Marshall C. Eakin has 2 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 1 narrator, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 3 ratings. The most-rated is Conquest of the Americas.
Conquest of the Americas
Summary
Was Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas in 1492 the most important event in the history of the world? Professor Eakin's provocative answer is a resounding "Yes" - as he presents his case in an intriguing series of 24 lectures. He argues that the voyage gave birth to the distinct identity of the Americas today by creating a collision between three distinct cultures - European, African, and Native American - that radically transformed the view of the world on both sides of the Atlantic. These thoughtful lectures will remind you that when Columbus completed his voyage, he found a people unlike any he had ever known, living in a land unmentioned in any of the great touchstones of Western knowledge. You'll learn how the European world, animated by the great dynamic forces of the day, Christianity and commercial capitalism, reacted to Columbus's discovery with voyages of conquest-territorial, cultural, and spiritual - throughout the New World. And you'll see the traumatic consequences - not only for the native peoples of the Americas, but for the people of Africa, as well, millions of whom had their lives altered by the transatlantic slave trade that resulted. Yet these lectures are far more than an account of heroes and villains, or victors and victims. They form a dramatic, sweeping tale of the complex blending of three peoples into one-forming new societies and cultures that were neither European, African, nor Native American, but uniquely American. While Professor Eakin readily identifies his own interpretation of events, he generously showcases competing views, and you'll benefit enormously from the many works he cites for further study.
©2002 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2002 The Great Courses
The Americas in the Revolutionary Era
Summary
Go on an in-depth, 24-lecture exploration of important (and often overlooked) questions about the tumultuous political history of the Americas. Professor Eakin explains the cultural, economic, and political pressures each of these new American nations faced in achieving independence. In addition, he examines exactly why each revolution progressed, and succeeded or failed, as it did. Beginning with the revolution in our own 13 colonies, these lectures examine the uprisings and invasions that created the independent nation of Haiti in 1804; the wars for independence in Spanish South America; the bloody uprisings that led to Mexican independence; and the relatively bloodless revolt in Brazil. You'll also consider "counterexamples" of nations that failed to become independent or followed unusual patterns, such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the British West Indies. You'll also meet the "other" founding fathers of the Americas, including Toussaint L'Ouverture, José de San Martín, Bernardo O'Higgins, and Agustín de Iturbide. Throughout these lectures, Professor Eakin brings his perspective down to ground level, spanning oceans and mountain ranges to translate those forces into dramatic events, including: a riveting portrait of life among the slaves of what was then known as Saint Domingue (later Haiti); a brilliant description of the chaotic evacuation of the Portuguese royal family as they fled to Brazil only an hour ahead of Napoleon's troops; and the bold exploits of Simón Bolívar, including his remarkable and dramatic march from the tropics of eastern Venezuela through the 13,000-foot passes of the Andes to defeat the Spanish at Boyacá and liberate Colombia.
©2004 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2004 The Great Courses