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.

Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba

Average customer rating:

Verde Que Te Quiero Verde
Lyrical, Passionate, Elemental
read and buy this book!!
Spain not Peru
Simply brilliant

Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba
Federico Garcia Lorca
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Continental European | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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

ASIN: 0374523320

Book Description

In these three plays, García Lorca's acknowledged masterpieces, he searched for a contemporary mode of tragedy and reminded his audience that dramatic poetry-or poetic drama-depends less on formal convention that on an elemental, radical outlook on human life. His images are beautiful and exact, but until now no translator had ever been able to make his characters speak unaffectedly on the American stage. Michael Dewell of the National Repertory Theatre and Carmen Zapata of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts have created these versions expressly for the stage. The result, both performable and readable, has been thoroughly revised for this edition, which is introduced by Christopher Maurer, general editor of the Complete Poetical Works of García Lorca.

Customer Reviews:

Verde Que Te Quiero Verde.......2003-11-29

Here is one of Federico Garcia-Lorca's most famous poems, in Spanish. It will give you a taste of what it is like to read him in English or Spanish:

Verde que te quiero verde*
por F. García Lorca * Friday October 24, 2003 at 09:46 PM

Romance sonámbulo*

Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
El barco sobre la mar
y el caballo en la montaña.
Con la sombra en la cintura
ella sueña en su baranda,
verde carne, pelo verde,
con ojos de fría plata.
Verde que te quiero verde.
Bajo la luna gitana,
las cosas le están mirando
y ella no puede mirarlas.
*
Verde que te quiero verde.
Grandes estrellas de escarcha,
vienen con el pez de sombra
que abre el camino del alba.
La higuera frota su viento
con la lija de sus ramas,
y el monte, gato garduño,
eriza sus pitas agrias.
¿Pero quién vendrá? ¿Y por dónde...?
Ella sigue en su baranda,
verde carne, pelo verde,
soñando en la mar amarga.
*
Compadre, quiero cambiar
mi caballo por su casa,
mi montura por su espejo,
mi cuchillo por su manta.
Compadre, vengo sangrando,
desde los montes de Cabra.
Si yo pudiera, mocito,
ese trato se cerraba.
Pero yo ya no soy yo,
ni mi casa es ya mi casa.
Compadre, quiero morir
decentemente en mi cama.
De acero, si puede ser,
con las sábanas de holanda.
¿No ves la herida que tengo
desde el pecho a la garganta?
Trescientas rosas morenas
lleva tu pechera blanca.
Tu sangre rezuma y huele
alrededor de tu faja.
Pero yo ya no soy yo,
ni mi casa es ya mi casa.
Dejadme subir al menos
hasta las altas barandas,
dejadme subir, dejadme,
hasta las verdes barandas.
Barandales de la luna
por donde retumba el agua.
*
Ya suben los dos compadres
hacia las altas barandas.
Dejando un rastro de sangre.
Dejando un rastro de lágrimas.
Temblaban en los tejados
farolillos de hojalata.
Mil panderos de cristal,
herían la madrugada.
*
Verde que te quiero verde,
verde viento, verdes ramas.
Los dos compadres subieron.
El largo viento, dejaba
en la boca un raro gusto
de hiel, de menta y de albahaca.
¡Compadre! ¿Dónde está, dime?
¿Dónde está mi niña amarga?
¡Cuántas veces te esperó!
¡Cuántas veces te esperara,
cara fresca, negro pelo,
en esta verde baranda!
*
Sobre el rostro del aljibe
se mecía la gitana.
Verde carne, pelo verde,
con ojos de fría plata.
Un carámbano de luna
la sostiene sobre el agua.
La noche su puso íntima

como una pequeña plaza.
Guardias civiles borrachos,
en la puerta golpeaban.
Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
El barco sobre la mar.
Y el caballo en la montaña

Federico Garcia Lorca*

Lyrical, Passionate, Elemental.......2003-10-23

I saw BLOOD WEDDING and THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA on television during the '50s or '60s. I loved them so much, I got the books out of the library read and re-read them during high school.

Garcia Lorca is a master of language and poetry. His plays and poems are romantic, lyrical, and passionate.

THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA, BLOOD WEDDING, AND YERMA center on the urgent sexuality of women and the rage and pain that come when that sexuality is denied or thwarted. Lorca's plays are not pornographic or sexually explicit--rather they deal with drives, yearnings, impulses that inevitably flower, and how different characters in the play are affected by social pressures that allow--or restrain--her from expressing these ancient needs.

One reviewer included a quote in his review, and so will I--this poem will perhaps give the reader a sense of his style:

The Gypsy and the Wind

Playing her parchment moon
Precosia comes
along a watery path of laurels and crystal lights.
The starless silence, fleeing
from her rhythmic tambourine,
falls where the sea whips and sings,
his night filled with silvery swarms.
High atop the mountain peaks
the sentinels are weeping;
they guard the tall white towers
of the English consulate.
And gypsies of the water
for their pleasure erect
little castles of conch shells
and arbors of greening pine.

Playing her parchment moon
Precosia comes.
The wind sees her and rises,
the wind that never slumbers.
Naked Saint Christopher swells,
watching the girl as he plays
with tongues of celestial bells
on an invisible bagpipe.

Gypsy, let me lift your skirt
and have a look at you.
Open in my ancient fingers
the blue rose of your womb.

Precosia throws the tambourine
and runs away in terror.
But the virile wind pursues her
with his breathing and burning sword.

The sea darkens and roars,
while the olive trees turn pale.
The flutes of darkness sound,
and a muted gong of the snow.

Precosia, run, Precosia!
Or the green wind will catch you!
Precosia, run, Precosia!
And look how fast he comes!
A satyr of low-born stars
with their long and glistening tongues.

Precosia, filled with fear,
now makes her way to that house
beyond the tall green pines
where the English consul lives.

Alarmed by the anguished cries,
three riflemen come running,
their black capes tightly drawn,
and berets down over their brow.

The Englishman gives the gypsy
a glass of tepid milk
and a shot of Holland gin
which Precosia does not drink.

And while she tells them, weeping,
of her strange adventure,
the wind furiously gnashes
against the slate roof tiles.

Now imagine these words in Spanish!

read and buy this book!!.......2003-01-26

garcia lorca is simply a person who must be read.

And where has gone the Argentine "Valsa de Requerda??"" Where?

Spain not Peru.......2001-08-03

The trilogy by FGL, Yerma, Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba is set in Spain not Peru. They are an excellent portrayal of life in rural Spain during those times. A must read for anyone, but especially those who are studying Spanish literature. Allthough most widely known as a poet, FGL displays his talent for drama with these plays.

Simply brilliant.......2000-03-10

Lorca uses simple mathematical expressions to convey emotions. A colour, for example white, combined with an object, for example a baby in the opening sequence of Yerma, will add up to a symbolic meaning where either two factors can be used somewhere else. Basically, anything white is a dream of happiness which is destroyed by an event. This very basic set of symbols and the application of "equations" makes Lorca one of the most powerful and accessible writers i've come accross. Oh and the stories are good too (!)

Average customer rating:

A good read that keeps the pages turning
You have been warned
terribly written book...
Smith impresses in debut novel
Fast paced spookfest

House Of Blood
Bryan Smith
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

ASIN: 0843954817

Customer Reviews:

A good read that keeps the pages turning.......2007-08-01

I didnt find this anywhere near a bad novel. If you like a good crazy story then this is for you... The people who are bashing this one need to start looking in a different section for their novels. I found this very hard to put down, it has a good pace, starts off with a bang, ends with a fierce conflict between good and evil......If you read Freakshow and liked it, you will like this one... Its not quite the Texas Chainsaw Massacre I was looking for, but it did not disappoint!!

You have been warned.......2007-06-30

This book is so bad that I wanted the three hours of my life it sucked away given back to me. Badly drawn characters, a plot you could drive a truck through, and just the overall shoddy writing left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought that "Deathbringer"was actually good for a few laughs (and would actually recommend that one), and bought this one based on that experience. Boy, what a mistake! Throw every horror cliche you can think of, mix it with some Anita Blake style bad porn, and have it acted out by the most irritating characters you have ever read about. Now, let an illiterate third grader actually write the thing and you have, "House of Blood". Leisure is publishing some great horror these days, and this is definitely not one of them!

terribly written book..........2006-12-30

I saw the hyped-reviews of this book, and thought it might be a fun read since I like scary stuff. Unfortunately, it is very poorly written. The author never describes this "world" adequately to his readers. Fantastic facts of this underworld are brought up only when needed for the plotline. For example, when one character needs to speak to one of the "gods," she steps into a portal, which gives her access to this god. Before then, we never heard anything about "portals" inside the house, and I don't think they were mentioned again. Poor, poor, writing. The publishing house employees must be the ones writing the rave reviews. Skip this one, or suffer!

Smith impresses in debut novel.......2006-12-29

Bryan Smith's House of Blood begins on the road as 5 late-20's adults who've known each other since high school are driving back from an ill-advised trip to Florida. In rural Tennessee, the driver and heroine by the name of Dream Weaver pulls over as the bickering escalates. Bad mistake. Car troubles surface and they end up knocking on the door of a creepy old house in the middle of nowhere. The house is weird. The host and his servant are weird. But strangest of all is that the house sits atop a huge underground network of slaves and sadists. Escape is near impossible at this point...

This is one of the best horror debuts I've ever read, right up there with Brian Keene's "The Rising" and Scot Nicholson's "The Red Church". The cover of the book and its description at the back simply don't do this book justice. What appears on the surface to be a stereotypical horror novel about people stranded on the road and ending up at a weird isolated house (such as TCM, House of 1000 corpses and countless others) instead is really about a subterranean maze that is home to about 5,000 people and is replete with slaves, slavedrivers, sadists, guards, apprentices, debauchery parties and a host of other ghoulish surprises. It is much closer in tone to say, Edward Lee's "City Infernal" than any teenage road-movie horror so if you liked City Infernal I would urge you to pick this one up as well.

All in all it's a very impressive debut novel. Very gory and has an unusual amount of nudity, something to keep in mind if you like horror novels with healthy doses of both. Of course, it's not perfect and has flaws, mostly surrounding weak character development. 3 of the 5 characters in the car we hardly get to know anything about. The character of Chad's transformation from world's biggest a-hole to saviour of all those below was puzzling and unexplained. Even the main villain, "The Master", was seriously underdeveloped. But less character development also means more action and this book delivers that in spades. Bottom line, it's not great literature but it's one heck of a fun ride.

I see that Smith has since released two other titles, "Deathbringer" and "Freakshow" which I both plan to read. If they're as good as this one then I fully expect Smith to be a name to be reckoned with in the horror lit field and to be one of the shining stars of Leisure Horror book publishing.

Fast paced spookfest.......2006-07-14

This one seems made to be a movie: bunch of kids in a car, creepy backroad and wrong turn, a scary old house. What did they EXPECT to happen? Well, it turns out what is bad news for the characters is good news for the reader. It's a really good, very nerve-jangling novel.

April Blood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici

Average customer rating:

April Blood
Another assassination plot kills off another republic in Italy
Mostly Boring
Chatty, But Not a First
Every history buff should read this

April Blood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici
Lauro Martines
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Renaissance | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books

Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0195152956

Book Description

One of the world's leading historians of Renaissance Italy brings to life here the vibrant--and violent--society of fifteenth-century Florence. His disturbing narrative opens up an entire culture, revealing the dark side of Renaissance man and politician Lorenzo de' Medici. On a Sunday in April 1478, assassins attacked Lorenzo and his brother as they attended Mass in the cathedral of Florence. Lorenzo scrambled to safety as Giuliano bled to death on the cathedral floor. April Blood moves outward in time and space from that murderous event, unfolding a story of tangled passions, ambition, treachery, and revenge. The conspiracy was led by one of the city's most noble clans, the Pazzi, financiers who feared and resented the Medici's swaggering new role as political bosses--but the web of intrigue spread through all of Italy. Bankers, mercenaries, the Duke of Urbino, the King of Naples, and Pope Sixtus IV entered secretly into the plot. Florence was plunged into a peninsular war, and Lorenzo was soon fighting for his own and his family's survival. The failed assassination doomed the Pazzi. Medici revenge was swift and brutal--plotters were hanged or beheaded, innocents were hacked to pieces, and bodies were put out to dangle from the windows of the government palace. All remaining members of the larger Pazzi clan were forced to change their surname, and every public sign or symbol of the family was expunged or destroyed. April Blood offers us a fresh portrait of Renaissance Florence, where dazzling artistic achievements went side by side with violence, craft, and bare-knuckle politics. At the center of the canvas is the figure of Lorenzo the Magnificent--poet, statesman, connoisseur, patron of the arts, and ruthless "boss of bosses." This extraordinarily vivid account of a turning point in the Italian Renaissance is bound to become a lasting work of history.

Customer Reviews:

April Blood.......2007-04-05

I read April Blood it for a report, knowing little about the topic. Now I feel compelled to learn more about the Medici family. Beautifully written.

Another assassination plot kills off another republic in Italy.......2006-12-21

In 1478 there was an attempt made on the lives of Lorenzo de Medici and his brother Giuliano. Lorenzo survived, and he turned the event into a justification for both revenge and a consolidation of power unprecedented in the history of the Florentine city-state. "April Blood" tells a story closely connected to those events --- a narrative of sorts in which the assassination attempt serves as something of a magnetic center which binds the varied themes of the book, at times more strongly than at others.

Thus "April Blood" is not strictly a narrative history, although there are long sections which seem to be that. But, as an author, Lauro Martines is no slave to chronology. His storyline frequently bends back on itself or meanders off into topical regions whose dates are simply unclear.

The end result is a history, but also something closer to an anthropology of Florence's ruling class, with broadening to the rest of the Italian polities. Looming large is the papacy of Sixtus IV under whose auspices the assassination plot was hatched. Matchmaking, nepotism (especially within the church), financial structures, and certainly the making and uses of political power: all of these are treated. But the treatments are not of one piece; a theme occurs, then may reoccur at various spots in the book. The effect is something like a montage from which only gradually does a full picture emerge. (It's a picture, ironically, that includes very little on the art and literature with which we typically identify the Renaissance; most of that came later anyway.)

In the decades leading up to 1478, Florence was ostensibly a republic. But as Martines describes it, the Florentine Republic was a flawed one, and, just like the Roman Republic, one already threatened by an addiction to violence. Martines describes how the assassination attempt threw completely open the floodgates of violence and asks was the death of the republic inevitable. Did the Medici's drive for power undermine the republic's foundations? The book might be seen as an ever-tightening spiral around these questions. In the end the author answers guardedly that "there can be no conclusive answers to these questions." This is perhaps unsatisfying, but certainly correct in maintaining a lack of inevitability for historical processes. But he also presents provocative, if not always clear-cut, theories of why events transpired the way they did.

The author appears to have done an impressive amount of original research out of proportion to the small-format nature of the book. The book begins with a rush of names that may be difficult to keep straight for the reader not already conversant with early Renaissance Italy. To help, there is a brief "Personaggi" and two family trees (the Medici and that of Pope Sixtus). There are two maps, which prove to be sufficient, and a few portraits. This is a book more focused on themes and ideas than you might expect from the title, subtitile ("Florence and the Plot Against the Medici"), and blood-stained cover art. For sure, violence is one of themes. But what makes the book most rewarding is its ability to convincingly place the violence in the context of wider developments as well as personal dynamics.

Mostly Boring.......2006-05-30

When I purchased this, for some reason, I thought that this was historical fiction. What I found out was that it was history. Don't get me wrong, history about this group of people and this time frame I often find extremely interesting, but this one wasn't one of them. Unlike one of the reviewers I found the chapter dedicated to arranging marriages extremely interesting, but unfortunately, that was about the last chapter I found interesting. I finally gave up and placed this book in my "used book store" box where hopefully someone else will find it more to their liking.

My star ratings:

One star - couldn't finish the book

Two stars - read the book, but did a lot of skipping or scanning. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection or search out other books by the author

Three stars - enjoyable read. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection. Would judge other books by the author individually.

Four stars - Liked the book. Would keep the book or would look for others by the same author.

Five stars - One of my all time favorites. Will get a copy in hardback to keep and will actively search out others by the same author.

Chatty, But Not a First.......2006-03-22

This was an entertaining spin through Medici politics but is not for someone new to the topic. Background knowledge of the major families, papal politics, and Florentine society is necessary.

Every history buff should read this.......2006-03-19

I had read a little about Lorenzo and a lot about the Medici, so it was nice to come upon a book that focuses on the Medici and how Lorenzo the Magnificent ruled. Martines has done a superb job in portraying the facts behind the Pazzi Conspiracy.

It starts off a little slow, leaving the reader to wonder when the author would ever get to the actual conspiracy, but when he does everything comes together. By the time the book ends you are left with both sympathy and hatred for both the Pazzi and the Medici. Sympathy because of the savage way they were attacked, following up with the nod of approval of the reprisals Lorenzo took (although they were a bit extreme). And hatred for the tyranny that Lorenzo and his house brought down upon the republic of Florence. The same for the Pazzi, for they were suppressed, and thus sympathy was on their side, but the savage destruction they wrought upon their own family and others in order to satisfy their lust for power leaves a distaste in their wake.

There is some "filler", it would seem at a quick glance, but when delved in deeper it is evident that these "filler" chapters do in fact help our understanding of why and how the Pazzi Conspiracy happened. The profile chapters, although they don't touch upon the conspiracy directly, add weight to the notion and feeling that went behind the affronted patricians of Florentine society. The political chapters added substance and understanding to the why and how of the reasons behind the conspiracy. So the "filler" chapters do in fact add a lot to the telling of this dramatic time in history.

All sides were represented, which makes this a very well rounded history book. I think that the Pazzi Conspiracy should be required reading for history students, and for amateurs alike, and April Blood would be a great starting point. My only complaint is that I wish Martines would have documented his sources better, rather than the more difficult to navigate way that he did.

All in all, a definite recommend.

5 stars.

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West (Random House Large Print (Hardcover))

Average customer rating:

Fremont's Reputation
one of the best
Thoroughly engrossing biography of Kit Carson
Reads almost like a novel!
Blood and Thunder

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West (Random House Large Print (Hardcover))
Hampton Sides
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

History | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0739326724
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Book Description

In the fall of 1846 the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people’s chieftains, looked down upon the small town of Santa Fe, the stronghold of the Mexican settlers he had been fighting his whole long life. He had come to see if the rumors were true—if an army of blue-suited soldiers had swept in from the East and utterly defeated his ancestral enemies. As Narbona gazed down on the battlements and cannons of a mighty fort the invaders had built, he realized his foes had been vanquished—but what did the arrival of these “New Men” portend for the Navajo?

Narbona could not have known that “The Army of the West,” in the midst of the longest march in American military history, was merely the vanguard of an inexorable tide fueled by a self-righteous ideology now known as “Manifest Destiny.” For twenty years the Navajo, elusive lords of a huge swath of mountainous desert and pasturelands, would ferociously resist the flood of soldiers and settlers who wished to change their ancient way of life or destroy them.

Hampton Sides’s extraordinary book brings the history of the American conquest of the West to ringing life. It is a tale with many heroes and villains, but as is found in the best history, the same person might be both. At the center of it all stands the remarkable figure of Kit Carson—the legendary trapper, scout, and soldier who embodies all the contradictions and ambiguities of the American experience in the West. Brave and clever, beloved by his contemporaries, Carson was an illiterate mountain man who twice married Indian women and understood and respected the tribes better than any other American alive. Yet he was also a cold-blooded killer who willingly followed orders tantamount to massacre. Carson’s almost unimaginable exploits made him a household name when they were written up in pulp novels known as “blood-and-thunders,” but now that name is a bitter curse for contemporary Navajo, who cannot forget his role in the travails of their ancestors.

Customer Reviews:

Fremont's Reputation.......2007-10-14

This is an excellent book except for the Fremont-bashing that seems to be fashionable. It is especially distressing that the material about Fremont came from a non-historical work with no scholarly background entitled "A Newer World". The author would have been better advised to supply his own supporting references. That is enough of a reason to knock off a star.

one of the best.......2007-10-13

If you have any interest in American History please read this book. We read the entire book outloud, quite an undertaking, so I'm glad to see that is available as an audiobook. The writing is riveting, the bibliography reassuring, the story enlightening. This book is a springboard into the conquest of the Western United States and will give you new eyes if and when traveling through these areas. Read the book.

Thoroughly engrossing biography of Kit Carson.......2007-10-12

This is an excellent biography of a famous American pioneer--Kit Carson. What sets it apart is its humane treatment of a complex figure. Carson appears to have been the "real deal," not a manufactured hero.

The book proceeds by interweaving several story lines, which can be somewhat confusing at times but, in the end, this serves the author well. Among the story lines--Kit Carson's exploits, the Navajo leader Narbona's story, General Stephen Kearney's episodes, and so on.

Kit Carson's role--from trapper to hunter to scout to military officer--is the glue that holds this book together. In the process, the reader learns a great deal about the events of the 1830s through 1860s that transformed the United States. The Mexican War dramatically expanded the size of the country; the American conflicts with the Indian nations opened new territories for settlement and economic development; the Civil War ended slavery (although, ironically, perhaps not in the southwest, as Native Americans sometimes served a similar role after the Civil War); the West was opened for development.

What humanizes this book is the treatment of Carson. He was sometimes mercurial (with an occasional burst of temper); he was a person of action, and he sometimes was cruel and brutal; he was also a person of honor; he had a perception of the larger picture in the West, and could see that white aggression was the real problem--not marauding Indians.

On a personal note, the book traces Carson's family lives (he had at least two real families, one with a native American wife), his struggle to be a good husband and father while he was off on one adventure or another most of his life.

This is a strong biography which is set in a larger context. It is well worth looking at.

Reads almost like a novel!.......2007-10-12

I first encountered this book when I heard the author speak at our local bookstore. I am a history lover and wanted to know if this man could pull of another interesting book on American History. I had a copy of the book ready and took copious notes on the blank pages in the back. The author was fascinating to listen to.

Since then, I have read the book thoroughly and found it read almost like a novel. Each chapter led you to want to read on.

I have purchased copies as gifts for friends and even gave a copy to my American Indian History professor and he was enthralled.

Good work. Loved it. You will, too.

Blood and Thunder.......2007-10-09

This is a highly readable and comprehensive account of the adult life and times of Kit Carson and the people/places he touched. It's not a biography, but a series of vignettes documenting his involvement in a variety of professions -- from mountain man to military man -- as the needs of the West evolved. There's a great deal of information about Carson's contemporaries as well. I read the book with a map of New Mexico at hand to more closely identify the places mentioned. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Western history, including the several battles of the Civil War fought in New Mexico.

Average customer rating:

Blood Relative
Michael Gray
Manufacturer: Victor Gollancz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

Eastern Europe | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0575066083

Blood Dreams (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper))

Average customer rating:

Blood Dreams (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper))
Kay Hooper
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books

Mystery & Thrillers | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 073932716X
Release Date: 2007-12-31

Book Description

This killer dreams in shades of death….

In each of her New York Times bestselling novels, critically acclaimed author Kay Hooper has led readers to unforgettably chilling encounters with fear and evil. Now, in her latest thriller, she takes us on a terrifying manhunt for a serial killer no ordinary cops can stop–a psychopath who seems to step out of a living nightmare.

He’s the kind of killer we instinctively fear the most. A killer without boundaries, without conscience, without any fear of being caught. And his latest victim is terrifying proof that no one is safe: the daughter of a powerful U.S. senator.

Now, with the national media calling for justice and a grief-stricken father seeking vengeance, Bishop and his FBI Special Crimes Unit find themselves in a unique situation. This time even psychic cops aren’t enough to stop evil. Aid comes in the form of a fledgling civilian organization of unorthodox crime stoppers. Operating outside of any government oversight, without sanction or official authority, they are comprised of a membership every bit as talented and eccentric as Bishop’s SCU–if not more so. And that is no coincidence. For Bishop helped launch this organization barely two years before.

Dani Justice knows all about monsters. They haunt her nightmares–and her life. But she never expected to find herself doggedly on the trail of a real flesh-and-blood predator so cunning, he’s eluded the best law enforcement could send up against him; so deadly, he doesn’t hesitate to kill even a senator’s daughter. Or a cop.

Dani doesn’t want to hunt this killer. She doesn’t want to risk the life she’s made for herself, or her hard-won peace. But she doesn’t have a choice. Because his bloody rampage has hit far too close to home. Because Dani alone commands a weapon powerful enough to destroy him.
And because Dani knows something even Bishop doesn’t. Dani knows how the hunt ends. It ends in fire. And blood. And death.

What she doesn’t know is who will survive.

Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals

Average customer rating:

Fast Paced and Fun
Quick overview of a family that helped to (un)make England
Camelot was never like this

Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals
John Pearson
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

United Kingdom | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The Spencers, like the Windsors, are a dynasty-one of the most successful families that England has produced. But how did a family of Tudor sheep farmers reach the ranks of the upper aristocracy by the time of the Restoration? The Spencers have quietly adapted from one generation to the next, sweeping up heiresses and magnificent estates, buying great libraries and art-then building London's most beautiful Palladian mansion to house them. The Spencers were also virtuosi of a particular art of prime importance to any aristocracy-the art of dynastic marriage. This is the story of how the Spencers attained their power, how they wielded it, and the bitter twist of fate by which they finally achieved their greatest dynastic marriage of all in 1981-the union of Diana Spencer with Charles Mountbatten Windsor.

Customer Reviews:

Fast Paced and Fun.......2002-04-22

My wife is addicted to all things Royal with a special sweet tooth for Diana books. Therefore, she went out and picked this up as soon as she heard it was out. She read it, loved it and then suggested I read it because it would give me a good history of the Spencer family. I didn't think I needed this education, but I gave it a go. I must say the book surprised me. Fist off it gave me a lot of history of the family but in doing so I learned a lot of the history of the UK, at least the last 400 years. The book was full of details and read well. It has an easy to read style that always comes through with a good bit of gossip here and there - like how did they spend all that money? Overall it is an interesting book and if you are into the Royals then my wife says it is a must read.

Quick overview of a family that helped to (un)make England.......2000-09-19

Not a quickie biography of the late Princess, this is a story spanning centuries and generations.

It covers the rise of the Spencers from prosperous sheep farmers in the 16th century through the years and the monarchs they served or betrayed. A light - gossipy style helps to make the generations fly by. The foibles of the modern aristocracy pale in comparison with the lifestyles of their predecessors.

If all that you want is to read about the young girl who was 'hired' to prop up a tottering throne - then I suggest that you look elsewhere. If however you want an interesting light history of the rise of one of England's great noble families, this is a fine place to start.

Camelot was never like this.......2000-03-31

Ok for all you royalty junkies out there, I know, I know, toothy Camilla and her breeches just don't do it for you, or Fergie now that she've given up toes and taken up Weight watchers. But here is a book for you all! If you are into ancestor worship, it covers the earliest Spencers from a penny pinching arriviste, to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (formerly Ms Jenkins, a frisky lady in waiting to King Charles II, my all time favorite royal, the current ones gene pool is so sullied, those ears!). In fact the premise of the book is that Sarah's turbulent blood heritage has washed on down to the current Spencers, the late lamented Diana, her sons, and that Champagne Charlie of a brother of hers. The middle Spencers are not too interesting, mainly obsessed with acquiring goodies for Althorp (the stately home), but as I said it warms up really nicely by Diana's regime.I enjoyed it greatly, particularly the parts of how pained Queen Elizabeth II was by the gossip and infighting. Poor dear. Barbara Cartland's tacky daughter Raine deserves 2 chapters just for how she redecorated a beautiful estate, I'm surprised she didn't roll out the black velvet Elvis paintings. Thumbs up all the way!

Blood Sport: The Truth Behind the Scandals in the Clinton White House

Average customer rating:

Hard to know where the truth ends and fiction begins.
What is real?
This is the story of the Clintons BEFORE 1993
Convinced this Republican
Americans Must Read This Book Before Hillary Runs in 2008

Blood Sport: The Truth Behind the Scandals in the Clinton White House
James B. Stewart
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0684802309

Amazon.com

Stewart has written a vivid portrait of political power, political and personal intrigue, and how information, controlled and manipulated at the right time, can change the course of lives, careers, and ultimately, history. This is the story of the Clintons, from their days in Little Rock to their behavior under duress in the White House; their business partners, who swept the Clintons into their real estate empire, then faced financial ruin; and their many political and business allies who have been tarnished by association, including the tragic Vincent Foster. For anyone interested in American democracy, the revelations of Blood Sport will reverberate through this and future presidencies.

Book Description

Blood Sport is the explosive national bestseller that became front-page news by exposing the truth about the Clinton White House. With new revelations in this edition, Blood Sport is the definitive account of independent counsel Kenneth Starr's potentially historic investigation of a president and first lady.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Den of Thieves turns his discerning eye an incomparable investigative and storytelling skills to the scandals that have plagued the Clintons. Informative and shocking, Blood Sport reveals the facts about Whitewater, Travelgate, Vince Foster's suicide, the independent counsel investigation, and the rumors of conspiracy and cover-up at the White House. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, Stewart provides an unprecedented close-up view of the Clintons as well as a telling portrait of how political combat is waged today.

Customer Reviews:

Hard to know where the truth ends and fiction begins........2006-05-23

Although Stewart is a reputable author, and in fact a Pulitzer Prize winner, this book is a remarkable farrago of fact and fantasy. It is written as a "docudrama," featuring numerous "recreated" dialogues between characters, and indeed even internal narratives and the innermost thoughts of people whom Stewart never interviewed, and in some cases never even met. It's impossible to tell what is factual, what is embellished from others' memories, and what is merely invention by Stewart himself.

It's also notable that everyone who agreed to serve as a source for Stewart is treated far better than those who refused -- and that includes both Clintons and many of their closest friends and associates.

The book is filled with easily correctable inaccuracies, such as when the book gives us a scene showing Hillary Clinton receiving the news of Vince Foster's death while at "the Rodham home in Little Rock, where Hillary was visiting her mother and father, who was ill." Hillary's father Hugh Rodham had died three months earlier. Another scene shows a young Bill Clinton visiting "kingmaker" Jim McDougal in 1975, hoping for McDougal's help in running for Pryor's Senate seat. Not bad, except Pryor was Governor, not Senator, in 1975, and McDougal was hardly powerful enough to be any sort of "kingmaker." White supremacist Jim Johnson, a virulent Clinton-hater who accused Clinton of being, among other things, a "n*gger-lover," and served as one of Stewart's sources, is portrayed as a genial "Democrat-turned-Republican" whose racial hatreds are never mentioned. Other errors abound. Judge David Hale, a businessman and convicted embezzler, is said to have been appointed to the bench by Clinton, when in fact it was Frank White, Clinton's predecessor, who appointed Hale. Hale is also portrayed as breaking the law by loaning money to his "Democrat friends," when in fact Hale made far more loans to Republicans than Democrats, and he broke the law by embezzling over $2 million from the federal government.

Stewart's primary source is Jim McDougal. The real estate wheeler-dealer, who suffered from manic-depression and was convicted of multiple felonies and died in prison, is a notorious liar who lied under oath to more than one court and federal investigator. Stewart also seems completely unaware of the Pillsbury Report, the RTC investigation that completely exonerated the Clintons of any wrongdoing in 1995, and instead relied completely on the then-ongoing Kenneth Starr investigation, which was proven to be full of sensationalistic lies and never returned a single indictment against either of the Clintons for anything. He ignores completely the well-documented body of evidence proving that McDougal committed a raft of financial crimes, and tries to pin the criminal wrongdoings on the Clintons without citing any evidence.

Perhaps worst of all, he tries to link the Vince Foster suicide to Whitewater. This was disproven time and time again -- by the Park Police investigation, by the FBI, by Robert Fiske's independent counsel, and by Kenneth Starr himself.

Stewart made at least one more egregrious error. Shortly after the book's publication he went on "Nightline" to accuse Hillary Clinton of submitting a false loan report relating to Whitewater. He says she submitted the loan report without filling out key sections. Yet in his own appendix, Stewart reprints the loan document, which, if you bother to turn it over and read the back, shows that Hillary did indeed complete the loan document properly. Stewart never bothered to flip the document over and read the back.

The book is worthless, yet another in the seemingly endless parade of baseless, easily disprovable Clinton smears that filled the bookshelves at the time. I see that Amazon currently has used copies for sale for 1 cent. Save your money; this book isn't worth that bent piece of copper.

What is real?.......2006-03-30

Although I thought this book was an easy read into the whole Clinton-Hillary Whitewater debacle (was it really that simple?)....it seems there were some inconsistancies concerning what was presented on the Vince Foster items( as can be easily researched). This, in turn, makes me wonder about the accuracy about the rest of the story of Whitewater and the innocence of the Clintons.
Sometimes one just can't get over the feeling that certain publications are out there to "tidy things up".

This is the story of the Clintons BEFORE 1993.......2005-07-02

The American people were forewarned long ago that this was no ordinary (if there could be such a description) political couple. James B. Stewart delineates the machinations that typified the Clinton story throughout Bill Clinton's Arkansas governorship. Now a lot of this is intertwined with the peculiarities of Arkansas society, where it seems everybody knows everybody else (no offense to many decent Arkansans; much of my family hails from there). And this may be why Kenneth Starr was not able to find solid evidence of wrongdoing, although he obtained several convictions of Clinton associates. Yet to many of us Whitewater was a real-estate deal a sitting state Attorney General and later Governor would not touch with a ten- or even a twenty-foot pole. And that goes double for Castle Grande, cattle futures and Madison Guaranty Trust. Under other circumstances an office holder would have put his or her assets into a blind trust. This intrigue has continued into Bill Clinton's Presidency and beyond (White House coffees, stayovers in the Lincoln Bedroom, selling of sensitive technological information for campaign contributions, selling of pardons, the sneaking of antiques out of the White House, the financing of the Chappaqua house purchase and Hillary Rodham Clinton's registry with several department stores in the manner of an expectant bride--note that for her actual wedding in 1975, she bought her wedding dress off the rack at Dillard's the day before). And those are just the FINANCIAL intrigues!

Convinced this Republican.......2005-04-23

I read this book in 1997 when the paperback came out. I approached this book as a moderate GOP much in love with Reagan and Bush 41. I never voted for Clinton, but was intrigued by him for several reasons:

1) He was executing wonderfully in '97 (see Morris' "Behind the Oval Office" for this period), even though the GOP-dominated house had elevated partisan politics to the art form it is today.
2) The Press was crucifying him over Whitewater and I did not understand why, it all seemed so trivial.

My conclusions:
There is a case to be that Hillary Clinton may have evaded taxes and obstructed justice - while criminal and deserving of law enforcement investigation, no reason for an investigation against the President instigated by the DoJ.

Stewart confirms that the investigation of Whitewater was pure politics of personal destruction. Bill Clinton did nothing wrong, certainly nothing that demanded any sort of investigation and obstructed his ability to preside over our nation.

There were trivial matters that make President Clinton less than perfect, but you can find dirt on any ambituous person. The question is, did his actions have a negative impact on our country? This book presents no evidence of that, the only negativity emanating out of this was the ammunition it provided to the GOP and the media to divert our attention from matters of State.

One somewhat comic note was the number of idiots that were part of the Clinton circle. While Clinton was a master at bringing together extremely bright and powerful moderates and attempting to pull the Dems out of the socialistic FDR era, the people he associated with more regularly are a hoot!

Americans Must Read This Book Before Hillary Runs in 2008 .......2004-11-05

Looking backward, how can America be surprised that from Arkansas Senator William Fulbright - who was a leader in the communist appeasing anti-Vietnam war movement - came his leftist stooges the Clintons.

Should we be surprised that a segregationist leftist like Fulbright would mentor Clinton? And that Clinton, who never disavaowed Fulbright's segregationism, cast himself as America's "first black president"?

The Bill Clinton, who made up lies about personally witnessing the burning of black churches in Arkansas? And yet, the same Clinton who hung Sista Solga out to dry in public so that he could pander to the supposed rednecks of the red states?

The Bill and Hillary Clinton who publicly backed the murderous Black Panthers while at Yale?

James B. Stewart (who is by no means a conservative) takes a very close look at the Clintonian Machine of Arkansas. It is the product of years of mentorship of slick southern liberals - who secretly look down on their constituents.

James B. Stewart does a masterful, surgical job of exposing the CONDUCT BEHIND THE RHETORIC of the Clinton-Stephens-McDougal machine.

This book brilliantly details the everyday scheming of the Clintons and their Arkansas cronies and dupes. And worse, how the Clintonista coverup during the White House years broadened the corrupton to INFECT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND THE FBI.

Serious business laid out by Stewart.

The Clintons really tried to turn the White House into a sewer. Thank God George W. Bush restored its dignity and class.

Vascular surgery for the house officer (House Officer Series)

Average customer rating:

Vascular surgery for the house officer (House Officer Series)
Glenn R Faust
Manufacturer: Williams and Wilkins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books