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Silver, Sword, and Stone
- Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
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Publisher's summary
Winner, American Library Association Booklist’s Top of the List, 2019 Adult Nonfiction
Acclaimed writer Marie Arana delivers a cultural history of Latin America and the three driving forces that have shaped the character of the region: exploitation (silver), violence (sword), and religion (stone). “Meticulously researched, [this] book’s greatest strengths are the power of its epic narrative, the beauty of its prose, and its rich portrayals of character…Marvelous” (The Washington Post).
Leonor Gonzales lives in a tiny community perched 18,000 feet above sea level in the Andean cordillera of Peru, the highest human habitation on earth. Like her late husband, she works the gold mines much as the Indians were forced to do at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Illiteracy, malnutrition, and disease reign as they did five hundred years ago. And now, just as then, a miner’s survival depends on a vast global market whose fluctuations are controlled in faraway places.
Carlos Buergos is a Cuban who fought in the civil war in Angola and now lives in a quiet community outside New Orleans. He was among hundreds of criminals Cuba expelled to the US in 1980. His story echoes the violence that has coursed through the Americas since before Columbus to the crushing savagery of the Spanish Conquest, and from 19th- and 20th-century wars and revolutions to the military crackdowns that convulse Latin America to this day.
Xavier Albó is a Jesuit priest from Barcelona who emigrated to Bolivia, where he works among the indigenous people. He considers himself an Indian in head and heart and, for this, is well known in his adopted country. Although his aim is to learn rather than proselytize, he is an inheritor of a checkered past, where priests marched alongside conquistadors, converting the natives to Christianity, often forcibly, in the effort to win the New World. Ever since, the Catholic Church has played a central role in the political life of Latin America - sometimes for good, sometimes not.
In this “timely and excellent volume” (NPR) Marie Arana seamlessly weaves these stories with the history of the past millennium to explain three enduring themes that have defined Latin America since pre-Columbian times: the foreign greed for its mineral riches, an ingrained propensity to violence, and the abiding power of religion. Silver, Sword, and Stone combines “learned historical analysis with in-depth reporting and political commentary...[and] an informed and authoritative voice, one that deserves a wide audience” (The New York Times Book Review).
Featured Article: Best Audiobooks About Latino Identity To Listen To
The audiobooks on this list can help you discover your Latin roots, with exciting classics that range across the globe. Here, you’ll find authors from the land of your ancestors and learn why reclaiming Latino heritage has become so popular worldwide. In this list, we’ve put together a list of literary classics famous for introducing new ideas about love, narrating interesting political or cultural moments in their country’s history, or having an innovative style.
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Editor's Pick
Powerful and gripping stories
"Marie Arana, the writer who brought us the sweeping autobiography of Simon Bolivar, is back in the Latin American history game (my favorite!). Silver, Sword, and Stone portrays the sociopolitical dynamics that have shaped the continent through the life stories of three contemporary Latin Americans: Leonor Gonzales, Carlos Buergos, and Xavier Albó. Arana expertly blends personal interviews with academic rigor, to create what I see as a flesh-and-blood reimagining of Garcia Marquez’s Nobel Prize Speech, "The Solitude of Latin America." Cynthia Farrell’s mellow voice is the perfect vehicle for these powerful and gripping stories. If you are a history lover like me, you’ll want to get your hands on this one."
—Mariana P., Audible Editor
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A Brief History of Indonesia
- Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of Southeast Asia's Largest Nation
- By: Tim Hannigan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Indonesia is by far the largest nation in Southeast Asia and has the fourth-largest population in the world after the United States. Indonesian history and culture are especially relevant today as the island nation is an emerging power in the region with a dynamic new leader. It is a land of incredible diversity and unending paradoxes that has a long and rich history stretching back a thousand years and more.
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More Indonesian history please Audible
- By Damien on 08-20-19
By: Tim Hannigan
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A History of the World
- By: Andrew Marr
- Narrated by: Andrew Marr, David Timson
- Length: 26 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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From the earliest civilizations to the 21st century: a global journey through human history, published alongside a landmark BBC One television series. Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents and old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey, Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece and Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to the Caribbean.
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25 hours of enjoyment
- By Mark on 04-26-13
By: Andrew Marr
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Fire and Blood
- A History of Mexico
- By: T. R. Fehrenbach
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 35 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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T. R. Fehrenbach brilliantly delineates the contrasts and conflicts between the many Mexicos, unraveling the history while weaving a fascinating tapestry of beauty and brutality: the Amerindians, who wrought from the vulnerable land a great indigenous Meso-American civilization by the first millennium BC; the successive reigns of Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Mexic masters, who ruled through an admirably efficient bureaucracy and the power of the priests, propitiating the capricious gods with human sacrifices; the Spanish conquistadors, and much more.
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Good book bad narration
- By M. A. Chris Raine on 03-23-19
By: T. R. Fehrenbach
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God's Shadow
- Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Alan Mikhail
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
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Entertaining narrative, but poor scholarship
- By Yosemite on 09-15-20
By: Alan Mikhail
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The Jews
- Story of a People
- By: Howard Fast
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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“There is no human being on the face of this earth exempt from the Jewish influence. For as long as there has been history, the Jew has wandered through it, shaping it at times, riding the current silently at other times, but always leaving his mark. History without the Jew? It is inconceivable.”—Howard Fast. His popular history brings the history of the Jewish people into focus, from Genesis to contemporary times.
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The Jews: Story of a People
- By SArt on 05-12-12
By: Howard Fast
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The Outline of History
- Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind
- By: H. G. Wells
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 44 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Having coined the phrase "the war that will end war," H. G. Wells was disillusioned by the World War I peace settlement. Convinced that humanity needed to awaken to the instability of the world order and remember lessons from the past, the author of science-fiction classics set out to write about history. Wells hoped to remind mankind of its common past, provide it with a basis for international patriotism, and guide it to renounce war.
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Loved it
- By Eric on 05-07-15
By: H. G. Wells
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Stick a Flag in It
- 1,000 Years of Bizarre History from Britain and Beyond
- By: Arran Lomas
- Narrated by: Arran Lomas
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Norman Invasion in 1066 to the eve of the First World War, Stick a Flag in It is a thousand-year jocular journey through the history of Britain and its global empire. Forget what you were taught in school - this is history like you’ve never heard it before, full of captivating historical quirks that will make you laugh out loud and scratch your head in disbelief.
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Interesting history, hilariously recounted
- By Tori on 10-14-20
By: Arran Lomas
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Destiny Disrupted
- A History of the World through Islamic Eyes
- By: Tamim Ansary
- Narrated by: Tamim Ansary
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Until about 1800, the West and the Islamic realm were like two adjacent, parallel universes, each assuming itself to be the center of the world while ignoring the other. As Europeans colonized the globe, the two world histories intersected and the Western narrative drove the other one under. The West hardly noticed, but the Islamic world found the encounter profoundly disrupting.
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A history of the world before the West mattered
- By David on 05-05-14
By: Tamim Ansary
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Powers and Thrones
- A New History of the Middle Ages
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era—and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names—from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine—Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes listeners on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West.
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Hard to take a break from it!
- By Mariano's Music on 12-09-21
By: Dan Jones
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A Brief History of Japan
- Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present, and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests.
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A Brief Review of the Book
- By Than on 12-07-19
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The Mental Floss History of the World
- An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits
- By: Steve Wiegand, Erik Sass
- Narrated by: Johny Heller
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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About 60,000 years ago, the first Homo sapiens were just beginning their move across the grasslands and up the ladder of civilization. Everything since then, as they say, is history. Just in case you were sleeping in class that day, the geniuses at mental_floss magazine have put together a hilarious (and historically accurate) primer on everything you need to know---and that means the good stuff.
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Brilliant and Funny. What more could you want?
- By Septimus MacGhilleglas on 01-22-09
By: Steve Wiegand, and others
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Superpower Interrupted
- The Chinese History of the World
- By: Michael Schuman
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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This global history as the Chinese would write it gives brilliant and unconventional insights for understanding China's role in the world, especially the drive to "Make China Great Again." In this colorful, informative story filled with fascinating characters, epic battles, influential thinkers, and decisive moments, we come to understand how the Chinese view their own history and how its narrative is distinctly different from that of Western civilization.
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Nice overview
- By Matthew G. Towner on 08-12-20
By: Michael Schuman
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Alaric the Goth
- An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome
- By: Douglas Boin
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire. Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent "barbarians" who destroyed "civilization," at least in the conventional story of Rome's collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive.
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Can't finish it.
- By Stan K. Smith on 06-21-20
By: Douglas Boin
What listeners say about Silver, Sword, and Stone
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-29-19
History
A great work for someone like me who knew little of the history of South America. A great introduction with a broad arcing framing making it nicely understandable.
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- Bernardo
- 09-18-19
Heart-wrentching, passionate, outreageous
This is an extrordinary, sad, document of the conquest, rape, pillage, despair, and distress, of latin America post “discovery.” Beautifully written, brutally honest and incisive, and, at the end, sad, it is as if there is no hope for Latin America, besides a few brave souls whose bravery stamps stamps spots of fleeting hope, here and there, for some time.
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- Emma Romey
- 09-18-20
Needs editing
Repetitive. The Arana’s favorite expression is: “ from time immemorial.” The history Araña provides is important and she relates it passionately.
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- Paula Hood
- 12-13-19
A Must-Read!
I am very grateful to Maria Arana for writing this book. I want to form a book club so that I can listen to it again, and have an opportunity to discuss it with others. I also have South American heritage, and I deeply appreciate this window into history and how it has shaped present day events, and this glimpse of who we are. I listened to many of the chapters more than once, just to make sure I caught everything in them. I never got bored-- it is a gripping account -- and I plan to listen to the whole book again soon. The narrator was excellent.
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- Rafael Hiciano
- 02-27-21
Essential Reading: Should be made a Netflix Series
Connecting the dots throughout 500 years of Latin American history, in an eye opening way, that is not taught in schools, across US, Latin America or Spain. It’s beautifully written, but you will need to be courageous. I would love to write the agreement to make it into a Netflix series.
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- Malcolm Brian Peters
- 06-22-20
Truly wonderful!
Doña Marie, please see to it that this work and the Bolivar biography get put into Castellano. I love your work!
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- Jose
- 01-11-21
Marie Arana does not Understand Economics
Marie Arana's book is weird and sad. There is a weird chip on her shoulder. The book is alright if you want to feel sorry for your self for 10 hours, there are some new things here to be sorry about. But the issue is that Arana's understanding of Economics and the Renaissance-World is weak and amateur. This is nationalist historical literature similar to Eduardo Galeano. By the way, Galeano regrets his old work.
(1) Style: In a different book, she makes a big point to say that Bolivar travelled more miles, affected more nations, and other things more than George Washington. This is weird and shows a lack of self esteem. You don't see George Washington books attack other leaders like Bolivar, Kamal Ataturk, or Garibaldi. All these dudes were national liberators and GW's nation is still around. Grand Columbia is gone. But why? This low self esteem style continues in this book.
(2) In this book, the Spaniards are the bad guys, invaders, smelly, and other problems. Ok. But the Spaniards were invaded the same way as Cortez, by many other people. Julius Cesar actually conquered Extremadura, and afterwards, Numancians actually joined Cesar in the invasion of Britain and conquest of France (Gaul). The Spanish had to fight many Mediterranean rivals for their sovereignty. They were actually only recently fully free of a 700 year Islamic occupation when Columbus reached America. They were actually still fighting for the right to exist even as Cortez and Pizarro were living. Lepanto, Siege of Vienna, and Siege of Malta all happened after Cortez. You will never understand this from this book. Arana seems to think that Spain just wanted gold to swim in the coins. Could it be that Spain was only a member of a violent world structure of this time. Does Arana understand that Spain was actually fighting a World War with the Ottomans at the same time? That Spain conquering Mexico is actually small potatoes compared to Timur conquering Persia just 200 years earlier. She thinks that rocks gave us capitalism, when it's the other way around. The stuff is worthless jewelry unless you can put it to use. Gold sandals and necklaces are worthless, except some folks love jewelry.
(3) Also, Arana does not cover Francisco de Vitoria. The actual Spanish renaissance government and Catholic intellectuals declared what Cortez and Pizarro did to be Illegal. The University of Salamanca officially declared the destruction of Native Americans illegal. Quite enlightened. Had another nation landed in Spanish America in 1492, there would not be the equivalent demographics of Indigenous-European people as the super majority. Us indigenous are still here and fully in-charge, but Arana's book is trying to eulogize us like we are dead or something. Nope, still here. I don't even look for gold, silver, copper or even own jewelry. It's probably the Spanish contrition to all this violent activity that makes the history what it is. You won't see Mongolia worrying about the grandeur and splendidness of Han Dynasty they conquered. You won't see Morocco talk about the splendid and ancient Celtic culture they tried to replace in Iberia or the slaves they took from there. Nope, will never happen.
(4) Finally, the Economics is sad and discredited. It's quite out-of-date. Singapore does not have any of the resources of most LA countries, yet the chaps in Singapore are going to be greater and richer than NYC. Why? Because rocks don't matter quite so much as Arana thinks. Trade and Inventing makes countries rich. That is why Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Paypal are worth more than any Oil company. What is the biggest Gold Mining company? Does it matter compared to Tesla or SpaceX? Sitting on a big pile or raw material is not as important as the final products, the invented products. Arana needs 101 classes in Stores of value. Gold is a metal, industrial material, real money currency, and a store of value, it's necessary for war, when countries are not producing, just consuming. Britain during the Napoleonic wars needed the Rothchilds to control a species advantage over France. That's how you pay for stuff and pay soldiers, otherwise they got to loot and pillage people. Or they starve, like Valley Forge. How come Arana does not know this? Hmm? Too busy plagiarizing Galeano diatribes. How about that New World gold actually created a massive inflation in Europe, it wasn't such a huge help. Charles V was ultimately cornered in an Alpine Castle, ran out of money and had to make a deal to abdicate to Phillip.
(5) Obsessing about raw materials is Vladimir Lenin's economics. This is why Castro and Chavez basically destroyed the rich countries they took over. Obsession with raw materials instead of Real Economics is the issue. Today, Spain is a first world country, selling culture and manufactured goods. Costa Rica sells tourism and experiences. Want to get rich and stable? Start inventing, trading, and exporting. Don't tell Arana, but Latin America even has a happy middle class and rich people that are not involved in Mining. Who are the #1 mining nations, the USA, China, Russia and Australia. Not even 1% of the population in the USA works in mining and most don't know they are #3 and it does not matter to them. No Latin country does anything close to the USA in Mining GDP. Again weird logic with a chip on the shoulder.
(6) Lastly, do Brits still obsess about Tin? That's what brought the Romans (with Numancians) in 54-BC. Do you have solitary and emaciated brits working in caves looking for Tin today? Nope, that would only happen if Tin ore were the only thing they could produce and sell. But, luckily for the Brits, they can better use their people in making high tech stuff, selling financial services, and producing entertainments we all enjoy.
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8 people found this helpful