History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Calculations are only as good as your numbers
  • Pants on fire?
  • Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
  • Very Interesting
  • History as Science Fiction
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

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:

3 out of 5 stars 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.

5 out of 5 stars 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.

5 out of 5 stars 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.

5 out of 5 stars 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.

4 out of 5 stars 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.
Titan: God Machine (Warhammer 40,000)
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Don't buy it.
  • Holes in space...holes in plot
  • Excellent warhammer 40k material
Titan: God Machine (Warhammer 40,000)
Dan Abnett
Manufacturer: Games Workshop
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  5. Galaxy in Flames (Horus Heresy) Galaxy in Flames (Horus Heresy)

ASIN: 1844161234

Book Description

Imperius Dictatio, Warlord Titan, semi-sentient god-machine. Where it walks, cities tremble, armies quake.At its helm: Princeps Erwin Hekate, its cool and calculating commander. The Dictatio and the crew have been sent through a warp portal where time and space have little relevance. Slowly the crew manage to piece themselves together in a savage surrounding, but the real question is how to save the Princeps and the Titan.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Don't buy it........2007-05-14

The art works were hard to read and the contents were repetive. There's no point of reading this when the servitor kept repeating what's he was saying. "I am the God Machine." "I fear nothing." "Fire." 'the end' and so on...
Don't buy this book unlast you are soooo deseparate to about warhammer 40k's art work. Save up your money to buy warhammer 40k instead

4 out of 5 stars Holes in space...holes in plot.......2007-03-13

This was an amazing graphic novel. I recommend it to any one who has a Titan fetish. The only problem is that there is a tremendously large plot hole that does not make sense. You'd expect more from Dan-the-Man Abnett

4 out of 5 stars Excellent warhammer 40k material.......2005-01-20

This paperback is in the same format as most of the
manga out there right now(ex. tokyo pop manga).
It is a compiliation of the
3 titan graphic novels that were previously released
and is entirely in black and white.
The way the book was bound made it a bit difficult to
actually read and the spine felt like it was bound
tighter than it needed to be..unlike some manga
that i've read in the exact same format.
Actually started getting cramps in my fingers and wrist.

The art varies a bit from chapter to chapter..
and some of it seems a bit rough but overall
I got a very good feel for the story and characters
from the art.

The story is excellent and has enough variation that
it will not bore you. I couldn't put it down and finished
it from front to back as soon as it came in the mail.

I'd give it 5 stars but the quality of the binding left
something to be desired. I don't like cramps when reading.
The God of the Machine
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A good book that deserves a re-write
  • A work of genius!
  • One of the most important books of the 20th Century!
  • I thought that it was excellant.
The God of the Machine
Isabel Paterson , and Stephen D. Cox
Manufacturer: Transaction Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560006668

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars A good book that deserves a re-write.......2004-11-27

The topics covered in this book are extremely important and Ms. Paterson has for the most part taken the correct position on them. However, her writing style reflects her lack of formal education and varies considerably from paragraph to paragraph. Her organization of thought is haphazard at best, yet she was able to convey her points and make astute observations throughout. The common-sense approach should keep many readers interested through material that could be boring at the hands of other authors.

The most unfortunate aspect of the book is her continued attempt to force an analogy of the principals of electricy with human effort. At no time did I find this analogy appropriate or helpful. At other places in the book she tried to force an analogy of dimensional geometry that also failed to convey any additional meaning. I continually skipped these sentences and found that I lost no comprehension of the material.

5 out of 5 stars A work of genius!.......2003-02-18

For anyone interested in history of political thought this is a must read. A true work of genius. One of my top twenty books.

5 out of 5 stars One of the most important books of the 20th Century!.......1999-09-24

God of the Machine was my first clue that history could be more than a boring recitation of names and dates.

Paterson looks at the whole sweep of history, from ancient to contemporary, and relates it to the ideas and principles of freedom. Her central concern is to discover the political forms which freedom and civilization require. Her central unifying concept of "the long circuit of energy that makes civilization work" is both exhilarating and true: if economic thinking has not yet caught up to Isabel Paterson, so much the worse for it!

Written by a friend of Ayn Rand, and a lover of freedom, God of the Machine is a gem!

God of the Machine is well up in the top 10 of Random House's poll of most important non-fiction of the 20th Century.

5 out of 5 stars I thought that it was excellant........1999-03-04

It has been many years since I read this book, and I was looking to see if it was still available. I do not recall enough of it at this moment to really give a review, but I do want to read it again.
God In the Machine: What Robots Teach Us About Humanity and God
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Do Humans Have Souls? Of Course. Well what about Robots?
  • The begining of some great discussions.
  • The begining of some great discussions.
  • Provocative Title, Much Less Provocative Text
  • An interesting and bold narration
God In the Machine: What Robots Teach Us About Humanity and God
Anne Foerst
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0525947663
Release Date: 2004-12-22

Book Description

A provocative look at the theological implications of artificial intelligence—and the controversial questions raised by robotics about our very definition of humanity—from the founder of MIT's God and Computers Project Get ready to meet two remarkable characters, Cog and Kismet. They both enjoy working with others, they're very attentive, have excellent learning skills, and, according to their colleagues, they're very charming. And they're both robots.

From Hollywood to the halls of NASA, robots loom large in the popular imagination. But what feelings do these lifelike machines really provoke in us? In God in the Machine, Dr. Anne Foerst draws on her expertise as both a theologian and computer scientist to address the profound questions that robots such as Cog and Kismet raise for us all: What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to have a soul? And what do robots teach us about our relationship with God?

God in the Machine challenges many popular assumptions—about the Bible, about the meaning of community, and especially about the fundamental distinctions between humanity and the “artificial” beings we create. Dr. Foerst shares intriguing observations about the ways we define “human” versus “person” and asks what we must do in order for all humans to be treated as equal persons.

Original, controversial, and deeply insightful, God in the Machine illuminates the exciting and little-understood new terrain that lies at the intersection of technology and religion, science and faith.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Do Humans Have Souls? Of Course. Well what about Robots?.......2006-09-03

Ask yourselves a question: what makes a being a person? If you don't like that question, consider another: what defines life and how do we know that it is present in creatures other than ourselves? These are just two of many questions theologian and computer scientist Anne Foerst ponders in this interesting and provocative book. "God in the Machine" considers what it means to be human, to have a soul, and to connect to God. Foerst is one of several scholars seeking to explore possibilities for a trans-human future in which robots and humans co-exist, or perhaps robots and humans merge into a new species of cyborgs. With a background in theology she is less interested in questions of what defines a legal person than what defines a new form of life. And what is the connection of that life to God. She notes that building these new life forms--robots--make us co-creators with God in what could be the advance of a new species. She suggests building robots may be best perceived as a type of prayer.

"God in the Machine" offers a breathless consideration of five major themes in cybernetics and theology. The first is the age-old quest to create life. From Golems to Frankenstein's creature this has been a dream of humanity. Second, Foerst explores the idea of embodied science, and then moves on to embodied intelligence, the fundamental attribute of robotic research. From there she investigates the nature of community and what it means to be a person within the context of larger systems. Finally, she seeks to link these ideas into a final chapter on the relationship of humans and robots in community.

This is an interesting, provocative, and sometimes frustrating work. Foerst writes well, but her illustrations are sometimes poorly drawn and not as fully explained as I would like. She also dispensed with notes in favor of a bibliography for each chapter, which meant that the sources for quotes are sometimes difficult to discern.

4 out of 5 stars The begining of some great discussions........2006-04-22

As a former student of Dr. Foerst, I was somewhat predisposed to the material that is presented in this book, perhaps more so than the average reader.

This book is well written which promotes the speed at which one finishes it; but is clearly written for a popular audience. As far as a criticism, I believe that this particular volume introduces more questions then it answers. The positive side of that remark is the number of splendid conversations that the book sparks. I have had many an intellectual discussion of science, philosophy and theology with friends and colleagues as the result of just some of those unanswered questions found in the book.

I would recommend this book.

My only request of Dr. Foerst is that another volume on this topic is written that dives more deeply into some of material introduced in this first book.

4 out of 5 stars The begining of some great discussions........2006-04-22

As a former student of Dr. Foerst, I was somewhat predisposed to the material that is presented in this book, perhaps more so than the average reader.

This book is well written which promotes the speed at which one finishes it; but is clearly written for a popular audience. As far as a criticism, I believe that this particular volume introduces more questions then it answers. The positive side of that remark is the number of splendid conversations that the book sparks. I have had many an intellectual discussion of science, philosophy and theology with friends and colleagues as the result of just some of those unanswered questions found in the book.

I would recommend this book.

My only request of Dr. Foerst is that another volume on this topic is written that dives more deeply into some of material introduced in this first book.

2 out of 5 stars Provocative Title, Much Less Provocative Text.......2005-07-09

The title of Ms. Foerst's book brings together two of humankind's greatest fears and desires: God and artificial intelligence. But despite such lofty goals, the text is mostly a rather mundane recollection of her days in the MIT AI lab during the 90s. These stories, such as accounts of the way humans emotionally responded to the faces of machines, are only occasionally marginally interesting. However, to her credit, she provides a more humanist perspective on human/robot interactions than a more technically focused writer would have.

The real problem with the book is when it actually tries to fulfill the lofty goals towards the end. This has the unfortunate result of taking the reader on a mixed up journey into human/robot and human/human interactions culminating in the conclusion that the path to world peace is for everyone to treat everyone else with the same friendly curiosity with which they treat robots. No joke...if you would just be nice to everyone, and everyone else would do the same, then we'd have world peace. It's that simple! And luckily, because of robots, we now understand this fact.

Clearly the argument has slightly more depth than my above characterization, but that is the general conclusion. And the reader is just left wondering at the end if there was something more valuable we could learn from robots.

Also, if you're curious, she is theologically quite liberal. So within the context of the book, God is more clockmaker than the God of the Bible.

4 out of 5 stars An interesting and bold narration.......2005-05-27

Those readers who have no religious beliefs but yet are interested in or working in the field of artificial intelligence may think that this book would not be very interesting or important, or possibly an apology for a particular religious worldview. When beginning the book this attitude will be reinforced somewhat, since it takes a while for the author to develop her main themes. Once she does however the book is fascinating, and her discussion of some of the issues in artificial intelligence is highly original and insightful. Considering the environment in which she worked it is refreshing to learn that the author was taken seriously, in spite of her overt expression of her religious beliefs. The only minus to the book is that the author concentrates her attention on robotics, which is a very narrow field of artificial intelligence at the present time. Machines can be intelligent to various degrees without looking like humanoids and without interacting with the environment in the manner that the author describes in great detail in the book. Indeed, these machines are more than just the "machines that sit on the desk" to quote the author. No, they cannot move in the world as humans do, but their abilities to perform tasks in a way that cannot be done by humans attests to their cognitive abilities.

Along with those who work in the field, the author has developed a deep appreciation of the magnificence of the human machine. She encapsulates her view of humanity not according to the usual classification, but according to human capabilities. Humans can tell stories ("homo narrans"), can stand upright ("homo erectus"), can use technology to change the world ("homo faber"), can engage in creativity ("homo ludens"), and can hold to religious beliefs ("homo religiosus"). There are of course other machines, biological and otherwise, that can do some of these things, but the human machine is unique in being able to do all of them, and then with a relatively low energy requirement. This of course does not make the human machine superior to the others, and in fact humans cannot compete at all with some of the machines of today in certain tasks. Those who build robots though insist on replicating the idiosyncrasies of the human machine, even though these robots may not be useful in any practical sense. The author's goal in the book is to try and understand why the building of these robots has been such an intense activity in the last half-century.

It is clear that many do not find the prospect of humanoid robots very pleasant at all. Hollywood movies, with their depiction of machines bent on the annihilation of humankind, are both an expression and cause of this anxiety. But stories of non-human entities possessing high degrees of intelligence have also pervaded our myths and stories long before the invention of film. As an example she describes the myth of the "golem" coming from Jewish mysticism. Interestingly, in some stories, golems are made from clay and constructed through words and numbers. Their purpose is to assist in the understanding of the world, a mythos or paradigm that definitely intersects with the one in artificial intelligence.

More interesting in her discussion of "rebuilding ourselves" is the reminder of a peculiar phenomenon that takes place in the artificial intelligence community, indeed in the scientific research community as a whole. This regards the "demystification" or diminishing of awe when a scientific explanation is found for a particular human capability. Indeed, it seems that every time an advance is made in artificial intelligence, such as a machine beating the best backgammon or chess player in the world, it eventually gets dismissed as being merely the result of a sophisticated program, and not as an example of true intelligence.

The author of course is not free of biases, as no one can be, whether they are in the scientific profession or not. Her intellectual honesty though is refreshing, and she is unashamed of her devout religious beliefs. She correctly recognizes that there are many in the scientific community who occupy both laboratories and churches, and make significant contributions to science. Whether they are scientists who sometimes practice religion or religionists who sometimes engage in scientific research is perhaps left to debate. But the author believes that these individuals, along with all the rest of humanity, clearly benefit and learn from social interactions, and that such interactions are even absolutely necessary for true intelligence to arise. Sometimes though these interactions go awry, and result in devastating conflict, this occurring primarily because of a diminution in respect for differences or of parties not being in the same physical space. The acceptance of humanoid robots she argues will therefore depend on whether their differences can be respected and whether they can interact with us in the same physical space. These robots can be viewed therefore as a gauge on how far we have advanced in our acceptance and respect for others. Certainly this is a good reason for the creation of these machines if none other can be found. But many other reasons can be found.....
The God Machine (Hellboy)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Super Reader
  • If you like HB, you'll love this one
The God Machine (Hellboy)
Thomas E. Sniegoski
Manufacturer: Pocket Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1416507841

Book Description

Hellboy, a bloodred, cloven-hoofed demon raised by the United States government, is a top field agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He questions the unknown -- then beats it into submission.

Religious artifacts from every faith are disappearing without a trace. The identity of the perpetrator is a complete mystery until Hellboy and Liz Sherman -- acting on an unlikely tip from a ghost -- foil a museum heist attempted by crude, robotic constructs inhabited by human spirits.

One of these freed human spirits offers to help Hellboy track down those who imprisoned him: a fanatical order of psychics obsessed with creating a new messiah, one that will bring about a new stage of evolution for mankind -- whether mankind is willing or not. Now only Hellboy and his colleagues stand between a vulnerable humanity and an evil, vengeful god....

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Super Reader.......2007-08-04

Sniegoski has got this down, I think.

"It was a near perfect day up till now. But zombie cyborgs...Hellboy sighed. "I'm not sure I deserve so much fun."

This novel has the right combination of humor, horror and pathos for Hellboy, as a group of spirit-mediums attempt to incorporate and raise a god they worship.

All the crazy weird crap is there, too, along with Director Manning's Uncle Steve's ghost, undertakers, storage facilities for excess paranormal artifacts, and other oddities.

His time working on BPRD comics certainly seems to have assisted the writing for this book.

It appears this a series that it will continue to be worth getting.

5 out of 5 stars If you like HB, you'll love this one.......2006-10-29

It started out slow developing the characters, but then built to a climax and ended really well.
H. G. Wells: The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, The Food of the Gods (Masters Library)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    H. G. Wells: The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, The Food of the Gods (Masters Library)

    Manufacturer: Amaranth Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Leather Bound
    ASIN: 0808162985

    Product Description

    Bound in blue bonded leather. Gilt edges, silver titles, and raised spine.
    Gods and Monsters: Movers, Shakers, and Other Casualties of the Hollywood Machine
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Gods and Monsters: Movers, Shakers, and Other Casualties of the Hollywood Machine
      Peter Biskind
      Manufacturer: Nation Books
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 1560255455

      Book Description

      Peter Biskind authored two of the most talked about and read books of the last decade—Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood and its bestselling sequel Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. Gods and Monsters chronicles the cause and courses of Hollywood over the last three decades—the super freaks, lowlifes, charlatans and occasional geniuses who have left their bite mark on American culture, as refracted through the trajectory of Peter Biskind’s career. The ghosts of McCarthyism and the blacklist haunt Gods and Monsters as do the casualties of the counterculture and the New Hollywood—the story of Sue Menges, the ’70s “super-agent” whose career went mysteriously south, is extraordinarily poignant, as is the example of Terence Malick, whose light shone so brightly in the same period but then disappeared until 1997’s The Thin Red Line. But at the heart of the book are the likes of Warren Beatty, Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford and Quentin Tarantino and uber-producers Don Simpson and Harvey Weinstein and their excess lifestyles, all of whom Biskind portrays in great Dickensian detail, charting how they have had a simultaneously strangulating and liberating effect on the industry.
      The Mechanical God: Machines in Science Fiction (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The Mechanical God: Machines in Science Fiction (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)

        Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
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        ASIN: 0313222746
        The God of the MacHine
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          The God of the MacHine
          Isabel Paterson
          Manufacturer: Caxton
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover
          ASIN: B000KRQQVU
          The Empire God Built: Inside Pat Robertson's Media Machine
          Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
          • A lot of good information here....
          • Good. But not the best. read on...
          • Try another book!
          The Empire God Built: Inside Pat Robertson's Media Machine
          Alec Foege
          Manufacturer: Wiley
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

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          ASIN: 047115993X

          Book Description

          Say the name Pat Robertson to ten different people and you will get ten different reactions. To some, he's the televangelist host of The 700 Club, expounding a fundamentalist Christian philosophy. To others, he's a member in good standing of the American aristocracy, the son of a United States Senator and a descendent of the Duke of Marlborough. To savvy businesspeople, he's the CEO of International Family Entertainment, a publicly traded company that owns The Family Channel, Mary Tyler Moore Productions, and The Ice Capades. He is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He is the nation's number three cable operator, behind Ted Turner and HBO. Politicians know him as the head of the 1.7 million member Christian Coalition, widely considered to be the most powerful lobbying group in the United States. Pat Robertson is all these things and more, which makes him a media mogul of astonishing wealth, power, and influence.

          The Empire God Built takes you inside Pat Robertson's media machine, from the state-of-the-art television studios and telemarketing offices in Virginia Beach to the halls of Regent University to a Manhattan Christian Coalition meeting, complete with satellite feed from headquarters. Author Alec Foege pieces together the entire corporate puzzle, showing not only how Robertson assembled his empire, but how all the segments work together in pursuit of supremely ambitious goals measured by both fiscal and political bottom lines. It is a compelling examination of the power of television, technology, and big business, and how one man mastered all three to spread his message around the world.

          There's more to Pat Robertson than meets the eye

          "Robertson runs his personal business in as much secrecy as the law allows and as much obfuscation as he can create. But no one doubts his fortune. Overnight, he and his son Tim turned a $183,000 investment into $90 million." —William Prochnau and Laura Parker, Vanity Fair

          "A lot of advertisers really aren't even aware that Pat Robertson chairs The Family Channel." —Jon Mandel, Senior Vice President, Grey Advertising

          "The Family Channel is one of the most profitable television channels ever, religious or secular." —The New York Times

          "[Robertson] certainly [is] one of the visionaries in the [media] business." —Fred Dressler, Vice President of Programming, Time Warner Cable

          "A visionary and a smart businessman." —Ken Auletta, The New Yorker

          "[Pat Robertson] is viewed as a very smart businessman, along with his son Tim. Their results speak for themselves." —Jeff Sine, Morgan Stanley

          "He's a businessman. . . . The product he sells is religion." —Ed Rollins, political consultant

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars A lot of good information here...........2007-05-29

          There is a lot of good information here concerning the propaganda king of our generation....and his vast wealth.

          4 out of 5 stars Good. But not the best. read on..........1997-11-30

          If you really want to find out about the real Pat Robertson read "The Most Dangerous Man In The World" by Rob Boston. It gives you a real sense of this media nut and his wacko ideas. Viewers beware.....Robertson is a fraud!

          2 out of 5 stars Try another book!.......1997-10-28

          This book misses the point. The author is ignorant of most of the themes of american religious history that puts robertson in his proper context. There are many problems with Robertson, but a book like this will not illuminate them. The worst thing about the book is that much of it could have been have written by anyone. For example, one chapter is about the CBN web page and what is on it. Another chapter is the authors retelling of a speech that Robertson gave at the republican national convention. Any reader could just read the actual script and get more out of it. In short, for anyone looking for a book on Robertson try David Harell's book on Robertson, it is the most balanced. This book is not really helpful, it is style over substance.

          Books:

          1. History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
          2. History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
          3. History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
          4. History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
          5. Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child
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          8. In the Realm of the Never Fairies (Disney Fairies)
          9. Indigo Adults: Forerunners of the New Civilization
          10. Kingdom of Fear : Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

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