Historian and veteran Middle East journalist Michael Rank looks into the most exciting events and personalities of history in this podcast and explains them in five-minute episodes so that you can absorb the facts in the fastest way possible. Learn about the lives of Genghis Khan, Vlad Dracul, and Richard the Lionheart, and such events as the Crusades and the Black Death in these highly entertaining and informative episodes. Michael has sold thousands of books with his unique take on the past with such best-selling titles as "History's Most Insane Rulers: Lunatics, Eccentrics, and Megalomaniacs From Emperor Caligula to Kim Jon Il," and he brings the same energy to this podcast. He focuses on world history, Roman history, military history, the history of the United States, the most famous rulers in history, biographies, biography of famous people, the most famous people in history, the most powerful rulers, medieval history, violent history, world history, United States history, and how to put all these pieces together. This is a great podcast if you know nothing about a topic and need a good launching point into a deeper study.
http://www.michaelrank.net
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 21 hours 44 minutes
HFM 140 | Why We Have Gutenberg All Wrong
Gutenberg’s moveable type printing press was the prime mover of the Renaissance. From his machine came millions of books, leading to the democratization of knowledge, the fall of the papacy, and the rise of reason.
HFM 139 | James Holman: The Blind Traveller
In the early 1800s there was no English explorer greater than James Holman. He travelled almost 20 times farther than Marco Polo. He travelled among 200 different cultures, charted undiscovered parts of Australia,
HFM 138 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 8 – Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Britain’s World War II leader is considered as the gold standard of confident leadership. He gave Britain strength during the darkest moments of the war through his unflagging determination to survive and prove to the world of his nation’s unshakeabl...
HFM 137 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 7 – Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938)
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — the victor at the Battle of Gallipoli, Turkey’s first president, and a reformer so zealous that he replaced six centuries of Ottoman Islamic legal and cultural custom with Western practices in the space of 15 years — lost his ...
HFM 136 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 6 – Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Recognized by most historians and much of the public as one of our country’s greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln is known for his impressive accomplishments, including preserving the union during the Civil War and signing The Emancipation Proclamati...
HFM 134 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 5 – Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
Perhaps nobody transformed American politics in the first half of the 1800s more than Andrew Jackson. He spoke on behalf of common people, settlers, and farmers instead of earlier presidents who represented the East Coast establishment.
HFM 133 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 4 – Peter the Great (1672-1725)
No institution went untouched by Peter the Great. In the early 1700s he took the Russian Empire — considered by Europeans to be a backward Asiatic monster stuck in the Middle Ages — and forced it into the modern era.
HFM 132 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 3 – Genghis Khan (1162-1227)
“Do not scorn a weak cub; he may become a brutal tiger.” — Mongolian proverb. Genghis Khan is the greatest conqueror in history. His descendants triggered 40 million deaths. His conquest covered 22 percent of the earth.
HFM 131 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 2 – William the Conqueror (1028-1087)
William of Normandy, also known as William the Conqueror, had to overcome challenges not faced by most royalty. We know this because his other moniker was William the Bastard. He was born in 1028 to Robert I, the sixth Duke of Normandy.
HFM 130 | Leaders in Times of Crisis, Part 1 – Empress Theodora (500-548)
We are launching a new series, looking at leaders in history who overcame significant adversity. History has demonstrated time and again that effective leaders emerge in times of great stress, change and uncertainty.