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.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society

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Not Just for Writers!
Great resource for interdisciplinary artists
boring
Childhood Photos In My Mind Are In This Book...Yea!!!!!

The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society
Lucy R. Lippard
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565842472

Book Description

In The Lure of the Local, Lucy R. Lippard, one of America's most influential art writers, weaves together cultural studies, history, geography, and contemporary art to provide a fascinating exploration of our multiple senses of place. Expanding her reach far beyond the confines of the art world, she discusses community, land use, perceptions of nature, how we produce the landscape, and how the landscape affects our lives. In this extensively illustrated, beautifully produced volume, she consistently makes unexpected connections between contemporary art and its political, social, and cultural contexts.

Customer Reviews:

Not Just for Writers!.......2003-09-08

I picked this bad boy up at the museumstore at SF Moma. It is a handsome, weighty book, with a beautiful, interesting cover. The book made a good impression on me.

My wife and I decided to buy this book because we have been interested in the theme of "landscape as witness". This is a concept we read about in Nancy Spector's accompanying essay in the Cremaster Cycle Guggeinheim museum catalog. Basically, the idea as it is expressed in Barney interpreted by Spector is that the landscape is a character in the narrative created by art.

As a brief survey of Amazon.com will reveal, Lippard is a well regarded writer on art. Honestly, I'd never heard of her before. This could have something to do with me not being intimately familiar with the New York City art scene or otherwise involved with the art world except as an occasional museum goer. Art is sort of at the periphery of my set of interests.

None the less, I found this a comprehensive, at times brilliant, survey of both artistic theories about the concept of place as well as a thorough documentation of the specific expressions of these theories in art work. Lippard's scope of reading and breadth of knowledge about art all over the United States (this book is entirely about the U.S.) is nothing short of stunning.

The actual form of the book is a little difficult to explain, The book has a five part structure, each part with a title: Around Here, Manipulating Memory, Down to Earth: Land Use, The Last Frontiers: City and Suburbs and Looking Around. Each of these parts contains sub-chapters that are titled with various aspects of the five parts. Lippard's style is basically to situate each chapter with a brief survey of what other writers have said about the "subject", followed by a description of different acts of arts intermingled with commentary. Each of the pages also contains images with substantive critical passages. Along the top of each page, there is a running essay about the author's experiences growing up in Maine.

I found her work to be fairly comprehensive: Although she has end notes and a thorough bibliography, I found myself doubting that any of them so totally nailed the relationship between art and the concept of place.

If the author or her representatives are reading this, I would recommend updating this book in another couple of years.

Lippard is a self-declared liberal. Although I did not always agree with her analysis, I admired the manner in which she was able to outline her bias in a non-intrusive way. She could be more forceful with her arguments. I don't think anybody could begrudge her opinions.

Great resource for interdisciplinary artists.......2002-03-25

If you are a person who cares about places, an artist who is looking for ideas on how to incorporate a place-based ethic in your work, a nomad who longs for a greater sense of rootedness, or an environmentalist who wants to explore new ways to communicate, this is the book for you. The depth and breadth of Lucy Lippard's experience of America is impressive. She has lived in Maine, New York City, and New Mexico, and has collected stories of artists who are reflecting on their relationship to the place they live from around the country. The book is incredibly diverse, looking at the issues of homelessness, the changing face of the American West, the unique personalities of suburbs, rural areas, and big cities (to name just a few topics) through the lens of geography and art.

The book is well written, although it might seem challenging to some. Expect a left-of-center view from a respected and extremely knowledgeable critic and observer of American life.

boring.......2000-05-30

this was a horrible book. i dont recommend it to anyone. read only if you dare!

Childhood Photos In My Mind Are In This Book...Yea!!!!!.......1997-11-28

My Childhood home in Georgetown Maine is in this book. I have had many dreams at night of this beautiful place. My Maine roots go back to the 1600s. I am looking forward to owning this book, to pass down to my childrens children. I live in Oklahoma. I will always prefer Lighthouses over oil wells, lobster boats over bass boats,etc.

The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth (Creating the North American Landscape)

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Compelling Story of an Urban River
Great history of L.A.
Impressive History of Los Angeles and its River
Essential - An Amazing History of Los Angeles and its River
The River that Made Los Angeles

The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth (Creating the North American Landscape)
Blake Gumprecht
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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ASIN: 0801866421

Amazon.com

Why is the historic center of Los Angeles located where it is, 15 miles from the ocean and 10 miles from the San Gabriel Mountains, on an arid plain? The answer is the Los Angeles River, which once flowed freely across that flat land. In his book, The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth, Blake Gumprecht points out that before the course of the river was paved, Hollywood and Beverly Hills were marshland and that in flood years, the river carried as much water as the Mississippi.

"The destruction of the river had begun half a century before the first concrete was poured," Gumprecht writes, "when the river ... began to be viewed not as a giver of life or a thing of beauty, but as a dumping ground--for horse carcasses, petroleum waste, and the city's garbage." The river, he adds, was also viewed as a mere vehicle for a commodity, water, and a vehicle that could be improved with the addition of channels, culverts, and reservoirs. Such changes made the wide-scale development of the Los Angeles region possible, but they destroyed the living river. Now, years later, environmental activists are pressing to restore the river to something of its former self--and their efforts, if successful, will again alter the course of regional history.

The Los Angeles River has figured widely in many ecological studies of Southern California; in historical work it has figured largely as a backdrop. Gumprecht grants the river close attention as a thing unto itself, one that has affected many other aspects of the area's social, economic, and environmental history. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Three centuries ago, the Los Angeles River meandered through marshes and forests of willow and sycamore. Trout spawned in its waters and grizzly bears roamed its shores. The bountiful environment the river helped create supported one of the largest concentrations of Indians in North America. Today, the river is made almost entirely of concrete. Chain-link fence and barbed wire line its course. Shopping carts and trash litter its channel. Little water flows in the river most of the year, and nearly all that does is treated sewage and oily street runoff. On much of its course, the river looks more like a deserted freeway than a river.

The river's contemporary image belies its former character and its importance to the development of Southern California. Los Angeles would not exist were it not for the river, and the river was crucial to its growth. Recognizing its past and future potential, a potent movement has developed to revitalize its course. The Los Angeles River offers the first comprehensive account of a river that helped give birth to one of the world's great cities, significantly shaped its history, and promises to play a key role in its future.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling Story of an Urban River.......2006-04-02

I first saw the Los Angeles River in TV shows and movies like Terminator 2 and have ever since been interested in learning more about this strange, concrete encased urban waterway. Blake Gumprecht's book does a great job of providing the history of the Los Angeles River from its pristine condition two centuries ago into the modern era as a "Freeway for Water" in the book "The Los Angeles River."

The author balances his coverage of the river and fairly represents both sides of the struggle to restore it back to a more natural appearance versus the need to provide flood control protection with concrete fortifications.

The book is extremely well researched and documented. Extensive maps and photos shed light on the topic and make the historical changes easier to follow.

My only wish is that a future edition will include color photos.

Great history of L.A........2005-02-10

Reading this book was an assignement for a geography course I was taking in college. My first thoughts were "A book on the L.A. River? How can they write an entire book on a river that flows a couple of days per year?" My indifference to the subject was quickly dismissed after the first few pages. This book is very insightful! It gives a detailed history on L.A., from it's foundation as a tiny pueblo to the sprawling metropolis it is today, with the river & water in Southern California being the central themes. I always wondered why L.A. was built in the area it's in & Mr. Gumprecht answers that in fine detail along with many other interesting facts regarding the annexation of neighboring cities, water rights, deadly floods and ultimately the concrete channel built to contain this unpredictable river.
Whoever is interested in the histroy of this region will no doubt greatly enjoy this superb book!

Impressive History of Los Angeles and its River.......2004-01-31

If you've ever wondered why Los Angeles is in the middle of a desert (hint: it wasn't always), what the river looked like before there was a city, and why the river was buried in concrete, this is the book. An excellent description of the origins of the river and the city, with insights into the modern revitalization movement.

Among the things I learned:
--The river starts in the San Fernando Valley, but the city of Los Angeles has claimed the water as its own since at least 1810, a claim eventually known as the Pueblo Water Right.
--Not all of those concrete beds in L.A. are technically the L.A. river, which starts along the south edge of the San Fernando Valley, dodges a number of movie studios, and makes a right turn through downtown before heading for the Pacific. The others are creeks and washes that feed (fed) the river.
--The area's light rainfall was sufficient to keep the river flowing year-round until suburbia took over. Concrete and asphalt reduced the water that soaked into the ground to be released slowly into the river. Now, the primary source of flowing river water is the what's been reclaimed from sewage treatment plants.

Worth the read for all Angelenos or anyone who is interested in Los Angeles.

Essential - An Amazing History of Los Angeles and its River.......2002-12-29

This fascinating book is packed with information about the history of Los Angeles. Not many present-day Angelenos would know that the location for the city was chosen because of the once-abundant flow of the Rio de Porciuncula, or Los Angeles River. Blake Gumprecht pulls an amazing feat in researching the River's many incarnations alongside the history of the growth of Los Angeles. In addition to providing detailed reports of the River's former courses, and devastating accounts of some of the River's infamous catastrophic floods, Mr. Gumprecht explains the River's role in shaping the course of Los Angeles city politics in greater detail than any previous study.

Once an ample stream that sustained all of the city's water needs for over 100 years, the Los Angeles River was then pumped dry, smothered in concrete, and almost pushed out of the city's consciousness. Incredible photographs appear throughout the book; many of these photos will make nature-loving Angelenos yearn for the Los Angeles River of yesteryear, with its bubbling, meandering stream, and its banks lined with willows and sycamores.

Long before you approach the end of this book, you realize that, in an over-zealous attempt to control flooding, the Los Angeles River was essentially raped, depleted, and buried. The fact that, at present, most of its 51 miles are cement is a shame -- especially in a city with so little park space. Amazingly, the River still provides up to 15% of L.A.'s drinking water, albeit from subterannean pumps that tap the River's flow before it ever reaches the surface. And millions of gallons of River water were diverted to the Silver Lake reservoir.

People who never knew that there was a Los Angeles River should go see the few surviving River greenbelts in the Glendale Narrows and the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area to appreciate our city's River as it used to be.

P.S. - I encourage other Los Angeles River buffs to look at Kevin Roderick's book "San Fernando Valley: America's Suburb" to see other beautiful pictures of the River in its natural state, before the concrete obscured it.

The River that Made Los Angeles.......1999-09-17

As a boy growing up in North Long Beach in the 1930s, I often camped out with my friends on the banks of the Los Angeles River. We would go skinny dipping, catch pollywogs and lizards, make willow whistles, and trudge through the oily sludge that lined the river bottom. We did not know that once the river flowed year-around crystal clear, teeming with fish and supporting a heavily wooded flood plain rich with swamps, lakes, and wildlife. My first surprise on reading the biography of this once-ample river was the fact that it supported one of the largest concentrations of natives in the country. The first Europeans who settled on its banks named their village after it. This book really tells three stories. The first is how the river contributed to the growth of agriculture during the first 100 years of European settlement, creating a lasting image of fertile vinyards and orchards in the sunshine. After the railroad came, the needs for water grew so rapidly they pumped the river dry and built an aqueduct to the Owens River in the north to supply their needs. The second story is about the river's revenge and the periodic devastation it caused by flooding. Time after time, the river, swollen by storms in the San Gabriel Mountains, would smash through its levies, carry off whole houses, factories, herds of cattle, orchards and vinyards, destroy roads, bridges, cemeteries, and towns, putting the whole county under water. It was not until the late 1930s that an earnest attempt was made to tame the river with a system of dams, catchment basins, and pavement. The third story is about the recent attempts to restore the river to its natural state, an exercise about which the author is skeptical. Blake Gumprecht has given us a splendid book that again shows us how much geology, climate, and topography affect how we live and think of ourselves as a people.

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Agriculture and the Citizen
C. Spedding
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0412715201

Book Description

The purpose of Agriculture and the Citizen is to help people understand the way in which agriculture operates, providing the information necessary to enable them to arrive at an informed view on major issues: can the increasing world population be adequately fed without unacceptable pollution to the environment? Is the food and water we consume safe? Will we run out of natural resources such as land, fuel or water? Is the current use of agrochemicals necessary or dangerous? Is intensive farming sustainable or would organic farming be better? How can we help developing countries? Is food aid a good thing or not? How far should the genetic manipulation of plants and animals be allowed to go? This important book will appeal to all concerned with such issues, including all those studying and teaching agricultural and environmental sciences, research scientists, policy makers, and libraries, it is written in language that non-specialists can understand.

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The Cinematic City
David Clarke
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0415127467

Book Description

Cities possess a cinematic quality instilled with character ranging from bustling excitement to shadowy romance. What makes the city such a magnetic place and how has cinema shaped our view of the city?

Offering thought-provoking insight into the connections between screen- and cityscape, The Cinematic City exploring genres, historical periods, and urban locales, to link the key dimensions of film and urban theory. From early cinema to today's politics of place, to forms of identity surrounding films by Black directors, the contributors draw on the theoretical insights of Baudrillard, Foucault, Lacan, and others to show how the city has been undeniably shaped by the cinematic form, and how cinema owes much of its nature to the historical development of urban space.

The Self-Reliant Homestead: A Book of Country Skills

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Best of its type
Breadth without Depth
This should be your first book on moving to the country!
A must have book for homesteaders!
A great book!

The Self-Reliant Homestead: A Book of Country Skills
Charles A. Sanders
Manufacturer: Burford Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580801145

Book Description

A hands-on text for country living, this book contains detailed advice on everything from selecting a piece of land to raising livestock, from making wine from home-grown fruits to making fences strong and durable. Here is abundant advice from a real country homesteader, a book equally valuable for lifelong farm-dwellers or for the new-to-the-country city folks looking to set down roots.

Customer Reviews:

Best of its type.......2005-11-10

This writer captures the essence of homesteading in what is actually a rather short book. You don't need another reference if you want to be a homesteader.

Breadth without Depth.......2004-04-22

Charles Sanders has created a good primer for self-reliant country living. His material covers everything from required tools to canning to fences to homemade gift ideas. The breadth of the text is truly amazing - in 295 pages of text Sanders covers just about every aspect of establishing a homestead.

However, such breadth in so relatively few pages practically guarantees that no one subject will get its due. Winemaking, for example, receives only 11 pages and raising various varieties of livestock is covered in just 26 pages. In other words, this is an excellent book with which to start the process of establishing a homestead, but anyone intending to actually follow through will want to move on to more comprehensive sources fairly quickly. (Sanders displays his seeming love of trivia in a five page discussion of land measurements that inexplicably includes information on a historical method of measuring invented in 1620 by an English mathematician.)

One very helpful feature is the book's appendix, which offers sections on weights and measures, methods of figuring a variety of volumes and weights, a chart of the reproductive expectations for various animals and more. These charts alone are worth the price of the book. A second appendix of recommended reading and/or websites to turn to when the material mastered within would have rendered the text even more valuable, but Sanders has inexplicably left such a resource out. To be fair, some recommendations are sprinkled throughout the text but they are not as easily found as if they were compiled all together.

This should be your first book on moving to the country!.......2004-01-15

I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting some land and moving to the country. It covers all the basics of farming, raising livestock to building a farm pond.

It is written in a style that is conversational and his approach is "this is what has worked for me". Many books on the subject assume that you have some starter knowledge on the subject; this one covers the very basics for people that have grown up in the city or suburbs.

A must have book for homesteaders!.......2003-11-06

I agree with the 1st reviewer...great book! What I find handy is that after most chapter, the author includes a list of resources for further reading, just in case (not likely!) you find his coverage of the topic lacking. This book is great not just for homesteaders, but for any one who lives, or aspires to live, in the country! It covers some topics not covered in most other books of this type, including attending an auction, Country games and pastimes, tractors, atvs, and firearms, in addition to the "usual" homestead topics of water, food preservation, etc.
Buy this book now if you want to live in the country!

A great book!.......2003-11-05

This book is an absolute msut for homesteaders, weekend gardeners, hobby farmers, etc. Think of this as an up to date version of popular earlier works of this type.
Sanders' writing style is easy to read, and the book is chock full of good advice. Use just one or two of his ideas, and you'll more than pay for the price of the book!

The Land and the People of China: A Short Account of the Geography, History, Religion, Social Life, Arts, Industries, and Government of China and Its People

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The Land and the People of China: A Short Account of the Geography, History, Religion, Social Life, Arts, Industries, and Government of China and Its People
John Thomson
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1402171099
Release Date: 2001-05-23

Book Description

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1876 edition by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

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Understanding what you see
From pygmy hippos to plastic greenhouses

The Making of the Cretan Landscape
Oliver Rackham , and Jennifer Moody
Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 071903647X

Book Description

This is the first book to help the visitor understand Crete's remarkable landscape, which is just as spectacular as the island's rich archaeological heritage. Crete is a wonderful and dramatic island, a miniature continent with precipitous mountains, a hundred gorges, unique plants, extinct animals and lost civilisations, as well as the characteristic agricultural landscape of olive groves, vines and goats, Jennifer Moody and Oliver Rackham explain how the island's peculiar and extraordinary features, moulded and modified by centuries of human activity, have come together to create the landscape we see today. They also explain the formation and ecology of Crete's beautiful mountains and coastline, and the contemporary threats to the island's fragile natural beauty.

Customer Reviews:

Understanding what you see.......2007-05-03

This amazing book puts together a stunning amount of knowledge collected both on the ground and in scientific and historical research into an elegant package. I have been visiting Crete for decades, yet I learn something new on every page about the land, the people, the animals, and the plants.

The many photos and hand-drawn maps are valuable, though some of the lettering on the maps is hard to read in this edition. In any case, a large-scale map would make a good complement to the book.

Highly recommended both for the armchair traveler and the visitor.

From pygmy hippos to plastic greenhouses.......2002-08-22

The authors have traveled almost everywhere in Crete, observing at first hand vegetation, landform, and human effects on the landscape. They have also studied a vast body of literature, ranging from archaeological reports to Venetian archives to travelers' accounts. They have presented their knowledge in a very insightful, often original way, exploding older received wisdom such as the "ruined landscape theory" that regards long-inhabited places such as Crete to have begun as virgin forest and to have been gradually degraded to a semidesert. (In fact, many parts of Crete are sprouting new trees very nicely!) Learn about earthquakes altering the landscape, prehistoric and historic vegetation, the pygmy hippos and elephants that roamed in Paleolithic times, and the effects of the first human inhabitants from the Neolithic up to the 20th century. The book also gives a useful foundation for understanding more specialized aspects of Crete such as botany, forestry, agriculture, anthropology, etc. Moreover, the book is a good read. You can appreciate it equally by reading from cover to cover, or by choosing a chapter that particularly interests you. If you are curious to learn why Crete looks like it does, then this book is for you.

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A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited
Timely and Masterful
Do you want to learn about Iran?
D. Ohannes
Average

A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited
Rami Yelda
Manufacturer: A. Pankovich Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran

ASIN: 0967210151

Book Description

The author describes Iran's long and glorious history, its geography, its art, religious practices, its poetry, its cuisine, but most importantly, the aspirations of its people. The book offers a great deal of information about Iran.

Customer Reviews:

A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited.......2007-07-22

Just one glance at the cover of Dr. Rami Yelda's book, A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited, and I immediately anticipated that its contents would be as rich, colorful and complex as the photo's exquisite carpet. I was correct.

In a Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited, Yelda accomplishes the nearly impossible: he literally takes the reader with him on his journey. You are there as he walks through crowded bazaars; talks to average Iranians; visits shrines, museums and temples; sits surrounded by beautiful gardens; shares meals with locals in restaurants; and explores remote towns and villages. You feel his inner struggle, as he recalls the country of his past in its present state. And the way that Yelda moves you from past to present---a feat for any author---is simply flawless. Equally impressive, perhaps, is the way he portrays every aspect of Iran as he found it upon his return after forty years: with the utmost of sensitivity. His depictions of present-day Iran are told with tenderness, sincerity, honesty, humor amidst sadness, and a generosity of spirit often lacking in literary works of this magnitude.

This is far more than a history of Iran. Like the book's cover, it is a richly woven portrait of Iran's people, culture, cuisine, religions, customs, geography, and art. I was there in Iran with Dr. Rami Yelda . . . without ever having left my living room. A Persian Odyssey: Iran Revisited is a must read for anyone who wants to learn about this distictive, intricate and complicated country.

-Francine Pappadis Friedman

Timely and Masterful.......2007-03-28

This timely book is a masterful evocation of today's Iran. The author, an orthopedic surgeon born and raised in Iran, writes smoothly and gracefully. He takes us to temples, shrines, restaurants, museums, bazaars, baths, forts and, often with dialogue, gets us inside the thoughts and feelings of average, everyday Iranians, such as his taxi drivers, people he meets on the street, on the bus, at meals. He is particularly helpful in describing the place of religion in everyday life and in politics. Moving seamlessly from present to past, the author traces religious and secular customs back to their origins deep within Iranian history, revealing one fascinating fact after another. This is a book that should be required reading for those in government who are responsible for dealing with Iran and for everyone interested in learning more about our current adversary. It provides a remarkable pathway into the Iranian psyche, right down to the arrows on the hotel ceilings pointing the way to Mecca.

Do you want to learn about Iran?.......2007-03-09

I was impressed with this book from the beginning. As an American with slightly more than an average understanding of Iran, this book has been amazingly enlightening. The conversations that Dr. Yelda has with average Iranians were a wonderful treat. Additionally, amidst the anecdotes and history lessons are powerful insights into this mysterious country. If you are interested in the culture, history, and people of Persia, it would be hard to find a better place to start than this book.

D. Ohannes.......2006-11-05

I have concluded my reading of the book 'A Persian Odyssey.' I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to it being a vivid travelogue it also captured the essence of the varying cultures, religions and customs of its people. The book is a must read for all persons of Iranian descent. A real contribution is made to those of us who are Christian Assyrians that will in all probability never see Iran. Dr. Yelda was able to separate the architectural, and historical aspects of the country from the poverty and corruption that surrounds the every day lives of its citizens. It helped the separation when he injected, what I have come to know as, his usual dry sense of humor to a number of depressing situations he came in contact with. My heart goes out to the children and women that have to suffer, day in day out, at the hands of what appear to be very corrupt Mullahs (sp). At the conclusion of the book I became saddened by the fact that I will never be able to see the exact place where my parents and grandparents were born and lived.

Average.......2006-05-17

Too long for a travel log, I lost interest after the first hundred pages. I also found the information a little biased. The author's point of view is rather narrow and many comments come across as somewhat offensive to Muslims. (I am an atheist!)

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