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Empire of Things
- How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 33 hrs and 6 mins
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Empire of Things
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Summary
What we consume has become the defining feature of our lives: our economies live or die by spending, we are treated more as consumers than workers and even public services are presented to us as products in a supermarket.
In this monumental study, acclaimed historian Frank Trentmann unfolds the extraordinary history that has shaped our material world, from late Ming China, Renaissance Italy and the British Empire to the present. Astonishingly wide ranging and richly detailed, Empire of Things explores how we have come to live with so much more, how this changed the course of history and the global challenges we face as a result.
Frank Trentmann is a professor of history at Birkbeck College, University of London, and directed the £5 million Cultures of Consumption research programme. His last book, Free Trade Nation, won the Whitfield Prize for outstanding historical scholarship and achievement from the Royal Historical Society. He was educated at Hamburg University, the LSE and Harvard, where he received his PhD. In 2014 he was Moore Distinguished Fellow at Caltech.
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Empire of Things
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- m
- 20-01-17
massive in depth discourse
Huge volume of material left me speechless. The depth of factual information and sheer amount of it makes this an extravaganza of knowledge!
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michelle
- 16-05-16
Fascinating listen, good dipper
This is a long book, that's a good thing. Each chapter introduces a series of stories about stuff that I knew little or nothing about. Entertaining in themselves, each chapter had me saying to myself, 'Wow, I never thought of it like that.' Overall they build into a connected whole but you don't have to keep it all in your head to enjoy it. The author doesn't preach or politic.
Mark Meadows' voice is so soothing I often fell asleep listening. He's not boring at all, he just carries me away on the words. Sleep timer means I just skip back ten minutes the next morning and all is well. I find only the best readers have this effect. (Mr Meadows needs to read more novels please, not just crime & thrillers.)
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- paperminx
- 14-09-20
Not a light undertaking, but a worthwhile one
Some audiobooks are for devouring. This is not one of those. Nor is it one you can easily skim. What it is though is fascinating- an entirely different and incredibly comprehensive approach to looking at how people have looked at possessions and the things they consume across the Globe over the past several centuries.
It’s taken me 8 weeks of listening to get through it and it does have its frustrations. It goes through time in themed sections so it can be easy to get lost a little (I found a 60 second rewind on each return useful) and also its most up to date data is/are (depending on your taste) from around 2012- and a lot has gone down globally and nationally in the U.K. since then.
It is genuinely interesting though- and certainly food for thought as we contemplate the new normal.
I am glad I stuck with it.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Joanne Scotland
- 08-06-17
Excellent!
I enjoyed every second of this book. Informative, insightful, comprehensively researched and thought provoking. The narration was consistently clear, well paced and a pleasure to listen to. I wish this had been around 20 years when I was a social sciences student. I'd have been inspired to pick a much better topic for my dissertation.
Would definitely purchase another of Mr Trentmann's offerings, and I insist that all future recordings are read by Mr Meadows!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- ESM
- 23-12-22
Would be a good read/listening for any consumer
The historical impact on todays consuming patterns is exquisitely laid bare and this is a book for anyone attempting politically or environmentally to give impact on todays consumerism.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- Anonimo Nonlodico
- 08-03-16
Disappointing and shallow
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I wouldn't. There are much better books on the subject.
Was Empire of Things worth the listening time?
No, I quit half way through.
Any additional comments?
Get Geoffrey Miller's Spent instead. Much better, more interesting, deeper and better written too.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-06-18
alternative view
well argued view of economic history from the perspective of consumption and the consumer not production. questions some accepted norms
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Eoin
- 13-03-16
essential reading
A wonderfully informative and scary book that explodes many modern myths about the society in which we live. A history designed to focus the debate where it needs to be, on our own collective behaviour.
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- tom kelly
- 01-05-21
Very informative - A must-read.
This book brings together both the history of consumerism and its many contemporary issues, from desire and need to raw materials and supply chain to recycling and disposal.
A must-read if you consume - which of course we all do.
Recommended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Faye T.
- 11-12-20
Very pleased I listened to it
Loved learning about how things and number of things have been a concern since Roman times.
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