Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Edge of Memory

  • The Geology of Folk Tales and Climate Change
  • By: Patrick Nunn
  • Narrated by: Peter Silverleaf
  • Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Edge of Memory

By: Patrick Nunn
Narrated by: Peter Silverleaf
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

We all know those stories that have been told in our families for generations. The ones that start ‘Have I ever told you about your great-great-uncle...?’

In some cultures these stories have been passed down for thousands of years and often reveal significant information about how the surrounding environment has changed and the effect it has had on societies - from stories referring to coastal drowning to the devastation caused by meteorite falls. Among the most extensive and best analysed of these stories are from native Australian cultures.

People arrived in Australia more than 60,000 years ago, and the need to survive led to the development of knowledge that was captured orally in stories passed down through the generations. These stories conveyed both practical information and recorded history, and they frequently made reference to a coastline that was very different to the one we recognise today. In at least 21 different communities along the fringe of Australia, flood stories were recorded by European anthropologists, missionaries and others.

It’s only relatively recently that these stories have been recognised as more or less the same. They described a lost landscape that is now under as much as 100 feet of ocean. And these folk traditions are backed up by hard science. Geologists are now starting to corroborate the tales through study of climatic data, sediments and land forms; the evidence was there in the stories, but until recently, nobody was listening.

Using Australia as a springboard, this book explores the science in folk history. It looks at other ancient tales and traditions that may in all probability be rooted in scientifically verifiable fact and can be explored via geological evidence, such as the biblical flood. Nowadays the majority of our historical knowledge comes from the written word, but in The Edge of Memory, Patrick Nunn explores the largely untapped resource of the collective human memory that is held in stories. This important book explores the wider implications for our knowledge of how human society has developed through the millennia.

©2018 Patrick Nunn (P)2018 Audible, Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

First Peoples in a New World cover art
A Most Improbable Journey cover art
The Rocks Don't Lie cover art
Ask a Historian cover art
The Monkey's Voyage cover art
The Dynamics of Disaster cover art
The Attacking Ocean cover art
The Sloth Lemur’s Song cover art
When Humans Nearly Vanished cover art
Across Atlantic Ice cover art
Fingerprints of the Gods cover art
The Goldilocks Planet cover art
Ancient Aliens of Atlantis cover art
Deep Time Dreaming cover art
The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt cover art
The Statues That Walked cover art

What listeners say about The Edge of Memory

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

memories live on

amazing research for any interested in the oral preservation of folk memories, focusing on the aboriginal recollections.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting book, competent narration

This book is very enlightening and contains a lot more scientific context than I anticipated. The narration is clear and consistent, but the attempt to animate the text through inflection have actually made it more difficult to understand as it seems inauthentic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Geology meets anthropology

the book was certainly interesting. but content was lacking, theory was not explain satisfactory and large assumptions made.

A large portion of this book is devoted to explanations of geological processes. Possibly as much as the anthropology.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

Beautifully written and researched. The sort of book that leaves you with a changed perspective. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Gets repetitive

The initial premise is interesting but beyond that gets very repetitive. The narration constantly giving sea depths in meters and feet is also annoying and hard to follow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!