The Great Courses

I've bought a lot of history, philosophy and economics courses over the years; they've all provided pretty close to a full semester's worth of lectures. Wish they were a bit longer per class to get into a bit more detail. The subject matter is broken out well for each lecture.

The course guides are great; no need to not down the titles of books to delve deeper. Sets and editing are very good.

Never had a billing problem in year's of purchases.

Professors have a slight political tilt either right or left, but nowhere near the point of pontificating of forcing their outlook on you. They have a deep understanding of their topic.

I recommend this course to everyone who is interested in the nature of dictatorship and democracy. The lecturer has an in-depth knowledge of the subject-matter with great insights and crystal clear conclusions.
He lectures in an engaging, easy to understand style. I lived through the Nazi era and the Soviet dictatorship in Hungary before I came to the US -- and felt I learned a lot from this lecture. Wonderful lecture series.

I would probably 4.5 not five stars to the great courses, but I rounded up. I've been listening since I was in high school listening on cassette. I've listened to dozens of courses thanks to libraries and Audible. I just bought six more. LNoike any publishing house they have duds, but generally the quality is very high. If you like university style lectures they have the best catalog you're likely to find. I find unless I'm in a real classroom I'm more of an auditory learner, so I can't speak too much to their video material. Anyway I do recommend that you check out their material. If you're interested in any kind of vaguely academic subject they probably have something you'll find interesting.

All professors are knowledgeable and informative. I have dozens of courses on a wide spectrum of topics. Only a few professors are slightly biased giving their own twist on the subject matter. That's OK as I usually catch them as I go through the lectures. The quality of the DVDs are excellent so far. Very few verifiable errors that I catch now and then. I recommend the Great Courses for continued learning as I've learned a lot from them. I find the courses in science and math very enlightening.

I recently watched the new course on Hannibal. It was presented well and was very informative. What a great way to feed your brain.

I have gone through 3 courses so far and intend on continuing to learn things that I did not learn in school. The professors are interesting to listen to as they cover their field of studies and expertise.

LOW RATING IS BOGUS
I am surprised by the low rating SiteJabber gives to the Great Courses. I have been a customer of theirs since about 2015. There is a 90% sale going on through Aug. 2020, and I will be buying some, like American History, Biochemistry, and How to Play Piano for $35 each!

PRICES
Their List Prices are excessive, however, if you get on their mailing list (they don't spam you), you will get offers for 70%, 80%, and even 90% discounts every month or so. In one year EVERY course will eventually go on sale. So you don't have to worry about the cost.

SAVE MONEY
Purchase the Online Streaming (not DVD) because it is cheaper, has zero shipping cost, and you can download the video (unencrypted) onto your hard drive or other storage device.

PRESENTATION AND VALUE
Some of the courses at TGC are worth having because they are presented well and cover many topics in one entire course. At minimum you get 12-lessons. 24- and 36- lessons is common. Some have 45- or 72-lessons in one course! Each Lesson is half-hour. The Guidebooks are helpful as well. You can even order digital copies of full transcripts of all the lectures.

READ REVIEWS
Before you purchase a course, read reviews on their (official) website and look at the overall rating. Also, be sure you understand what the content is actually about. Some are more technical than others, and some are not technical enough, depending on your expectations. Some courses have bad reviews and you may not want those.

YOUTUBE ALTERNATIVES
Another consideration is to look on YouTube for the video you want. Sometimes they are there. Other times, you will find similar content on YouTube and you don't have to spend the money for it.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Returns and exchanges are allowed. Read their policy page or call and ask. Because of COVID-19, they are busy. But they have a good reputation to maintain (except on this site for some reason), and they will go out of their way to be helpful.

I use lots of different online education options. The Great Courses is my favorite. Their quality is unmatched. The professors I've watched have all been great. When I look through their catalog there are always a dozen courses that I wish I could take. I just wish I had the time.

I normally purchase digital courses on their website. The one time I called, I had a good experience.

I love the ability to download courses in. Mp3

The Great Courses is what I almost always want as a present from family these days. I have always loved to learn and the great courses lectures are so well taught and educational. From healthy living to learning more about management, the great courses have been very influential in my life. The only problem is the price. The cost is on average 300-400 so they are not cheap. The often have 20-30 lectures so it really comes down to only 10 dollars per hour class. I prefer ordering the DVDs as then you can easily watch the again.