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

Book Description

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

Customer Reviews:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed

Average customer rating:

Definitive Text
THE DESPOSYNI vindicated, Rome indicted
A fascinating jigsaw puzzle of a book...
Gal. 1 :6-10 " false gospel"
Lets bring back the House of Stuart ... Not!

Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed
Laurence Gardner
Manufacturer: Element Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1852308702

Book Description

Did Jesus marry and have children? If so, what happened to his family? Are descendants of his still alive today?

Seventeen years ago the world-wide best-seller, The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail made a number of controversial speculations about a "Messianic lineage." Yet the authors could offer no real proof since their access to relevant source material was restricted. At last the truth can be told!

This extraordinary and controversial book, packed with intrigue, begins where others have ended. Sir Laurence Gardner has been granted privileged access to European Sovereign and Nobel archives, along with favored insight into chivalric and Church repositories. He proves for the first time that there is a royal heritage of the Messiah in the West, and documents the systematic and continuing suppression of records tracing the descendent of the sacred lineage by regimes down the centuries.

This unique book, lavishly illustrated in full-color throughout, gives detailed genealogical account of the authentic line of succession of the Blood Royal from the sons of Jesus and his brother James down to the present day.

Customer Reviews:

Definitive Text.......2004-03-31

Firstly I consider this book to the definitive text on the topic of the bloodline of Jesus. Having read other books on the topic I have found them wanting either in information or clarity. The last book I read was Holy Blood Holy grail by Baigent which I found to be satisfactory but frequently annoying in its repetition of the same rhetoric. Also the information was all there but so difficult to read which takes alot of the fun out of the topic.
Gardner's book however is the ideal resource for this topic. The dogma is clearly articulated and the style of writing begs your attention. After reading, you get a clear picture of what the gnostic gospels offer and why they were omitted from cannonisation. The secrets of the templar Knights is also exposed but most importantly is the appocryphical portrayal of the true relation of Jesus with his disciples and especially Mary Magdalene with its resultant outcome. Interstingly ita lso goes in depth into the myths surrounding the crucifixion and the miracles of the historical jesus.

THE DESPOSYNI vindicated, Rome indicted.......2003-11-07

A most special thanks goes out to Sir Laurence Gardner for making
known to the public the suppressed history of THE DESPOSYNI
which is the HOLY GRAIL who pose a threat to both the legitimacy
of Imperial Rome & the legitimacy of the Church of Rome and has
been deliberately selectively excluded from church & school. Again, Sir Laurence, thank you for making known this suppressed
history of THE DESPOSYNI/THE HOLY GRAIL. Through your research
and making public what you discovered vindicates THE DESPOSYNI/
THE HOLY GRAIL and indictes Rome. --Gregory Thompson (MacTavish)

A fascinating jigsaw puzzle of a book..........2003-09-18

Given the centuries of death, misery & suffering brought about by the various petty squabbles over who's guess at what the gospels really mean, it is truly refreshing to see a book that uses the gospels (ALL of the gospels, particularly the Apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls), related historical records, and established timelines to mesh these tales together in a way that makes FAR more sense than what so many have been indoctrinated with for hundreds and hundreds of years.

If you are a Christian, and you're comfortable understanding your particular sect's interpretation, then I would recommend that you NOT read this book; however, if you're Christian and a lot of what you've been taught just never seemed to make much sense, then you NEED to read this book.

It contains some truly amazing revelations; many based on facts and lineages, but other conjecturized based on cross-referencing other historical documents.

- Who was Moses, and why are there no records of Hebrew slaves in the Egyptian records?

- Could there have been less than miraculous explanations behind the virgin birth, turning water to wine, the loaves & fishes, walking on water and the ressurection itself?

- How important is the divinity of Jesus, compared to his teachings, actions and influence?

You won't find THE answers in here, but there are very PLAUSIBLE answers; far more than a simple "and God made it so" (the literary equivalent of 'we'll figure this out later').

Welcome to the truth, at last revealed from centuries of deliberate church suppression. Based partly on actual writings from the days of Jesus Christ himself; you can be appalled or you can be astonished, but it will make you think either way. Unlike "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", which covers similar concepts, but focuses on the validation of a specific modern-day claim to the 'throne' by using some very questionable sources, "Bloodline..." approaches the subject matter with far less bias.

It's truly a marvelous jigsaw puzzle that ends up looking very little like the picture on the box, or at least what you thought the picture looked like when you started... which is only a problem if you wanted everything to look like you expected it to when you started. In fact, if that's the case, what's the point of reading at all? *****/*****

Gal. 1 :6-10 " false gospel".......2002-07-12

The Bible teaches that in the later days men will be "lovers of themselves" ... They will be "seduced" and "deceived" into "another Gospel".
They will have itching ears ...
Why? Because man is rebellious; and man doesn't want a Creator who is above them. If GOD is real, then they have to worship HIM. And they only want to worship the false gods of their own making ... and celebrities ...
The other Gospel is one that ursurps Jesus ... It makes HIM fully human; and not God-Man ...
These grail books and Morogvian dynasty books all are gnostic in origin ... and had better be read with much care. GOD says in the last days HE WILL let fall on man a delusion that if it were posible the VERY elect would be deceived ... I believe that we are in the time of the delusion.
I believe that an 'angel of light' IS preaching a gospel that man likes.
Jesus is GOD; and if you don't worship HIM now ... someday you will fall before HIM .... and it may be too late for you!

Lets bring back the House of Stuart ... Not!.......2002-01-03

While Gardiner's theories on Jesus' life are nothing new (see Schonfield, Maccoby, etc.), he falls down on the substantiation of his own theories and geneologies. Basically this book seems to be a vehicle for the reinstatement of the House of Stuart to the throne, either of England, Scotland, or both. British history seems to have been glossed over somewhat in favour of the Stuarts, 100 years of history integral to this book seem to have been condensed to 6 pages. Sorry, but Gardiner doesn't seem to recognise the irony in lamenting the deposition of the Stuart monarchs by "undemocratic" governments and abhoring the Act of Settlement which restricts the religion of the monarch of Great Britain, but all the while supporting the reinstatement of an undemocratically elected head of state.

The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity

Average customer rating:

how we came to be us
a misleading polemic, not a history
worth reading
And this mess won a Bancroft?
Not a history

The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity
Jill Lepore
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0375702628
Release Date: 1999-04-27

Amazon.com

In 1675, tensions between Native Americans and colonists residing in New England erupted into the brutal conflict that has come to be known as King Philip's War, named after Philip, the leader of the Wampanoag Indians. Jill Lepore's book is an evocative and insightful study of America's recollection and understanding of one of the bloodiest wars to take place on its soil.

Lepore, an assistant professor of history at Boston University, depicts the horrors of this conflict, from gruesome tortures to the massacre of women and children, so explicitly barbaric that the term "war" barely applies. An underlying theme of her narrative is that this unfortunate battle only served to strengthen the boundaries of cultural difference between the Native Americans and colonists, setting a rigid foundation for the many years of enmity between Indians and Anglos that would ensue.

Skillfully drawing on accounts of substance from participants on both sides, Lepore presents a balanced overview of the causes and effects of this conflict and the reverberations it would have over the centuries to follow, ultimately revealing that how a past event is interpreted is often just as important as the event itself.

Book Description

Winner of the the 1998 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award of the Phi Beta Kappa Society

King Philip's War, the excruciating racial war--colonists against Indians--that erupted in New England in 1675, was, in proportion to population, the bloodiest in American history. Some even argued that the massacres and outrages on both sides were too horrific to "deserve the name of a war."

It all began when Philip (called Metacom by his own people), the leader of the Wampanoag Indians, led attacks against English towns in the colony of Plymouth. The war spread quickly, pitting a loose confederation of southeastern Algonquians against a coalition of English colonists. While it raged, colonial armies pursued enemy Indians through the swamps and woods of New England, and Indians attacked English farms and towns from Narragansett Bay to the Connecticut River Valley. Both sides, in fact, had pursued the war seemingly without restraint, killing women and children, torturing captives, and mutilating the dead. The fighting ended after Philip was shot, quartered, and beheaded in August 1676.

The war's brutality compelled the colonists to defend themselves against accusations that they had become savages. But Jill Lepore makes clear that it was after the war--and because of it--that the boundaries between cultures, hitherto blurred, turned into rigid ones. King Philip's War became one of the most written-about wars in our history, and Lepore argues that the words strengthened and hardened feelings that, in turn, strengthened and hardened the enmity between Indians and Anglos. She shows how, as late as the nineteenth century, memories of the war were instrumental in justifying Indian removals--and how in our own century that same war has inspired Indian attempts to preserve "Indianness" as fiercely as the early settlers once struggled to preserve their Englishness.

Telling the story of what may have been the bitterest of American conflicts, and its reverberations over the centuries, Lepore has enabled us to see how the ways in which we remember past events are as important in their effect on our history as were the events themselves.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

how we came to be us.......2007-06-26

One of the most interesting, thought-provoking books I have read. The scholarship is impressive, the prose lucid, the presentation of a conflict that has more than two sides is commendably fair. The book is a real eye-opener. And it has the excitement of a detective story, as Lepore tracks changes in white American attitudes toward native Americans through the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. I read this alongside Philbrick's recent bestseller Mayflower, which gives a very good running accout of King Philip's War, and look forward to reading other books about this crucial time in the country's history, a time when piety and violence started their enduring relationship.

a misleading polemic, not a history.......2006-11-26

It's said that the second historian was the first revisionist. In other words, to some extent any and every telling of history reveals as much about the historian as it does the history. But for as much as the telling of history is always interpretive, it is also entirely possible for an historian to confront, recognize, and largely neutralize her own interpretive biases; while she need not abandon or apologize for her point of view, nevertheless it is her responsibility to present all the relevant historical facts -- especially those that might cast doubt upon her interpretations and agendas -- and then argue her case with all of the relevant information on the table. That is the difference between interpretive history and deceptive or misleading polemic.

Lepore accomplishes only polemic here, then, in that she presents as supporting evidence for her biases only her own highly questionable interpretations of the semantics of the colonists' own writings on King Philip's War. She is hermeneutically daft, asserting a self-contained truth within those writings that is simply absurd. Texts (especially in the case of the very personal diary entries, private letters, and firsthand accounts that constitute the overwhelming majority of the colonists' writings on King Phillip's War) do not and cannot contain some absolute, inescapable meaning that imposes itself upon the reader. Texts communicate their real meaning only when referred to the indigenous contexts (social, political, religious, philosophical, linguistic, psychological, etc.) that produced them; when removed from those contexts and read in ignorance of them, the reader must of necessity substitute the contexts and agendas of her own experience for the authentic contexts, so that the texts will appear to have radically different meanings than they really do -- they will seem to mean whatever the interpreter wants them to mean.

And what does Lepore want the Puritans' writings to mean? What is her agenda here? Essentially, it is portray the Puritan colonists of 17th century Massachusetts as despicable hypocrites. Now, as I said, if that's her agenda and her bias, that's fine; but it is acceptable for her to present the conclusions born of that agenda and bias as history only on the condition that they are argued in light of all the evidence that might call them into question. Lepore fails on this count. Again, she confines the supporting evidence she provides for her theses to her own highly speculative interpretations of the colonists' writings; as other reviewers have noted here, then, this book is much closer to deconstructionist literary criticism than it is to history. She misses the forest for the trees: she makes no attempt to check her interpretive biases against the broader historical narrative that is the context of King Phillip's War.

For example, in 1622 the natives around the Jamestown settlements in Virginia attempted to eradicate the presence of the colonists, through a surprise act of genocide that followed eight years of peaceful coexistence. The attack ultimately resulted in the deaths of two-thirds of the roughly 1200 colonists in Virginia at the time, and sent a powerful shock through the other New World colonies and their groups of sponsors across the Atlantic. The natives committed their genocide at Jamestown only two years after the Plymouth colony was founded; it is unquestionable, then, that from the earliest years onward the Massachusetts colonists' attitudes toward their native neighbors would have been colored (and rightly so) by a great deal of suspicion and mistrust in light of the knowledge of what the Virginia natives had done to the Jamestown settlers -- only fifty years before King Phillip attempted essentially the same thing. Yet Lepore never once mentions the genocide in Virginia, and does not recognize its immense significance for the relations of the English and the natives in Massachusetts fifty years later.

To name another example, Lepore offers no analysis whatsoever of the nature of the Puritan faith of the Massachusetts colonists, and how that faith affected their conduct in the war. She does mention their faith in a non-specific way, when it serves to imply a monstrous hypocrisy on the part of the colonists; but never is an astute or sympathetic understanding of their religion presented, and since the early Massachusetts colonies were communities of an almost monastic fervor, devotion, and asceticism, Lepore simply ignores an immensely important factor in their motives and reasoning during King Phillip's War. In its place, she asserts that the colonists fought to preserve their "Englishness;" in support of this idea, she presents some diary entries and editorials of the day in which the colonists wrote of their fear of becoming like the savages, should their common life in the New World continue in the direction they thought it was headed. But it seems perfectly clear to me that Lepore has grossly misinterpreted those writings. The colonists did not actually think that their assimilation into the native culture and way of life was real possibility: the warning that they might "become like the savages" was not a cultural apprehension of theirs, but rather the sort of hyperbole so often used in Christian homilies and catechisms and pastoral essays intended to exhort the faithful. The Massachusetts Puritans were not afraid of becoming Indians. They were afraid of losing their faith, losing the Christian path through life that they had sacrificed so much to preserve. They were afraid of any compromise or waning of the Christian zeal and austerity of their near-monastic lives. After all, it was in order to preserve the Christian life that they had left England in the first place, decades earlier: they had first settled in Holland after the English anathematized them, and then left for the New World when they saw their faith diluted by worldly comforts and distractions while living on the Continent. So to me, the idea that they fought the natives in King Phillip's War to defend their "Englishness" is simply preposterous. Englishness was something they had willingly left behind to purse their religion, and played no more of a role in most of their lives and motives than that of superficial, sentimental cultural orientation. I think it's deceptive for Lepore even to pose the question, "why were the English really fighting?" as though it requires some subtle expert analysis: the colonists fought the natives because the natives were trying to kill them... it's as simple as that.

There are many more examples of Lepore's highly selective consideration of the historical record, and highly questionable reasoning and interpretation. But it is not possible to argue them satisfactorily in a review such as this, of course: to respond adequately I would have to write a book of my own (as I've already made a good beginning of doing), taking Lepore point by point. One thing I'll grant her is that she presents her source material openly, with no attempt to conceal certain passages that might be interpreted any number of other ways than those she has chosen. But again, the biases and misunderstanding that a 21st century American will inevitably bring to any reading of texts produced by 17th century Puritans render any approach to understand their conduct of King Phillip's War solely by a consideration of those documents a myopic, naïve, misguided effort, and doomed to failure.

worth reading.......2005-10-03

Life in 17C North America involved war -- a brutal reality dutifully recorded from contemporary sources by the author and a very few others. It's a saga that permeates the foundation of this nation, and demands examination.

All were perpetrators, all were victims. Who was right?

This work is a valuable account of King Phillip's War (1675). Read it and judge for yourself.

Of course some of us read the book shortly after it was published in HC in 1998. Thus my remarks. I note other reviews, many critical, tie this work to completely unrelated savagery that occured after 1998. They seem to be frantically trying to revise history.

This book has nothing to do with 9/11/01. Those who interpret it as such should seek a competent analyist and a suitable drug regimen.

And this mess won a Bancroft?.......2005-07-03

The Bancroft is the history profession's Pulitzer, so I was looking forward to being edified. What I got instead was an impenetrable tome consisting mainly of fashionable deconstructionist babble about how war is defined among different cultures. I read and read and never found a coherent narrative about what this war was supposed to be about or what it had to do with American identity.

Perhaps this "language of academe" impressed the Bancroft committee, itself made up of pedants, but to the common reader, whom the academy putatively serves, this thing is worthless. I have the feeling that these guys began reading, and when their eyes started to glaze over they said, "My kind of history!"

Not a history.......2004-10-14

For those interested in the story of this war, go elsewhere. It is not here.
The book is a speculation on the motivation of participants in the cultural conflict, and its consequences. I did not like the frequent suppositions-often they seem to be a figment of the authors imagination though no doubt founded in her vast knowledge of the subject. It just doesn't hold up as an historian's analysis.

Average customer rating:

Florence and the Medici
John Rigby Hale
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1842124560

Book Description

The enduring fascination of the Medici springs from their ability--as individuals and as a family--to control the government of Florence, first as a quasi-democracy and finally through inheritance. Based on the latest research, this perceptive study, by one of the finest Renaissance scholars of the day, reveals the causes and the nature of the Medicis' power of patronage from the early 15th-century through the early 18th. "...probing, sharp-eyed, utterly unsentimental...some of the most revealing insights come...in a chapter about the growth of the Medici legend.."--Roy Foster.

Chronology of Pharaohnic Egypt (Annex to "Book of the Names of the Kings of Egypt", Volume 17 of the General Series)

Average customer rating:

Chronology of Pharaohnic Egypt (Annex to "Book of the Names of the Kings of Egypt", Volume 17 of the General Series)

Manufacturer: Creative Labs Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000F9W4X2

Product Description

This work of Fernand Crombette is undoubtedly one of the key texts to orient oneself in the history of Ancient Egypt. In the only volume of Crombette's 14 egyptological works thus far available in English, the reader finds, among many very interesting and revelatory chapters, those in which Crombette explains the various modes by which the Egyptian scribes wrote dates. It is beginning from these that a true chronology has been able to be deduced and which has made it possible to establish the exact position of each Egyptian dynasty and pharaoh.Crombette, with his own method of reading the hieroglyphics, has won this wager. His method is that of the solution of the rebus with his homophonic reading in monosyllabic ancient Coptic. In this reading, each word can represent a name, an adjective, a verb, etc... The reader who wishes to dedicate himself to this method can very soon become accustomed to it by taking examples from the word-for-word translations that are found in this and Crombette's other works.The various chapters of the present work are the following:* The chronological elements of the Egyptians; the different divisions of time they used.* The multiple scientific hypotheses on the subject of the chronology and the errors that they contain. The circumstances of the institution of the Sothiac calendar. The Zodiac and horoscopes.* A study of the Stone of Palermo.* The Egyptian dates.* The 30 year Jubilees and the Anniversaries.* The life and death of the Sothiac calendar.* The chronological summaries in the form of tables of all the Egyptian dynasties, as Crombette has deduced them from his research and studies of the various cartouches and inscriptions.We have no doubt that this book will aid enormously in re-thinking the true history of Ancient Egypt.

The Annals of Ireland Translated from the Original Irish of the Four Masters by Owen Connellan (2 Vol. Set)

Average customer rating:

J. Chrys Dougherty - early review
First Ever English Translation of the Four Masters (1846)

The Annals of Ireland Translated from the Original Irish of the Four Masters by Owen Connellan (2 Vol. Set)
Michael O'Cleary
Manufacturer: Irish Genealogical Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This was the first translation of these annals into English. It was published in 1846, and appears here exactly as the copy in the IGF library, with additions. The time period covered by the Four Masters here is from the 12th to the 17th century, with annotations covering the earliest times in Irish History. This is a two volume set, with color frontis in each, and a large folding map showing the location of families as given in the annals themselves. Celtic lettering is found on specific pages. New IGF map index included in this edition only. There is no comparable work to that of the Four Masters in Irish History and genealogy.

Customer Reviews:

J. Chrys Dougherty - early review.......2006-08-22

I haven't had time for more than a brief review of both volumes, but since our family from Derrylehan, Donegal, is descended from the O'Daughertaighs of Inshowen, this work is a treasure of infomation of which I have long known but now for the first time have had access to in an excellent translation. I have traced all references to the O'Dohertys in both volumes, but have not yet had time to trace the grandmother's McMahans of Fermanaugh. These books are a big help to anyone wanting to understand the culture of Ireland from the 11th to the 17th century.

First Ever English Translation of the Four Masters (1846).......2003-08-07

A very impressive work, in 2 volumes, hardbound, with four color frontis and the almost forgotten original map of Irish Family locations. The fold out map is about 20 x 25 and is the best of the genre. The Annals by the Four Masters are perhaps the most noted source in Irish history and this was the first translation into English (1846). The formal text is complete from the 12th to the 17th century. In addition, the annotations cover Irish history from the earliest times. We have been waiting for this edition to be published ! (note that Connellans translation preceeded that of O'Donovan.) Helpful index to the old map has been added for the first time. These Annals are in the English language. A few pages have some age markings on them from the original, and it remains a magnificent set of books. All in all, this is one of a kind, with a distinctive color frontis, some celtic lettering, and a map that has been out of print for over 150 years . If you have been waiting for the Annals as we have,
this is a real treat. Connellan, was a leading gaelic scholar, and this first ever translation laid the groundwork for all that would follow in the field.

Average customer rating:

A worthy sequel
Excellent work
Excellent concluding book
Keeping the peace
a powerful and compelling read

The King's Name (Sulien)
Jo Walton
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0765343401

Book Description

The warrior Sulien ap Gwien and her lord King Urdo have finally united the land of Tir Tanagiri into a kingdom ruled by justice under a single code of law. But where many see a hopeful future for the land, others believe they sense the seeds of a new tyranny. Soon Tir Tanagiri faces the blight of civil war, and Sulien ap Gwien must take up arms against former comrades and loved ones, fighting harder and harder to hold on to Urdo's shining dream.Continuing the epic begun in The King's Peace, this new novel brings the story of Sulien ap Gwien to a rousing and moving conclusion.

Customer Reviews:

A worthy sequel.......2006-02-23

Walton's sequel to The King's Peace is in some ways a superior novel to its predecessor. The plot is more precise, focusing in on a specific event and time, while the storyline in the first unfolded over two decades. It presents a sufficient antagonist in Morthu, who, although he appeared in the first novel, had a minor role. It also touches on the unspoken subplot of the first novel, Sulien's affection for Urdo, therefore making it a more personal story. I think that Walton may have missed an opportunity by not exploring this premise futher. I infer that Sulien loved Urdo not just as a king but as a man, and he felt the same way, and if not for the trauma she experienced as a teen and his duty as a warlord then they may have had a life together. Imagine how hard that must be, to love someone but be unable to express it. I think that is why Emer and Conal are important, because they are also starcrossed lovers who take the plunge, unlike Sulien and Urdo, with mixed results. At any rate, The King's Name is entertaining, gritty fiction, featuring better action than the first novel and a more developed hero in Sulien. I wonder if both novels were originally one novel that the publishing house decided to split arbitrarily--it feels that way, at least to me. My minor gripe pertains to Sulien's interactions with the gods, which seem so ambiguous, fleeting, and frustrating to the reader. It must be a rule in fantasy: Make any scene with a god as confusing as possible.

Excellent work.......2005-05-13

Combine the world of Kate Elliott with the quick pacing of Anne Bishop and you have the outstanding work of Jo Walton. This novel follows the King's Peace, but it stands on its own and is better, which is saying quite a bit, given that I'd put both on my top ten list. It grabs you in the space of exactly one sentence - literally. I challenge the following: Pick it up, read the first sentence and then put it down. Impossible. Then, minutes into it, the reader genuinely cares about the heroin, making this the kind of thing that has you going to work the next day with only two hours of sleep. Thanks Jo.

Excellent concluding book.......2003-04-15

No need to summarize the plot, as other reviewers have more than done that. Walton has taken the Arthurian story and placed it in a different world - apparently as one possibility in an infinity of multiple possibilities, assuming I understand correctly something a half crazy oracle says toward the end.
Like another reviewer, I am just as happy not to see the Guenivere/Lancelot part of the legend retold. But Mordred/Morthu is there, with enhanced powers.

I had resisted reading these books because I thought that I knew enough about Arthur from other renditions of the legend. But there are enough side characters and ancillary plots to make this a truly different retelling. And Sulien ap Gwien is a strong and sympathetic character. It would be a pleasure to read something about her later life, though this doesn't look likely.

My only quibble is that the author introduces lots of tribal names and place names, but there is no map. Also, there are hundreds of named individuals, or at least it seems that way. Since a character can be named by first name (Sulien) or by father's name (ap Gwien), it becomes really confusing to keep track of the minor characters, especially since so many names begin with C or G. Here a chart grouping them at least by family, or tribe, or kingdom, or anything, would be nice.

Keeping the peace.......2003-02-06

The King's Name is another excellent novel by Jo Walton. This novel, sequel to The King's Peace, takes all of the strengths of its predecessor and leaves most of the weaknesses behind. It's a worthy addition to any fantasy fan's bookshelf.

I thought that this book was marvelous. Walton's characterization is wonderful, with the many different people populating this book having enough distinction that it isn't that hard to tell them apart. There are, at times, difficulties in remembering which side some of the characters are on, but it's not a major issue and it becomes easier as you go along in the novel. None of the minor characters are truly three-dimensional, but they all have some sort of hook that distinguishes them from the rest of the pack. I really liked that aspect of it.

The characterization of the leads is another standout. The tale is told in first person by Sulien, so everything is coloured by her interpretations. She's a very deep character with some humour and a lot of loyalty to Urdo and her friends (as long as the friends aren't on the other side of the war). She's very interesting to read about, and seeing her reactions to the events that are going on is what makes the book worth reading. Her son, Darien, is widely believed to be the son of Urdo (though he's actually the son of Ulf, a Jarnsman warrior who raped her when she was much younger) and her reaction to hearing that Darien had been named by Urdo as his heir is great. It was a bit jarring to see how easy her relationship with Darien was considering that The King's Peace didn't really end with the relationship being any warmer than it had been at the beginning. But that quickly fell by the wayside as I got caught up in the story.

Urdo is the same wise king that he was in the first book as well. There is an element of love and hero-worship in the book as far as he is concerned, mainly due to the point of view from which the book is told. Her earlier rape completely destroyed any interest in sex and love as far as Sulien is concerned, but Urdo would have to be the closest she ever came to it. Still, even with the rose-coloured glasses that the reader has to look at Urdo through, he still comes across as a kind, intelligent and determined king whose only wish is to keep the land together.

The villain of the piece, Morthu, is a decent one. He's not the most complex character, with a lust for power that isn't totally explained, but he's still interesting. He's shifty, devious, and very charming. His lies are easily believed. Walton does a good job of keeping the uncertainty in the question of whether or not Morthu is a sorcerer. Does he have great magical powers or does he just have the same magic charms from the gods that everybody else seems to have? I loved this aspect of it, and I also really enjoyed cheering against Morthu. He was a very credible threat to everything, which not all fantasy books are able to manage.

The plot is also very intriguing and well told. One of the bad things about the previous book was that the events spanned many years, so a lot of it was told in flashback by Sulien. The King's Name doesn't have that problem, as it takes place in only a matter of weeks. The previous book had a lot of ground to cover as Urdo worked to unite the land, but this one has only one campaign to worry about. It's very tightly told and Walton doesn't waste any time or verbiage in the telling. There is a lot of fighting, but the graphic descriptions of it are kept to a minimum (though there are some, so if you can't stand any, you may want to avoid this book). Walton's style is very sparse, but it gets the job done. There are times where the prose doesn't need to be wonderful, as long as the story is interesting. This is one of those times, as I found the story so fascinating that I didn't care that the prose wasn't lovely. I also really liked the fact that the book is told ostensibly as a history book, "from the writings of Sulien ap Gwien." There's even an introduction that "questions" whether or not the writing was really done by Sulien. I thought that was a nice touch.

Again, as in The King's Peace, I loved the story's take on religion. Many people are converting to "The White God" and "taking the pebble" to indicate this. There are, however, many people who are happy with the gods they already had and continue to follow them. All of the magic in the book is basically charms and prayers said in an attempt to reach the particular god the person prays to. There's a bit more of a hands-on feel to these religious systems, and while the White God is never shown, the reader gets the sense that He's a bit more hands-on as well. But the story never takes sides, and one of Urdo's main ideas for Tir Tanagiri is to allow the complete freedom of worship. I found that to be very refreshing, as Walton never tries to elevate one religion over another.

If you are a fantasy fan, I think you will like this book. It is better than the first, but you really should read the first one before this. It's not necessary, however, as the introduction referred to above also does a good job of summarizing what happened. Check it out. I think you'll like it.

a powerful and compelling read.......2002-01-18

"King's Name" is a sequel to "King's Peace" and is a retelling of the darker part of the Arthurian legend -- the bit where the dream of a kingdom united under one king and one law falls apart because of treachery form within the kingdom. And in case you've forgotten either the events and characters from "King's Peace," Jo Walton has provided a thumbnail sketch of everything that happened in "King's Peace" in the introduction to "King's Name."

King Urdo's dream of a united kingdom and peace for the nation of Tir Tanagiri, seems to be on the brink of destruction. And this time the threat is not from barbarian invaders, but from within. While many acknowledge that Urdo has brought peace and unity, and that his laws are just ones, others see only the thirst for absolute power and tyranny. There is also the fear that Urdo will force all his subjects to convert to this new religion of light and the one god. Fanned by fear, greed and Morthu (Urdo's treacherous nephew)'s treasonous whispering, Urdo's erstwhile friends and enemies seem poised to start a civil war. And now it is up to Sulien ap Gwien, once Urdo's most trusted of warriors and his right hand, to put a stop to this treason, and to fight for Urdo's dream of a united kingdom to remain a reality.

"King's Name" keeps pretty much to the parameters of the Arthurian legend. Nothing really terribly new or different in the manner in which the plot of "King's Name" unfolds. So why read this novel? Because it is always thrilling and poignant to read such tales. The Arthurian legend was a powerful one of hope and promise, as well as a poignant one of betrayal and treachery. And I was relieved to note that Jo Walton (thank goodness) has not bothered to include her version of the 'doomed' love affair between Guinevere and Lancelot (am I the only person bored with this "love" story?). She's concentrated instead on the dream that Urdo/Arthur had for a kingdom united under one law, the compromises that Urdo and his followers had to make in order to realise this dream, and how the failure to understand these compromises as well as the new laws, leads Urdo's erstwhile allies (and his greedy enemies) to try and topple him from the throne. We get to see how this splinters families as well as once close friends, as the entire kingdom splits into those who support their king and those back his would-be usurpers. I enjoyed "King's Peace" very much, and found "King's Name" to be a satisfying finish to this retelling of the Arthurian legend. Events unfolded smoothly, and the authour maintained a tight control on the pacing and action. She also did a wonderful job in character development. And while the chief protagonist, Sulien ap Gwien, remains the brusque and to the point warrior we're all familiar with from "King's Peace," other characters (such as Sulien's mother and her son) are fleshed more. And this gave the novel a level of texture and complexity that enhanced the reading pleasure.

Book Description

Robert de Brus, the 'conquisitor of Cleveland, Hartness and Annandale', who came into England among the followers of Henry I, was also a close companion and mentor of David I, king of Scots. The lands he acquired from both kings were divided between his sons, from whom two lines descended: the lords of Skelton, influential Northerners who played an active part during the baronial troubles in the reigns of John and Henry III, and the prominent cross-Border lords of Annandale, co-heirs of the substantial Chester and Huntingdon estates and progenitors of King Robert Bruce.This study takes a fresh approach to the Brus family by assessing the achievements of the two lines in parallel while examining the extent of their power and the development of their lordships; it highlights the inter-relations between the barons of England and Scotland during two hundred years of comparative peace between the kingdoms. Of additional interest is the appendix of an extensive handlist of charters of the Brus family of both lines.It will be a welcome addition to the existing body of works on English baronial families and on Anglo-Scottish cross-Border lords of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Don't Kill in Our Names: Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty

Average customer rating:

Christian nation you say?
A Truly Wonderful And Amazing Book - Hopeful For Our Future
Redeeming
A provocative engaging novel

Don't Kill in Our Names: Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty
Rachel King
Manufacturer: Rutgers University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Penology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Reference | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0813531829

Book Description

Could you forgive the murderer of your husband? Your mother? Your son?

Families of murder victims are often ardent and very public supporters of the death penalty. But the people whose stories appear in this book have chosen instead to forgive their loved ones' murderers, and many have developed personal relationships with the killers and have even worked to save their lives. They have formed a nationwide group, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation (MVFR), to oppose the death penalty.

MVFR members are often treated as either saints or lunatics, but the truth is that they are neither. They are ordinary people who have responded to an extraordinary and devastating tragedy with courage and faith, choosing reconciliation over retribution, healing over hatred. Believing that the death penalty is a form of social violence that only repeats and perpetuates the violence that claimed their loved ones' lives, they hold out the hope of redemption even for those who have committed the most hideous crimes.

Weaving third-person narrative with wrenching first-hand accounts, King presents the stories of ten MVFR members. Each is a heartrending tale of grief, soul searching, and of the challenge to choose forgiveness instead of revenge. These stories, which King sets in the context of the national discussion over the death penalty debate and restorative versus retributive justice, will appeal not only to those who oppose the death penalty, but also to those who strive to understand how people can forgive the seemingly unforgivable.

Customer Reviews:

Christian nation you say?.......2005-01-23

Actually a book that emphasizes an unfortunately rarely heard word, "forgiveness". As difficult as it may be, perhaps that is the ideal this civilized, advanced and cultured society ought to strive for. It's too bad there are too few actual Christians left in the world who take a message and actually attempt to alter the way they do things. With the media and society the way they are, people tend to emphasize paranoia and hatred when it comes to crimes, with almost no emphasis on compassion and forgiveness. Although forgiving is difficult, that forgiveness is not even held up as the ideal ought to make one question people's real motives and dispositions. People seek the infliction of pain or death in the name of compassion for the victims, and somehow they pretend they are noble and serving justice. The families one hears from in this book have not only suffered immensely, but have also done something more profound and difficult than most could imagine. This book is a difficult read because of the subject matter, but many people could learn from it. It is quite beyond me how the people in this book are not held up as ethical models for the rest of us, people who really believe in a principle everyone supposedly also believes (except when it's not convenient, then we like bloody vengeance).

"But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either." "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that." But I guess this just never applies. So much for the 'advanced morality' and 'Christian ethic' so many talk about today.

A Truly Wonderful And Amazing Book - Hopeful For Our Future.......2005-01-04

This wonderful book brings hope to an American Society that has been becoming more violent. The title "Don't Kill in Our Names" speaks to the problem we all face when the government carries out capital punishment in our names when many of us are opposed to capital punishment in our civilized society. More specifically, this book addresses the wishes of murder victims own family members who see the folly in wanting retribution(revenge). Some family members achieve better mental health and healing by searching for forgiveness and reaching out to the perpetrators rather than seeking retribution as the only answer.

This book will open your eyes and your mind with stories of personal strength and forgiveness. This book is a powerful statement against the death penalty as we meet some murder victims' families who believe it continues the cycle of killing to no one's betterment.

Redeeming.......2004-03-02

As someone who has had mixed feelings about the death pentalty, this book opened my eyes and my mind. It accounts truly amazing, stories of personal strength and forgiveness that are beyond comprehension to those of us who haven't been in their shoes, but should consider the possibility. I was enlighted that there are after all, human beings that are capable of reaching such an extraordinary level of compassion in the wake of such personal tragedy.

A provocative engaging novel.......2003-05-13

As someone who does applied research
science and engineering, I didn't think
that the death penalty would have much interest
to me. However, I couldn't put this book
down once I started. I finished it after
a ~5 hour reading marathon.

King's book touches on another world that I have
little contact with. I was a bit overwhelmed with
the frank discussion of the violent murders followed
by the saintly behavior of some of the families,
including Gus & Audrey Lamm, Linda & Ami White,
and Azim Khamisa. The healing aspect of forgiveness
has an important message for our personal lives
as well as the debate at the national political
and foreign policy levels.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books