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The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
- Narrated by: Bettany Hughes
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
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Summary
From SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING author Bettany Hughes
Their names still echo down the ages: The Great Pyramid at Giza. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Temple of Artemis. The statue of Zeus at Olympia. The mausoleum of Halikarnassos. The Colossus at Rhodes. The Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Seven Wonders of the World were staggeringly audacious impositions on our planet. They were also brilliant adventures of the mind, test cases for the reaches of human imagination. Now only the great pyramid remains fully standing, yet the scale and majesty of these seven wonders still enthral us today.
In a thrilling, colourful narrative enriched with the latest archaeological discoveries, bestselling historian Bettany Hughes walks through the landscapes of both ancient and modern time. This is a journey whose purpose is to ask why we wonder, why we create, why we choose to remember the wonder of others. She explores traces of the Wonders themselves, and the traces they have left in history. A magisterial work of historical storytelling, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World reinforces the exciting and nourishing notion that humans can make the impossible happen.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
'A wondrous wonderful achievement' Stephen Fry
'Fascinating' Observer
'Thrilling' Guardian
What listeners say about The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
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- Martin McCluskey
- 05-09-24
Wonderful!
I am a fan of this era and enjoyed this very much. If you have an interest in this, I'd recommend it.
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- Daniela Barani
- 15-02-24
Fascinating!
Beautiful read, incredibly well-research, this book was a delight to listen to. A full five stars from me
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-03-24
Great story well narrated
It's an excellent book!
It is nice having someone who knows what she is talking about telling it in a great story AND being able to narrate herself. I also enjoyed those lovely little morsels of knowledge, for example, what 'past' means in the origin of different languages
Great listening experience and I followed her stories using Google and Google Earth on occasion. Great experience!
With her lovely, calm voice and speed of narration, Mrs Hughes has created an audiobook I will enjoy listening to more than once!
Thank you very much. Now on to Istanbul. :-)
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- Rachel Redford
- 02-02-24
"Bettering the best"
A number of books already tell us what we know and didn’t know about the seven wonders of the ancient world, so what has Bettany Hughes to add to this well researched topic? A lot, I found!!
She has been immersed in her subject since childhood and has visited all the sites repeatedly with special permission to touch, see and crawl around where tourists aren’t allowed. Her unrelenting enthusiasm is infectious and her intellectual enquiry and the depth of her knowledge are impressive.
She recreates the mindsets, cultures and religious belief systems of these ancient civilisations which produced such staggering constructions. Details allow us to see: whether it’s the colossal girth of a single finger of Zeus , or the fact that the dazzling stones of the Pyramids , those monumental paths to the after life with their light-shifting colours , were once reflected in surrounding water.
I hugely enjoyed her weaving in of a mass of references to myths and legends,, and her generous inclusion of quotation from a a huge range of chroniclers, poets, and philosophers from ancient times. She also explores the use of these ancient writings in later centuries, including the present one, which I liked. I enjoyed too her many linguistic asides which illustrate how languages of the ancient world have migrated into our current English vocabulary.
Hughes fully explores the mindset of the ‘super-elite’ who produced these astonishing creations and whose aim was to ‘better the best’ in order to secure their place in a burnished after life. But I liked her enquiries into the everyday living conditions of those enslaved human beings who passed their entire short and brutal lives building them stone by stone. The minutiae of the materials and their transportation are detailed – and also that of nineteenth century tomb raiders’ booty.
Descriptions of celebrations and customs with all their violence and brutality are filmic in their impact. I can still see those vast crowds attending the hideous mass sacrifices of human beings and bulls – even to the rivers of ordure left in their wake.
Hughes also keeps us in today’s world with updates on discoveries and current archaeological projects right up to 2022 and even 2023. The ancient world is still very much with her – and us.
Not all authors make good narrators of their own work, but Hughes has a very pleasant reading voice shot through with just the right amount of her persuasive enthusiasm. And she can pronounce all those names with aplomb!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Turty
- 24-03-24
Comprehensive narrative of the Seven Wonders
Just read it if you’d like to understand more about the ancient world. Well researched and accessible.
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- David Bennett
- 13-03-24
Excellent story well told
Descriptions of the GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA; the HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON; the TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS; the STATUE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA; the MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS; the COLOSSUS OF RHODES and the LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA. Even a bonus piece on the GREAT LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA, put into their historical contexts.
Well told in an informative and entertaining style as you would except from Bettany Hughes.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 25-04-24
A fascinating listen
Bettany is an excellent narrator and really brings the Wonder’s to life. There is much background and detail explained in such a captivating way. I really enjoyed it and am straight into her history of Istanbul!
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- Amazon Customer
- 27-06-24
Very interesting
I’ve said this before Betany Hughes could make a long wet weekend in Grimsby sound fab loved her history of Sparta
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- christopher burns
- 16-02-24
Thanks Bettany
Another great book and well delivered by Bettany. I was only disappointed when it finished! Keep them coming please
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- Chris Burchill
- 07-03-24
Bettany Hughes is a fantastic storyteller.
The 7 Wonders is like a cliche, but this book brings them to life. We see beyond the objects to learn about the people and cultures that created them.
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