History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

America B.C.: Ancient Settlers in the New World

Average customer rating:

I Just Don't Know
Ancient Mysteries
A Shame Nobody Has Carried the Torch on This Research
Open minds are healthy ones.
Whacky

America B.C.: Ancient Settlers in the New World
Fell
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0671679740

Customer Reviews:

I Just Don't Know.......2006-02-01

Undoubtedly, Fell was a gifted and brilliant scholar who distinguished himself in a number of disciplines. Just as obvious, the author took huge leaps of faith when arriving at some of his faulty conclusions. I found myself both intrigued and disappointed with Fell's work.

As a resident of New Mexico, I visited an archeological sight west of Los Lunas which contains a mezzuzah (abbreviated 10 commandments) inscribed on an 80 ton piece of basalt. The inscription, according to Cyrus Gordon, is an ancient Phoenician/Hebrew script, a language that could not be interpreted until the 1930's. Yet, documentation of this "mystery stone" goes back at least 150 years.

It is easy to dismiss Fell's collective work because of his many misteps, but perhaps that would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. When confronted with an ancient rendition of the 10 Commandments in the middle of a New Mexico desert, I could only scratch my head in bewilderment. Obviously, more careful and scholarly attention is needed to study this whole notion of pre-Columbian visitors to the west. Unfortunately, many of our most respected scholars who could contribute to this area refuse to do so out of fear of being labeled a nut case.

Ancient Mysteries.......2005-08-17

I first read Barry Fell's America B.C. many years ago as a teenager, and being lucky enough to live in Vermont, have visited various ancient sites here and in New Hampshire. Even if you are skeptical after reading this book, at least let it be a jumping off point to read and discover more about this intriguing subject. Another short, but wonderful book is "New England's Ancient Mysteries" by Robert Ellis Cahill. I picked this up at America's Stonehenge in Salem, NH and am anxious to visit some of the other sites outlined in this book. Also visit www.neara.org for more information on New England Antiquities. It truly is in your own backyard!!

A Shame Nobody Has Carried the Torch on This Research.......2005-08-04

"The fact that all of the modern American nations are a result --in different degrees--, of the cultural and biological symbiosis between the populations of the Old World and Pre-Hispanic America, makes the search for the beginnings of this transcendental and still ongoing process an anthropological exercise that does not lack either sense or relevance." - Romeo H. Hristov

The problem with many books and papers on Pre-Columbian contact with America is that many of the people who write them want so badly to believe it that they take enormous, unsubstantiated and ill-informed leaps to that conclusion. Ultimately, this of course benefits the `scholarly' naysayer by casting an ominous cloud of doubt over something that inherently has credibility; that is, when one searches in the right place.

There is no doubt that Barry Fell deserves an immense amount of respect for his very scholarly work in the field of ancient, non-Amerindian epigraphic evidence found in America. Furthermore, his three books really are national treasures that I hope one day will be greatly vindicated. However, the reason I'm compelled to give the book less than 5 stars is due to the Achilles heal that Dr. Fell leaves exposed to the poison arrows of the naysayers...

Let me explain first by saying that from a completely different perspective than Dr. Fell, I have little doubt as to whether ancient, maritime traders made it to America before Columbus. However, the angle which I approach this issue is from clues littered throughout *surviving*, ancient documents; hints, whispers and anecdotes that I myself have read instead of taking a contemporary's word for it. Dr. Fell's work seemed like the final evidence I was looking for to match literary evidence with physical proof.

This is where my only disappointment with Dr. Fell's work lies. He writes with such authority about inscriptions left by certain people but then falls short to relay to his readers a solid background of these very same people. This apparent lack of supporting research on these topics is what leaves his wonderful work exposed to the ninnies. If Dr. Fell had relied more on the exhaustive work of others available to him (even in the 1970s) the finished product of his book would have been wholly undeniable.

Without that however, the background of whom he considers to be Phoenician, Iberian, Iberian-Punic and `Basque' people comes across to me as confused; like mythical hearsay instead of the concrete geo-social groups of people they were.

I about fell out of my chair during the chapter on the `Ship's of Tarshish'; Phoenicians = Syrian Colonists? Ack! Tartessians "seem to be Basque"? Ack! Finally the caption under an engraving in that chapter that claims (even though he has the evidence they came to America) there was no written context for Phoenicians traveling in the Atlantic... If Dr. Fell were still alive, I would make sure he owned a copy of Howard Smith's 1854 `Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography', Herodotus, Diodorus Sicilius (Book V), Strabo, and Polybius for starters...

Open minds are healthy ones. .......2005-05-12

This fascinating book, summarising the author's findings after an extensive survey of Pre-Columbian sites and artifacts, is a gripping read, a masterpiece of archeological detective work. Page after page, Fell builds up a picture of America B.C., based on his decipherment of ancient stone inscriptions, more or less ignored since Columbus set foot in America. The controversial thing here, is that most such inscriptions are in a variant of Ogham - a script usually associated with the ancient British Druids and proto-Celtic culture in lands, far distant from America. Outlining evidence of migrant Celtic and Semitic cultures - on American soil, as far back as 800 B.C. Fell's fascinating account is fleshed out with abundant photographs, maps, charts, alphabets and scripts, showing how he arrived at his conclusions. Short of being downright pig-headed, it is hard to ignore the evidence Fell has adduced, to make his case.

Although a Harvard Professor, Fell presents his ideas in lively and accessible manner. He has had his critics - the most scathing being professional archeologists and ethnologists etc. whose comfortable world of preconceptions has been turned upside down by his findings. Such critics have attempted to discredit Fell's work as unscientific, amatuerish speculation,
even wilful fabrication. However, note well, Barry Fell is a Harvard Professor. The acknowledgements and credits at the front of this book, listing scores of people with impeccable professional qualifications - who have supported and encouraged Fell's work, speak for themselves.

Fell does have supportive voices in the American academic establishment - but, the negative 'academic' reactions have succeeded in persuading a number of people to reject Fell's ideas as 'wacky' - much as if he were claiming that aliens are living in underground bunkers in New York, or that the citizens of Long Island actually constitute a colony from Venus.

However, the only 'aliens' in this picture, are the Caucasian people who settled in post-Columbian America, thereafter making it a virtue to ignore the history of the earth beneath their feet. Amerindian culture - once defined by an ugly, racist stereotype' - Redskins' - has only recently acquired the respect, interest and attention it rightly deserves, recognised as manifold and complex - in fact, a rich diversity of cultures. By and large, the white colonisers of America shew little interest in getting to know the land they settled in - beyond the bounds of self-interest, securing territory, staking out claims, establishing communities based on European models. Thus, until fairly recent times, even the surviving Amerindian culture has remained a closed book, let alone the secrets of Pre-Columbian America, shrouded in the mists of time.

With America B.C.- Barry Fell has presented an exciting and challenging account, which lifts the veil on this matter - not with unfounded speculation, as his citics have asserted, but with hard evidence - written in stone! The disclaimers have had to resort to desperate gestures - to refute Fell. Ridiculously, they have asserted that the Ogham inscriptions - are, in fact, scratch marks left by plough shares etc. Fell shows how Ogham scripts are composed, and the evidence he has provided, speaks for itself. This is a brilliant book, by a brilliant, but profoundly humble man, more interested in pursuing the truth, than know-towing to peer group pressure.

Some find it hard to accept that there is a correspondence between proto-archaic languages of America B.C. - and Celtic, putting it down to chance that certain nouns, verbs etc. - resemble each other. How about this: there are correspondences between the Ainu language in Japan and Celtic/Gaelic" - viz.

Ainu/Gaelic

atui/ath body of water

charuse/tsuruthain stream

hau/au voice/audible

iye/iar ask/say

karap/corrag touch/forefinger

kapuhu/chapno leather

mak/mac descendant of

mo shir/mo thir my land

pen/ben mountain

- there are plenty more. I have thrown these examples in, because they widen the net, showing further evidence of a kind of pan-celtic diaspora (remember the Celtic 'mummy' found in Asia, a few years back? DNA tests made the identity certain). It is virtually impossible to hang-on to the stereotypical ethno-cultural models which provided the basis for such studies, a hundred years ago. In truth, we know better today.

While Fell's book details some astonishing facts, upsetting cherished preconceptions, the picture of human culture which emerges is a much enlarged - and thus, a much richer one. Don't join the unimaginative crustheads and snobs who mock this book. Order two copies of it, give one to a friend, or local library etc. Celebrate the rich fabric of American culture! On an ironic end-note, I confess that I found my copy of this book in a s/hand store,marked 'Discard. Kyoto International School.'

Whacky.......2005-03-10

Fall for this stuff and I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. Fell is one of those strange archeologists who believes ancient civilizations came to America long before Columbus. He sees Druids in New England, Libyans in Arizona, and Celts everywhere. The evidence is very skimpy and Fell stretches it to what HE wants to believe. His style and approach to his subject are very academic--but only the better to fool ya. Just about everything Fell proposes has been disproved by reputable archeologists, but I guess, like P.T. Barnum, he believes there's a sucker born every minute. Don't fall for it.

New Worlds: The Great Voyages of Discovery 1400-1600

Average customer rating:

The best book on the age of discovery

New Worlds: The Great Voyages of Discovery 1400-1600
Ronald H. Fritze
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0750923466

Book Description

A fascinating narrative history of the great voyages of discovery, and is the only book of its kind to span the crucial period 1400-1600 in one readable book.

Customer Reviews:

The best book on the age of discovery.......2004-08-27

"New Worlds" is an unbelievably great book! After reading the recent "Rivers of Gold", I started to look for an up to date overview of the age of discovery. I was especially interested in events prior to the voyages of Columbus and the role of Portugal.

Dr. Fritze offers a balanced and detailed overview that includes Portuguese contributions. But the book goes much farther. It details the European knowledge and mindset prior to exploration. It covers politics, trade, technology and other factors crucial to setting the stage for exploration. The book is lavishly illustrated. It has great charts and maps.

"New Worlds" is the best history book I have read since "Guns, Germs and Steel." It may be better.

Despite searches on Amazon and web searches, I could not find a book remotely covering the age of exploration. "New Worlds" is on Amazon... but it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily I stumbled across "New World's" at the Stanford bookstore.

My kudos to the author. I hope your publisher will find better ways to get the word out. (I'm shocked how clueless they must be about web marketing.)

Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About The Event That Changed History

Average customer rating:

Flight of a Fanciful Imagination
THE BLACK SEA
Mendocino Book Group
Excellent history/scholarship but definitely NOT light reading!
Worth the read...oh yeah

Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About The Event That Changed History
William Ryan , and Walter Pitman
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Fairy Tales | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0684859203

Amazon.com

The Deluge of Noah has long been one of the points of tension between geology and Christianity. Scientific diluvianism--the theory that the earth's history was shaped by a universal flood--collapsed in the early 19th century, well before Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species. Since that time, scientists and historians have assumed that the flood story derived from local events in Mesopotamia.

In 1997, geologists Walter Pitman and William Ryan proposed the first truly novel interpretation of the flood in over 150 years. Their studies of sediments in the Black Sea convinced them that the body had been a freshwater lake until about 5600 B.C. When the rising waters of the Mediterranean broke through the Bosporus, "ten cubic miles of water poured through each day, two hundred times what flows over Niagara Falls."

With great intellectual daring, Pitman and Ryan have moved outside of their academic niche to suggest that this event had enormous consequences for human history. They marshal evidence from archeology, mythology, linguistics, and agriculture to describe a flood-driven diaspora of early farmers. Subsets of these people became (variously) proto-Indo-Europeans, Sumerians, Beaker People, Vincas, Tocharians--the founders of the early cultures of Europe and western Asia. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

Over the millennia, the legend of a great deluge has endured in the biblical story of Noah and in such Middle Eastern myths as the epic of Gilgamesh. Now two distinguished geophysicists have discovered a catastrophic event that changed history, a gigantic flood 7,600 years ago in what is today the Black Sea.

Using sound waves and coring devices to probe the sea floor, William Ryan and Walter Pitman revealed clear evidence that this inland body of water had once been a vast freshwater lake lying hundreds of feet below the level of the world's rising oceans. Sophisticated dating techniques confirmed that 7,600 years ago the mounting seas had burst through the narrow Bosporus valley, and the salt water of the Mediterranean had poured into the lake with unimaginable force, racing over beaches and up rivers, destroying or chasing all life before it. The rim of the lake, which had served as an oasis, a Garden of Eden for farms and villages in a vast region of semi-desert, became a sea of death. The people fled, dispersing their languages, genes, and memories.

Customer Reviews:

Flight of a Fanciful Imagination.......2007-08-17

Here is a shining example of how an idea can be woven into a complex tapistry and sound so academic, that the unsuspecting casual observer may be led down into a geologic box canyon, and left there permanantly off track.

Here are a couple of academics hoping against hope to score the big one; if only they can sound erudite enough. The simple fact that they simply fail to perceive the massive, gargantuan amount of evidence of a world wide flood, establishes only their ignorance. If a vast body of scientific data exists which can only be explained by a catastrophic flood, and one chooses to ignore that data, then one is by definition ignorant.
I adjure any and all not to go down this trail. Life is too short to be wasted machinating fanciful things...but then practically the entire world has done and is doing precisely that contemplating the so called deathly hallows, have they not. Off hand, that is an even more sinister box canyon. At the very least another egregious waste of time.

THE BLACK SEA.......2007-07-13

ANYONE TRAVELING ON THE BLACK SEA SHOULD READ THIS BOOK FIRST.

Mendocino Book Group.......2007-05-13

With a NASA scientist, NPR researcher and others in the group, the book generated discussion on scientific issues and proofs, Biblical references, and the diaspora from the Black Sea. Fascinating book!

Excellent history/scholarship but definitely NOT light reading!.......2007-05-05

This is an excellent description of the discovery of ancient pre-biblical texts dealing with the Flood, including how several important ancient languages were first translated.

This is not an academic treatise; in theory it is written for the general public. But beware, this is definitely not light reading. Although it does not contain math, chemical formulas, graphs, etc., it very quickly gets into some fairly heavy descriptions about how particular scientific conclusions were reached based on things like underwater core samples. Oddly, there are no photos at all, only drawings of general scenes such as people sitting around a campfire listening to an ancient storyteller.

Totally aside from the Flood issue, this book presents a good picture of how scientists conduct their work, problems they face such as visas and totalitarian governments, international cooperation and transmission of information within the academic community. Anyone interested in the History of Science, ethnology, the study of mythology, the discovery of ancient Middle Eastern cities, ancient Middle Eastern culture or discussions of practical problems encountered in extended field work outside of modern areas will find this helpful and interesting.

Worth the read...oh yeah.......2007-02-12

Shows how some actual geological events got mythologized in the bible. Definitely worth the read. Trust me on this one.

The Secret Spiritual World of Children: The Breakthrough Discovery that Profoundly Alters Our Conventional View of Children's Mystical Experiences

Average customer rating:

An amazing glimpse at children's connection to the divine
A Wonderful, Inspirational Book
Secrets of Children's Spirituality
Beautiful!
The Secret Spiritual World of Children

The Secret Spiritual World of Children: The Breakthrough Discovery that Profoundly Alters Our Conventional View of Children's Mystical Experiences
Tobin Hart
Manufacturer: New World Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Psychology | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Children's Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1930722192

Book Description

Many of the great mystics and sages in history have told us that their spiritual realizations began in childhood. Gandhi, Albert Einstein, and Abraham Lincoln are just a few famous figures who have reported these events. Based on more than five years of interviews, this book combines startling firsthand accounts of secret spiritual lives, including recollections from adults who have forgotten or repressed such experiences in childhood. The author explains how parents, educators, and therapists can recognize, identify, and nurture children's deep spiritual connections. The book is divided into ten chapters treating the phenomena of wisdom, wonder, and visions, including guiding parents along the spiritual path, building a curriculum, and learning from children.

Customer Reviews:

An amazing glimpse at children's connection to the divine.......2007-02-07

Every parent should own a copy... needs to own a copy of the Secret Spiritual World of Children. It is an insightful, uplifting glimpse into the connection between children and the Divine.

A Wonderful, Inspirational Book.......2005-11-18

I read this book a few of years ago, before my son was even walking. Looking back on it, I realize that I've incorporated many if the author's suggestions in working with my son, and I think that has helped him feel comfortable in talking to me about his experiences. He told me I was going to have a baby before I even knew I was pregnant; this prompted me to take a pregnancy test. He told me the baby was a girl when I was about two months pregnant. And, later, when I was very pregnant (about 8 mos or so), he told me that he was playing with his sister in his bedroom at night. He also tried to get me to 'see' her, by pointing out what he called 'balloons with light in them' that would appear in the bedroom. He said this light was Sofia and her friends. Later, a nurse at the Dr's office told me that she often hears about children his age (3 at the time) predicting pregnancies, etc.

It's just amazing that when you're aware, you can see children's spirituality unfolding naturally before your eyes. This awareness helps parents to nurture and acknowledge this spirituality, which in turn, I believe creates a well-balanced child.

Secrets of Children's Spirituality.......2005-05-31

One of my favorite childhood dreams, a recurrent one that I had when I was around seven or eight, is that I am conducting a symphony orchestra. That would be a special experience in itself. What makes this dream more interesting is that I am making up the music, note by note, as we go. Almost like the wand that Mickey Mouse borrows from the Sorcerer, as I wave my baton, the music comes into being. In the dream, that is a thrilling experience. What is even more interesting is that in the dream I am noticing that the orchestra seems to know what notes to play even though there are no notes until I wave them into being at that very moment. In the dream I am puzzling over how the orchestra can play the notes at the very instant that I create them.
Years later I can see in this dream many of the themes I've meditated upon in trying to come to a better understanding of a spiritual path that is natural to me, one that involves allowing improvisation to connect with a transpersonal source of creativity. While my adult self can both appreciate and understand the dream, my childhood self experienced the wonder and awe of the dream, but did not have any understanding of its meaning or source. Not all children, however, display the same lack the understanding of such experiences, according to Tobin Hart in his book The secret spiritual world of children (Inner Ocean Publishing). He shares many stories of children seeming wise beyond their years, children who experience cosmic consciousness and understand its significance and use the experience to guide them throughout their lives.
The idea that children are close to God certainly comes through loud and clear in Hart's stories. The children in his book have mystical experiences, visits by angels and other beings, they spontaneously offer healing words or touch to other children and adults, and they have psychic experiences of many varieties. An account of these experiences comprises only the first half of the book. He devotes the second half of his book to providing guidance to parents. There he skillfully weaves together insights for both parent and child as they attempt to respond to such experiences.
Spirituality is a mixed blessing, for while it may open the child to the secrets of the universe, such knowledge can also be a burden on the child. Adults face similar challenges and the parents may find their own spiritual issues mirrored in the struggles of the child. A vision of one's mission in life may also create pressure to succeed. Being given extraordinary insights, visits from angels, and other non-ordinary encounters may make the child feel "special" and disinclined to make the mortal efforts in life required of the rest of us. Awareness of invisible worlds that no one else can see can make a person, child or adult, feel alienated from others. Balancing heaven and earth is difficult, regardless of a person's age.
Psychic experiences offer their own special challenges and they are quite similar for both children and adults. Precognitive experiences, for example, especially about unfortunate events, can make the experiencer feel somehow guilty, as if knowledge of an event creates responsibility for it. Telepathic sensitivity can confuse a person's sense of self, requiring effort to discern one's own feelings from those of others. Balancing individuality with inter-connectedness is a lifelong riddle that requires the development of a stable ego, content enough to remain calmly in the background. The child's experience becomes a teacher for the parents as they endeavor to respond appropriately to the child.
Tobin's advice to parents seems to revolve around two key principles. The first is that the parent should endeavor to respond matter of factly to the child's reports. While it might seem inconceivable to us that we might deny the child's reality, making too big a deal of it can be equally harmful. The second, and more challenging, principle is for parents to cultivate a good relationship with their own spirituality and not vicariously live through their children. Although he allows for the probability that our species is evolving, he expresses some reserve about such concepts as "Indigo children." He argues, alternatively, that children have always had a secret spiritual life. It is the parents, he suggests, that are now highly interested in spirituality and have become aware of its existence in their children. The children may seem "special" in the parents' eyes, but this perception may be a compensating projection of the parents' own sad alienation from their own spiritual inner child. The child's spirituality often needs some help with incarnating into the workaday world. Parents who can embrace this need and provide a family atmosphere in which all parties are collaborating to bring heaven into earth seems to create the best classroom for the lessons spiritual experiences bring to the home. www.henryreed.com/publications/bookreviews

Beautiful!.......2005-02-07

This book has inspired me to listen more closely to the children in my life as well to my own inner knowing. As adults we can forget this source within us with all the external distractions in our lives. The stories Tobin Hart shares reminds us we all have the ability to listen from within.
There is so much wisdom in this book, from children and sages from the past, I cannot wait to re-read it to glean more. This work is not something to be measured or quantified from a cognitive perspective, but to be experienced,felt, and lived.

The Secret Spiritual World of Children.......2004-08-02

I am so grateful that this book has been written.
It provides wonderful insight for parents, educators and even for children.
For those who need reassurance that there is more to life than meets the eye, that there is a spiritual world we may have forgotten about and for us all to have insight on how to be with, work with and live with our innate gifts and how to share them with others and not feel alone in the world.
Dr. Hart provides a hands-on approach for us to gain insight, learn and be involved.
For the lay person and accademia as well.
Thank you for this book Dr. Hart.
We welcome the next!

Secrets of the Lost Races: New Discoveries of Advanced Technology in Ancient Civilizations

Average customer rating:

Secrets of the Lost Races
A great read
An untrustworthy source
Absolutely mind boggling!
Fascinating

Secrets of the Lost Races: New Discoveries of Advanced Technology in Ancient Civilizations
Rene Noorbergen
Manufacturer: Teach Services
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1572581980

Book Description

An increasing number of historical and archaeological finds made around the world have been classified as "out-of-place artifacts" (ooparts). They have been called this because they appear unexpectedly among the ruins of the past with no evidence of a preceding period of development; their technological sophistication seems far beyond the capabilities of ancient peoples.

Drawing on the literature and art of the Chaldeans, Sumerians, Babylonians and others, Rene Noorbergen's contention is that a superior race of man was responsible for these scientific marvels that bear testimony to a civilization with technology comparable to our own.

Customer Reviews:

Secrets of the Lost Races.......2007-03-15

This book is outstanding in proving that the races that were before us were very much more capable than we have become, so far.

A great read.......2007-03-12

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author, a Christian, doesn't get "preachy" which is to the book's advantage, though he makes it plain he accepts the authenticity of the Biblical record, especially as concerns the Great Flood and the Babel incident. I'm admittedly a little skeptical of the claims made for finding the Ark and for ancient post-Flood atomic warfare but everything else that might be reasonably inferred about ancient civilization seems to be in order. There's certainly validity to the thought that pre-Flood and early post-Flood civilization was probably advanced beyond our own in many ways, given that ancient architectural mysteries as well as ooparts abound that simply do not fit the monkey-to-man progression supposed by evolution. I'd gladly recommend it to anyone interested in at least giving ear (or in this case, eyes) to a different perspective that is probably much closer to the truth, and which treats ancient man with the dignity and respect he deserves.

An untrustworthy source.......2006-10-03

Rene Noorbergin can only be seen as an alternative von Däniken and Sitchen by those who prefer a literal interpretation of the Bible. Even then, his gullibility and lack of fact checking shows up in his acceptance of Ron Wyatt's tales about the ark, which are not only rejected by archaeologists but also by most Christian fundamentalists.

He claims there is a 20000 tonne stone block at Sacsahuamán -- the largest blocks there are (and they aren't typical) around 400 tons.

He accepts uncritically the claim for a 5000 year old Chaldean manuscript the Sifrala, which is only a creation of David Hatcher Childress (you will often find it associated with his 'Vaimanika Sastra', allegedly transcribed by a medium in the early 20th century).

Following Berlitz, he writes about ancient nuclear warfare, but this is based on taking bits and pieces from the Mahabharata and putting them together to make up a story that isn't actually in the original. So there the more amazing quote says:
"A single projectile charged with all the power of the universe. An
incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as 10,000 suns, rose
in all its splendour.... It was an unknown weapon, and iron thunderbolt, a
gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes the entire race of
the Vrishnis and Andhakas.." although in fact, in the real document, 'a single projectile --- all its splendour' has its origin in Karna Parva, section 34. The second part, 'it was an unknown weapon --- Andhakas' derives from Mausala Parva section 1, reconnecting events which occurred no less than 36 years after the great battle which is the central focus of the Mahabharata. A third part 'the corpses --- unrecognisable' refers back in time to the much earlier Drona Parva section 201, and the already mentioned Agneya weapon. The fourth part, 'the hair and nails --- infected' leaps forward in time once again to Mausala Parva, section 2.

(Side point, there is no 'World Island Review' here in the UK, the story seems to be a hoax from start to finish, I and several authors have spent some time trying to trace down the journal and the people mentioned and they only show up in the same story repeated all over the web).

So, with this book and similar books, always check to find the sources and see how reliable they are. What I find amazing about our ancestors is their ability to use their brains to solve problems with a low level of technology. In some ways they were clverer than we are.

Absolutely mind boggling!.......2005-08-20

This book and the subject matter rate as one of the most interesting to date. To think that there are literally tons of Out of Place artifacts (author calls them OOPARTS) that debunk a lot of the theories that we've been taught all our lives (and still are on popular TV shows)regarding the early history of mankind.

Open your mind, if you dare! You won't regret it!

Fascinating.......2005-07-25

In this fascinating book, author and journalist Rene Noorbergen looks at the various anomalies in the archaeological and geological records and comes to a startling conclusion. It is the author's contention that the Biblical record correctly shows an earlier age in the world, when long-lived humans lived in a paradise, multiplied and filled the Earth. But, they did more than that; they actually created a technologically advanced civilization, remnants of which survived the global flood. This is a look at the evidence, and what it shows about Earth's past.

Overall, I found this to be a wonderfully fascinating book. The author makes a great case for his contention, and does so in a way that keeps you reading, page after page. If you are interested in non-establishment, highly controversial theories, then this book is for you.

Omm Sety's Egypt: A Story of Ancient Mysteries, Secret Lives, and the Lost History of the Pharaohs

Average customer rating:

Charming Odyssey
An Egyptologist booksellers view of a fine book.
great book
To own and to give!
Very compelling with new information

Omm Sety's Egypt: A Story of Ancient Mysteries, Secret Lives, and the Lost History of the Pharaohs
Hanny El Zeini , and Catherine Dees
Manufacturer: St. Lynn's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Egypt | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Egypt | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Reincarnation | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0976763133

Book Description

Omm Sety - a brilliant, eccentric Englishwoman with uncanny knowledge of New Kingdom Egypt, its royal secrets and religious practices - worked under some of the 20th century's greatest Egyptologists and lived a life of magic and memory. Omm Sety's EGPYT contains never-before-seen episodes from her life, and important, previously unknown details of Egyptian history.

Customer Reviews:

Charming Odyssey.......2007-08-03

I've just finished reading "Omm Sety's Egypt", and wanted to say what a delightful book it is. I recall seeing a documentary a few years back centered around Omm Sety that left me wondering. Hanny & Catherine did a remarkable job of fleshing out that fascinating character in a warm, compassionate manner that also was quite scholarly. As a long-time student of ancient Egypt, I will never look at things the same way again, which can be called "growth", I think.

A glimpse, however seemingly fantastic, into our ancient world is a golden opportunity to learn things the strictly academic world does not offer. It's been my firm belief for decades that the fields of archaeology and Egyptology in particular have had their heads in the sand, so to speak. New discoveries are being made daily; I just wonder how many of them are getting swept under the rug because they don't dovetail with accepted theories.

I think I accept the experiences of Dorothy Eady because of a pet theory of mine. Greek mythology, I think, tells about the deceased being dipped in the "river of forgetfulness". If reincarnation is real, and I think it is, that might describe a "seal" placed on the consciousness at death, which would serve to separate "lives" from one another, to prevent contamination and preserve the purity of each individual "life". Traumatic injuries or near-death experiences might rupture that seal somehow, perhaps even provide a "link" to another place/time, as in Omm Sety's case. We know so very little about the "soul", but every testament like Dorothy's opens up a new window of exploration, and adds a missing piece to the puzzle of life.

This book will be read and re-read until it's dog-eared, I'm sure.

An Egyptologist booksellers view of a fine book........2007-07-07

Through-out my life which has lead to eventually owning an Egyptological academic bookshop I have felt influenced by the lady known as Omm Sety. When I first read about her in a Reader's Digest book "Strange Stories and Amazing Facts" at the age of 12, I was smitten with the idea of past lives. My own interest in Ancient Egypt was already well rounded at that age. This was just another part of the jigsaw for me.

I have gone on to know several people who knew Omm Sety and I have visited her grave in Abydos. The first book I imported for my business in 1988 was Abydos, Holy City of Ancient Egypt. If you can get a copy do so as it was Omm Sety's seminal work.

Having said all of the above I highly recommend this book to readers, I read it over a few days, some of the information in this book you will find in earlier writings such as the Jonothon Cott book mentioned by the other reviewers, but this book rounds out the picture, it also covers Omm Sety's marriage and more information about her son, Sety.

Therefor this book now fills in the gaps in our knowledge of Omm Sety, what an extrodinary women she was, in her own way she influenced Egyptology greatly although many Egyptologist will only talk of that privately, she was also a great humanitarian and did very good works for the village surrounding Abydos temple.

I enjoyed the book very much and I hope that one day Hanny el Zeini will publish Omm Sety's complete diarys and notes to absolutely complete the picture.

Whether you are a academic Egyptologist, a past lifer, a romantic, or just interested in Strange stories I feel you will enjoy this book, and you'll want to buy a couple of copies for it would make a great gift.

Blessings to you Omm Sety your amazing life is an inspiration to all.

great book.......2007-06-27

As books go, this one was desert for me. I am a beleiver in reincarnation anyway and a lover of Egyptian history. With this book the two naturally go together. The author is not only credible as far as getting his facts right, he is also sincere and, I might add, a friend to this amazing woman the world now knows as Omm Sety. I read the book in one sitting. It is an adventure, a love story and a good case for life beyond this life. I highly recomend it.

To own and to give!.......2007-05-31

The book ,Omm Sety's Egypt, has been well described in these pages.To me it was a very deep emotional experience of the power of Love. To read the story as it enfolds, thanks to Hanny El Zeini's tapes and his deep respect and affection for Omm Sety, we the readers, feel part of Omm Sety's successive lives while getting a wonderful view of ancient Egypt and an education as well. What makes this book exceptional is the description of the incredible power of love reaching through centuries and incarnations to allow two lovers to be reunited.

It is not only a book to own and cherish, multiple copies should be bought to give to loved ones for special occasions.

Malou Zeitlin

Very compelling with new information.......2007-04-19

This book is very well-written and quite compelling. I had read the Jonathan Cott book a few years ago, and while I loved the story, at times it was hard to follow. This book has so much new information and stories that it feels like I am learning about Omm Sety all over again.

The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World's Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs

Average customer rating:

James Duke Rocks!
User friendly and packed with wisdom
An excellent natural remedy book!
complete herbal
Dr Duke has done it again!

The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World's Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs
James A. Duke , and Ph.D. Jamea A. Duke
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Herbal Remedies | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Reference | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Accessories:

ASIN: 1579541240

Amazon.com

There's still a lot to learn about the healing power of plants, James Duke points out, but what we do know is already prodigious. Much of that knowledge is gathered in The Green Pharmacy, an A-to-Z guide to that relies on plant-based medicines to cure what ails us. Between the listings, Duke crams personal anecdotes from a lifetime of studying herbs, berries, and bark. For example, he relates how he worried about telling a pregnant niece that ginger could help alleviate her morning sickness because he'd learned from a pharmacologist that ginger could also induce miscarriage. Then he solved the mystery: he'd recommended ginger tea, which contains about 250 milligrams of ginger. The Chinese, he learned, use about 80 times that much to end pregnancies--another testimony to the amazing versatility of these natural medicines.

Book Description

Thousands of safe, natural remedies lie untapped in jungles, forests and herbal gardens throughout the world. Now America's foremost authority on medicinal plants and herbs shares his knowledge of these hidden reserves of healing power.

* For Arthritis: A new, all-natural remedy that can cut pain in half.
* For Back Pain: A fruit that has anti-inflammatory properties to produce long-term relief.
* For Your Heart: An herb that opens up clogged arteries and lowers blood pressure, with none of the side effects of prescription drugs.
* For High Cholesterol: A tasty grain that has three times more cholesterol-lowering power than oat bran.
* For Migraines: An herb that has the power to eliminate the blurred vision and debilitating pain of these monster headaches.
* For Mood Swings: A common food that shares the power of Prozac to boost the brain's level of "feel-good" serotonin.
* For Osteoporosis: A prime plant source of calcium that vastly enhances protection against bone depletion.
* For Wrinkles: An herbal lotion that has the skin-clearing, wrinkle-reversing power of alpha hydroxy acid but costs only pennies.

And much more-- over 120 conditions in all!

Customer Reviews:

James Duke Rocks!.......2007-09-23

I really enjoy this author and his no nonsense approach to herbalism.

He is very real and thorough in his writings. He shares stories and things to help set the image in your mind on what helps or does not help certain situations.

Excellent Information

User friendly and packed with wisdom.......2007-06-10

This guide to herbalism and healing is simply wonderful. I highly recommend it to anyone who is searching for holistic and natural methods to dealing with medical problems. The ability to search by ailment or useful herb is very nice. A must for any naturalists bookshelf.

Jess

An excellent natural remedy book!.......2007-04-16

This book has a lot of useful information about natural remedies and even how to make herbal tea yourself.

Illnesses are listed in alphabetical order with recommended natural remedies.
The Index has herbs etc..listed also in alphabetical order with page numbers for location.

Dr. Duke does provide words of caution where he feels it is neccessary.

I recommend this book. The price is very affordable and the book has an extensive list of natural remedies.This book is also very well organised.

complete herbal.......2007-03-08

This is the best book I could find and read concerning the herbal concoctions on the market today,but, make sure you get this book, not one of the many so named "green" books, there are many books out on this subject and some are very very similarily named.This book has almost all of the herbs listed and uses for them.I highly recommend it to herbal health persons.

Dr Duke has done it again!.......2007-02-20

My medicince cabinet has changed considerably since reading this book, it has become filled with herbal teas etc, with NO side effects. Thanks to the truth printed from these pages and Dr. Duke with his extensive research.

Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World

Average customer rating:

a marvelous read
an excellent analysis of the effect of possession on indigenous communities.....
An historical and rhetorical examination of travel writing

Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World
Stephen Greenblatt
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0226306518

Book Description

Marvelous Possessions is a study of the ways in which Europeans of the late Middle Ages and the early modern period represented non-European peoples and took possession of their lands, in particular the New World.

In a series of innovative readings of travel narratives, judicial documents, and official reports, Stephen Greenblatt shows that the experience of the marvelous, central to both art and philosophy, was cunningly yoked by Columbus and others to the service of colonial appropriation. He argues that the traditional symbolic actions and legal rituals through which European sovereignty was asserted were strained to the breaking point by the unprecedented nature of the discovery of the New World. But the book also shows that the experience of the marvelous is not necessarily an agent of empire: in writers as different as Herodotus, Jean de Léry, and Montaigne—and notably in Mandeville's Travels, the most popular travel book of the Middle Ages—wonder is a sign of a remarkably tolerant recognition of cultural difference.

Marvelous Possession is not only a collection of the odd and exotic through which Stephen Greenblatt powerfully conveys a sense of the marvelous, but also a highly original extension of his thinking on a subject that has occupied him throughout his career. The book reaches back to the ancient Greeks and forward to the present to ask how it is possible, in a time of disorientation, hatred of the other, and possessiveness, to keep the capacity for wonder from being poisoned?

"A marvellous book. It is also a compelling and a powerful one. Nothing so original has ever been written on European responses to 'The wonder of the New World.'"—Anthony Pagden, Times Literary Supplement

"By far the most intellectually gripping and penetrating discussion of the relationship between intruders and natives is provided by Stephen Greenblatt's Marvelous Possessions."—Simon Schama, The New Republic

"For the most engaging and illuminating perspective of all, read Marvelous Possessions."—Laura Shapiro, Newsweek

Customer Reviews:

a marvelous read.......2007-05-01

A highly interesting and well written account of how the early European explorers claimed the New World as their own. The author's account of ownership was not limited to just the land, and all of its wealth, the natives themselves were considered subjects of the King of Spain-and of the Christian God.
Unfortunately the author is a bit of a "third world-er" describing the Europeans as liars and not allowing himself to speak for or about native cultures. This line of reasoning has only one end and that is the old ideal of the Noble Savage. The author just cannot bring himself to say that European explorers were not practicing anything new under the sun. Some readings of the ancient Akkadians or the Babylonians should remind us that aggressive and superior cultures have always overpowered smaller and weaker societies.

an excellent analysis of the effect of possession on indigenous communities............2006-02-20

This is an excellent critical analysis, written by the highly educated, greatly informative Stephen Greenblatt. In this analysis of the motivation behind conquest, in its various shapes and forms in what is now North America, as well as other parts of the world, new light is shed on the driving forces that pushed Middle Age explorers to seek out new, more exoticized territories. The statement is reiterated, time and again, throughout the course of this book that European explorers/colonists were motivated by the vision of the "marvelous" that existed in the indigenous, uncolonized parts of the world. The only way to truly realize the potential of these people and their rich natural resources, was to possess them in some form.

Greenblatt sheds new insight on what was going on in the head of Columbus (one of the many examples presented here), when he set out to conquer what he understood to be India, hence his reasoning behind calling the indigenous people he discovered "Indians." This will definitely make you reconsider what Columbus Day really stands for, as well as ponder how the scope of human relations has been altered, based on the motivation of possession and ownership alone.
Fascinating and cautionary......

An historical and rhetorical examination of travel writing.......1998-09-12

Stephen Greenblatt, literary critic, research scholar, and professor at Berkeley shines the spotlight on various historical documents, and speculates that what accounted for the appropriation and colonization of the New World was the fact that Europeans had print literacy. The ethos projected by Greenblatt is a likeable one--a scholar who likes blues bars in Chicago and who was captivated by stories as a child. He weaves his own literacy narrative into his analysis of historical writings produced by the likes of Columbus, Jean de Lery, and others who were at the forefront of colonization. Ultimately, Greenblatt makes the point that the ways in which "wonder" and the "marvelous" circulated in European discourse become the strategies for colonizing practice. To tell his version of the ways in which peoples were conquered, Greenblatt uses the writing that tells of events, focusing especially on anecdote, feeling as he does that anecdote, though sometimes not valued in our fact-laden world, does the lion's share of the work, functions somewhere between what occurred and the formalized history that gets told. The book is a strong argument that "wonder" and more especially, written "wonder" functioned to elevate certain peoples and demonize others. It makes the equally strong point that writing, though in some cases works to the detriment of peoples and cultures, can also be the liberating force as well.

Texts that would work well in conversation with Greenblatt's would be Mary Louise Pratt's Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. Also useful would be Walker Percy's essay, "The Loss of the Creature," and Clifford Geertz's essay on Balinese cock-fighting.

Average customer rating:

Not even average

Not History

True Adventures ???

Very Little About Selkirk

Not Good

Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe
Diana Souhami
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books
New Zealand | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books
General | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Expeditions & Discoveries | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Marooned: The Strange but True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe

In Search of Robinson Crusoe

Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors

Castaway in Paradise: The Incredible Adventures of True-Life Robinson Crusoes

In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon

ASIN: 0156027178

Book Description

A fascinating account of piracy, betrayal, and raw survival on the high seas and dry land, Selkirk's Island rediscovers the amazing tale of an eighteenth-century legend. Born a poor Scotsman, Alexander Selkirk signed with William Dampier, a pirate who was as famous for his self-promotion as for his naval success, on an ill-fated quest to pillage the famous Manila galleon. After a series of scuffles with the captain, Selkirk was put ashore on an island three hundred miles west of South America. Alone and with little more than the clothes on his back, Selkirk spent four long years learning to survive.
Drawing on Selkirk's own testimony, that of his rescuers and fellow crewmen, and petitions from two women who each claimed to be his wife, celebrated biographer Diana Souhami uncovers the truth behind the strangeness and wonder of a forgotten man and his unforgettable experience.

Customer Reviews:

Not even average.......2007-02-20

This book I'd rate below average. Its really just a mess of conjecture. Although, to be fair, since Selkirk didn't keep journals, that really is all the author had to go on. I was disappointed by the lack of information regarding Selkirk's four years on the island. When it came down to it, we really only had less than a chapter that dealt with those years. Also, I read this book after having read Mike Dash's incredible effort, Batavia's Graveyard. If you're reading this review, I'd like to point you to that book instead. Dash truly is an inspired writer. Batavia is a gem. This book...not so much. Honestly, the only real reason I gave it two stars and finished it was because I paid for it. This book was better off out of print. Boo.

Not History.......2006-08-28

This book appears to be a biography of Alexander Selkirk, but is actually a well-researched historical novel. The author knows her sources. There are many footnotes, quotes, and factual details. You want to believe she had some way of knowing the intimate details she supplies--how people saw their situations, what their motives were, and the vivid details of their experiences that bring the story to life. After all, historical sources sometimes provide such background, and in this case we do have some sources for Selkirk's thoughts, feelings and experiences. Soon enough, however, one sees that Souhami has simply assumed the authorial omniscience of a novelist. She states as plain fact many things that she could not possibly know, including things that only Alexander Selkirk could have known and that he would not likely have revealed.

After she tells how Selkirk masturbated against palm trees while he was marooned on the island, a serious reader continues to read only to see how far she will go. At the same time it is interesting to note how she painstakingly documents some details that are not especially interesting--perhaps this is a tactic to make the book seem more like a solid historical narrative.

Her most imaginative invention is Mr. Selkirk's having sex with wild goats on the island. We do know, from his own account, that he ran down goats for sport and food, and either killed them to eat, or else notched their ears and released them. We do not know that he indulged in any other kind of sport with them. Certainly Selkirk had an abnormal capacity for violence and survived in a pirate culture that was a home for the most dysfunctional dregs of humanity. He could have been guilty of screwing goats or even kinkier things. But there is no way to know. Ms. Souhami only provides a footnote in support, implying that a present-day native of the island gave her the idea: "It is always that way with men who are alone," he tells her. Selkirk's sex with goats is not just a passing conjecture. It is a theme to which the author returns, to encapsulate Selkirk's life on the island, and to portray his attitude towards women.

I enjoyed her discussion of the myth-making that followed Selkirk's life, especially the few pages where she analyzes the public appeal of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe fantasy, which was based on Selkirk's adventures as a castaway. But she has invented another myth--one that is likely to last. In other reviews here you'll see that some readers uncritically believe her tale.

This book received the Whitbread award, in the category of biography. That was a big mistake, unless history is now to be done the way Hollywood does it. Much effort went into this book, some talent, and a commendable concern for the preservation of habitat on Selkirk's island, but no professional ethic regarding the responsibilities of historians. We'll never know whether Selkirk screwed goats, but we do know that Souhami screwed this story.

True Adventures ???.......2006-08-01

Souhami's book is awful for the simple fact that she bases so much of Selkirk's actions on his sexual appetite for goats. This may be true, however Souhami bases this gross assertion on the anecdote of one unnamed islander. Forget Selkirk's own testimony. Forget the fact that Defoe's interviews with Selkirk led to a powerful story of an individual wrestling with the providence of God. Forget that when Selkirk lived the idea of throwing off the shackles of moral convention wasn't part of the common individuals frame of reference. No,instead Souhami is clear in her conviction that Selkirk's whole being was centered on a randiness for goats. Unfortunately this leads Souhami to defend this outrageous claim throughout the rest of the book. Defoe, closer to the source, was inspired to write a story that captured the dynamic and driving spirit of Western cultural achievement(Not that it always benefitted everyone). Souhami instead jams a narrow modern interpretation on a classic and we're left with one of the least inspiring tales ever fabricated.

Very Little About Selkirk.......2006-05-27

While Souhami does an admirable job describing what life MAY have been like for Selkirk, it is mostly conjecture, as Selkirk left no journal behind to document his life on the island. Instead, most of the book is about Selkirk's voyages at sea, including his quest for riches with the famous buccaneer William Dampier. Souhami also spends some time reviewing the major works of literature emanating from Selkirk's travails, but her discussion of them adds little to our understanding of Selkirk's experiences after he was rescued. In the end, we know very little about Selkirk's days marooned, and even less about their effects on the rest of his life.

Not Good.......2006-03-30

This book was a disappointment to me, both stylistically and in terms of content. There's very little here that a Google search wouldn't turn up or that a bright high school junior couldn't slap together. The main point- Selkirk's life on the Island- gets 32 skimpy pages. I was disturbed by Souhami's preoccupation with Selkirk's supposed sexuality, unsubstantiated, disrespectful and demeaning to him (but he's dead, so he can't defend himself.) She tried to set a "heavy" and dramatic tone not through presenting the stuff of his experiences (because she seemed to have little to present)- which would have been the genuine way- relying instead on hackneyed literary devices, including foul vulgarities, of which there seemed to be a greater proportion than facts and information. Her persona was so in the forefront that it was difficult to see Selkirk as Selkirk- he seemed more like the hen-pecked husband of some dominant termagent, as if he'd have no personality without her. To my mind and taste, she committed most of the worst errors weak writers are capable of- this was painful reading made so much more acute by not satisfying the curiosity it evoked. I don't feel as though I learned much, and I have doubts about many of her light weight observations. Get it at the library if you want to check this out- but certainly don't make the mistake I did in buying the book.

9

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books