route. Learn why Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and above all, Buddhism, were appealing to nomadic populations, and the impact these faiths had on these people and their caravan cities.
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Great Courses volume 4
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English
Description
Han emperors found the tribute system granted Modu chanyu or "five baits" - by which the Xiongnu were promised Chinese brides, among other gifts - humiliating and unacceptable. Look closely at the relationship between the Han Empire of China and the nomadic confederacy of the Xiongnu, including Han attempts to eliminate the Xiongnu threat through war.
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English
Description
Why did pagan Rome, which had a history of tolerating other faiths, clash with early Christians? How did Christianity ultimately achieve dominance in the Roman Empire?
Discover the answers in these 24 lectures that, together, are a historically focused discussion of the dramatic interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and paganism from the 1st to the 6th centuries.
While some philosophical and theological content is included to clarify important...
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Great Courses volume 15
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English
Description
Delve into the interaction of the Turks and Chinese, starting with a look at China since the Han dynasty's fragmentation; then investigate the nomads who settled in China. Conclude with a discussion of unification under the Sui and Tang emperors, including their relationship with the Gök Turks and Uighurs.
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Great Courses volume 14
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English
Description
Progress into the early Middle Ages, a period defined by the Turks. Start your exploration of this group by focusing on three major khaganates or confederations - the Avar Khaghans, the Gök Turks, and the Uighurs - which developed between the 5th and 9th centuries A.D., and would have major implications for the Islamic world.
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Great Courses volume 28
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English
Description
Turn now to the Second Constitutional Period, which raised hopes for imperial recovery and reform but ended with the domination of power by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Thus emerged a shadow government that became an unintended dress rehearsal for future one-party dictatorships.
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Great Courses volume 22
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English
Description
Elaborate on implications of the previous two lectures, including the rise of a slave trade, as you trace a series of Turkish migrations that lead to new powers on the steppes. Focus on three states: the Karakhanids, the sultans of Ghazni, and the Seljuk Turks, who represent the greatest of these new political organizations.
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Great Courses volume 36
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English
Description
Conclude by considering why, by the 16th and 17th centuries, the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes ceased to play the decisive role they had for nearly 6,000 years. Then tie together what you've learned with a review of the course and a discussion of what this legacy means to us today.
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Great Courses volume 36
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English
Description
Conclude with an insightful look at how the legacy of the Ottoman Empire still influences the Middle East - and will continue to do so in the future. Each of the empire's successor states, you'll learn, has its own perceptions of this legacy, and its own lessons learned from history.
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Great Courses volume 22
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English
Description
In this lecture, learn why the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz is a turning point in Ottoman history - another that marked the empire's steady decline into the "Sick Man of Europe." Central to this lecture: the Ottoman military's engagement with a powerful new Christian foe: Catherine the Great.
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Great Courses volume 13
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English
Description
To understand the history of the Hephthalites or "White Huns" and the Gök Turks in context, look at the Sassanid Empire - the contemporary rival to the late Roman world - from the monarchy's aspirations to the way its Neo-Persian shahs came into conflict with Rome and these nomadic peoples.
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Great Courses volume 1
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English
Description
How should one consider the vast history of the Ottoman Empire? Professor Harl sets the stage for the lectures to come with a consideration of key themes in the empire's journey from "Sublime Porte" to "Sick Man of Europe" - as well as the distorting images of Orientalism.
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Great Courses volume 16
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English
Description
Think of the Middle Ages and you'll likely conjure images of western Europe. But at the time of the Avars, Gök Turks, and Uighurs, Constantinople represented the great urban, Christian civilization bordering the Eurasian steppes. Begin the first of three lectures on the relationship between Byzantine civilization and the peoples of the steppes.
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Great Courses volume 12
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English
Description
Trade was vital to the Ottoman Empire - as well as a cause for its decline from "Porte" to "Sick Man of Europe." Trace some of the empire's most prominent trade routes, including the iconic Silk Road, as well as the British penetration of Ottoman markets in 1838.
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Great Courses volume 26
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English
Description
How did the Crimean War vindicate the reformers of Tanzimat? Why was the Treaty of Paris a strategic victory for "the Porte" - that came at a high price? What impact did the empire's catastrophic defeat during the Russo-Turkish War have on its future with the Concert of Europe?