Mike "History of Rome" Duncan is back!!

[Windup]

Anyone who listened to Mike Duncan's "History of Rome" podcast -- and if you have so much as a faint, vague, passing interest in ancient European history, you should be one of those people -- probably remembers that at the close of the series, he mentioned that another project was coming.

The good news is, it has arrived.  It's called "Revolutions" and it's built around history's great political revolutions.  I've listened to the first three podcasts in the series, which concern the English revolution against Charles Stuart, and I was pleased to find that everything I loved about "The History of Rome" is back in the new series -- the conversational tone, the willingness to acknowledge points of scholarly contention without getting bogged down in them and striking a careful balance between individual personalities and the sweep of larger events.  Not to mention that Mike is just a great all-around host.

Still plenty of time to get in at the beginning, here:  Revolutions

[Devoted135]

Yes! Seconded! I've only listened to the first episode so far, but I'm totally stoked to "listen from the beginning" this time. I downed all 188 episodes of the History of Rome in about 5 months earlier this year.

Windup, have you listened to the History of Byzantium podcast? I have it downloaded (37 episodes so far) but I've only listened to the first one.

[Windup]

Do you mean, "12 Byzantine Rulers: A History of the Byzantine Empire" by Lars Brownworth? 

I have, and it was excellent.  Though I find him less conversational than Duncan, Brownworth also clearly knows his stuff, and presents it in a very accessible way.

[Devoted135]

Interestingly, I don't mean that one though I'll check it out. I meant the History of Byzantium by Robin Pierson, which was directly inspired by Mike Duncan's History of Rome and picks up essentially where he left off.

http://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/2012/05/09/hello-world/

[Windup]

Cool!  I have not heard of that one before; I'll have to check it out.