The [really] Great Courses
Last spring, Rachel picked up an audio lecture?Ǭ†series on the History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev?Ǭ†to listen to while she painted a present for me. It is part of a series called The Great Courses and is?Ǭ†produced?Ǭ†by The Teaching Company. We started listening to them on trips to her parents’ and to my parents’ homes.
A few weeks ago,?Ǭ†I started listening to the History of Russia series in my car on the way to work. I enjoyed the lectures concerning white czarist Russia, but the closer it came for the Bolsheviks to come to power, I was entranced. Regime changes have always interested me–something to?Ǭ†consider, since our government is right smack in the middle of one in Iraq. So much possibilty, and in the case of Russia, so much sadness.?Ǭ†My favorite quote in the series?Ǭ†was?Ǭ†used to explain why the Reds won the civil war. It?Ǭ†is “the peasants?Ǭ†knew the oppression?Ǭ†under the capitalists, but?Ǭ†did not?Ǭ†yet know the oppression under?Ǭ†the Bolsheviks.”
Right now,?Ǭ†I’m about?Ǭ†3/4th through the series. It was then that?Ǭ†I decided that we should listen to all of them–eventually. That’s?Ǭ†more than a?Ǭ†1000 hours of college lectures. I’m most?Ǭ†looking forward to the lectures on Martin Luther,?Ǭ†Biblical authenticity, Medieval heriones, and modern American literature.?Ǭ†
Sounds fun, doesn’t it?
It does to me, since I miss college–mostly because of the multitude of friends and aquaintances, but also for the everyday learning. Don’t get me wrong. I never cared for exams and papers, but having someone summarize history, art, and theology for me was great, and this series allows me to continue that in my own spare time and for free, since I am checking out all these audio books from my public library.
