Book Description
What would you do if you were sitting quietly in your living room when a mysterious couple appeared from out of nowhere - and then told you they were "ascended masters" who had come to reveal some shocking secrets of existence and teach you the miraculous powers of advanced forgiveness? Would you call the cops? Call a psychiatrist? Call out for pizza?
When two such teachers appeared before Gary Renard in 1992, he chose to listen to them (and ask a lot of impertinent questions). The result is this startling book: an extraordinary record of 17 mind-bending conversations that took place over nearly a decade, reorienting the author's life and giving the world an uncompromising introduction to a spiritual teaching destined to change human history.
Customer Reviews:
The disappearance of the Universe.......2007-10-11
This is one of those books that includes lots of Ahaaaa moments. One of the best books that I have read in a long time. I would recommend it to any one that is either considering or doing a Course in Miracles.
You definately need to be open minded to read this.......2007-10-09
This is interesting and different from anything I'd ever read before! I don't believe everyone should read this book. I know many people who are just not ready or open minded enough to accept some of what's covered/proposed here and would end up vehemently opposing it. The first time I read this I honestly didn't know what to think. I was shocked really. Many of the things this guy was saying was just out of bounds of the 'conditioning' I grew up with. I initially checked this out from the library and returned it without having made it thru the first chapter. Then, several weeks later, I ordered it kind of by accident (a recommendation from another source)and was surprised to see that this was the same book I had checked out and returned mostly unread. I think things happen for a reason, and so I thought obviously I was supposed to read this book.
This guy has had the experience of two spiritual instructors who materialize to him on several different occassions and set him straight on how things really are. They are from his past and his future. As far as the information they conveyed, I'm thinking, how could they know all of those things if they were not who they claimed to be, and why would they and Gary lie about it? Some things were easier for me to accept than others. But, that doesn't mean that I don't believe it all, it just means that I don't exactly understand it all, so therefore I won't say that it's not true, because I really don't know. Some things I just need to think about a little longer I guess.
I still pick this up and read it now and then. I have underlined and made notes to myself which I have found helpful. I was glad to have read this before I started 'A Course In Miracles'. Otherwise, I think I would have had a harder time with that. This was like a primer to get me ready for the concepts presented in ACIM.
This book has the power to change the world!.......2007-10-03
I am recommending this book whenever and wherever I have the chance to. I suffered all my life from a traumatic and tragic childhood until I read this book and began practicing true forgiveness. Mr.Renard's teachings showed me a new way to view this world and a new way to forgive. My life is forever changed. If I can heal from sexual assault, deaths, and a lifetime of suicidal depression than so can others. This book has the power to change the world, one life at a time.
Everyone must read this book!.......2007-10-01
This is a life changing book. A must read by everyone. I loved it.
Interested in A Course in Miracles?.......2007-10-01
Disappearance of the Universe has captured the interest not only of those that are new or unfamiliar with A Course in Miracles, but also by the vast majority of us that have been studying the Course for years.
The principles of the Course are presented in an easy-to-understand format, his premise involving conversations with Arten & Pursah, two ascended masters who appeared to him in his living room. Whether or not the reader believes in the appearance of these two is secondary, in my opinion, to the spiritual truths revealed in his book.
Disappearance of the Universe is not only introducing thousands to A Course in Miracles, it is also re energizing many long-time students of the Course with a fresh perspective and newfound zeal with which to continue their studies. Though a later book has been written and published by the author, if you're curious about or interested in knowing more about A Course in Miracles, this is the book to read.
Thanks for the great book, Gary!
Book Description
In the seventy years since the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan during a flight over the Central Pacific, their fate has remained one of history's most debated mysteries. Dozens of books have offered a variety of solutions to the puzzle, but they all draw on the same handful of documents and conflicting eyewitness accounts.
Now a wealth of new information uncovered by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) allows this book to offer the first fully documented history of what happened. Scrupulously accurate and thrilling to read, it tells the story from the letters, logs, and telegrams that recorded events as they unfolded. Many long-accepted facts are revealed as myths.
Author Ric Gillespie, TIGHAR's executive director, draws on the work of his organization's historians, archæologists, and scientists, who compiled and analyzed more than five thousand documents relating to the Earhart case. Their research led to the hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan died as castaways on a remote Pacific atoll. But this book is not a polemic that argues for a particular theory. Rather, it presents all of the authenticated historical dots and leaves it to the reader to make the connections. In addition to details about the Earhart's career and final flight, the book examines her relationship with the U.S. government and the massive search undertaken by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.
For serious students of Earhart's disappearance, an accompanying DVD reproduces the documents, reports, and technical studies cited in the text, allowing instant review and verification of the sources.
Customer Reviews:
non-scientists beware.......2007-09-11
This highly technical read is not for the mere curious reader or fan of this great American woman. This book contains a vivid picture of the search for America's sweetheart of 1937,Amelia Earhart and her navigator ,Fred Noonan. An intricate compilation of radio transmissions provides a picture of an overwhelmed search party, miscommunicated information and an under skilled pilot. This is not the whole picture and if one seeks a glimpse into the woman behind the incident this is not the book for you
Captivating read on Amelia's Misadventures.......2007-08-17
"Finding Amelia: the True Story of the Earhart Disappearance," Ric Gillespie, Naval Institute Press, Maryland, 2006, ISBN 1-59114-319-2, HC 242 pges., Notes 44 pgs., Index 8 pgs., Content & Forward 10 pgs., plus 40 B/W photos, map & DVD (for computer) to access photos, maps, logs of the Earhart misadventure.
A captivating narrative & chronicle of the flying life and times of pilot Amelia Earhart, both researched 18 years and written by Exec. Dir. of TIGHAR, an Internat. Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. We are provided detailed accounts of Earhart's two world flight attempts, neither successful, with the aviatrix's last contact being July 2, 1937 while enroute to Howland Isle from Lae, New Guinea and thence to California.
Glimpses are given of Amelia Earhart's quest for notoriety during her earlier years which found her intrigued by flying machines, seeking adventure, finding celebrity status & desiring increased role for American women. But, it is not a bibliography or even a book about Amelia. It is a book of Amelia's monomaniacal attachment to flying, her aeronautical skill confines, that emphasizes her attempts to encircle the globe, imprima her 2nd attempt going Eastward, departing Oakland, California on May 19, 1937 accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan in her Lockheed Electra 10E twin engine aircraft. There is detailed & documented accountings of the massive search by US Coast Guard and Naval ships & planes and detailed reference to ships' logs of communications, etc., and interviews with Ham Radio operators who credibly appear to have identified her signals. The many B/W photographs, maps and the DVD are commendatory to this scholarly study. A few readers may find the detailed readings, etc., of the ships' logs and radiocommunication transmission times and references to frequencies and harmonics confusing & tedious, but the author's intentions to present the factual data is preserved.
Amelia Earhart on Fantasy Island?.......2007-06-29
I have followed Mr. Gillespie's search for years, and it is, sadly, largely based on wishful thinking instead of facts, such as the fuel capacity of Amelia's Lockheed 10E Electra. Simply put, there is NO WAY it could have reached where he claims it is. The book is an interesting read, and reasonably well done, and there are some opposing viewpoints presented. Factually, though, it is an illusion (one that has paid Mr. Gillespie quite well for a long time). An entertaining read, but not historical research-just a flight of fancy--
Finding Amelia.......2007-03-19
The book is a good chronicle of the last flight, and what is (and isn't known). While there isn't anything really new that hasn't been covered before, the book is a good compliment to others previously published on the Earhart story. The focus on (mis)communications highlights the thread of errors that lead to the tragedy. The inclusion of the disc (a nice touch!) containing the source data allows the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Clarification on Amelia.......2007-01-10
Excellently written. Very informative. I think this book clears up why Amelia dissappeared. It is no mystery any more.
Book Description
In 1965, Ron Stoner was the best surf photographer in the business. Every month, he shot the balmy beaches, bikini-clad girls, and achingly beautiful waves of Southern California for Surfer Magazine. Then, at the height of his fame, Ron Stoner walked off this sunny stage and disappeared forever. In Photo/Stoner, Stoner's strange story is recounted by surfing historian Matt Warshaw alongside Stoner's best photos, reproduced as never before. In these rare images, Stoner recorded more than just a beautiful wave or a perfect moment, he captured the effortless and innocent grace of coastal California pre-condominium. In word and in image, Photo/Stoner is a poignant ode to a lost era, and a lost man.
Customer Reviews:
Incredible.......2007-07-12
So happy to see Ron Stoner's work has survived and is in print. A must for surfing afficiandos.
Photo/Stoner: The Rise, Fall, and Mysterious Disappearance of Surfing's Greatest Photographer.......2007-04-12
Great, beautiful photoes and an excellent read of a social misfit in the same ilk as Van Gough
C L A S S I C .......2007-04-02
If you like Surfing and Photography this is for you, all the classic Stoner photos and much more, Matt Warshaw and Jeff Divine made an amazing book, showing not just the photos but also a deep insight on Stoner's life, when you end seeing the book for the first time you know you did a right thing buying it.
great pictures.......2007-03-11
This book brings back a lot of memories from when I surfed in the 60's in California. It is too bad where Ron eventually strayed, but the drugs caught up to him. Just a great table top book. Absolutely beautiful photography and written history.
Captures the moment of change.......2007-02-05
This is a beautifully photographed book and well presented with interesting but inobtrusive commentary. The book catches the moment in time that surfing changed into the modern sport, a period only just captured by Stoner during his short photographic career. The book captures the mood of surfing just before and just after the shortboard revolution and drug culture re-wrote the culture of surfing. I loved it.
Book Description
This nonfiction book narrates three types of unsolved disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Customer Reviews:
Sad & True Thriller.......2006-07-12
The factually documented stories about people who have disappeared in the Great Smoky Mountains, are so sad. But having read them before our group went hiking, it made us far more concerned with safety. Anyone who likes true life mysteries will devour this book.
Involved in the mysteries........2002-12-04
We bought the book at a gift shop in the mountains on our vacation in Blairsville GA. My 10 year old niece and my sisters and I took turns reading the stories out loud on the deck of our cabin each evening. Simple stories, well researched, and intriguing, the stories stirred up much suspense and long discussions. Since the stories include maps and detailed locations of the disappearances, we went to some of the sites to enrich our discussions of what we each theorized happened...a dramatic way to "feel" a part of solving the mysteries. We will probably visit more of the sites in the future.
New View on My Area.......2002-02-13
I live in Cherokee, NC, and had heard about people disappearing in the Smokies. When I saw this book in my library, I was surprised to learn somebody had documented the disappearances. I bought it and went to Clingmans Dome for an afternoon of reading and reflection. It was wonderul, and I came away with a new respect for the mountains, and felt great sorrow for those left behind.
Intriguing Reading.......2001-06-09
I love this book. The stories are told in a factual style with just the right amount of background and detail. Some of my friends and I read the stories several times and have developed theories about what happened to these people.
I will be first in line to buy the book the authors promise to write if and when any of these unsolved disappearances are solved.
Fantastic Find.......2001-06-05
I am a professional folklorist in east Tennessee. For years I have conducted short walking tours telling ghost and folk tales.
So many people on my tours began asking me about stories they had read in this book - Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains - that I bought a copy. I was spellbound and knew I had to tell these stories. I contacted the authors and arranged to tell the true stories they had written of people who vanished without a trace in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Customer Reviews:
Inventive look at global/local dynamics in imperial HongKong.......1999-05-21
An inventive look at localist twists and practices in cinema, literature, urban space, within contexts of transnational porousness and neo-nationalism. A poetics of distraction and late capitalist bemusement, useful and the mall and in the movies and poesy too.
Customer Reviews:
An Almost Astonishing Book-.......2007-10-05
It isn't often anymore that I read something that pops my eyes wide open. Postman is always interesting, always thought provoking, but in this book, he had me outside my own box, looking back in. So seldom am I offered new ideas, new perspectives based on intelligent rersearch and analisys. And what he has to say here is a little chilling. His history of the existance of our idea of childhood was fascinating - but his warning for the immediate future is important and powerful. I might, myself, have titled the book The Disappearance of Adulthood - Postman's points here explain so much. Coupled with David Elkind's The Hurried Child and Brizendine's The Female Brain, this book sheds huge light on why things are happening in our homes, our culture, the world. Add a little research into the new work on adolescent brain chem, and suddenly, the way we have been doing things for our children springs serious holes. An engaging, pleasant read with thorns. Highly recommended to anybody who loves kids. We need to understand what to expect from them and ourselves.
The Attacks on this Book are as Weak as the Arguments of the Book are Strong.......2007-08-10
It is simply untrue to write, as Amazon Reviewer Aaron Swartz writes, that Neil Postman praised the Children's Letters "because they agreed with him". Rather, Postman praised them because they showed by their responses that they valued the declining institution of Childhood, and that they were clearly distressed by the possibilities raised in Postman's Book.
Basically, Postman in his book said: "Society no longer values the distinctiveness of Children relative to Adults, and as a result the institution of Childhood is eroding out of existence."
The Children responded by saying: "We are TOO Distinct from Adults!", and Postman praised them for valuing their declining distinctiveness enough to defend the concept that they are still distinct (a concept all too often not defended by Adults).
Postman values Childhood, and as a result he values (and praises) children who show by their words that they value childhood themselves.
And the thing that is that Postman explicitly said in his Preface to the new edition that he was praising the Children for showing they valued Childhood and for raising the thrilling possibility to Postman's mind that Children could themselves be a conserving force against the array of Adult assaults upon the Childhood Concept. Moreover, he most assuredly gave no indication that he was praising them for agreeing with him.
There is nothing difficult to understand in this, and as a result one may conclude it possible that the misreading of the Amazon reviewer (a misreading clearly intended to discredit Postman) was both willful and deceptive in its intent.
And as for the claim that Postman never explains why he considers the Disappearance of Childhood a bad thing, it is a claim devoid of merit as Postman gives many reasons for why he values Childhood and fears its destruction.
For instance, what part of the explosion in Juvenile Crime does not the Amazon reviewer understand? Or is it that he thinks crime a good thing and thus was perplexed as to why Postman make the unexplained assumption that it's a bad thing?
As Postman lays out in his book, Persons Under the Age of 15 once (1950) committed serious crimes at 1/215th the rate of persons 15 and older, but in deep and disturbing contrast, by 1979 they were up to committing serious crimes at very nearly 1/5th the rate of their elders.
And when I say serious crimes, I exclusively mean Rape, Murder, Robbery, and Aggravated Assault.
Also, does Swartz consider it a good thing that persons under the age of 19 now suffer from a much higher rate of Venereal Disease than they did in time periods that had more respect for the Childhood Construct?
But the primary reason why Postman views the disappearance of childhood as a bad thing is because he believed the rise of the "Adult-Like Child" would lead to the "Child-Like Adult", who would lamentably lack traditional Adult Virtues such as Literacy, Logical Thought, Impulse Control, the Ability to Delay Gratification, and Considerate Manners.
I'll leave it to the readers of this review to draw forth from their experience to see if they might not find some little scraps of evidence here and there that such a rise of a Child-Like Adult has actually occured.
The reason why the Adult-Child would lead to the Child-Adult is a bit too complicated for me to get into here, but suffice it say that Postman explains the whys and wherefores in excellent and logical detail in his book.
Postman's Footnote to The Gutenberg Galaxy.......2007-06-20
This is one of Neil Postman's best books. It is also one of his shortest, and it makes a great introduction to the world of his thinking. Postman had a knack for downloading the difficult ideas of media philosophers like Marshall McLuhan and stating them plainly, directly and with very little artifice. So, for those who have attempted to approach McLuhan, but find his hyperbolic way of speaking off-putting, Postman makes a good introduction. In fact, Postman's books are probably the best introduction for the beginner to the entire field of Media Studies, which began in 1950 with the publication of Harold Innis's Empire and Communications.
Postman gets right to the point, and his point is that childhood--though a biological phenomenon--is largely a cultural construct. It is not a given. If a society regards its children as miniature adults, as they were so regarded in the Middle Ages,then it will not treat them like children, but like adults. When they are treated like adults, they act with all the knowing concupiscence and violent irascibility of adults. When they are treated as a separate category from the concept of "adult," their behavior patterns evidence a very different psychology. Thus, "childhood" in this sense is indeed a culutral construct, and it is a construct, according to Postman, that is now in full disinetegration.
In many ways, Postman's book can be regarded as a footnote to McLuhan's Gutenberg Galaxy, for in that book, McLuhan discussed how the advent of the printing press brought with it a whole series of new social and cultural structures and ideas that did not exist prior to its invention, such as the nation state, the idea of intellectual property, the idea of individuality itself, linear, organized thinking, etc. It made possible the invention of new literary genres such as the essay and the novel, and changed the social conditions that had once made it possible for the epic to flourish. Thus, the printing press put the epic out of business and favored the rise of the novel. Postman's book adds to this list of new Renaissance cultural modalities made possible by typography, the idea of the child as a distinct entity from an adult based on the fact of the adult's literacy and the child's lack thereof. With print, the adult came into possession of a new hoard of secret knowledge that only those who could learn how to read could have access to. Thus, knowledge regarding such matters as shame and sexuality, sin, the structure of the cosmos, morality, etc. became things which a child did not properly know about until he was of an age to be able to read. Thus, literacy and its gradually increasing mastery became identical with the idea of a responsible adult.
Postman says that this idea is now disappearing as a result of the flourishing of electronic culture, and in particular, the television. Television as a mass medium lays all the secrets of adult life bare and open and accessible for any child who wants to hear about them or see them demonstrated. Ageing, illness, death; transvestism, homosexuality, violence; all are daily subjects of commercials and talk shows, and all are readily available to the child.
Conversely, as the distinction between the child and the adult erodes, the adult, Postman says, is becoming "childified." The adults on sitcoms or soap operas or other television shows can scarcely be distinguished from children not only in the lack of difference in the clothes which they wear, but in their lack of references to cultivation, learning, books, classical music, etc. Postman says that only the character of Felix Unger on The Odd Couple comes anywhere close to representing this older Renaissance idea of the adult as a cultivated being qualitatively distinguishable from the child through the making of literary references in his convesation. "Adults" on television are no more literate than children are nowadays, and so can scarcely be distinguished from them.
Thus, according to Neil Postman, the concept of children as different beings from adults is now in full disintegration due largely to electronic media such as television. And let's face it: who can say that he is really wrong here?
--John David Ebert, author, Celluloid Heroes & Mechanical Dragons: Film as the Mythology of Electronic Society
Much Needed.......2007-05-09
Postman's message is much needed today, even if the book is a few years old.
In a clear manner, Postman documents the loss of childhood today due to the onslaught of adult information being thrown at children in cartoons, TV, on the internet, in the classroom, etc. Postman would not advocate a continuing adolescence, but would promote holding back certain information from children until they're older and better able to process the information.
Unfortunately, many today will probably not heed the message of this "prophet". But I find his writings beneficial to ponder in this information saturated world.
Education Classic.......2006-07-21
Despite having been written in the early 80's the themes and ideas raised are still thought provoking and relevant. A really valuable read for anyone working with and advocating for children!
Average customer rating:
- The conqueror of Napoleon was conquered by his conscience
- Serious
- Imperial Legend: The Disappearence of Czar Alexander I
- Tsar Alexander I: Sinner, Saint or both?
- The Disappearing Tsar
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Imperial Legend : The Disappearance of Czar Alexander I
Alexis S Troubetzkoy
Manufacturer: Arcade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
Russia | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Eastern Europe | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1559706082 |
Book Description
One of Russia's greatest emperors, beloved of his subjects for his many liberalizing works domestically and for his victory over the great Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander I presumably died in 1825, at the age of 48. Ever since then, rumors have swirled that the young and vigorous Czar, who carried within him a terrible secret, really staged his death to expiate that sin, and spent the next forty years as a starets, one of those holy men who in the nineteenth century wandered through Russia doing good works. The starets, brilliant and uncommonly erudite, was one Feodor Kuzmich. The author, who has spent over 20 years researching the legend, makes a compelling case that the great Alexander and the humble starets were one and the same.
Customer Reviews:
The conqueror of Napoleon was conquered by his conscience.......2003-11-27
In "Imperial Legend", the reader is introduced to the mystery surrounding the death of Alexander I in a tiny backwater town of southern Russia in 1825. Troubetzkoy argues that Alexander I, who was continually wracked by guilt for his involvement in the death of his father, staged his own death so that he could renounce the crown and retire to a place where he could come to terms with his conscience. The author presents evidence that a starets (wandering holy man) by the name of Feodor Kuzmich, who mysteriously appeared in Siberia in 1836, was none other than Alexander himself. As Troubetzkoy tells us, this alleged connection between Alexander and Kuzmich has come to be known as the Imperial Legend.
The first part of the book is devoted to a brief biography of Alexander I and touches upon his relationship with his father Paul I and his grandmother Catherine the Great, both of whom exerted a profound influence on the young man's personality. Equally important, Troubetzkoy provides a detailed account of the night when his father was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Alexander and was murdered in the process. Although Alexander apparently did not have any direct involvement in this coup, he was forever traumatized by what he considered to be a patricide. The second part of the book considers the scant information that is known about the starets Feodor Kuzmich as well as all of the mysterious circumstances and coincidences that add fuel to the Imperial Legend.
The book is written in a clear and engaging style that gave me an enjoyable reading experience from start to finish. Although a number of editing errors were found in the text, these did not detract from the continuity of the story. Since Alexander's guilt over his father's death is the major assumption underlying the Imperial Legend, I felt that Troubetzkoy could have done a better job in emphasizing the relationship between father and son. As Troubetzkoy describes it, Alexander's father was a boorish neurotic who did not spend much time with his son and who harbored feelings of resentment against him. Now what kind of son would feel guilt over the loss of a father like that?
I felt that most of the evidence linking Alexander and Feodor Kuzmich cited in this book was circumstantial and of a speculatory nature. The reader is presented with a variety of first- and second-hand accounts that can no longer be substantiated today. According to the book, only scant material evidence still exists that can show the two men were one in the same, with the rest of the evidence having mysteriously disappeared over the course of time (if in fact they existed at all).
Nevertheless, popular belief and all of the mysterious circumstances that were reported to have happened serve to make the Imperial Legend an intriguing bit of history. Troubetzkoy stated that one of his major motivations in writing this book was to generate interest in the Imperial Legend in the hopes of raising funds needed to open the crypt of Alexander I in St. Petersburg. I truly hope that Mr. Troubetzkoy succeeds in his task, because regardless of what is found in the crypt, his findings will be a significant addition to Russian history.
Serious.......2003-07-11
Yes, this is a very serious work, with more detail than average
readers will be able to absorb, but the author puts those
details together to make an interesting story.
The story is that one of the czars of Russia, Alexanader I, who
ruled in the early 19th century, did not really die at age 48,
while staying in southern Russia for the health of his wife.
The "Legend," which according to the author is wide-spread in
Russia to this day, and was widely accepted through the 1800s,
is that the Czar was so unhappy and depressed, he wanted to withdraw from his ruling position and live the simple life of
a peasant.
He asserts that the legend is true, and that the Czar disappeared, with the knowledge and connivance of his family
and its highest advisors, and that he appeared many years later
as a lone spiritualist, devoted to the church and "ordinary"
people.
The author, who descends from a princely royal family himself,
says he heard the legend from childhood, and that one of his
ancestors was part of Russian history in that period, has done
a lot of thinking, and much work, on this subject. He says the
basis for the legend, and the actual disappearance of the czar,
is that Alexander participated in a palace coup that displaced
his father, Czar Paul I, and that as part of the coup, the
rebels killed Alexander's father, and that Alexander suffered
from guilt thereafter, which led to his depression and unhappiness with his life.
That part of the story seems to be factual, and it is well-
documented, as is much of the story.
However, the conclusions, about the voluntary disappearance
of Czar Alexander, and his reappearance years later as a religious figure, is, at bottom, based on conjecture. And this
is where "scholarship" fails the author. However much he
speculates, he is still left with speculation, and no quantity
of rumor and theory, over however many years, changes that one
fact: there is no fact available to support the theory propounded here.
So, in a sense, it is an interesting story, with much fact,
but the reader has to accept that much of the conclusion is
not based on fact at all. The author does not try to disguise
his methods and theories, and he honestly presents his conclusions for what they are: speculation, with the hope and
expectation that he will be proven correct.
The writer hopes proper authorities in Russia will permit scientific testing, through DNA analysis, of the remains of
the body in the tomb of Alexander I, the body of the lowly
religious figure presumed to be the real czar, and that of a
known member of the royal family whose linage can be traced to
the family of the czars of Russia.
The author, for example, puts considerable emphasis on the
fact that there are inconsistencies in the reports of the condition of the body following the death in 1825, and doctors
present at the autopsy made different notes on some aspects of
that work, and the fact that the royal family at the time did
not permit public viewing of the body, etc., but considering
the time, when medical science was still comparatively primitive, and the fact that the death occured in a very distant, out-of-the-way area of rural Russia, and none of the doctors available were experienced in autopsy procedures, the
inconsistencies cited are not very formitable. Many of the
author's conclusions in favor of his theory are based on similar
thin facts, such as the fact that there are writings of the time
based on theory and legend. The fact that someone wrote something down in 1825, or shortly thereafter, doesn't make that
writing true; writing down a rumor doesn't make it true, whatever the time frame.
As noted above, the author is not trying to cover up his methods, so we appreciate his honesty and earnestness in presenting his theories, but we have to realize, as stated,
his conclusions are based on theory and conjecture, not fact.
But there is a mystery here, and the author suggests it can
be solved once and for all by Russian authorities by testing
and analysis, so he makes a good case for those further procedures.
The results of those tests would be very interesting, indeed.
Interesting reading for the serious student of that part of
history, as long as the distinction between fact and theory
is properly maintained at all times.
Imperial Legend: The Disappearence of Czar Alexander I.......2003-01-23
This book has haunted me ever since I first read it last year.
I have wanted to write something of the "legend" and how, of
all things, there is a tie to George Armstrong Custer, who died
at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Read this book, you'll find your imagination running wild!
I have a BA in History--so it takes a lot to impress me!
Tsar Alexander I: Sinner, Saint or both?.......2002-07-21
Why should an American reader care about Tsar Alexander I (1777-1825)? If you are of Polish descent, you might want to learn more about why in 1818 Alexander gave a constitution and some autonomy to Poland. If history is your thing, you cannot but notice the man whose generals and whose frozen land drove Napoleon Bonaparte out of Moscow and back across the Niemen river, ultimately to Waterloo. Members of the Russian Orthodox religion will want to know about a man who (in another identity) became a canonized saint.
A Romanov tsar a saint? It is a stretch, but there is a long tradition ("the Legend") that the Tsar was driven by guilt to run away from his responsibilities. According to the Legend, Alexander I felt guilt for complicity in his father's 1801 assassination which had made him the Autocrat of all the Russias, He did not die in 1825. Nor did he abdicate. He just "disappeared." Perhaps he fled to Palestine on the yacht of a British aristocrat. Perhaps he reappeared in Siberia eleven years later as one Feodor Kuzmich. Perhaps the Tsar lived on in the new identity until 1864 when he died in the odor of sanctity. But not precisely "orthodox "sanctity. For he was not known to attend liturgies or to make regular confessions of sin.
Alexis Troubetzkoy's IMPERIAL LEGEND:THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF TSAR ALEXANDER I is a good read. As soothing and smooth as a lullaby, the book introduces important aspects of 19th century Russian history and tells the story of two men: Alexander Romanov and Feodor Kuzmich. It is clear that generations of Russians and some international scholars believe that there is probable evidence that the two men were one. But what of those eleven blank years between the official death of the Tsar near the Caucasus and the appearance of the mysterious Kuzmich in Siberia? Troubetzkoy might want to make those missing years the subject of a follow-on book.
The book has arresting photographs or portraits of the principals and a compact bibliography. Future editions might usefully include a map of the areas discussed.
IMPERIAL LEGEND amply rewards a leisurely read.
The Disappearing Tsar.......2002-07-07
Author Alexis Troubetzkoy's "Imperial Legened" explores the possibility that Russian Tsar Alexander I faked his own death in 1825 in order to shed the burden of the crown after twenty-five years of rule. There is plenty of evidence suggesting that this is more than historical speculation, even though all of it is circumstantial. The first half of the book is dedicated to a retelling of Alexander's reign, which featured spectacular successes (the defeat of Napolean) and personal torment (guilt over his own complicity in his father's murder). The picture that emerges is of a (relatively) enlightened Russian monarch who would very much have preferred not to be the king.
The book goes on to recount the life of the mysterious Siberian vagabond that many Russians, including descendents of the Romanov dynasty, have come to believe WAS Alexander. If so, he shed the Imperial life about as completely as anyone ever could. Once again, the evidence is far from conclusive, but still compelling. Troubetzkoy is a good storyteller, and his narrative is highly readable.
Overall, "Imperial Legend" is a good historical mystery that should be enjoyed by history buffs with an interest in Imperial Russia.
Book Description
Gary R. Renard, the best-selling author of The Disappearance of the Universe, brings you 72 cards that are guaranteed to accelerate your spiritual progress and help you achieve enlightenment. The thoughts expressed were spoken by Gary’s Ascended Master Teachers, and were chosen for these cards with their Guidance. If you read at least some of these cards every day over an extended period of time, you will never be the same.
Customer Reviews:
Bring Enlightenment to the Conference Table.......2007-03-08
Do you want to add depth to your corporate meeting or business conference? Open or close the meeting by passing out these cards (face down), then have each participant read each card. Gary Renard's thoughts may not stick with every person in the room, but I can promise you this. Someone at your meeting will never forget the moment, and you will set yourself apart from every business leader around.
The Enlightenment Cards have a relevant purpose to enrich one's daily life...to give pause for one to reflect on one's goal for the day...to set a positive tone to today's crazy world...to complement one's spiritual life in a simple and thought-provoking manner.
I'm thinking that these cards would be an ideal aid to the teacher in the classroom or the mentor or the facilitator.
Amusing, Incisive and Profound.......2006-03-06
"Dear friends, I am honored to present to you the enlightenment thoughts that my teachers in the book The Disappearance of the Universe asked me to pass along in the form of these cards. Arten and Pursah, also known as St. Thaddeus and St. Thomas, are very happy to help lead you to an enlightened mind, and I'm honored to play my part in sharing this message." - Gary Renard
Based on his popular book The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk about Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness, Enlightenment Cards is a 72-card deck that shares incisive and timely wisdom for this age.
Each card features a thought from The Disappearance of the Universe, which can be used for contemplation, or when you feel you need a dose of sage advice from All That Is.
Some of the illuminating, irreverent wisdom found in Enlightenment Cards includes:
"The world needs another religion like it needs a bigger hole in the ozone layer."
"For God to create the imperfect either means that He was imperfect, or that He deliberately made those who were, so that they could screw up, be punished by Him, and suffer here on psycho planet."
"There isn't really anyone else out there. There is only one ego appearing as many."
"Forgiveness is where the rubber meets the road. Without forgiveness, metaphysics is useless."
"Whenever you condemn another, your salvation is off to a flying stop."
"Misery loves company, but that doesn't mean you have to accept the invitation."
"The nonsensical tragedy of duality is considered to be normal by all modern societies, which are themselves mad as a hatter."
"The people of the world will never live in peace until the people of the world have inner peace."
"You think the universe is evolving...but it's really just spinning its wheels, repeating the same pattern over and over in different forms."
"A jetliner is always going off course, but through constant correction, it arrives at its destination. So will you arrive at yours."
I've had Gary Renard's book The Disappearance of the Universe for over a year now, but haven't read it. I think I allowed a negative comment by someone who skimmed the book to influence my decision to read it. However, after looking at these cards, I knew instantly that there was truth in Enlightenment Cards. Their message is amusing, clear, penetrating, and confirming. I now look forward to reading Mr. Renard's book because of this deck.
If you'd like to transcend duality, live in peace, and correct your course, I highly recommend Enlightenment Cards.
(To see 6 images from this deck, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)
Book Description
Although Paul Wedekind has found work as a fisherman along the coast of Rhode Island, he knows his new life is not yet his own. Years ago, as a patriotic young man in East Germany, he enlisted in its army, only to be recruited by the terrifying and omnipotent forces of the Stasi. On a tour of Afghanistan, he and a boyhood friend were taken prisoner and tortured by the Mujahadin - a nightmare that endlessly haunts him.
Years later, believing his friend dead, Paul is sent to America as an agent for the KGB, where his life is changed forever by one woman - a contact named Suleika. Soon, the violent events of the past will threaten their love, and their lives. On the dangerous waters off the New England coast, these two exiles must find the strength to satisfy the impossible demands of men who claim to own them.
An atmospheric, utterly gripping new novel by one of America's most acclaimed younger writers.
Customer Reviews:
East German Agent Stranded in US when Wall Comes Down.......2003-10-22
This is a believable and compelling story about the violent and dangerous life of East German agents, recruited under pressure; threatened and beaten to carry out their assignments. The assignment of this guy is to spy on a friend, and later to be a courier in disguise in Newport, R.I. (smuggling things to and from a Russian submarine). This is where he is when the Wall comes down and has to decide what the heck to do when stranded in a free country with a fake ID. Everything about this caught me by surprise.
A Haunting Quilt of One Man's Life.......2002-11-17
First, I do not believe there is anyone around right now who can write as well as Mr. Watkins. "Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn" I feel was his best, but this is darn close.
"My Disappearance" is written in the first person. The narrator (later named Paul Watkins) weaves the stories of his three lives - East German soldier/spy in Afghanistan, spy in America and lover in America - into a quilt made up of wonerfully woven words and twisting plotlines.
From the first page, Watkins interjects a mysterious tensionthat trails through the book as is a constant undercurrent adding significantly to this yarn of a spy left in the cold when the Berlin Wall falls.
I strongly recommend all of Watkins. This one should be one of the first and not to missed.
A Lesser Watkins.......2002-10-01
I have to say that I do enjoy Watkins work in general. Yet I felt this piece was a bit forced and unconvincing. The book has a nice start, raises ones curiosity quick then drifts a bit.
I think that the story was damaged by the use of a love story with Suleika. Her character was uninteresting, obstuctive, and could have been replaced with a good dog. It almost seemed as though Watkins felt forced to insert love scenes that went nowhere. Each mention of her seemed to bring about a roadbump in the story. I wonder if there was a rewrite that caused this. The death of her husband, with no explainations as to who he was, seemed unpolished. Was Watkins (character in the book) first supposed to be more of an outsider? That would make more sense then coming to town and having the other spy fall in love with you, being that her husband is dead and all.
I must also say that naming the main character the same as yourself is a bit much. It made me take pause and wonder if I should continue to the end.
In fairness I did enjoy the story itself. The interactions with the old friend and the days in camp were very interesting and well done. I would hope that this kind of detailing continues in his future work and that the heavy romance takes a back seat.
Watkins always pleases.......2002-03-25
What happens to spies whose country seizes to exist? This happened to those Stasi spies who were abandoned in America and elsewhere at the end of the Cold War. Paul Wederkin is just such as spy. The story tells how he came to be there, through his Afghani war experience, his friendship and the death of his friend. However, the real surprise is in the beginning when his dead fried walks into a Rhode Island bar and murders someone in front of him.
This story packs just a little too much action into too small a space for me. Its pace is a bit frenetic. However, the depth of character and prose lyricism remains strong as in all Watkins' books.
To give you an idea, before the story even opens, our hero, the East German Paul Wedekind has been a promising engineering student who has been recruited (coerced) by the secret police to spy on his friend, has served in Afghanistan, has been taken prisoner by the Afghans and has at last come to America as a spy for the Russians. Whew! And before dinner, too!.
But that's only the intro: the real story is about his work in America. The Cold War is over and he hopes he has been forgotten but that's overly optimistic. The adventure is grand and utterly amazing, but that's okay, because you love the story anyway.
His crisp and disciplined prose continues to delight me and I predict the day will come when folks quit comparing him to Hemingway and begin compariing Hemingway to him.
The Cold War hots up.......2000-11-04
You know how sometimes it takes several pages before you really get into a book? Well, this book only needed one sentence to get me nibbling at the bait, and two more paragraphs to have me completely hooked.
In the Newport, Rhode Island bar where Suleika and Paul were going through the death throes of their relationship, a sudden, brutal murder brought back into Paul's life a man who he had betrayed and long thought dead.
The central character is quickly revealed as an East German operative named Paul Wederkind, planted into the RI fishing community, shortly before the Berlin Wall came down. The old tub of a fishing boat he operates with Suleika, the widow of the man he secretly entered the USA to assist, also serves to covertly transport "cargo" to and from Russian submarines.
As the story unfolds, we learn about the machinations of the East German secret police, the war in Afghanistan, the Cold War - all things that normally would not interest me, but the writing is so compelling, I found myself just absorbing the story.
I've long been a fan of speculative fiction exploring alternate history, but in this book, the author seems to create an alternate biography. Partway through the book, Paul Wederkind changes his name to a more Americanised form, Watkins - is this really an autobiography? Well, the book jacket tells us Paul Watkins (the author) was born of Welsh parents and educated at Eton and Yale, so I guess not. Maybe this is his more exciting alternate life - I can associate with that. But he obviously has a Suleika in his own life - the author photo on the jacket is attributed to someone of that name.
This is the first of Paul Watkins' books I've read, and I'm grateful he seems to have been reasonably prolific, so I can enjoy more of this wonderful writing.
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely profound.......2004-08-28
This book stirred up and anger and passion in my in me that I cannot express in words. You have to read it to beleive it!
The Little School.......2004-04-23
Imagine being kidnapped and being taken to a concentration camp, blindfolded, tied up and not knowing when you will ever see your family and friends again. What would you do if someone put a gun in your mouth? Alicia Partnoy proved to be a brave woman among others.
What you must know is that this is a true story. It is like if you are reading something made up, but it is sadly true. It is greatly detailed and it even has a sense of humor at points. It is really amazing to see how Alicia talks about her experience and the other "disappeared" s' experiences.
She was kidnapped. Did not know the whereabouts of her daughter. Her husband was kidnapped also, but they were not able to see each other. Even though she was away from them, she managed to think of them as little as possible, because she thought it would weaken her in trying to survive for them.
She was always helping others in one way or another. Since they did not know when they were going to die, Alicia showed her compassion in their last hours. She was very generous when everything else was so ruthless.
She shares part of her hideous life lived in the Little School, because even though she tells you what happened to her and her friends, she keeps the darkest moments to herself. It is personal, a very personal story. You should be thankful that she even wrote this book because she is informing you about what really happened at those times and how the guards treated them inside the Little School.
This book demonstrates the true value of life. Some people overlook small things in life, but these small things grow to be very significant to Alicia when she was a prisoner. It shows the importance of your five senses, the ability to smell, to touch, to hear, to taste and to talk. She was able to see through her nose given that she was blindfolded and was able to create small balls out of bread. Talk about using your imagination at miserable times. This is just one of the things she learned to do when held captive. Read this book to find out how she did this and what else she discovered inside the concentration camp.
the little school.......2004-04-22
What would you say if one day while you were doing your chores like every day in your house, spending time with your family and then suddenly a man barges the door throgh wearing military uniforms and takes you away without an explation. What would you do? How would you react?
Well unfortunately this is what happened to Alicia Partnoy. On January 12, 1977 Alicia was taken away from her house while her husband was working. This sad event took place in Argentina during the time when people were struggling for a better life, striking on streets, demanding better wages. "The Little School" not only tells you the story of Alicia Portnoy, but the stories of people who experience the brutality, the night mares they had to go through while being kept in captivity by the military in a camp called "The Little School".
I would recommend this book because it gives the reader an idea about how life was in Argentina when govern by evil dictatorship. It will show you how life was while being kept in captivity by the military. For example, the prisoners were blindfolded and by being blindfolded they lost any memory of themselves leaving them hopeless, miserable, and humiliated without any energy left for the future. People would like reading this book because is not only interesting, but it opens your eyes and gives you an idea of how cruel the world can be if its run by the wrong people. Many families were ruined and many people died because they believe in a better world and wanted a better life for the future. "The Little School" is a book that tells us the stories of many people who suffered in the in the hands of thier leaders and teaches us that things like this are happening all around the world and just because we don't hear about it, it doesn't mean we cant do anything about it. You will like this book that you might read it several times because is an unbelievable story of survival.
The Little School.......2004-04-12
Slippers, bread and a toothbrush: these everyday items are simple enough to most people in the United States, and other parts of the world, to take advantage of or even ignore. In Argentina in the mid to late 70's, however, these common items were enough to keep one young woman sane enough to escape captivity. In The Little School, Alicia Partnoy tells the very real stories of her capture and imprisonment in a government- run concentration camp. Partnoy spins tales of survival in a climate of oppression and death. These amazingly well told stories draw the reader into a terrifying world in which young men and women create and keep intensely strong bonds of camaraderie and friendship even as they have their human dignity is denied to them.
The Little School is a book of short stories devoted to telling the true history of the 30,000 "disappeared" Argentines at the hands of the government from 1976 to 1979. Thousands of Argentines were taken captive in retaliation for civil disobedience to the government. In this book, Alicia Partnoy takes on the challenge of refuting the official statements made by the government denying the disappearances and making the truth achingly real. As a way of dealing with the reality of her ordeal, Partnoy uses her gift of storytelling to draw in the reader and make her feel what the prisoners felt.
One of the key techniques that Partnoy employs in the telling of the stories in The Little School is continually changing the perspective from which the story is told. The story of Partnoy's own capture is told from a third person point of view as if a narrator is watching it take place. This is a very powerful tool because it shows that Partnoy uses her own encounter and terror as a means of showing how many, if not all, of the other imprisonments took place. Partnoy expends a lot of energy, as evidenced by this technique, in telling the stories of other people as well as her own. While she does, indeed, spend a fair deal of time telling her own experiences, she also speaks from the perspective of her friend Graciela and her experience being in the school throughout her pregnancy. In doing this, Partnoy takes one of life's most pure experiences and shows the inhumanity of the Argentinean government as they keep, and even torture, a woman who is with child. The stories told from Graciela's perspective shine a light on the true dignity that the prisoners displayed throughout their ordeals.
While many people read books as a way of escaping into another world, Partnoy writes the stories in The Little School as a way to confront the very real ways in which she and others managed to band together in small acts of compassion toward each other and disobedience against their captors in order to mentally escape their confinement. Alicia Partnoy chose to, in writing The Little School, relive her experience in order to make the world understand what really happened to her and 30,000 others. In Partnoy's words, "Beware: in little schools the boundaries between story and history are so subtle that even I can hardly find them."
I highly recommend this book to all readers. It has historical significance as well as a deep human side. Alicia Partnoy chose to revisit the horror that she experienced in the hope that she could help people everywhere understand the circumstances surrounding her disappearance as well as those of so many more.
Heart-wrenching Yet Heart-Warming.......2003-09-11
Partnoy's book is a great balance of fiction and nonfiction that allows readers to see not only the facts of the situation in Argentina during the Dirty War, but to feel the emotions, fears, and hopes of a disappeared person. The book's first person narrative and stylistics made it a book that interested me and made me want to keep reading until the end. I especially enjoyed the Appendices, which had accounts of other prisoners at the Little School and even further demonstrates the horrific actions of the military dictatorship in a simple, heart wrenching way.
Books:
- The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness
- The King's Daughter Workbook: Becoming a Woman of God
- The Klingon Dictionary (Star Trek (Trade/hardcover))
- The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale (Tale of Young Americans)
- The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch)
- The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II
- The Road Map to Nowhere: Israel/Palestine Since 2003
- The Secret of the Old Clock/The Hidden Staircase/The Bungalow Mystery/The Mystery at Lilac Inn/The Secret of Shadow Ranch/The Secret of Red Gate Farm (Nancy Drew, Book 1-6)
- The Sight (Warriors: Power of Three, Book 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Hell's Gate
- Winning Shopping Center Designs: 29th International Design and Development Awards
- Adjusting Sights
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- Fierce Attachments: A Memoir
- Art and Answerability: Early Philosophical Essays
- A Love So Big: Anchoring Your Child to the Heart of God
- A Napoleon
Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death
A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers (Combined Edition) (Combined Volume, 2nd Edition)
The Fifty Miracle Principles of 'A Course in Miracles'
The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing
An Introduction to A Course in Miracles
