This Great Courses selection is extremely informative and educational in a subject matter that I think could benefit every citizen of the world. Professor David Livermore is a superb lecturer and is extremely knowledgeable in his chosen field of study: cultures around the world. He covers a broad specctrum of knowledge in the course time allotted and by the time I finished the course I felt well grounded with a basic knowledge of the study of the cultures and customs of a large portion of the planet. Certainly enough to know what a fascinating topic it is and we are given motivation and reference materials to help us further our studies in this subject and increase our Cultural knowledge (CQ).

We learn the names and definitions of the main indicators used in the study of customs and cultures and how to analyze and calculate the value of these various indices for different geographical locations around the world. Professor Livermore teaches us about ten global clusters that the world is divided into by scholars. While there are no clear cut and perfect ways to divide the world's population neatly into groups, it is done to the best of scholars' who specialize in cultural studies abilities in order to be able to have manageable segments to study and focus on.

I urge everyone to listen to this Great Courses audio book on Customs of the World. I feel if everyone expanded their CQ (Cultural knowledge); the divisions, hatreds, wars and violence in the world would lessen immensely. Knowledge is more than power, knowledge is everything and this book promotes that in a wonderful, positive way. As far as I'm concerned, CQ is every bit as important as IQ, EQ (Emotional intelligence). ( )