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:

Has history been tampered with?.......2007-10-23

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RAZQNMXM4M9CL Has history been tampered with? Yes, it has! Did events and eras such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire , the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance, actually occur within a very different chronology from what we've been told? Yes, they certainly did!

The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.

Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but

there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.

Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.

You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!

The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!

New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.

The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.

The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.

Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.

We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.

Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.

The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.

When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.

There are no answers to simple questions:

When were these primary sources written?

Where and by whom were these sources found?

It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.

As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,

innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.

The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.

Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.

This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.

Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.

`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as

there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.

Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.

They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.

All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:

Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!

The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!

The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.

All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.

Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.

Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

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.

Average customer rating:

Engines and Oil
out of gas
Succinct, focused, readable
Best introduction to fuel (oil) depletion I have read...
This book played fast with the facts

Out of Gas: The End of the Age Of Oil
David Goodstein
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393326470

Book Description

Science tells us that an oil crisis is inevitable. Why and when? And what will our future look like without our favorite fuel?

Our rate of oil discovery has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; rather, it is certain to decline—perhaps rapidly—forever forward. Meanwhile, over the past century, we have developed lifestyles firmly rooted in the promise of an endless, cheap supply. In this book, David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face. He outlines the drastic effects a fossil fuel shortage will bring down on us. And he shows that there is an important silver lining to the need to switch to other sources of energy, for when we have burned up all the available oil, the earth's climate will have moved toward a truly life-threatening state.

With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization.

Customer Reviews:

Engines and Oil.......2007-07-11

Exactly what I had hoped to read in the first 1/4 of the book and the last 1/4 of the book. A good discussion of the status of our oil supply and the prognosis for the future based on current and probable future demand.

My only problem with the book, and this seems to not have been mentioned in previous reviews, is that the author devotes about half of the book to the science of thermodynamics and the design of engines. This is a good basic review on about the junior high level of physical science but it is not the reason that I had picked up the book.

The author is a scientist and has written books on thermodynamics which may be the reason he feels it is important to devote about half the book to this subject. This does give you a good understanding of why it is so difficult to come up with alternatives to the powerful gasoline engine. I would have appreciated more information on the status of oil reserves in Mexico, Iran, Russia etc. in addition to what he had discussed on Saudi Arabia. These countries figure importantly in the future and are not covered in depth in this book.

In genereal this is a good book but I felt the need to read more on the subject after completing it.

out of gas.......2006-11-10

This book asks the question "How long can the worldwide oil economy last"?
The answer: "Not very long". The age of oil is fast coming to a close. What will replace it? Well, immediately reduce consumption of remaining carbon based fuels and other products or learn to reuse them. Many tons per capita in carbon based waste in landfills must be lowered NOW!

Long term solutions must include moves to renewables and sustainable uses. The great "nuclear furnace in the sky" can provide over 50% of the earth's energy needs with today's technology without much change in North American lifestyles. To accomodate a population of 6+ billion at such levels would require 3 or 4 more planets like the earth. We ain't got 'em. So, what is one alternative to this growing probem? - get rid of a huge portion of the current population! One way or the other, the planet will fix itself and restore balance. Simple... if we don't do something soon, the planet WILL. Our choice?

Succinct, focused, readable.......2006-09-11

For those of you who are just getting interested in the subject, David Goodstein's Out of Gas is the book you want to read first. I have read several books on the impending energy crisis, including:

Deffeyes, Kenneth S. Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak (2005)
Heinberg, Richard. The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (2nd Ed., 2005)
Huber, Peter W. and Mark P. Mills. The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy (2005)
Leeb, Stephen and Donna Leeb. The Oil Factor: Protect Yourself--and Profit--from the Coming Energy Crisis (2005)
Simmons, Matthew R. Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy (2005)

and I can say that Professor Goodstein's modest, short and very much to the point book is as good as, if not better than, any of those five. He introduces the subject in a clear and no nonsense way and includes a lot of background information essential to understanding how energy works and why we are about to face a crisis. For readers who are expert on the physics and technology of heat engines and entropy, this book will be a little too basic in part. But even for such experts, Goodstein is essential reading because not only does he understand the science of the energy crisis, he understands the politics. Especially edifying is the material in the Postscript. Let me reference a few ideas:

OPEC (a cartel, as Goodstein explains, patterned after the Texas Railroad Commission which was the cartel that controlled oil production in the US before our supply peaked) likes to maintain prices within a range, "partly in order not to discourage demand for oil, but also to prevent investment in alternative fuels." This we know, of course. But Goodstein adds, "The implied threat is, if you invest money to develop a competitor to oil, we will flood the market with cheap oil and wipe out your investment." (pp. 126-127)

This explains in part why we have been so slow to develop alternative sources. Investors are afraid. However, as Goodstein explains, if OPEC no longer has "excess pumping capacity" to flood the market, theirs becomes an empty threat. Notice another point here: not only are OPEC countries tempted to overstate capacity so that by OPEC rules they are allowed to pump more oil, they are induced to lie about their reserves to scare potential investors away from alternative energy sources. In fact the entire oil industry itself "has a very strong incentive to deny any looming shortage of oil." In other words, to overstate their reserves. Another reason they overstate their reserves "is to keep down the price of oil properties they would like to acquire." (p. 127)

Goodstein also explains why "reserves to production" (R/P) numbers have stayed about the same for many decades and why many experts say we still have forty years of oil left, same as we have had for most of the twentieth century. Quite simply "proven" reserves are reported as "whatever fits the current needs" of the company. (p. 128) It used to be the case that under-reporting was good since it kept the price of oil from plummeting. Now the real danger is to acknowledge that a company doesn't have much oil left. This will cause their stock price to plunge, which is what happened to the Royal Dutch Shell Group "when it was forced by outside auditors to reduce its claims of proven reserves..." (p. 129)

Goodstein's take on the various alternatives to oil, including coal, shale oil, nuclear energy, renewables, etc. is very much in concert with the opinions of other experts. We will be using more coal, dirty as it is, and more nuclear energy, and natural gas. These are the three main alternatives. Not long after we run out of oil we will run out of natural gas and then coal and then even nuclear power plants will grow cold for lack of uranium, which if used to supply energy at the current rate of consumption will be depleted in five to twenty-five years. (p. 106)

Goodstein explores wind and solar and makes it clear that in the long run--if we and civilization are going to make it to the long run--we will have to develop the technology to exploit these renewable sources. This will require a huge investment. We will need the political leadership and will to make the kind of commitment that President Kennedy made in putting a man on the moon. Goodstein believes that solving the energy problem will require the same sort of formidable and creative technology as did the space program. He adds that "Unfortunately, our present national and international leadership is reluctant even to acknowledge that there is a problem." (p. 123)

It is essential that we make the commitment to develop alternatives fuels and we make that commitment NOW because (1) we will need the oil we have left to make the thousands of petrochemical products we will continue to use; (2) we need to free ourselves from dependence on the oil producing countries; and (3) there is an outside danger that the continued burning of fossils fuels will trigger a runaway greenhouse catastrophe that could lead to sterilizing the earth as has happened on Venus. Note well this horrific downside--far worse than any "nuclear winter"--and note too we could go past the point of no return without even realizing it, and be left with no way to stop the meltdown.

Bottom line: "The challenge is enormous but the stakes are even larger. If future generations are to thrive, we who have consumed Earth's legacy of cheap oil must now provide for a world without it." (p. 131)

Best introduction to fuel (oil) depletion I have read..........2006-07-31

This book is a short read, so the review should be short, too. This is the best book on fuel depletion on the market, in my opinion: short, accurate, factual, non-polarizing, objective, useful, and scientifically correct. Reviewers who quibble over small stuff are missing the point. There is an annotated bibliography for those who want more. You can't go wrong with this one.

This book played fast with the facts.......2006-06-26

After reading this book, I sold my copy as a used book on Amazon --- and I almost never do this. I have read 5 books about the end of oil prior to reading OUT OF GAS, and I felt that the author played with the facts to make his point. Clearly, the author wanted the make the crisis that we are facing seem less urgent and dire than the other books on the topic. While I am not a scientist who has studied this topic first hand, I have studied books and other literature on this topic, and feel that other sources provide better information. Specifically, Hubbard's Peak is not as clearly explained here as in other books.

If you are looking for an excellent (if a bit gloomy) book on PEAK OIL, I can recommend THE PARTY'S OVER.

The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

The Choice: A Fine Choice
Wish "It's a Wonderful Life" were more like this
How free trade benefits us all

The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection (3rd Edition)
Russell Roberts
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0131433547

Book Description

Written as a novel, the book makes the complex concepts, issues and terminology of international trade understandable for students. Professors complain that their students cannot grasp the nature of how some economic tools are used or how they work in life. This novel bridges the gap of concepts with applications by use of a fictional story.

David Ricardo comes to life to discuss international trade theory and policy with Ed Johnson, a fictional American television manufacturer seeking trade protection from television manufacturers. Their dialogue is a sophisticated, rigorous discussion of virtually every major issue in trade theory and policy. To illustrate the positive and normative effects of international trade and trade policy, Ricardo takes the reader and Ed Johnson into the future to see an America of free trade and an America of complete self-sufficiency. The fictional element brings these topics to life so that students gain the intuition and understanding of how trade changes the lives of people and the industries they work in. The fundamental intuition of how international markets function including general equilibrium effects and policy analysis is provided.

Customer Reviews:

The Choice: A Fine Choice.......2007-10-18

Russell Roberts has taken the concept of free trade and made it understandable. I originally purchased this book for my college International Economics class, but it would work for high school economics classes as well. It is easy to read and has well rounded characters. As a future educator I would certainly recommend this book.

Wish "It's a Wonderful Life" were more like this.......2007-08-24

I don't really consider this a work of fiction, and neither does the author. It is in a fiction format, but its primary purpose is to make the case against protectionism, and for free markets. Roberts does this beautifully, raising and dismissing almost every argument for protectionism, and doing this with charm, wit, and almost a complete lack of venom.

The story follows the time-traveling journey and conversation of Ed Johnson (a businessman looking for protection form Japanese competition) and his guardian angle David Ricardo (modeled after the little-known economist.) Together they travel to the future, back to the past, and through alternate timelines to demonstrate Robert's point.

Through this journey, Ricardo corrects some critical mistakes in economic theory; such as the `zero-sum theory', misconceptions on the nature of supply and demand, the role and meaning of wages and `real' wages, the mythical "dangers" of a trade deficit, what imports and exports really are, and most of all, dismisses the myth that trade with other countries hurts the American worker overall (which he admits, in a smaller sense, it sometimes does.)

The book takes some leaps of logic, which the author fully admits in the back of the book; such as the town of Star (Ed's hometown) being unchanged in the `protectionist' universe. These little plot devices are not meant to represent reality, but demonstrate more abstract points, in that sense, it is more like a metaphor.

Overall, the book makes one of the strongest cases ageists the practicality of protectionism that I have ever heard. He also fits some talk as to the moral case against it, that it is really an issue of freedom, and no one person has the right to force another in to a certain kind of behavior (A.K.A., buying American products) and that "America" is all about dreams and growth, something not very possible in the protectionist world

My only complaint would be that I wanted more elaboration on some sections of the `conversation'; such as the `dumping' segment. Robert's makes a good case that dumping is not really practical for anybody, that the `dumper' would have to make up for lost profits from lowering their prices. What I don't understand is....what if a company could cover their lost profits in profits from another product, or section of their company (Such as a department store lowering prices on televisions and allowing the produce-department to cover the loss.) I wish Robert's would have gone in to slightly more detail.

There are several section of the book like this; but I want to make clear is that Robert's never claims that this is the ultimate source for `anti-protectionist' arguments, he even suggests further reading in the back of the book, something all reasonable people should do if they are truly interested in understanding the complexities of economics.

I love Robert's style of writing, his books are not just informative, but entertaining, something very hard to achieve for this subject matter. The book was good enough that I ordered His other book, The Invisible Heart, form Amazon. After seeing what he did to It's a Wonderful life, I can't wait to see what he does for a romance novel.

How free trade benefits us all.......2006-11-29

This is the third edition of Roberts' novel about the benefits of free trade, using "It's a Wonderful Life" as his template. David Ricardo "touches down" from heaven to earth (like Clarence), to help convince Ed (George Bailey) that he should not support protectionism. The previous versions focused more on threats that were perceived from Japan and Nafta. Here, Roberts uses India and China as his examples.

To me, one of the most appealing things about Roberts' work is his honesty. He doesn't pretend that economic change doesn't hurt, but he also focuses on the benefits in the longer term. He writes in such a pleasant style that economics becomes accessible to people who are "math phobic."

His other book, The Invisible Heart, is at least as good as this one.

The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism And Economic Collapse

Average customer rating:

Overly optimistic
hopeful suggestion for a solution to the upcoming oil crisis
Bottom Line Deadly Serious
Double-Barreled Ignorance
A unique concept that deserves thought

The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism And Economic Collapse
Richard Heinberg
Manufacturer: New Society Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0865715637

Book Description

Since oil is the primary fuel of global industrial civilization, its imminent depletion is a problem that will have profound impact on every aspect of modern life. Without international agreement on how to manage the decline of this vital resource, the world faces unprecedented risk of conflict and collapse.

The Oil Depletion Protocol describes a unique accord whereby nations would voluntarily reduce their oil production and oil imports according to a consistent, sensible formula. This would enable the task of energy transition to be planned and supported over the long term, providing a context of stable energy prices and peaceful cooperation. The Protocol will be presented at international gatherings, initiating the process of country-by-country negotiation and adoption, and mobilizing public support. To this end, this book:

provides an overview of the data concerning Peak Oil and its timing
briefly explains the protocol and its implications for the reader and for decision makers in government and industry around the world
deals with frequently asked questions and objections, and
looks forward to how the protocol can be adopted and how municipalities and ordinary citizens can facilitate the process.

Timely and critically important, The Oil Depletion Protocol is a must-read for policy makers and for all who seek to avert a Peak Oil collapse.

Listen to an interview with Richard Heinberg from WRPI.

Customer Reviews:

Overly optimistic.......2007-05-19

This book gives a good overview of peak oil. It's main thrust is the assumption that economics will not carry us through this turmoil, and only an early adoption of a "protocol" will save human from much crisis.
The logic behind this assumption is still lost on me, and I continue to seek a clearer picture of the future.

hopeful suggestion for a solution to the upcoming oil crisis.......2007-04-25

Of the many books now available that review peak oil, Richard Heinberg's "The Oil Depletion Protocol" is unique in that it outlines a practical solution to survival the upcoming energy crunch.

After reading a few books about the upcoming energy collapse, read this book to energize yourself with hopeful solutions. We should all read this book, think deeply, and get to work soon.

Bottom Line Deadly Serious.......2007-02-08

All of the non-fiction reading that I have done supports this author's presenation of both the consequences of doing nothing, and practical bottom line: a 3% reduction per year for the next ten to twenty years, of gross consumption (per capita is meaningless when the number of people are growing rapidly) of oil is the only way to transition gracefully.

Amazon visiters need to be aware that the oil industry, and Exxon in particularly, is applying considerable funds to pay for disinformation and misrepresentation. As Al Gore stated in his briefing to 10,000 Republicans in the Taco Bell Arena of Boise State University, the oil companies (less BP and Chevron) are adopting the precise strategy of the tobacco industry, seeking to turn facts into "theories" that are "in dispute."

Reality is not in dispute. What is in dispute is the ethics of the Exxon CEO, among others, who choose to lie to the American people and others and take credit for improving gas mileage when what is really needed is a massive turning away from the use of both oil and water.

This book is a great companion to "Peak Oil Survival," and discusses at the macro levels the implications of oil depletion.

I also like this book because at the back I found a page that informed me that the publisher, New Society Publishers, is both committed to books helpful to society, but that its use of recycled paper as a directly measureable benefit in saving 25 trees, 2,281 gallons of solid waste, 2,512 gallons of water, 3,276 kilowatt hours of electricity, 4,150 lbs of greenhouse gases, 18 lbs of HAPs, VOCs, and AOX combined, and 6 cubic yards of landfill space.

WOW. See my growing list on "true cost" information. Above is the "true cost" for books that do NOT use recycled paper.

Double-Barreled Ignorance.......2007-02-05

The two biggest assumptions discussed in this book are: 1) The world is running out of oil and 2) World governments can cooperate to bring peace and stability.

Let's start with the first assumption and look at some hilarious historical quotes:

1885, U.S. Geologic Society, "Almost no chance of finding oil in California."

1914, U.S. Bureau of Mines, "At most, the U.S. will run out of oil in 10 years."

1939, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, "US oil reserves will be exhausted in 13 years."

1951, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, "US oil reserves can only last 13 more years."

1970, the peak in U.S. oil production as environmental concerns limit any expansion.

1991, U.S. Geological Survey, "Texas and California are running out of oil."

And here we have the reality...
November 2005: 1.28 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves in the world, the highest level that has ever been recorded. A crude oil price over $40 makes it financially viable to use many extraction methods to recover even more oil out of old wells that were "depleted" using older methods.

It is an entertaining hobby to predict the end of oil, but they are always wrong.

Now assumption number 2: governments will cooperate. I don't even know where to begin but I'll try; 70% of the world's oil is controlled by dictators; OPEC has never been able to control its own member states (let alone influence other countries); when money is involved - none of the 8 most influential countries in the world have agreed on anything; since Ghandi was assassinated, I haven't found a single politician interested in much beyond their own career, celebrity, or wallet; how are you going to get nations to cooperate when even the U.N. couldn't administer a little oil-for-food program without corruption and oil cheating amongst countries, politicians, individuals and companies - even the U.N. Secretary General's son profited!

These authors are living in a fantasy world so far from reality I don't know why you'd waste your time with their spin of facts.

A unique concept that deserves thought .......2006-12-21

Oil is the primary fuel of the world - and thus, vulnerable to terrorist efforts. THE OIL DEPLETION PROTOCOL: A PLAN TO AVERT OIL WARS, TERRORISM AND ECONOMIC COLLAPSE does more than the usual charting of a known problem: it offers up solutions, reviewing data on peak oil production and describing an accord where nations would voluntarily reduce their production and imparts by an agreed-upon formula to enable energy transition planning and ultimately more stable prices. A unique concept that deserves thought and which is well planned, here!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Oil Wealth and the Fate of the Forest (Routledge Explorations in Environmentaleconomics, 2)

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Oil Wealth and the Fate of the Forest (Routledge Explorations in Environmentaleconomics, 2)
Sven Wunder
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415278678

Book Description

Oil-related activities damage tropical rainforests, but this is just one side of a complicated story.
This book, a study of oil producing countries, looks at the linkages between macroeconomic trends and how policies affect the environment. In a balanced and comprehensive review, Sven Wunder, shows that oil revenues can indirectly come to protect tropical rainforests using case studies based on eight countries including Cameroon, Ecuador, Gabon, Papua New Guinea and Venezuela.
This topical, accessible and readable book has immediate and direct implications for policy formulation that help decide what can be done to diminish deforestation without jeopardizing economic growth. This book needs to be read not only by students and academics involved in environmental economics, but also by all those involved in policymaking.

The Myth of Free Trade: The Pooring of America

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Is Free Trade really Free?
Myth of "Free" Trade now needs a follow-up
Well thought out

The Myth of Free Trade: The Pooring of America
Ravi Batra
Manufacturer: Touchstone
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684833557

Book Description

In a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal, Pat Buchanan named The Myth of Free Trades as one of the cornerstones of his protectionist economic policy. Written by Dr. Ravi Batra, bestselling economist and author of The Great Depression of 1990, The Myth of Free Trade throws down the gauntlet to economic orthodoxy and challenges the gospel of free trade. Dr. Batra states that "laissez-faire has wrecked U.S. industry and shattered the American dream."

As an anecdote to our economic ills -- the federal deficit, our reliance on foreign imports, widespread downsizing, environmental destruction -- Dr. Batra sets out a five-year plan for economic revival that includes raising tariffs on imports, banning mergers among giant firms, and encouraging domestic competition by splitting huge corporations into smaller units.

Customer Reviews:

Is Free Trade really Free?.......2006-04-27

SMU Professor Ravi Batra's significant work outlines why America has become a debtor nation. The main cause is free trade. This policy has caused real wages to fall for 80% of the work force despite increased productivity because of manufactured goods falling relative price. This phenomenon is known as "agrification".
Moreover, poor leadership has allowed foreign nations such as Japan, South Korea, and China to sing free trade's praises while following protectionist policies as tariffs, quotas, exchange controls and the like at home. The post WWII General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade rounds or negotiations have resulted in a lack of reciprocity for American exports. Before GATT lowered tariffs, to permit imports to flood U.S. markets, the country was largely a closed, self-sufficient economy. However, since we have become an open economy the country has become awash with red ink in the current or trade account.
To remedy this critical situation, Dr. Batra suggests a national policy of "competitive protectionism". This solution entails raising the average tariff from 5% to 40% while promoting domestic competition to spur innovation by prohibiting most mergers and monopolies. The result might be an improved living standard for Americans. The standard of living has declined for most workers as measured by the real wage since 1973 - - the year the U.S.A. became an open, free trade economy.

Myth of "Free" Trade now needs a follow-up.......2004-06-01

Batra has done a fine job of pointing out the problem. Some want more figures, but the key here is the concept of "averaging". For that, I wish Batra had given us a simple example like the one below:

With some 6 Billion People on the planet, 5 Billion earn less than $1,000 per year (say $5 Trillion) - only about 1 Billion earn around $25,000 or more ($25 Trillion) - with 300 Million those in the USA. So, if 6 Billion people "share" the $30 Trillion total World GDP, that means an "average" of $5,000 for each person.

While a peasant in China might be temporarily better off, it would mean the economic end of the USA, Japan and Europe, then total collapse for the West. If China's current goal is to conquer the West, they can do it without a shot fired - just keep exporting while we keep importing and closing factories.

I only hope that Batra writes a follow-up book quite soon and offers up an overview that all of us can internalize. My further hope is that he can present his comments on CSPAN, CNET and CNN before the US election in November.

Well thought out.......2000-06-03

Well done. It's a shame however that Batra doesn't follow through on this topic in his later books, and gets side-tracked instead by other factors which at best have secondary impact on global economy and ecology. After suffering an entire generation (30 years) of decoupling of per capita productivity and per capita real wage, one wonders how much more stress the US economy can take before it collapses. Then again, what are the limits of human ingenuity and resiliency? Can these factors reverse the damage done by the Free Trade policy? Batra's addressing this factor would have been extremely helpful.

Average customer rating:

One of the most important books of our time
Unsupported Silliness
A must read for subcribers to 'conventonal wisdom'

The Trap
James Goldsmith
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786701854

Customer Reviews:

One of the most important books of our time.......1999-11-21

In "The Trap," Goldsmith points out the moral bankruptcy of the neo-right's "every man for himself" (particularly men, particularly white and wealthy) world-view, and also provides a vision for the future of compassionate *and* workable politics, economics, and community. Like Robert Theobald's "Reworking Success," or Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" (all highly recommended and available on amazon.com), Goldsmith courageously confronts us with the problems we face and offers realistic solutions. Highly recommended!

Unsupported Silliness.......1999-10-31

It is indeed a sign of divine grace that Goldsmith's book was ever published; of course, had he not been a millionaire, this tract would never have been given a second look. The fatuity of the economic arguments presented on "The Trap" are nothing short of amazing; indeed, any undergraduate economics student could probably expose most of them. One particularly egregious example: Goldsmith's argument that foreign competition is unfair and harmful when beased on low wages, i.e., that companies should not be forced to compete against less efficient foreign economies that pay lower wages. Of course, David Ricardo thoroughly smashed this argument in 1817 when he elaborated the concept of comparative advantage -- but Goldsmith nevertheless resurrects protectionist drivel, 180 years later. This book is nothing but an uninsightful, grossly fallacious, hackneyed polemic by a writer that should know better.

A must read for subcribers to 'conventonal wisdom'.......1997-04-07

An excellent format where conventional wisdom on many of our society's complex problems and their popular solutions are de-bunked by an eloquent criti

High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the Suv

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Fearmongering?
Reads Like a Novel With Lots of Facts
Excellent; covers all the aspects of the situation
a must read !
Great Stuff

High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the Suv
Keith Bradsher
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1586482033
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Book Description

Keith Bradsher has been at the forefront of critical SUV coverage since his posting as Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times from January 1996, through August 2001. While in Detroit, Bradsher won the George Polk Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for being the first reporter to cover the many problems created by SUVs.

Winner of the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism

Winner of The Washington Monthly's 2002 Annual Political Book Award

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

A BookSense 76 Pick

Since High and Mighty was published in the Fall of 2002, regulators and consumers have become increasingly suspicious of sport utility vehicles and their poor safety records, heavy air pollution, and misleading marketing. Yet SUV sales continue to rise, leading average fuel consumption of new vehicles to a twenty- two year low and pushing traffic deaths to the highest level since 1990. As aging SUVs enter the used market, the problem is likely to grow much worse.

Bradsher makes a powerful case that these vehicles are much worse than cars-for their occupants, for other motorists, for pedestrians, and for the planet itself. In so doing, he pulls off a work of investigative journalism that shows how a flawed regulatory system, a desperate Detroit, and our national love for "bigger and better" have combined to create this highway arms race.

The paperback includes an epilogue covering new developments and an appendix explaining how to drive an SUV more safely.

Customer Reviews:

Fearmongering?.......2006-09-20

Here is a simple exercise: price your insurance for a SUV against a small car. The price difference will tell you in which type of vehicle you are most likely to suffer a loss based on real world data and not theories.

Let me ask you another question: the SUV craze has been going on since the early '90s. Don't you think it would die down by now if SUVs were such dangerous vehicles?

The author tries to make a point about how 4 wheel/all wheel drive is a fad. I disagree. Last year I was out in a snow storm before the roads were cleared. Several cars, including mine, ended in a ditch in an icy section. All the other owners were calling 911 when I could climb out because of 4 wheel drive. That incident alone is worth the price.

It is certainly true that SUVs are environmentally unfriendly. But, more dangerous than small cars? No! And I am not even getting into who would win when a tin can collides with a SUV!

Reads Like a Novel With Lots of Facts.......2005-12-19

This is an excellent book written by a Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times. He worked on and off on the book for almost five years and has produced a compelling and fact filled read of 440 pages plus notes. Excellent job.

I would not call the book "anti-SUV" per se, but rather it is a comprehensive review of the vehicle with some related comments on mini-vans. The facts speak for themselves. An SUV is a passenger vehicle that uses a truck base (motor, frame, suspension) with a special body made from a combination of truck parts and custom parts with luxurious interiors and lots of sound proofing. It costs the same to make as a truck but sells at the price of a luxury car - or higher - and has a marketing prestige value now associated with the vehicle.

The book covers the history of the SUV vehicle type, how the vehicle evolved from the early Ford SUV built by Henry Ford for camping trips at the beginning of the last century, panel delivery vans, the history of the WWII Jeep, the GM Suburban, the Jeep Cherokee, and the Ford Explorer, etc

The author covers the costs to make the vehicle, the taxes on the vehicle, the import barriers on imports, how the unions viewed the vehicle, how the gas consumption CAFÉ regulations were circumvented, how politicians have supported the vehicle, and how environmental groups have tacitly supported the vehicle, etc. The bottom line is that the basic construction is relatively cheap while the selling price is high. So the SUV's have become the cash cows of the auto industry leading to economic revival at GMC, Ford, and Chrysler with similar revivals of the local economies in Michigan, Detroit, and Ohio. Many auto executive careers have been tied to the SUV success and this is discussed in the book.

From a marketing viewpoint the turning point for the industry was the black 1986 Cherokee Limited with gold exterior trim. That car and the SUV's that followed were big seller in the cities and became a substitute for the luxury car. That vehicle was followed by products from GM and Ford, of ever increasing size and profit including the Lincoln Navigator, Cadillac Escalade, etc. These latter vehicles generate huge profits for the auto makers and have in fact displaced the luxury car and have become very popular in unlikely places such as New York city.

Cars and SUV's are marketed and sold by appealing to emotions not common sense. Despite the truck base technology that gives poor handling compared to a car, and the heavy weight and truck engines that give poor gas economy, the car companies have pushed the SUV in order to capitalize on the simple truck technology for the sake of fat profits. In a free society that makes good business sense. However the down side is that unlike Europe that has managed to keep oil consumption relatively constant over the past decade or so the US has increased its oil consumption by 50% due in part to these high gas consumption vehicles - fed by imports of oil from the unstable Middle East. In addition to the increased fuel consumption, the environment has been burdened with more pollution by less efficient (truck) vehicles that has compounded the insult to the environment. Finally, because of the truck construction such as the weight and the high center of gravity of these vehicles - although seeming to be safer, the SUV has a poorer safety records both for their occupants and for the cars they hit - as recorded by the insurance agencies - than for regular mid sized cars. So based on the record the SUV is more expensive, has poor truck like handling, wastes gas, and is even less safe than a mid sized car. One can draw their own conclusion.

The author does an excellent job summarizing the facts. He describes the auto executives running the companies, the technology, how the CAFÉ laws were circumvented, safety, etc. It is a compelling read.

Highly recommend 5 Stars.

Excellent; covers all the aspects of the situation.......2005-09-15

Bradsher's only arguable flaw in this book is that he was SO exhaustive in his research and documentation. Reading the history of the auto execs who designed and developed early models of SUVs can be a bit dry, but you can't say he didn't do his homework.

The book addresses every angle of the SUV "experience" in our society:
*The legislation loopholes that tacitcly support and subsidize them;
*The marketing campaigns that *imply* safety without promising anything specific (and actionable);
*The design teams that focused on a more "aggressive" image with wasteful, unnecesssary features to sell to fearful, self-indulgent consumers;
*The engineering and crash tests that prove how unsafe they really are;
*And the pollution stats that prove how wasteful and environmentally damaging SUVs have been.

Any one of the chapters on these topics makes for fascinating reading, but I was especially interested in Ch. 6: Reptile Dreams. In this section on marketing, Bradsher discusses how marketing and advertising execs cynically estimated the insecurity and self-doubt of their target audience and made plans to exploit it. He describes how the image of taller, more "powerful" vehicles was used to generate record sales of a vehicle that's provably less safe... all the while getting the suckers--err, *consumers*--to claim that they were buying an SUV for its SAFETY factors. Which is a lie; they buy it largely for status.

The SUV makers and marketers know this, and they exploit it: why else design a vehicle that explicitly says "Buy this so you can look like you don't care about fashion and status"? The so-called legitimate reasons for owning an SUV are diligently picked apart, one by one. No, they're not safer (minivans are). The four-wheel drive isn't useful (that's for offroad driving, which--despite the ads--90% of SUV owners never do). The cargo capacity isn't that great--in fact, many SUV interiors are awkwardly designed and arranged to have LESS carrying capacity than comparable trucks, minivans, and even station wagons.

The bottom line is simple: SUVs are not safer in collisions, rollovers, or impacts. The data proving this is widely available... but SUV owners don't want to hear it. They crave the illusion of power and control; they want to feel intimidating; they want to indulge their selfishness and callous indifference for the sake of pretending they're Powerful Adventurers; and no mere facts are going to get in their way. The owners gleefully fork over huge shovelsful of cash in exchange for pure image--all form and no substance.

And as we should all know in this cynical consumerist society, image beats reality every time.

a must read ! .......2005-03-31

Fantastic book that is well written & balanced. The author doesn't rant in any way , he simply presents the facts as they are.
Please read it & reassess what & why you drive.

Great Stuff.......2004-08-13

Being a Detroiter, I had to say I picked up this book expecting "outside of Detroit environmentalist" anti-SUV garbage. While being very liberal myself, I'm a Detroit liberal, pro-everything auto industry and then the party line. But the book is very good and enlightening. While it has not quenched my urge to drive SUVs nor my desire to see more sold, it has made me realize it is important that they need to be constructed in a safe manner. While imports rising, I'd like to see my city's brethren employed and Brasher realizes this as he doesn't take the outlandish position many do on the issues of banning them or ridding of them altogether. To do so is to unemploy Detroit. If they can be made more fuel efficient, and safer then everyone can win. Cars though are inherently dangerous. Unless we all drive in NASCAR cars we can expect to have injuries in a crash, Bradsher realizes it is important to limit these faults but accepts it is inevitable there are some problems. A very balanced approach to an often polarizing in viewpoints, issue. Great read.

Suiting Themselves: How Corporations Drive the Global Agenda

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Suiting Themselves: How Corporations Drive the Global Agenda
Sharon Beder
Manufacturer: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1844073319

Book Description

Best-selling author Sharon Beder unleashes a penetrating exposé of how corporations are crafting the global agenda for their own benefit at the expense of billions of people, the environment and democracy.

In this brilliantly researched exposé, ‘communications Rottweiler’ Sharon Beder blasts open the backrooms and boardrooms to expose how the international corporate elite dictate global politics for their own benefit. Beder shows how they created business associations and ‘think tanks’ in the 1970s to drive public policy, forced the worldwide privatization and deregulation of public services in the 1980s and 1990s (enabling a massive transfer of ownership and control over essential services) and, still not satisfied, have worked relentlessly since the late 1990s to rewrite the very rules of the global economy to funnel wealth and power into their pockets. Want a globalized and homogenized world of conflict, poverty and massive environmental degradation run by a corporate oligarchy that wipes its feet on democracy? Or a democratic world, where poverty is history, companies work for people and clean water is a right not a privilege you pay for? Beder’s message is clear--it’s your world, and it’s time to fight for it.

Glitter & Greed: The Secret World of the Diamond Cartel

Average customer rating:

All you wanted to know about Debeers and too Much
Average Read
An important expose
Diamonds/Price-Fixing/Civil Wars/Child Slavery Are Forever
Interesting... but deeply flawed

Glitter & Greed: The Secret World of the Diamond Cartel
Janine P. Roberts , and J. P. Roberts
Manufacturer: Disinformation Company
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0971394296

Book Description

Rare, romantic, and forever: The diamond industry depends on these myths to reap billions of dollars of profit. This sensational investigation explodes such fallacies and -reveals how multimillion dollar advertising campaigns create the impression of rarity and romance. It reveals, too, a very secret and unromantic world, one that is dominated and controlled by a handful of mighty corporations.

Taking us through seven decades of intrigue and -manipulation that span the globe, Janine Roberts has written the most expansive and explosive expose ever on diamonds; among Roberts' revelations:

How De Beers hides away rich diamond deposits-and where some of these are located.
How a long-term companion of Jackie Onassis was a CIA-linked millionaire diamond merchant tied to coups and dictators in Central Africa.
Just how diamonds are "fixed" to make them more expensive.
How major diamond companies cooperated with Hitler's Germany-and how much they were paid.
How industrial diamond supplies were artificially -restricted to the United States during World War II, severely damaging its war effort and how U.S. Intelligence came to suspect treason.
How a major diamond deposit in Arkansas was sabotaged to stop it coming into production.
How the White House was manipulated into buying millions of diamonds it did not need and now must sell.
How terrorism found its way into the diamond trade, not recently but many decades ago.
How diamonds are secretly moved by the millions around the world.

The inquiry the diamond cartel did not want and tried to stop. . . . If you have ever wondered what tales might lie behind the glitter of a diamond ring, read this account of the most international media investigation ever launched!

Customer Reviews:

All you wanted to know about Debeers and too Much.......2007-09-17

The book is a great commentary on the diamond mining and diamond industry. The problem is that author is an advocate against DeBeers and the diamond industry. She does her best to document the facts but every word is through the filter of her hatred of the DTC and DeBeers. It seems that they can do nothing right anywhere at anytime. Myself personally being in the diamond industry I can see her bias, others may not.

Average Read.......2007-04-20

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I enjoyed reading it because I was already interested in the concepts. Debeers cover up, master marketing, Bloody wars funded by diamonds that rich people wear. I soon came to realize that there was little of that. This book could have been written much better. All the components of a fascinating story are here. Instead you are left with a feeling of, "I know diamonds are evil stop telling me the same thing over and over!" I wish that this book would have gone deeper into the lives of the people that this industry has a negative effect on.

An important expose.......2005-11-04

Written by journalist and human rights activist Janine Roberts, and now in a newly revised edition, Glitter & Greed: The Secret World of the Diamond Cartel is a shocking expose of the inequalities, economic manipulation, inhuman treatment, and outright cruelties facilitated and perpetuated by the global Big Diamond industry - most notably the notorious De Beers and Oppenheimer cartels. Chapters go far beyond the injustice covered in the recent popular movie "The Blood Diamond", revealing how some major diamond companies collaborated with Hitler's Germany and industrial diamond supplies were artificially restricted, damaging the American war effort in World War II; how child labor is used to cut diamonds, with horrifically detrimental effects on children's health; how tuberculosis and other life-threatening conditions flourish among diamond miners; how terrorism has milked money from the diamond trade for decades; why the Kimberly Process meant to protect Americans from supporting murderers with their diamond money has failed; and how the myth that diamonds are "rare" has been perpetrated through the fixing of diamond prices and other nefarious means. A chilling expose that not only roots out evidence of cruelty but also proposes reforms and solutions. In an era of rampant corporate greed, immorality, and malfeasance, "Glitter & Greed" is a "must-read" for anyone considering buying a diamond, and carries the absolute highest recommendation.

Diamonds/Price-Fixing/Civil Wars/Child Slavery Are Forever.......2005-05-13

Actually, diamonds are not forever, according to this book, as they are brittle and can be destroyed by fire.

On the back cover it says at the top "[Business/History/Human Rights]". I would consider rewording that as "[True Crime/Business/Human Rights Abuses]". The back cover also declares: "The inquiry that De Beers and the Oppenheimer family that control the cartel did not want, that it's people tried to stop." Now that I can believe. It would appear that the author is lucky to still be alive after the 20+ years of her investigations (assuming she hasn't by now been assassinated by agents for the diamond cartel).

Possibly everything you could want to know about the diamond industry is in this book. I had already heard about the De Beers/Botswana government campaign to evict the Bushmen aborigines as this has been reported in the British press. However I was unaware of the role of the Diamond Cartel in the human rights atrocities in the Congo and Sierra Leone, nor of how Indian child workers are kept in a state of "debt bondage" while preparing gems for the diamond market.

All very depressing, and essential reading I would say for anyone thinking of buying a diamond for a loved one, and for anyone interested in the machinations of big business. The one crumb of comfort is that high quality laboratory engineered synthetic diamonds are now commercially available.

Interesting... but deeply flawed.......2004-08-24

I hesitate to give this book such a poor rating, because it's significantly better than the other accounts I've read and the facts need to be heard. But, following the all-too-familiar trend of the modern "factual account", it's poorly written and presents its case in a rather slapdash fashion.

While I have no doubt that the basic story (DeBeers' blatant manipulation of diamond prices, dangerous working conditions in diamond mines, and rampant trade in "blood diamonds") is accurate to some degree, it's a challenge to find anything resembling specific claims with definite proof. The book reminds me more of a "20/20 expose" than a careful, verifiable and accurate telling. Random photographs scattered throughout the text (of such fascinating subjects as outside entrances to mine workers' quarters) do little to improve this impression. Worse, there are a few "side subjects" (such as a discussion of synthetic diamonds) that contain obvious inaccuracies.

There's an interesting and vital story here, and Roberts is to be commended for presenting it in the face of a cartel with billions of dollars at stake and no compunction to "play fair". (Compare Roberts' relatively hard-hitting story to Michael Hart's ambivalent, yet very probably DeBeers-approved, "Diamond".) If the appendix describing her difficulties in getting her film aired is to be believed, there's more than a little "funny business" going on.

But... it's such a fascinating story that it doesn't need the journalistic excess that permeates this book. A sober and straightforward account would've been more convincing and ultimately more helpful.

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