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.

Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America

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Great stories about our first steps...
Good book, with good and sometimes distracting details

Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America
Benjamin Woolley
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0060090561
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Book Description

Four centuries ago, and fourteen years before the Mayflower, a group of men—led by a one-armed ex-pirate, an epileptic aristocrat, a reprobate cleric and a government spy—left London aboard a fleet of three ships to start a new life in America. They arrived in Virginia in the spring of 1607 and set about trying to create a settlement on a tiny island in the James River. Despite their shortcomings, and against the odds, they built Jamestown, a ramshackle outpost that laid the foundations of the British Empire and the United States of America.

Drawing on new discoveries, neglected sources and manuscript collections scattered across the world, Savage Kingdom challenges the textbook image of Jamestown as a mere money-making venture. It reveals a reckless, daring enterprise led by outcasts of the Old World who found themselves interlopers in a new one. It charts their journey into a beautiful landscape and a sophisticated culture that they found both ravishing and alien, which they yearned to possess but threatened to destroy. They called their new home a "savage kingdom," but it was the savagery they had experienced in Europe that had driven them across the ocean and which they hoped to escape by building in America "one of the most glorious nations under the sun."

An intimate story in an epic setting, Woolley shows how the land of Pocahontas came to be drawn into a new global order, reaching from London to the Orinoco Delta, from the warring kingdoms of Angola to the slave markets of Mexico, from the gates of the Ottoman Empire to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Customer Reviews:

Great stories about our first steps..........2007-08-12

I came across this book after hearing the author interviewed on NPR on the anniversary of the Jamestown colony. From just the few minutes I managed to catch from that conversation the author had me rethinking my vague and mostly uninvestigated thoughts on that early settlement.
Wooley has a great ability to take well researched and documented accounts and weave a compelling narrative without overly indulging in fantasy or sketches compiled of heresay or assumptions.
What took me in about this book was just how much Byzantine politics and motives the early administrators of the colony had coming over from England. (i.e aliases, spies, traitors, defectors, etc.)
If you are interested in what the first steps were in The New World before Declarations and Revolutions and why they were made, I would check this out. It's an essential foundation if you are, like me, consuming our countries earliest intentions and ambitions that led us to where we are now.

Good book, with good and sometimes distracting details.......2007-08-02

With the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first colonists and founding of the first permanent British settlement in present day America, there have been a slew of books and reexaminations of the settlement. Wooley, a popular writer and broadcaster in Great Britain has contributed to this review of the Jamestown by presenting a popular history from the British viewpoint, that examines the founding of Jamestown from the perspective that tries to place Jamestown in the perspective of the new House of Stuart monarchy, a Britain with a shaken economy, and the race to make a claim in North America to compete with the Spanish Empire. Along the way, the Powhatan native tribe Chesapeake Bay have their motivations and civilization examined as this strongest of the east coast tribes.

The strongest parts of this book involve the examination of the relationship between the first settlers and the Powhatan Indians, the exploration of the Chesapeake for the first time by Europeans by Captain John Smith and why Jamestown was so important to the British government. The relationship between the founding of Virginia and the discovery of Bermuda, and why, for a time the Bermuda part of the Virginia colony was much more important economically to Britain is a nice find within a book, and Wooley does his best work of showing human drama with Bermuda.

The book is weak by dragging details of the British government out many pages past necessary for the popular reader, especially the American reader who, from the standpoint of 400 years of time will take some effort to dig into the bureaucracy of the that government for a popular history read.
If the general reader is willing to go through the 400 pages of details, at the end, he should find a great explanation for the place of Jamestown in the American, Indian and British story. The book hits its high point with its description of the first Jamestown Assembly, the first such representative government in modern times that was founded as much out of corporate business interests and a leveling out of previous British hierarchies in the American jungle.

For a popular history, Savage Kingdom shows why the British way of colonization - joint stock companies, authorized but not led by the government with a grass roots organization of the Christian church succeeded in the long run over the government/ military colonization of Latin America.

This is a fine book, but again, the general reader should be warned that it has heavy details of the details of British government among personalities that are often hard to follow.

Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830

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England and Spain in the Western Hemisphere
Engaging Comparative History
A essential addition to a great history
Challenging Theory
An important contribution

Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830
John H. Elliott
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300114311

Book Description

This epic history compares the empires built by Spain and Britain in the Americas, from Columbus’s arrival in the New World to the end of Spanish colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. J. H. Elliott, one of the most distinguished and versatile historians working today, offers us history on a grand scale, contrasting the worlds built by Britain and by Spain on the ruins of the civilizations they encountered and destroyed in North and South America.
Elliott identifies and explains both the similarities and differences in the two empires’ processes of colonization, the character of their colonial societies, their distinctive styles of imperial government, and the independence movements mounted against them. Based on wide reading in the history of the two great Atlantic civilizations, the book sets the Spanish and British colonial empires in the context of their own times and offers us insights into aspects of this dual history that still influence the Americas.

Customer Reviews:

England and Spain in the Western Hemisphere.......2007-09-25

This was an eye-opener for me as I knew very little on Spain's American territories, besides brief descriptions of some of the conquistadors such as Cortes and Pizzarro. What Elliott has done in this book is to show the comparisons and contrasts between England's New World Colonies and Spain's. There are many fascinating facets underlaying the reasons for acquiring these territories, how both sides viewed their mission and goals, and how they governed them. This is without a doubt a remarkable book that revealed a lot for me.

The first colonization was begun by the Spanish in the early 16th Century. The English made their first successful attempt in the early 17th Century. Both South and North America posed different challenges for both governments, i.e. the size of the indigenous populations, the geography and climate, natural resources and so forth. For me, the real fascination was learning more about the Spanish colonies and the establishment of the viceroyalties of New Spain (based in Mexico City) and Peru (based in Lima) with additional ones developing over time. The interaction with the natives, the attempts at Christianization, trade, and many other aspects of Spain's colonization were quite enlightening.

Being more familiar with United States history, I felt more familiar with the material covered on England's planting of settlers in Jamestown and later in New England. However, the real education was in Elliott's efforts to show how each of these two powers (Spain and England) confronted the realities and challenges of establishing their presence in these very different regions. The differences were often quite stark. Some of the points of contrast that most differentiated the two powers included each nation's attitude towards the Indians (including the attempts or lack of evangelization) and the extent of imperial bureaucracy brought over from the mother countries.

Elliott also describes how world events had helped to shape and or guide the developments that occurred in both country's territories. The Reformation, the British Commonwealth under Cromwell, the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution, the French and Indian War, the French Revolution and so forth, all served as factors in shaping the events that transpired in North and South America. The role of various monarchs, religious, military and political leaders, as well as indigenous leaders, are also discussed.

Elliott does try to take an even-handed approach in acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of both government's endeavors. Of course it goes without saying that the notion of empire, with the connotations of exploitation of natives and their cultures, is unpopular in most peoples minds nowadays. Yes, it was and remains a blot on the records of all nations that engaged in replacing the livelihoods and cultures (sometimes more like extermination) of indigenous peoples, or those who engaged in the slave trade, but we must keep in mind that we have to try to keep modern standards in check for historical purposes.

This is such a broad subject that I find it hard to even begin to touch on more specific details found in this book; I'm just trying to outline the broader contours of Elliott's book. Having some introduction to this time period will help you, but you need not be an expert on this particular topic. An illuminating read.

Engaging Comparative History .......2007-01-03

This is comparative history at its very best. Elliott superbly describes and chronicles the history of the British and Spanish exploration and colonization of the Americas, as well as the process whereby both the British American and Spanish American colonial societies brought about their independence from the imperial governments. It is a comprehensive, detailed, and yet highly readable overview of the political, economic, social, military, and religious forces at play in the Americas during the time period. Elliott goes beyond the telling of historical events and facts, to provide analysis and interpretation of why history unfolded as it did. The writing is excellent and clearly reflects a highly learned historian who has the ability to tell history in a an engaging manner. His juxtaposition and comparison of British and Spanish America in a single volume results in a very interesting and stimulating way to learn about the two empires. The book contains very attractive end papers, a number of excellent maps and numerous color plates. Very highly recommended.

A essential addition to a great history.......2006-12-17

Elliott delivers the masterpiece that those who study the Atlantic World have been waiting for. The idea of studying history from the perspective of the Atlantic has been growing in popularity and worth taking a further look at. Britain and Spain established mammoth empires and Elliot looks at their rise and fall. He also considers other powers including the French and Dutch but focuses mainly on the first two mentioned. The age of exploration is put in context and in true Atlantic fashion the slave trade and development in Latin America are very important. The revolutions of the Atlantic world are very clearly explained in this book and Elliott leaves you wondering where else this field can go. Elliott writes very well and this book is a must read for those who want to consider how the Atlantic world impacted Europe and the United States.

Challenging Theory.......2006-08-27

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the history of the Americas, colonial history or comparative studies of the American countries. Although it is based largely on secondary sources it reflects the enormous amount of work that the author has carried out in his previous books on Spain. The most interestin feature of the book is how Elliott points out the similarities between the British and Spanish Empires in the Americas; a fact that most historians have previously tended to ignore.

An important contribution.......2006-05-10

Colonialism and Empire are the two most important subjects in history, no other subject exists without them and the discovery of the New World and its repopulation/depopulation is one fo the great episodes of human history. The colonies in America can be easily put into two categories, the Anglo ones and the Catholic ones. Despite small French and Portugues and Dutch intrusions, the overall lesson is one of difference between these two great naval powers and the makeup of their colonial systems.

We are given here, perhaps for the first time in a cogent work, a true understanding of the nature of the two regimes. ON the one hand we see the brutality and discrimination of the Spanish empire. How they lopped of hands for gold, how they were anti-Jewish. How they were Catholic. But we see in them a very different mentality, that of mixing with native peoples to in fact create a whole new ethnic group. In the English colonies we see the opposite, early contacts with Indians dont suceed and the colonies immediatly set to bring over women(because of religious diveristy and rebellion against England) and in this we see the creation of the modern system of North and South America.

A wonderful and very insightful book that should be of interest for any historian of the period or anyone interested.

Seth J. Frantzman

The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy

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Great Lady -Below Average Writing Style of Author
A Very Impressive Woman
Wolves at the Door
Suspenseful, never dull, wonderfully researched
Learning history the fun way!

The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy
Judith L. Pearson
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 159228762X

Customer Reviews:

Great Lady -Below Average Writing Style of Author.......2007-08-28

All the reviewers are correct about Virginia Hall being an extraordinary person. No debate here. My only rather large disappointment with the book has to do with the author's writing style. It resembles the style of pulp romance novels on sale at your local supermarket. For me, at least, this gets in the way of completely enjoying the book. I also got the impression that the author projected what she thought Hall's feelings were about incidents so incidental it didn't seem possible anyone would know. Credibility.

Here's an example of the author's style from page 27:
"The tail end of spring greeted Virginia on her arrival in Paris. As May slid into June, and the Parisian summer began, solace washed over her. The quintessental French conversations, bouquinistes selling books and postcards at stands along the seine, throaty French tunes pouring out of cabaret doors...etc, etc."

It's painful for me, at least, to read prose like this on such an incredibly interesting life.

A Very Impressive Woman.......2007-07-27

Virginia Hall was the daughter of a well-to-do Marylander with no need to get directly involved in WWII. Instead, she played a major role in the French Resistance, leading up to 1,500 men in attacks on isolated German troops, locate and assist in parachute drops, send wireless messages (particularly dangerous, given the Germans' emphasis on quickly locating the source of any signals), helping downed Allied fliers escape to Spain, sabotaging rail lines. Prior to D-Day the Germans put out a "Wanted" poster on Virginia, along with a description. This forced her temporarily out of France, via climbing the Pyrennees with a guide and two Allied fliers, only to be imprisoned for 20 days until the American Consulate got word and was able to help. All this with a wooden lower leg - cut off as a result of a hunting accident.

Virginia's original goal was to be an American Foreign Service Officer - however, this was precluded by her hunting accident, leading her to resign her clerical position to help the French through driving an ambulance during WWII's early days. She then was recruited as a British agent (spoke French fluently), trained (only two of the twelve women passed) and returned to France. Collaborators on both sides were typically motivated by money (France was in a depression also); even a Jesuit priest became involved as a double agent - for the Germans.

After WWII, Virginia was awarded the DSC (turned down presentation by President Truman to remain anonymous), married one of her French fellow agents, and "settled down" in the CIA until retirement.

A very heroic and impressive woman whom I never would have known about without "The Wolves at the Door."

Wolves at the Door.......2007-05-12

Excellent, excellent, excellent. I plan to donate this book to a college library. Written well, engaging and informative about war, governments and resistance. Also, should be required reading for all young women!

Suspenseful, never dull, wonderfully researched.......2007-04-21

Kudos to the author, Judith Pearson. I almost always prefer first person accounts of those who lived through WWII. However, this book gripped me throughout the narrative. This would make a wonderful movie with Virginia Hall played by an actress of Cate Blanchett's caliber. Exhaustively researched and well written. Thank you Ms. Pearson, I'll be looking for your next book!

Learning history the fun way!.......2007-04-06

I loved this book! I have always wanted to know about the role the French Resistance played in World War II and now I know about it in captivating detail! Virginia Hall was an incredibly brave, compassionate and intuitive woman and I found myself having to take a break from the book occasionally because Ms. Hall often became entangled in some very tense situations. This book was engaging from the first, well written, easy to read and hard to put down!

Fountain Pens : United States of America and United Kingdom

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Required for any FP collector.
Authoritative But Not Magical
Fountain Pens - U.S. and U.K.
Andy Lambrou's newest authoritative guide

Fountain Pens : United States of America and United Kingdom
Andreas Lambrou
Manufacturer: Philip Wilson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0856675326

Book Description

Each pen is reproduced individually and to actual size for ease of identification, making the book the ideal reference guide for both the collector and the enthusiast. Many original, specially commissioned, hand produced line drawings present the pens in an exciting and informative matter. The authoritative and comprehensive text as well as period advertisements compliment the illustrations and provide up-to-date and detailed information on the history of the fountain pen and its industry in the United States of America and United Kingdom.

Customer Reviews:

Required for any FP collector........2007-09-03

After writing Fountain Pens of the World (ISBN 0302006680) Andy reprises his position as the preeminent authority of an endangered writing instrument. The chronological and authoritative description of every major manufacturer is interlaced with some of the most beautiful and actual size photography of pens you'll ever see.

This volume is a work of art and effort of a true aficionado, the most comprehensive history of Sheaffer Pens you'll ever see is inside this book, the choice to break the history of Parker into the USA and UK versions is the mark of a purist.

Beautiful heavy stock paper ensures this volume will endure in your collection for decades.

Andy Lambrou's reputation is well deserved, and this is another work of art from the master.

Authoritative But Not Magical.......2002-02-18

Andreas Lambrou has once again produced an authoritative text on fountain pens. It is relatively comprehensive and has spectacluar photographs and line drawings. This is an excellent guide to learn the history of fountain pens and to identify fountain pens. While there can be no doubt that Mr. Lambrou cares very much about fountain pens, this does not come through in his prose style. Writing is straightforward and clear, but does not connect fountain pens to social history, industrial design, or the just plain joy of writing. Inclusion of several pages on the work of Classic Pens, Mr. Lambrou's own firm, which are of limited interest is a questionable decision.

Fountain Pens - U.S. and U.K........2001-07-14

This and other Lambrou books have been described as invaluable references for the collector. I agree, for the most part. The photos and line drawings in this volume are excellent and the text gives detailed history of each manufacturer's models and variations within models. What is missing is a value guide for the pens listed. I'm sure the most serious collectors find such information unnecesary, but I believe that newer or more casual collectors would find pricing benchmarks useful as they muddle through eBay and other auction sites.

Andy Lambrou's newest authoritative guide.......2000-12-25

For the novice and experienced collector both, this book is Andy's finest yet. By dividing out the US and UK manufacturers, this book provides even greater detail and scale images, as well as historical reference of vintage and modern pens from all of the significant pen makers of the last 100 years. The images (both photos and line images) are the best available to-date, and an invaluable reference to the serious collector.

The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th-Century America

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The search for Prophets in Early America.
A Fascinating Microcosm of the Burned-Over District
Wondering About Christianity
Brilliant!
Extraordinary

The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th-Century America
Paul E. Johnson , and Sean Wilentz
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195098358

Book Description

In the autumn of 1834, New York City was awash with rumors of a strange religious cult operating nearby, centered around a mysterious, self-styled prophet named Matthias. It was said that Matthias the Prophet was stealing money from one of his followers; then came reports of lascivious sexual relations, based on odd teachings of matched spirits, apostolic priesthoods, and the inferiority of women. At its climax, the rumors transformed into legal charges, as the Prophet was arrested for the murder of a once highly-regarded Christian gentleman who had fallen under his sway. By the time the story played out, it became one of the nation's first penny-press sensations, casting a peculiar but revealing light on the sexual and spiritual tensions of the day. In The Kingdom of Matthias, the distinguished historians Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz brilliantly recapture this forgotten story, imbuing their richly researched account with the dramatic force of a novel. In this book, the strange tale of Matthias the Prophet provides a fascinating window into the turbulent movements of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening--movements which swept up great numbers of evangelical Americans and gave rise to new sects like the Mormons. Into this teeming environment walked a down-and-out carpenter named Robert Matthews, who announced himself as Matthias, prophet of the God of the Jews. His hypnotic spell drew in a cast of unforgettable characters--the meekly devout businessman Elijah Pierson, who once tried to raise his late wife from the dead; the young attractive Christian couple, Benjamin Folger and his wife Ann (who seduced the woman-hating Prophet); and the shrewd ex-slave Isabella Van Wagenen, regarded by some as "the most wicked of the wicked." None was more colorful than the Prophet himself, a bearded, thundering tyrant who gathered his followers into an absolutist household, using their money to buy an elaborate, eccentric wardrobe, and reordering their marital relations. By the time the tensions within the kingdom exploded into a clash with the law, Matthias had become a national scandal. In the hands of Johnson and Wilentz, the strange tale of the Prophet and his kingdom comes vividly to life, recalling scenes from recent experiences at Jonestown and Waco. They also reveal much about a formative period in American history, showing the connections among rapid economic change, sex and race relations, politics, popular culture, and the rich varieties of American religious experience.

Customer Reviews:

The search for Prophets in Early America........2005-09-04

Fundamentalism whether Christian or Moslem always breaks out the nut cases. So it was with Christian Fundamentalism in the 1820s and 1830s of the United States. Christianity is undergoing a revival and various creeds are arguing about what is the one true version. Up through the ranks come the likes of Pierson and Matthews who dream of the old days where women obey men. They recreate a small kingdom (only a house with several families) with a head patriach. Matthews becomes King Matthias and makes the decisions in his kingdom. He selects another man's wife as his servant and allocates the financial resources for his kingdom. He is in fact a cult leader. His actions may have resulted in a old man not getting proper medical treatment and then dying. The civil authorities take him on and prosecute him, whereby he loses much of his power.
I didn't know the history of this affair. It seems rather mild by today's standards. The book is an OK read.

A Fascinating Microcosm of the Burned-Over District.......2002-01-27

In this work, Paul Johnson has taken a relatively small and unknown event and used it to illustrate not only an interesting event but also an interesting perspective on the Burned-Over District as a whole. It touches on everything from sexual corruption to radical doctrinal innovations. The Burned-Over district saw the beginning of numerous religious movements such as Mormonism, Adventism, Christian Scientists, numerous smaller religions that did not survive, and even significant political movements such as Antimasonry.

This book is the story of one of those movements. The prologue introduces Matthias as he went to Kirtland to visit with the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith. While this event occurred near the end of Matthias’ activity, it is obvious that he stole many of his ideas from Joseph Smith. Matthias initiated the practice of the washing of feet which was common to both the followers of Joseph Smith and Ellen White. He also believed that the truth of the Gospel had fallen from the earth shortly after the time of Christ another Mormon belief. In addition, he had a sword which he claimed was ancient similar to Smith’s sword of Laban, as well as naming the Priesthood after the order of Melchezidek. Likewise, his early mentor Mordecai Noah taught that the Indians were actually a branch of the Israelites which is a central idea found in the Book of Mormon. All of these ideas came out before 1830 when Matthias began his activity.

The most humorous part of this history is the anecdotes that relate to Matthias’ enemies trying to shave off his beard. Johnson has done an excellent job condensing all the most relevant information in this short work. The Kingdom of Matthias is an enjoyable read and a must for anyone interested in this interesting period in American religious history.

Wondering About Christianity.......2001-06-08

I did too. I read this book with an amazement on how basic Bible priniples can me misused to the detriment of oneself and others around them. Please read this book to understand the confusion that enslaves so many Christians. If you truly seeking God, you that they way they tried to find it in this book is not the way to find him.

Brilliant!.......2000-04-03

This is one of the exquisite books that I have read about this time. And to the writer "Orrin Judd", how dare you be such a anti-intellectual dunce? Just by holding on to the case of the Lewinsky/Clinton trial (which by the way Wilentz and Berman wrote before this happened) and other inane right-winged republican comments, if they are even worty of any name other than trash. They remark on this book as something it is far from being, a peice of garbage that can merely be thrown away as litter. As for the book itself, this is a masterpeice with pen and ink, wonderfully capturing the era. It goes behind the mind of this engrossing man and period, and includes people, such as Soujourner Truth, that were known later on, after the period the book was written. It just so awefully captures all the details and facts behind this, but still making it enjoyable. I reccomend this book highly, and give it 5 out of 5 stars. And to any creep, such as Orrin Judd, who thinks otherwise, then just consider this book one more time, the brilliance of it and the fabulous authors (Paul Berman and Sean Wilentz) who made the making of this book possible.

Extraordinary.......2000-03-20

One of the best books I've ever read about American history. THIS SHOULD BE A MOVIE!

History of British Military Bands: Infantry and Irish (History of British Military Bands)

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Classic of its Kind

History of British Military Bands: Infantry and Irish (History of British Military Bands)
Gordon Turner , and Alwyn Turner
Manufacturer: Spellmount Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Life & Institutions | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1873376286

Book Description

This monumental and unique study fills a serious gap in existing literature and traces the history of British military music from its early beginnings to the sophisticated instrumentation of today. This volume, with accompanying CD of their regimental marches, covers the Infantry and disbanded Irish Regiments.

Customer Reviews:

Classic of its Kind.......2007-02-07

This was the 3rd and final volume of this remarkable series. With the demise of so many fine old regimental bands from the British army, Gordon Turner with help from Kneller Hall, the army school of music, attempted to chronicle the fascinating history of these bands. Included are many fine photos, past and present. Extensive band histories are referenced throughout, with listings of bandmasters and directors of music, as well as regimental music played, and just general info. of importance. Many fine, rich stories are to be found here. The emphasis of this volume was on the bands of the Light Division and the Irish Regiments. Many others are included as well. All have colorful histories included with many references to bands and units long gone from the British army list. Included is a special CD played by the Band of the Royal Signals Corps which includes many of the regimental music listed in this work. The cover is a recent picture of the Band of the Light Division, now a single 47 piece band. All that remains of the bands of the Royal Green Jackets and Light Infantry. Soon this band will be changed yet again as the recent cuts will reduce it to a staff band of just 35. The title will be changed to the Band of the Rifles. A bland sounding title for sure! A sad loss for the many fans of this band over the years. This is niche book, highly recommended for those into military music, and British regimental bands in particular.

Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America: An Evangelical's Lament

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Religion works best when not mixed with politics
Where is the logic??
Thy Kingdom Come
INTOLERANCE
missed opportunity

Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America: An Evangelical's Lament
Randall Balmer
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Political Parties | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Church & State | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0465005195

Book Description

The distinguished author of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory returns with a searing examination of a new generation of evangelical leaders who have hijacked the Christian faith on behalf of the Republican Party

For much of American history, evangelicalism was aligned with progressive political causes. Nineteenth-century evangelicals fought for the abolition of slavery, universal suffrage, and public education. But contemporary conservative activists have defaulted on this majestic legacy, embracing instead an agenda virtually indistinguishable from the Republican Party platform. Abortion, gay marriage, intelligent design--the Religious Right is fighting, and winning, some of the most important political battles of the twentyfirst century. How has evangelical Christianity become so entrenched in partisan politics?

Randall Balmer is both an evangelical Christian and a historian of American religion. Struggling to reconcile the contemporary state of evangelical faith in America with its proud tradition of progressivism, Balmer has headed to the frontlines of some of the most powerful and controversial organizations tied to the Religious Right. With a skillful combination of grassroots organization, ideological conviction, and media savvy, the leaders of the movement have mobilized millions of American evangelical Christians behind George W. Bush's hard-right political agenda.

Deftly combining ethnographic research, theological reflections, and historical context, Balmer laments the trivialization of Christianity--and offers a rallying cry for liberal Christians to reclaim the noble traditions of their faith.

Customer Reviews:

Religion works best when not mixed with politics.......2007-09-01

Balmer, a left-wing evangelical Christian, believes that his religious faith has been "hijacked" by the Religious Right. It seems that being a Christian and being a Republican has become synonymous in the minds of certain people, both within and without the faith.

The first chapter starts off discussing the Religious Rights' two favorite bugaboos--abortion and homosexuality. Jesus said nothing about either in the New Testament, but in the politicized churches of the Religious Right, that's just about all one hears about. What about poverty? What about racism? Oops, the Religious Right did spend a lot of energy trying to maintain Bob Jones University's tax exempt status....In any event, Balmer makes his point clear that abortion, undesirable as it is, is no place for government intervention.

Balmer provides a short history of the Baptist church (many on the religious right self-identify as Baptist). The early Baptist church supported a separation between church and state; this idea ended up getting written into the Bill of Rights. The politicized church of today would be unrecognizable to the early Baptists. It is noted that religion, predominantly various strains of Christianity, has thrived in the United States in this atmosphere of church/state separation. Balmer likens the need of the Religious Right to have symbols of the faith on public property, to Golden Calf-type idolatry.

Although admitting that parents have a right to choose schools for their children, Balmer considers any school situation other than public school potentially antidemocratic. This includes school vouchers, homeschooling, and (to a lesser extent) charter schools. Balmer also describes a "Patrick Henry College" that not only allows young evangelicals to continue their isolation from the world through their college years, but also encourages them to bring their beliefs into the political system (such as becoming a Supreme Court justice....)

Creationism, or Intelligent Design, or whatever they're calling it this week, is not only unscientific, but damages religious faith by requiring it to undergo scientific rigor.

There is one area where the Religious Right is starting to break ranks with the rest of the Republicans, and that is the environment. Evangelicals are moving away from a "dominion" model (let's use everything up) and towards a "stewardship" model (the Earth is the Lord's, and we as Christians are to take care of it).

The book concludes with a list of more Religious Right foibles, and finally, a reminder of what religious people ought to be putting their energies toward (such as abolishing torture, capital punishment, etc. as well as the usual war/racism/poverty stuff that Republicans haven't, in general, seen fit to deal with for one reason or another).

Balmer presents his arguments well. Occasionally, however, some of his personal political viewpoints, beyond what is covered in the book do come rushing out. For example, he seems to advocate vegetarianism to some degree, on page 151 ("not yet dead animal hanging from a slaughterhouse hook") and p. 186. He is a cheerleader for the public schools with all their faults, admonishing the Religious Right not to either modify them (e.g. having any sort of religious presence) or shun them (vouchers, private schools, etc.) On page 135, he gives the example of the radio to try to say that there is no "liberal media"--what about television?

It is interesting to compare this book with _Failing America's Faithful_, by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. (I reviewed it earlier). Despite the denominational difference (Townsend's a Catholic, Balmer's an Evangelical) the themes are similar; the Religious Right should not be allowed to monopolize Christianity in America. However, while Townsend advocates a left-wing version of the Religious Right, Balmer emphasizes that religion works best when it stays peripheral to political activities.

Where is the logic?? .......2007-06-17

How can one who does not believe all the Bible -- only his own chosen verses, and many of those out of context -- argue against the failures of others whom he claims are not measuring up to the Bible's teachings ?? On another note, the Bible stands on its on teachings. You cannot argue for or against something on the basis of tradition. Truth is truth, right is right, regardless of what others say. Many of his arguments are moot, because he doesn't believe the truth of a book he seeks to defend. His arguments for the most part are his personal beliefs versus the Christian Conservatives. **** If you truly want to understand the role of religion and politics in American History, a better read would be "The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States" by Benjamin Franklin Morris. (Originally published in 1864 -- recently reprinted and available from www.americanvision.org) Another Good Read --

"America a Christian Nation" by Stephen Mcdowell. Let the facts speak for themselves.

Thy Kingdom Come.......2007-04-05

Extremely insightful, well documented, and sagely written. Solid credibility of the author with clear basis for arguments. At times a bit repitive; but, on basis, a good read. Recommended for both theologic and secular readers to understand the real background behind religious right excesses imposed on our political process.

INTOLERANCE.......2007-01-30

Why is it okay to malign those who believe in a Saviour who tells us to "Love our Enemies"? Why is it okay to hurt those who try to serve others? Why is this okay when Islam's leader tells them to "Fight those who do not believe in Allah..." Qu'ran 9:29.

missed opportunity.......2007-01-17

In addition to his credentials as a professor of American religion at Barnard College, Columbia University, Randall Balmer writes as an insider who was born, raised, and educated within conservative evangelicalism. In addition to affirming his evangelical identity, he also declares himself a political liberal. Balmer has written elsewhere how and why he remains grateful for his Christian heritage despite significance ambivalence (Growing Pains; Learning to Love My Father's Faith, and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America), but in his most recent book his ambivalence turns to acerbic vilification.

Evangelicalism's marriage to conservative politics, Balmer says, has poisoned public discourse, distorted the Gospel so that it barely resembles the message of Jesus, betrayed its nineteenth-century forbears who were in the vanguard of progressive causes like abolition, and alienated a sizeable number of fellow-evangelicals who have tired of explaining to their friends that their Christian faith "does not mean that we take our marching orders from James Dobson or Karl Rove." After a brief introduction he devotes successive chapters to the religious right's litmus tests --abortion, homosexuality, first amendment disestablishment (including the "Ten Commandments Judge" Roy Moore), school vouchers and public education, creationism, and the environment. Throughout his book Balmer argues that the right has often acted not out of moral principle but for political expedience. For example, school vouchers go overwhelmingly to religious schools and to wealthy people; would right wingers lobby for the issue so hard if vouchers were given only to families whose household income was below a certain threshold? Or again, if evangelicals really cared about abortion, why have they done so little about it, even though they have controlled the White House and Congress, or why have they been so silent about specifics (jail a doctor who performed an abortion?)? Instead of "pandering for power," Balmer calls evangelicals to the renunciation of power, for true religion, he believes, flourishes at the fringes. Instead of creating their own intellectual, cultural, and social ghettos, evangelicals ought to seek the common good of all society.

I happen to agree with Balmer on many issues, but his book suffers from its polemical tone. In the last few pages, for example, he disses the "minions" and "bloviating preachers" of the religious right who, he is sure, will vilify him for his brave honesty. His patronizing style, though, only plays into the hands of the people he might have reached, and so decreases his readership and entrenches stereotypes on both sides. Balmer also neglects material that does not fit his simple narrative. I appreciated his argument that most evangelicals did not object to abortion because of Roe v. Wade, but some important figures like HOJ Brown and Francis Schaeffer surely did, and very early on. Intelligent design has problems, but that does not mean Marsden is wrong about hostility toward the faith in secular universities (at least according to my friends at Stanford), or that eminent scholars like John Polkinghorne do not have good things to say about the anthropic principle. Some of his anecdotal examples strike me as fringe, even if scary. At one point he does give credit where it is due, acknowledging the important, if late, change of mind among some evangelicals about environmental concerns; he even suggests that environmental causes might be the wedge that separates conservative believers from conservative political ideology.

I regretted Balmer's sarcastic tone because we need the right to read people like him, and like the more balanced treatments of similar material by Jon Meacham (American Gospel), Jim Wallis (God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It), and pastor Gregory Boyd (The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church). Unlike Balmer, the latter two books affirm that the Gospel judges all political ideologies, left or right. I wish Balmer success in his mission to "slay the dragon of the religious right," and I agree with him that our country would be better for it. But his chances for success would have improved if he had avoided sarcasm and sanctimony.

The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America

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The hidden reality in the story
Obstacles Of Phillips
Phillips usual garbage
A comprehensive account of the growth of two empires....
Wonderful Thesis

The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America
Kevin P. Phillips
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Revolutionary | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0465013708

Amazon.com

Political commentator Kevin Phillips (author of the 1991 bestseller The Politics of Rich and Poor) takes a break from analyzing the latest election returns with this sweeping history of Anglo-American exceptionalism. How did the political culture of Anglo-America rise "from a small Tudor kingdom to a global community and world hegemony"? asks Phillips. His answer comes in the course of studying three wars--the English Civil War, the American Revolution, and the U.S. Civil War. Phillips does not examine the military history of these conflicts, looking instead at the political, religious, economic, and sectional interests that shaped them. He makes several eye-opening observations, comparing, for instance, a "state-by-state portrait of which counties, towns, districts, or regions were loyal" during the American Revolution to "ethnoreligious maps of the modern-day Balkans." This is a hefty book (over 600 pages, not including appendices and footnotes), and while Phillips's preface is a bit self-absorbed, admirers of David Landes's The Wealth and Poverty of Nations and Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel will find much to like between its covers. --John J. Miller

Book Description

A strikingly fresh and revisionist explanation for the rise of Anglo-America as the dominant cultural and political force in the world today by the bestselling author of The Politics of Rich and Poor.

The question at the heart of The Cousins' Wars is this: How did Anglo-America evolve over a mere three hundred years from a small Tudor kingdom into a global community with such a hegemonic grip on the world today, while no other European power-Spain, France, Germany, or Russia-did? The answer to this, according to Phillips, lies in a close examination of three internecine English-speaking civil wars-the English Civil War, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. These wars between cousins functioned as crucial anvils on which various religious, ethnic, and political alliances were hammered out between the English-speaking cousin-nations, setting them on a unique two-track path toward world leadership-one aristocratic and aloof to dominate the imperial nineteenth century and the other more egalitarian and democratic to take over in the twentieth century. They also functioned as unfortunate and deadly cultural crucibles for African Americans, Native Americans, and the Irish.

Phillips's analysis shows exactly how these conflicts are inextricably linked and how they seeded each other. He offers often surprising interpretations that cut across the political spectrum-for instance, that the Constitution of the United States, while brilliant in many respects, was also a fatally flawed political compromise that contributed mightily in setting the stage for the final-and the bloodiest-cousins' war: the American Civil War.

With the new millennium upon us and triggering widespread assessment of our nation's place in world history, The Cousins' Wars provides just the kind of magisterial sweep and revisionist spark to ignite widespread interest and debate. This grand religious, military, and political epic is the multi-dimensional story of the triumph of Anglo-America.

Customer Reviews:

The hidden reality in the story.......2006-06-13

While this book weaves a dramatic tapestry from 1640 t0 1900 and puts Puritan religion at the center of the development of democratic republican government, its hidden lesson is the existence, since well before the Founders, of a virulent anti Catholic sentiment throughout America.In Phillips' narrative the Catholics appear on the wrong side of every issue. Clearly standing with Charles and the Cavaliers against Parliament. Partaking of a massacre in Ireland of Protestants colonists, leading to Cromwell's terrorist response. A response which Phillips seems to , at least, understand.

In the Revolution the few Catholics in the colonies stand aside with Quakers and others while the Congregational Puritans and the Presbyterian Scots Irish win the new nation. The Civil war sees Irish and German Catholics standing against the Republicans, both in America, and for the Irish, in Ireland itself. Little effort is made to explain these stands as a response to the dramatic persecutions imposed on the Irish Catholics in their homeland and America. No mention of the Church burnings of the 1850s, save for the undeniable role the Know Nothings played in the formation of the Republican Party, is made.

In his latest work, American Theocracy" the Catholic Church plays the heavy in Phillips' America. Always seeking to impose its archaic view of reality on a progressive world. So his failure to fully appreciate the hatred of Catholics present in Cromwellian England and Know Nothing America is expected.

One area of interest in Phillips' investigations into the changing Puritan experience is that from the strict, unbending, believers in being God's Chosen people in Engalnd, God's Chosen nation, the Puritans have never lost their belief in the rightness of their cause; Parliament and the cleansing of the Faith, the resistance to sceptre and crown that became the revolution, both in 1688 and 1776, the fight against slavery. But Phillips does not present the New Puritans, not the right wing followers of Jerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson, but the rising tide of the Progressive Left, from the same stock as their forebears, from the same places, New England, with the same intolerance for those who do not share their view, but now with an overriding belief in Man and not God.

Obstacles Of Phillips.......2006-01-13

Mr. Phillips presents a plethora of writing that gives intelligence to any reader.

However, Mr. Phillips presents his data in scatter-brained fashion. This guy needs to learn HOW to write, for he certainly knows WHAT to write.

Perhaps, if he read the Aristotle's Poetics, or better yet a dichpering of the work (Artistotle's Poetics for Screenwriters: Storytelling Secrets from the Greatest Mind in Western Civilization), Mr. Phillips would learn the power of TELLING a STORY.

Instead, this book is a labor of reading. It requires the reader both to take reading notes and to organize thoroughly any reading notes. This is the only way one can pull together a concept of an argument with support.

Wealth and Democracy is another Phillips example of the same. Great data, poor presentation.

Phillips usual garbage.......2004-06-13

If you have read evene a few pages of any book by thix Nixonite, then you hve tapped into the best that he has to offer (not much!)

Pass on this one.

A comprehensive account of the growth of two empires...........2002-12-31

This book details the amazing parallels between British and American history as no other history book I have ever read has done. With a broad net that includes ethnic politics and religion, Kevin Phillips writes a great account of over 200 years of history on both sides of the Atlantic, detailing how the successive uprisings, the three "Cousins' Wars", were caused in large part by uprisings of Puritanism. A convincing and amazing book.

Wonderful Thesis.......2001-11-05

Phillips make a compelling argument that the three wars, English Civil War of 1640, American Revolution of 1776, and American Civil War of 1861, all carry the same dynamics between combatants. Those dynamics, Catholic vs. Protestant, Reformer vs. Conservative, Land Holder vs. Artisan, tumble down from one war to the next, and Phillips does a thorough job of explaining them. However, my only complaint with the book is that he was too thorough. I am an avid reader of history as a hobby, so I am a stranger neither to details in demographics nor dealing with person and place names unfamiliar to me. But I read history because it is fascinating stuff with outrageous personalities and remarkable coincidences, things that fiction simply cannot create and call "plausible". This book was more of a thesis--dry and heavy going.

Book Description

India Abroad analyzes the development of Indian diasporas in the United States and England from 1947, the year of Indian independence, to the present. Across different spheres of culture--festivals, entrepreneurial enclaves, fiction, autobiography, newspapers, music, and film--migrants have created India as a way to negotiate life in the multicultural United States and Britain. Sandhya Shukla considers how Indian diaspora has become a contact zone for various formations of identity and discourses of nation. She suggests that carefully reading the production of a diasporic sensibility, one that is not simply an outgrowth of the nation-state, helps us to conceive of multiple imaginaries, of America, England, and India, as articulated to one another. Both the connections and disconnections among peoples who see themselves as in some way Indian are brought into sharp focus by this comparativist approach.

This book provides a unique combination of rich ethnographic work and textual readings to illuminate the theoretical concerns central to the growing fields of diaspora studies and transnational cultural studies. Shukla argues that the multi-sitedness of diaspora compels a rethinking of time and space in anthropology, as well as in other disciplines. Necessarily, the standpoint of global belonging and citizenship makes the boundaries of the "America" in American studies a good deal more porous. And in dialogue with South Asian studies and Asian American studies, this book situates postcolonial Indian subjectivity within migrants' transnational recastings of the meanings of race and ethnicity. Interweaving conceptual and material understandings of diaspora, India Abroad finds that in constructed Indias, we can see the contradictions of identity and nation that are central to the globalized condition in which all peoples, displaced and otherwise, live.

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