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.

Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, The Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians (Broadsides from the Collection ... from the Collection of Ricky Jay)

Average customer rating:

stage door history
An Extraordinary Exhibition of Showbills
Extraordinary Exhibitions - A wonderful book!
This latest Jay offering is a must-buy

Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, The Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians (Broadsides from the Collection ... from the Collection of Ricky Jay)
Ricky Jay
Manufacturer: Quantuck Lane
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1593720122

Book Description

This is an informal history of sensational, scientific, silly, satisfying, and startling attractions based on seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth-century broadsides from Ricky Jay's extraordinary collection. It includes observations on the convention of promoting such appearances, digressions on the manner and method of printing advertisements to do so, and insights into the psychology employed to that end. All are compiled in a monograph that is itself a shameless attempt to entertain and elucidate.

It is the contention of the author that neither the tongue of the most florid orator, nor pen of the most ingenious writer, can sufficiently describe the elegance, symmetry, and prodigious accomplishments of those who pass in review within these pages…

Included are broadsides advertising: an armless dulcimer player, a ghost showman, a singing mouse, a chess-playing automaton, a cannon ball juggler, an African hermaphrodite, a chicken incubator, a rabbi with prodigious memory, a ventriloquist, a spirit medium, a glass blower, a woman magician, a speaking machine, a mermaid, a bullet catcher, a flea circus, and an equestrian bee keeper.

Customer Reviews:

stage door history.......2007-03-08

This book is a fascinating collection of antique advertisements for entertainment acts ranging from the whimsical to the bizarre. The broadsides themselves are surprisingly readable and Jay's commentary illuminates the subject matter in a way that sheds light on multiple facets of the social context the broadsides existed within. It's an art book, an intriguing work of history, a compendium of the bizarre, a chronicle of advertising techniques, and a unique stage door view on just exactly what humans will define as "entertaining".

An Extraordinary Exhibition of Showbills.......2005-08-27

If you ever have a chance for a collector to show his collection, you run the risk of being terribly bored. Unless you yourself collect stamps, coins, thimbles, Hummel figurines, or Corvettes, you are unlikely to sympathize with the delight the collector takes in his hoard. Ricky Jay is a fascinating man; he is a master magician, a historian of show business (especially of novelty acts), and an actor in David Mamet's movies. He collects something few others do: showbills for the jugglers, magicians, animal acts, ventriloquists, and other eccentric and novelty performances through almost four centuries. Don't worry, it is far from boring. Around eighty of his specimens are on display in a large format book, _Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, the Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians_ (Quantuck Lane Press). The broadsides are funny and beautiful, and Jay's learned and enthusiastic commentary about each one is on the page facing each specimen. It is all thoroughly entertaining, and like any show advertising, the posters make you wonder if the acts are really as described. There is so much verbal and graphic hyperbole on display here that a bit of incredulity is only sensible, but still: who, if confronted by an announcement for Signor Cappelli and his Learned Cats, with assurances that after he introduces his cats to the audience, they will "beat a drum, turn a spit, grind knives, strike upon an anvil, roast coffee, ring bells, set a piece of Machinery in motion to grind rice in the Italian manner with many other astonishing exercises", who, I say, would let incredulity overcome a wish to get a peek at the show?

Let me just take the three displays mentioned in the subtitle. "Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head" were on display in London around 1840, and it was, if the description is to be believed, truly enormous, eighteen by seven feet, and weighing 1,700 pounds. What the head was, we do not know; one observer said it was likely that of a whale, and another said it was an obviously gigantic bird, fish, or lizard. The Whimsiphusicon had one of those fanciful names showmen of the 19th century enjoyed. It is advertised on a playbill for the ventriloquist Christopher Lee Sugg in 1816. Jay says, "Sugg, like a number of early magicians, was a proponent of theatrical neologism used to entice, or more likely confuse, the public." Indeed, Sugg explained on the playbill that the device was also dubbed "The Wandering Melodistical" and was a "Pill to Banish Melancholy," but it is safe to say he didn't give any secrets away until the performance. "Death to the Savage Unitarians" is on an Argentinean bill from 1842, and does not refer to the members of the religious sect, but to the country's Unitarian political group who favored a liberal rule of law and a strong central Argentinean government. They opposed the dictator Juan Manuel Rosas, and probably the phrase was included by the publicist who had drawn up the bill to ensure it would not offend the dictator. It caps an ad for "Robert and His Wife" who did magic and juggling, including "the new trick of the ceramic plates that will very much please the spectators" and "the lovely balancing act of the two dogs dressed as a Marquesa and a Marquis."

There are scores of other playbills for acts in this beautifully produced book that shows some astonishing curiosities, well annotated by the erudite collector himself. It is full of jolly whimsy, for every act depicted is shown at its best, even though it might be promising more than it could actually produce. There is a taint of regret, here, though, on every page. As the playbills frequently remind us, the like of these productions will never be seen again. Oh, how I would love to see Daniel Wildman, for instance, the first and foremost equestrian apiarist of two hundred years ago, who rode his horse standing up while five swarms of bees covered his face, swarms which would thereupon alight on specific locations the performer designated by his command.

Extraordinary Exhibitions - A wonderful book!.......2005-08-15

This is a wonderful book by a truly genius author. Also, make sure you put Ricky Jay's other books on your list. He has a great mind and his books are phenomenal!
Harry Monti
Society of American Magicians
National President 1999-2000

This latest Jay offering is a must-buy.......2005-07-24

Ricky Jay is a national treasure. He's the head curator of a continuing collection of the curious, marginal, sometimes macabre but always compelling congregation of entertainers who have slipped through the trapdoor of time's stage. His newest masterpiece, Extraordinary Exhibitions, is a catalogue of broadsides heralding some of the strangest performers that ever graced an auditorium or a sidewalk. You'll meet Pietro Stadelmann, a seventeenth century armless dulcimer player. As well as the nameless 27 year-old Angolan "Famous African Hermaphrodite". And a South American trio whose huge excrescences extruding from their chins gave them their stage moniker "The Monstrous Craws". You can sit at the feet of Joice Heth, the 161 year-old former nursemaid of Little Georgie Washington, the marvelous showman P. T. Barnum's first client. There's singing mice, educated fleas and a Rabbi whose demonstrations of his prodigious memory were endorsed by the Pope himself. To paraphrase the immortal Charles Fort, you'll see a procession of the damned of showbiz. And thanks to the wonderful Mr. Jay, they'll walk (and bark, tumble, juggle, catch bullets, arm wrestle, rope dance and eat stones) again.

The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth

Average customer rating:

The evidence? The Truth?
100% in personal evidence, 0% in archive evidence
Packed with information, the real story.

The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth
Anton Joachimsthaler
Manufacturer: Arms & Armour
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

The evidence? The Truth?.......2000-06-13

If you are looking for something new and interesting on this subject, this is not the book for you. The author has cobbled together a great deal of previously published material from which he endeavors to garner the 'Truth' by the simple process of the vote system. Ergo, if two witnesses say one thing and a third says otherwise, then the two witness statement must be right! Always assuming that the two witnesses are in accordance with his ;feeling; on the subject.

The author spends many pages on the subject of the exact thickness of the bunker roof which, whilst mildly interesting, is of no great historical import.

Perhaps the only 'new' material which he introduces in the closing chapter is his hypothesis on the subject the love affair between Eva Braun-Hitler and Hermann Fegelein. Any credence which might be given to this is somewhat marred by the fact that his 'evidence' is mainly attributed to statements by Hitler's youngest secretary Frau Junge. Throughout the main body of his book the author has discounted all statements by Frau Jung as being 'unreliable'. Yet, suddenly, the reader is being asked to accept statements by the same witness as gospel.

There is nothing new here. Buy O'Donnell's The Bunker or Trevor Ropers The Last Days of Adolf Hitler. The former for entertainment and a host of fact. The latter for pure fact written very shortly after the events.

100% in personal evidence, 0% in archive evidence.......1998-03-11

With many details in Hitler's life and death, there are scores of myths, half-truths, and surmises. His death has its share of all three. Joachimsthaler does the best job I've seen in presenting and analyzing the evidence of personal testimonies of those involved with Hitler in his last days. However, he totally writes off the archival evidence from Moscow. To discover the full truth about Hitler's death, one must, at the very least, compare this book and the one by Ada Petrova and Peter Watson.

Packed with information, the real story........1997-10-22

Anton Joachimsthaler is clearly one of the most knowlegeable authors on this subject! The depth of his research is evident in his foot notes. All of his information and facts are backed- up by documentation. This is just one of his many books on WWII Germany.

The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS (Classic Military History)

Average customer rating:

Lifts The Veil Of A Carefully Cultivated Hollywood Myth
This book is quite an achievement
The Best, Most Thorough Account of the SS
Changed my view of the Third Reich
A comprehensive and frighteningly detailed history

The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS (Classic Military History)
Heinz Zollin Höhne
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922-1945
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ASIN: 0141390123
Release Date: 2001-08-28

Book Description

"A monumental achievement." (The New York Times Book Review)

The SS was the terror of Europe. Swearing eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler, it infiltrated every aspect of German life and was responsible for the deaths of millions. This gripping history recounts the strange and, at times, absurd true story of Hitler's SS. It exposes an organization that was not directed by some devilishly efficient system but was the product of accident, inevitability, and the random convergence of criminals, social climbers, and romantics. Above all, this eye-opening book describes in fascinating detail the chaotic political conditions that allowed the SS-despite rivalries and bizarre conditions-to assume and exercise unaccountable power.

Customer Reviews:

Lifts The Veil Of A Carefully Cultivated Hollywood Myth.......2007-09-23

Heinze Höhne spins a masterful tale of the organizational quagmire that was Nazi Germany's SS. In so doing, he punches a huge hole in the Hollywood-developed myth which usually portrayed them as evil, highly-organized and efficient automatons in films like The Eagle Has Landed. Even worse, whole generations have grown up believing such poppycock as "true history" and that Heinrich Himmler was the second, most powerful man in the regime.

Well, evil they certainly were. But organized and efficient? Not hardly. Nor was "Reichheini" [the unflattering nickname pinned on Himmler by a host of Nazi Party members and SS leaders] as overwhelmingly powerful an individual as he appears in movies and novels.

Not only was he and his "claptrap racial superiority theories" [the words of one highly-placed Nazi] more often than not ignored, but several senior SD [security branch] officers were either openly critical ["He had power but in practice he made no use of it in Germany; he and his power were a pricked balloon" - Otto Ohlendorf], or simply disobeyed his orders.

One example of this was Dr. Werner Best, his man in occupied Denmark. Under orders to round up all of that country's 6,500 Jews for removal to the camps, he simply arrange for their escape to neighbouring, neutral Sweden. He then sent a note to Berlin which said "1. Anti-Jewish action in Denmark carried out without incident .... 2. As of today Denmark can be regarded as free of Jews."

Himmler had even less control over his vaunted, fighting arm, the Waffen-SS, as top generals like Sepp Dietrich, Paul Hausser, Wilhelm Bittrich, and "Panzer" Meyer paid him no attention whatsoever.

Fully indexed with several photos of people like Dietrich, Heydrich, Himmler, and marching columns of SS, as well as the death camps, it also contains a detailed fold-out organizational chart of the structure of the SS in 1944.

Fascinating insight, this book, first published in 1966 in Germany, is sure to raise more than a few eyebrows among those of you who grew up believing the Hollywood version.

This book is quite an achievement.......2007-08-16

In this quasi encyclopedic book the author brings alive the SS and the men that ran that organization. I did learn more about Himmler's and Heydrich's character in this book than in their respective biographies. This learned effort by Mr. Höhne combines scholarship with anecdotes and historical "trivia". This book will shed light on most readers about the organizational structure, mission and the legacy of horror that the SS left at its wake. Upon reading this book it was impressed on me the importance of checking budding dictatorships at their outset.

The Best, Most Thorough Account of the SS.......2007-07-06

This is a splendid book! Hohne has really spent time delving into this bizarre Order, and the result is nothing short of impressive. The most fascinating thing to come out of this was how unorganized the Third Reich was. I grew up thinking the SS was the bastion of ruthless efficiency carried out by the Third Reich war machine, but the author shows us the truth behind it all. Of course the SS soldiers themselves were ruthless, efficient, and everything you've been brought up to believe - but the top brass and politicos of the Order were nothing more than petty, squabbling bureaucrats, looking for anything to get in good with the Fuhrer. The triumph of this book, as I see it, is the combination of the two. You are shown the SS of legend and the SS of reality.

It is always fascinating, and although there are some dull pages dedicated to numbers, facts, figures, etc, the pace quickly picks up and you are never left wanting for interesting material. I read this as a college student because I wanted to know more about the SS and the Third Reich in general. It solved all my problems and dispelled a lot of rumors as well. (One such being how the SS used to work with the major Zionist movements in trying to EXPORT the Jews to Israel instead of killing them. Also fascinating is the Teutonic Knight element injected into the Order - they really thought they were the reincarnation of these old Knights! Lots more...)

In short, the book is long but does not drag for more than a few pages at a time. It's very well written and fascinating - and if you have ever wondered about the SS as one of the most notorious groups in history you'll love this book. Pick it up, it's a great read.

Changed my view of the Third Reich.......2007-06-16

This book exploded some of the myths that I had come to accept as a given on the Nazi regime. I believed that the Nazi regime was a well oiled machine that ran more efficiently than any other in the world. Then I come to find out that the regime worked on nothing more than a cult of personality and that personality's ability to foster rivalries between competing forces on the lower rungs of power. It's amazing to me that in this chaotic atmosphere this regime was able to make the trains run on time let alone reconstitute the most powerful and technologically advanced army in the world.

This was also the most comprehensive look at the SS I have read as of yet. The author goes through the organization with a fine tooth comb to really give one a good look into this eclectic organization. The author goes through the reasons why some would join the SS for the credibility and standing membership gives the individual within the Nazi regime. Many professionals joined this organization so that they would be able to advance in their careers within the framework of the regime even though they were philosophically opposed to the organization. This of course does not go for every member. Himmler also had philosophical and practical problems between keeping his organization "pure" and raising enlistment numbers within the SS so he could gain more power and influence.

The book does a very good job describing what was happening during the regimes final days. Himmler's pipe dreams of leading the SS to the battlefield to save the German army to his belief that he could take over and negotiate terms with the allies and not be held to account for the horrible crimes committed under his authority. As the regime collapsed around its leading figures, they continued to exist in a world that was divorced from reality. Whether it was Goering's art and fine wine collections or his drug habit, Hitler's reliance on the miracle weapon or Himmler's unfounded belief in his military prowess, the leadership of the Third Reich was rarely in touch with reality. Even as Hitler's ability to actually command any part of Germany, Himmler could still not bring himself to act against the fuehrer.

This book was such a great find for me that I hope others may read this work also. There are rather few reviews for this work even though I believe it should be an essential read for anyone who wants to understand this era history. It is big but don't let the size intimidate you because this is one book that rewards the effort put into it.

A comprehensive and frighteningly detailed history.......2006-12-11

This is a huge book in a number of respects, not merely for the density of its 600 pages. It posits a number of interesting theories/takes on the rise of the SS, and I particularly liked the details about the sometimes-overlooked Reinhard Heydrich, who - fortunately for him - was killed half-way through the war. The sheer mundaneness of butchers like Himmler and Eichmann is positively eery, and although we all have horrible visions of the atrocities and most of us have seen Schindler's List, the systematic cataloguing by the authors of the mathematical progression from pseudo-masonic movement (as the SS was) to mass-murder seems scarily logical - small-steps, softly-softly, they-won't notice...this is a book you can dip into whenever you want to feel really, really uncomfortable...

Jefferson's Secrets: Death And Desire In Monticello

Average customer rating:

Having It Both Ways
Extremely disappointing biography of Jefferson
His own way of looking at things....
The Inner Jefferson
Another Fine Contribution by Andrew Burstein

Jefferson's Secrets: Death And Desire In Monticello
Andrew Burstein
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0465008127

Book Description

In this moving and intimate look at the final days of our most enigmatic president, Andrew Burstein sheds new light on what Thomas Jefferson actually thought about sexuality, race, gender, and politics.

Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, leaving behind a series of mysteries that captured the imaginations of historical investigators-an interest rekindled by the recent revelation that he fathered a child by Sally Hemmings, a woman he legally owned-yet there is still surprisingly little known about him as a man. In Jefferson's Secrets Andrew Burstein focuses on Jefferson's last days to create an emotionally powerful portrait of the uncensored private citizen who was also a giant of a man.

Drawing on sources previous biographers have glossed over or missed entirely, Burstein uncovers, first and foremost, how Jefferson confronted his own mortality; and in doing so, he reveals how he viewed his sexual choices.

Delving into Jefferson's soul, Burstein lays bare the president's thoughts about his own legacy, his predictions for American democracy, and his feelings regarding women and religion. The result is a moving and surprising work of history that sets a new standard, post-DNA, for the next generation's reassessment of the most evocative and provocative of this country's founders.

Customer Reviews:

Having It Both Ways.......2007-07-19

The good stuff in this book is invaluable to anyone with a serious interest in Jefferson. I'd award five stars for such unique scholarship, but I've subtracted two stars as a rebuke to the author and to his editors, if there were any, for perverse self-indulgence. The readability of "Jefferson's Secrets" is damaged by its repetitiousness; Burstein even repeats the same quotations from Jefferson's letters in three and four chapters, without significantly adding to his exegesis. But a more serious flaw is Burstein's rhapsodic admiration of Jefferson's mind at the same time that he protrays the man as a consummate hypocrite and egotist--not only a slave-owner and unreconstructed racist but an exploiter of servants to the point of callously making one his concubine, a Jacobin in rhetoric who lived in the style of an ancien regime aristocrat, a man who gave his daughters a decorous education yet maintained that women had no claim to equality. Burstein's defense seems to be that we should forgive Jefferson's inconsistencies because he was conflicted, and a man of his times. Indeed, the central theme of the book is to demonstrate exactly how Jefferson was a man of his times, whose world-view was shaped by the ideas and particularly the scientific knowledge of the Enlightenment. That's the good stuff, the analysis of what Jefferson himself thought he meant by what he said and wrote, given the "vocabulary" of his time and place. However, in the next breath Burstein proceeds to declare that Jefferson was in some sense the first Modern Man, a harbinger of Romanticism precisely because of his ambiguities, the very same ambiguities that Burstein has just dispelled. Really, Professor Burstein, it seems to be YOU who are conflicted, by your adulation of the "timeless" Jefferson even while you pin the human Jefferson to the cultural matrix of his lifetime!

Extremely disappointing biography of Jefferson.......2007-06-23

There is next to nothing here that caught my interest. I was looking forward very much to this work, and I was extremely disappointed in it. I had just finished an excellent biography of John Adams, which impelled me to try this one. I can only recommend that you don't waste your time. Every moment on this book was, to me, a complete waste of time.

His own way of looking at things...........2007-06-07

Thomas Jefferson was a great and brilliant, but flawed and unconventional man. What can the zillionth book add that hasn't already been said? Quite a lot. It should not be anybody's first book on Jefferson, but it should be everybody's second, or third. Of course, Burstein hasn't got Jefferson "figured out", but neither does anyone else.....

This wonderful volume focuses on Mr. Jefferson's later years, and does give us a good view of his thought processes. Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and Jefferson can be quoted to "prove" ANYTHING. "Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that this people are to be free,..." The inscription on the wall of the Jefferson Memorial ends with a period, but look up the rest of the quote. I use the comma deliberately. He who said that "All men are created equal" also had things to say about the orangutang. And he also had sex with his slave, Sally? Well...maybe. In any event, he documented his views on this subject, too, complete with charts. The ongoing arguement with John Marshall gets coverage, too. It has been more completely documented elsewhere, but Burstein does an excellent job. This feud is truly one of the most profound topics in American history. It spanned from their early years till the day Jefferson died, and beyond, going from a rivalry, to disagreement, to blind, unreasoning, hatred after the Aaron Burr treason case of 1807. My own opinion is that the cause of the whole mess was multifaceted, involving familial, personal, political, and philosophical elements. {Not religious; they agreed about that} In this battle of giants, we have the origin of the Civil War, and of much of our political conflict today. An athiest who "swore on the altar of God"? This is covered, too. Jefferson may not have been orthodox, but he was assuradely not an athiest. A slave owner who hated slavery? Not unusual...the same is true of George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, George Wythe, and Robert E. Lee. {Lee inherited his slaves, and freed them before he had to}. A word of caution; though some of the founding fathers did not believe in slavery, they certainly did not believe in Black equality, either.

Andrew Burstein has produced a superb work. As I said, NOT a first book on the subject, but an essential one. For a first book, see Joseph Ellis, or Fawn Brodie. Dumas Malone is, of course, definitive, but few will mine the gold in those six profound volumes.

The Inner Jefferson.......2006-10-20

Burstein has written an insightful book on the Jefferson, as he says, that has usually been ignored by many other historians, i.e. in the period after his presidency. Specifically, Burstein analyzes the thoughts and attitudes held by Jefferson on life, the role of women and slaves in society, religion, freedom of thought, politics and other topics. The Jefferson that emerges from Burstein's study is a multi-faceted man who both inspires awe for his intelligence and his abilities but also sets him in place as a creature of his time, especially concerning the issue of slavery.

Burstein is especially keen on observing Jefferson's use of words to convey his inner most feelings and thoughts. He is especially observant of the medical terminology that Jefferson uses in discussing many different subjects. As Burstein mentioned, he usually didn't give his correspondent everything he was looking for in terms of revealing his innermost thoughts and secrets. After his presidency, Jefferson preferred a retreat from the public sphere and generally guarded his privacy. But we do get to understand Jefferson's devotion to his family, his sometimes very contradictory statements on human liberty and freedom especially when juxtaposed against the very present institution of slavery, his views on republican government and many other areas that he expounded on.

There are friends, family members, well-known politicians, doctors, thinkers and others who emerge in Burstein's book, mainly through the correspondence that Burstein uses to help bring light to the elusive aspects of Jefferson's attitudes and sensibilities. The controversies surrounding Jefferson and the institution of slavery are discussed, especially concerning the generally accepted sexual relationship with Sally Hemings, with interesting insights by Burstein on Jefferson's attitudes on sexual relationships, racial differences and so forth. Though he would be considered a racist today, he was a creature of his time, with an odd, but seemingly well-thought out view of the nature of the races (not that his view was right).

Burstein really does try to understand the foundations of Jefferson's inner beliefs and sensibilities. Jefferson was a devotee to the rights of man (though this didn't include everyone in his day), his family (he was especially close to his granddaughter Ellen), and the principles of republican government. Interestingly, despite his advocacies, he often turned to others to make the effort to combat his political opponents, we see this in his wanting to combat the histories written by such Federalists as Chief Justice Marshall.

The reader will get to see snippets of the inner Jefferson in this book. Burstein, as he stated he wanted to accomplish, succeeds fairly well in presenting the living Jefferson as opposed to the dying Jefferson, though we do read of the effects of aging and other health issues that gradually took their toll on his physical body. We see the many facets of this highly intelligent human being who was such an influence in his day and through his words, actions and ideals continues to be to the present. The debates go on.

Another Fine Contribution by Andrew Burstein.......2005-11-17

Jefferson has now fallen into the same category as Lincoln: given the zillions of books already written about him, what is there left to add? Burstein's previous book on TJ ("The Inner Jefferson") established that he had quite a lot to contribute to the literature, much of it quite unique in perspective. The same is certainly true of this volume as well.

The focus here is on the retired Jefferson (1809-1826), and much of the author's material is drawn from TJ's private papers after leaving office. One of Burstein's great virtues--perhaps his greatest virtue--is that he looks for unique aspects not generally already addressed by other historians. For example, the impact of "time and mortality" on TJ's thought; his medical concerns and how these concerns are reflected in the unique vocabulary of the 18th Century (e.g., what is the meaning of "sensation"?); and whether there is something to learn about his political views from looking at these issues. Similarly, how did he conceive of "nature"?

Burstein also looks at that perennial issue of TJ and slavery, including an interesting chapter on "sex with a servant" in an effort to probe that relationship. Did TJ's affinity for the ancient Greeks impact on his relationship with Sally Hemmings?--this is the kind of issue that only Burstein would explore. The most fascinating section I found dealt with Jefferson's efforts to get favorable history written so that his record would remain untarnished after his death. I am not quite sure anyone else has dealt with this issue. Finally, the topic is TJ and dying, which ends up focusing upon TJ's religious orientation during this period. Burstein's research is, as usual, prodigious as he searches for evidence to support his interpretations. While a great deal of speculation and imaginative thinking are at work here, Burstein continues to generate scintillating and provocative work that is highly unique and valuable. While one may not always agree with his interpretations, the process of considering them continues to be of substantial value.

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A New Insight
Adolf Hitler
Does Not Meet Expectations..A HS Textbook at Best...
Is He A Real Man
Wes from Richveiw Middle School

The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler
James Cross Giblin
Manufacturer: Clarion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Holocaust | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Presidents & Heads of State | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929: A Wall Street Journal Book for Children
A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (Newbery Honor Book)
Hitler Youth (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards))

ASIN: 0395903718

Book Description

Many people believe Hitler was the personification of evil. In this intriguing biography, James Cross Giblin penetrates this faade and presents a picture of a complex personat once a brilliant, influential politician and a deeply disturbed man. In a straightforward and nonsensational manner, the author explores the forces that shaped the man as well as the social conditions that furthered his rapid rise to power. Against a background of crucial historical events, Giblin traces the arc of Hitler's life: his childhood, his years as a frustrated artist in Vienna, his extraordinary rise as dictator of Germany, his final days in an embattled bunker under Berlin. Powerful archival images provide a haunting visual accompaniment to this clear and compelling account of a life that left an ineradicable mark on our world. Author's note, bibliography, index.

Customer Reviews:

A New Insight .......2006-12-14

This book is about Adolf Hitler. Before I hated Hitler blindly only because of the Holocaust. Now I still hate him, but with a bit more understanding. There is no excuse for what he did, but I believe it may not have been entirely his fault. As he had a difficult child, with his father abusing him or his brothers, and later, after his father died, living homeless and poor in Vienna and Munich, I believe he may have been looking for a center to focus anger and to blame for his misfortune, and he found it in the Jewish people. On April 20, 1889, Hitler was born in a small village in Austria named Braunau. His mother pampered him, but his father had a short temper and would yell at and whip his children often. Adolf was not particularly good at school, gaining average grades at best. He was described as thin and pale. Hitler's ambition was to become an artist, but his father refused. Hitler only went to the college his father wished him to go to because that college had drawing classes. Hitler's father died on January 3, 1903, and in 1905, Hitler got a lung infection, and used it as a reason not to go back to school. Therefore, Hitler's education officially ended when he was sixteen. A couple years later, in 1907, Hitler's mother died of breast cancer. Hitler became homeless and had very little money. For years, he survived by painting postcards and then selling them. He barely managed to afford a small one-room apartment. When WWI started forcing Austria to conscript soldiers, Hitler at first avoided being drafted into the army. However, when Germany entered the war, Hitler willingly entered the army. He got many awards, but had to quit when his eyes were damaged. He soon started plotting to become Chancellor of Germany. He didn't want to be President, because the President actually had no power, and the Chancellor was the most powerful. Eventually he got his wish and made the Chancellor and President the same thing and even became the dictator for life of Germany. He wished to expand Germany and moved first into Austria. Austria was given to him to avoid war, and he even got part Czechoslovakia without bloodshed. However, as he moved on Poland, WWII was started. After many defeats and losses, Hitler turned to a goal of his- to destroy the Jewish people. An "option" was suggested and mobilized. Soon hundreds of Jews were being carted to death camps where they were exterminated or sent to factories to make supplies for the war. An attempt to assassinate Hitler failed, but injured him so he diminished. Always a powerful speaker, Hitler remained this, but was so shaky, the effect was diminished somewhat. Eventually, Hitler was pushed into an underground bunker in Berlin. There he shot himself in the head, and his new wife, Eva Hitler, took poison so as not to be captured by Allied troops. They were then cremated and buried. Several of Hitler's followers also killed themselves, preferring not to be killed by Allied persecutors. I would recommend this book to anyone who wished to know a bit more about Hitler or students who want to do a biography on him.

T. Sprock

Adolf Hitler.......2005-07-12

Adolf Hitler was one of the most evil leaders in human history.he dreamed of making Germany the most powerful country in the world.Hitler hated Jews,communis,andgypsies.He led to the organized murder of over 6 million men,women,and childern.

Does Not Meet Expectations..A HS Textbook at Best..........2005-03-31

I do not pretend to be an expert on European History from the end of WWI until the end of WWII. Additionally I hesitate to judge anyone's book as I realize that a book represents a huge amount of work and an author spends a great deal of time crafting conclusions or even questions that the author says cannnot be answered. However, I have read perhaps a dozen books including Toland, Shirer, Fest and even that recent book by Junge that deal directly in large parts with the life of Hitler. I have also read perhaps four dozen academic books dealing with European history in the first half of the 20th century. I am aware of the of the feuding conclusions regarding Hitler's and the German people's culpability and conduct regarding WWII. I thought this book might give me more insight or least throw some weight to one of the sides of the current historical arguments.

After reading the book, I found myslf severely disappointed. This book is so basic, it reads like a high school textbook. Indeed, it deals with areas of historical dispute by simply ignoring arguments in an almost breathtaking ways. For example, the author, absent one passing comment, simply rejects the argument that the Nazis had been behind the burning of the reichtag in 1933. Likewise, the author left out some of the most basic points found in any serious study. For example, he writes that Germans, dressed as Polish military, seized a German radio station. Although perhaps a bit too much to ask, the author totally leaves out the multiple postponements leading to the jump off. Not surprisingly, the auhor left out the fact of the German units that jumped off early and had to come pack over he border. As to the seizure of the German radio station, the author left out that the Germans left dead concentration camp inmates [called

Is He A Real Man.......2004-03-12

When ever you think of Adolf Hitler, you always think of what he has done wrong. I bet you never knew how he got people to believe him in his speeches. This man was a person like me and you until some dramatic changes in his young life. Did you know he also was very clever and, charming? Also he was very
intelagent and poor.
In this book it tells all the things that happened to Adolf Hitler.It tells how people believed. How people thought he was the one to lead Germany, but I guess that they never thought he would do so much evil.
He also wanted to do things in his life, and make a good difference as he was interested in the arts. This book tells his life from the beginning as a baby to his death. This shows how Adolf got supporters of the Nazi Party and how the Nazi Party got started.
I would suggest this book for people who want to learn about Adolf.Also I'd recommend this book for people 7th grade and over.

Wes from Richveiw Middle School.......2004-03-10

The story is about Adolf Hitler and his group called the Nazis.They killed all of the Jews they could in Germany.Adolf hitler was a deeply disturbed man who had a problem with gypsies, homosexuals and mostly jews. He was beaten by his father , his mother died of breast cancer,He eventually became homeless in vienna and sold paintings.In 1914 he was summoned to the Austiran army.He received two iron crosses for bravery.The story ends when the US army came and defeated the nazis . Then he was found he had committed suicidein a bunker after marring his wife the night before. I dinnt like this book because he killed alot of inocent people.

Mussolini: A Dictator Dies (World at War)

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Mussolini: A Dictator Dies (World at War)
G. C. Skipper
Manufacturer: Childrens Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Europe | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0516047906

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Nothing new, errors abound
Don't judge book by it's ugly cover.
Interesting attempt, but somehow disappointing
Interesting, BUT...Disappointing
A book whith a teory that Hitler scapes from the bunker.

The Death of Hitler
Ada Petrova , and Peter Watson
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared For Stalin From The Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides
Hitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB
Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich
Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

ASIN: 0393315436

Book Description

"Revealing and well-written…. A significant book."—Houston Chronicle

It is one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century: how, exactly, Adolf Hitler died and what happened to his remains. With access to the Russians' Hitler Archive, this book reveals not only what happened after the Russians captured Hitler's bunker but also why the Soviets felt the details of his death had to be suppressed. 52 photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Nothing new, errors abound.......2003-06-15

Though this book is impressively packaged and appears authoritative, it's anything but. The authors are pop historians who specialize in fiction and their weaknesses show throughout. There is almost no basic understanding of Hitler, his life, his personality or placing him in the proper historical context. There are a number of small, but nagging errors. Example: Hitler was punctilious in his personal hygiene, took two baths daily and was a fanatic about keeping clean. This is attested to by all who knew him. However, the authors claim that Hitler's architect, Albert Speer, claims Hitler had horrible B.O. (a claim he never made)and they repeat this canard three times.

Their examination of how Hitler died is similarly flawed and dated. It doesn't matter if bunker personnel like Baur, Linge and Kempka all have small discrepancies in their narratives, the fact remains that Hitler shot himself in the head and simultaneously took cyanide while Eva Braun took cyanide. End of story. The pages of padded material on Hitler's death drone on and tell the reader nothing new whatsoever.

As for the Russian archives and the supposedly flashy "new" material they unearthed... forget it. The new materials are a photo of Hitler's uniform jacket, some common photos and a sketch book of watercolors which the authors claim were all executed by Hitler. This ludicrous assertion is proven false by the inclusion of a postcard of Haus Wachenfeld which they claim Hitler painted in the 30's! The color photo of the postcard clearly shows it was never painted by Hitler.

This is a disappointing book for serious historian and novice alike. There is nothing new to justify its purchase.

Don't judge book by it's ugly cover........2002-03-11

After seeing their report on the learning channel, I decided to read the book. I was not disappointed. It is chock full of little blurbs of information about Hitler and his last days in the bunker. It comes across as an extremely long magazine article instead of a heavy "study" undertaken by college students. I recommend it as fluff reading for a vacation getaway, but for sincere hitler nuts its not enough.

Interesting attempt, but somehow disappointing.......2001-06-21

This book is written as a detective story and it is an interesting attempt to solve the misteries of Hitler's final days in Berlin. The Soviet style of segregating every piece of intelligence covered the last days and, of course, the investigations that followed the bunker capture. Despite the end of the cold war, the evidence is still fragmented and this book is an attempt to show a collection of definitive data. In this respect the book is quite interesting due to the good job made by the authors in collecting facts. Unfortunately the style is too journalistic, therefore a little dissapointing, since the narrative is sometime erratic and the plot is interspersed by minute informations of little value. So the work comes close to that sort of "light" reading about the history of the Fuhrer demise, while a more scholarlike approach is needed to deal with this matter, potentially embarassing for the many of politically "uncorrect" iussues still pending in the aftermath of IIWW.

Interesting, BUT...Disappointing.......2000-07-24

This is a fascinating topic, a real detective story for one of history's mysteries. (Though the mystery angle is not so great, just some minor twists and turns.) There is much in this volume that has been covered before---and done better (Trevor-Roper and O'Donnell, for example). The authors' arguments are poorly stated, disjointed, repetitive, and not particularly convincing. (Though they are probably---more or less---correct.) There's a rushed, let's-get-this-one-together-fast feel to the book (it's typos are both numerous and inexcusable). Essentially, what we've got going here is a refresher course. Interesting enough, but the billing far exceeds what's delivered between the covers.

A book whith a teory that Hitler scapes from the bunker........1999-04-28

The book Was he? by Miguel Rodriguez, has a teory of how Hitler scapes from the bunker in 1945. Even in Ada Petrova affirme that a forence doctor said that is impossible that Eva Braun's curpse founded was hers. In Was he? Chapter 12 resolve some misteries in Petrova book. Why Hitler change his all life physician Dr. Morell to Dr. Ludwig Stumpffeger, Why did Hitler called Robert Ritter von Greim in and exposed him by making him fly over half Germany, where the enemy's military aircrafts were flying in constant vigilance? Why so many German fighter planes were used to protect the airplane of von Greim, many of them shoot down during the trip, so that Hitler would tell him what he could have told him over the phone?. Why Hitler send to murder Hermann Fegelein who was husband of Braun's sister and Eva Braun don't even blink? Why the pick Walter Wagner to solemnize the marriage? If it took them a while to locate him it was because of the bombing to which Berlin was being subject. It would have been easier and less risky to use any other registrar, because in the the other Bunker, next to that of the Führer, they could have found someone suitable and the required documentation. Why when Hitler and Braun enter in the room to take "suicide", he has to go out of his chambers once more and to say goodbye for a second time. What is it? he repent or was not really willing to die? Why they found "Hitler's corpse with the shot and the scyanide capsule at the same time? Every thing is answer in This book.

Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich

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the dark, nihilistic end of the Thousand Year Reich
Not a Worthwhile Text
Brief look at Hitler's last days
Interesting (Brief) Look at Hitler's Last Days
Brief, Dry and Disappointing

Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich
Joachim Fest
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Presidents & Heads of State | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary
Downfall
Hitler
The Last Days of Hitler
The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared For Stalin From The Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides

ASIN: 0374135770

Book Description

There is nothing in recent history that comes close to the cataclysmic events of the spring of 1945. Never before has the defeat of a nation been accompanied by such monumental loss of life, such utter destruction. Author Joachim Fest shows that the devastation was the result of Hitler's determination to take the entire country down with him; he would make sure that his enemies would find only a wasteland, where once there was a thriving civilization.

Fest describes in riveting detail the final weeks of the war, from the desperate battles that raged night and day in the ruins of Berlin, fought by boys and old men, to the growing paranoia that marked Hitler's mental state--his utter disregard for the well being of both soldiers and civilians-- to his suicide and the efforts of his loyal aides to destroy his body before the advancing Russian armies reached Berlin. Inside Hitler's Bunker combines meticulous research with spellbinding storytelling and sheds light on events that, for those who survived them, were nothing less than the end of the world.

Customer Reviews:

the dark, nihilistic end of the Thousand Year Reich .......2007-02-27

Fest's haunting description of the last days of the Third Reich is a magnificent accomplishment. Despite its brevity, Fest manages to weave larger historical issues into a narrative full of surreal, compelling details about the Nazis' end. There are the evocative stories of Berlin in turmoil: SS patrols summarily hanging whoever they felt was a shirker, citizens struggling to survive in the shelled-out ruin of a city, the Soviet encirclement growing ever closer. Meanwhile, inside the Hitler's bunker, the story of delusion and denial grew ever more fantastical -- Hitler commanding generals to counterattack the Russians with army units existing in his imagination, and growing more and more furious with their "betrayals" as the Russian advance still came on.

The story arrives ultimately at the Russian approach to the bunker and the suicides of Hitler, Eva Braun, and the inner circle. Their grimly nihilistic end, burned in a trashheap, paralleled their desire for the same fate for Germany. Hitler wanted Germany to go down with him. That so many in Berlin actually did follow him in suicide, or fighting the Russians to the end against suicidal odds, seems now almost too bewildering to believe. Fest's book is bleak, but in a straightforward journalistic style argues why the end in the bunker was the culmination of Hitler's theatrical, nihilistic vision.

Not a Worthwhile Text.......2007-01-12

I wish that I had read the negative reviews of this book and avoided it. This is a very poorly done account of Hitler's final days in the bunker. The book is poorly written, lacks linear progression, and provides an erratic treatment of the subject. The text itself is cobbled together in piecemeal fashion from other books on the subject - there seems little original here. Quotes about Hitler are often made without attribution leaving the reader to wonder whose opinion was being posited. Fest writes pages and pages of filler material consisting of his own amateur psychoanalysis of Hitler which adds nothing to the record and further sidetracks this work.

If you wish to read an engaging and informative account of Hitler's final days, skip Fest's book and read instead the book written by Hitler's secretary Traudle Junge's or Ian Sayer and Douglas Botting's book The Women Who Knew Hitler which chronicles Hitler's last days extremely well.

Brief look at Hitler's last days.......2006-08-31

While not as thorough as Anton Joachimstahler's or James P. O'Donnell's works on Hitler's last days, Fest provides a good introduction to the last month of Hitler and Nazi Germany's lives. The book somewhat bounces around between Hitler, the Soviet onslaught, and conditions in Berlin, but Fest does a pretty good job of balancing these and writing a readable book. Again, not the most detailed of accounts, but a good intro.

Interesting (Brief) Look at Hitler's Last Days.......2006-08-05

Basic facts and figures about the Third Reich are good data, but nothing can really help you understand the Hitler/Nazi phenomenon so well as reading his own words, and the words of the people who made his regime possible - in the volatile environment of Hitler's bunker in April, 1945.

Though the book is short, there is a lot to digest in it. I personally didn't feel that it was overly dry, or boring (at all!), particularly in comparison to your average history, but I was a little disappointed in the lack of bibliographical notes.

All in all, it's a good place to start, a good book to point you in the direction of the right questions to ask, to lead you to more in-depth information.

Brief, Dry and Disappointing.......2006-06-11

Mr. Fest is a competent writer, but his account here is dry, brief and for those with prior knowledge of the facts, this book is very disappointing.
For a period with such plots and subplots this book is surprisingly colorless.
For an excellent book on a decisive turning point in Third Reich history, I most warmly recommended `Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943'
By Antony Beevor.

Losing Our Heads: Beheadings in Literature and Culture

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A healthy dose of anthropological, medical, social and literary insight to accounts of beheadings from antiquity to modern times
A healthy dose of anthropological, medical, social and literary insight to accounts of beheadings from antiquity to modern times

Losing Our Heads: Beheadings in Literature and Culture
Regina Janes
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Grief & Bereavement | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Reference | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body
The God Delusion

ASIN: 081474270X
Release Date: 2005-08-01

Book Description

View the Table of Contents. Read the Prologue.

"Why are beheadings so captivating in society and literature? Losing Our Heads: Beheadings In Literature And Culture tackles a gruesome topic, providing a healthy dose of anthropological, medical, social and literary insight to accounts of beheadings from antiquity to modern times."
—Bookwatch

"To read Losing Our Heads is to experience that same frisson Regina Janes ascribes to the guillotine—a powerful and seductive and (excuse me) heady combination of gossip and scholarship."
—Kathryn Davis, author of Versailles

What is the fascination that decollation holds for us, as individuals and as a culture? Why does the idea make us laugh and the act make us close our eyes? Losing Our Heads explores in both artistic and cultural contexts the role of the chopped-off head. It asks why the practice of decapitation was once so widespread, why it has diminished—but not, as scenes from contemporary Iraq show, completely disappeared—and why we find it so peculiarly repulsive that we use it as a principal marker to separate ourselves from a more “barbaric” or “primitive” past?

Although the topic is grim, Regina Janes's treatment and conclusions are neither grisly nor gruesome, but continuously instructive about the ironies of humanity's cultural nature. Bringing to bear an array of evidence, the book argues that the human ability to create meaning from the body motivates the practice of decapitation, its diminution, the impossibility of its extirpation, and its continuing fascination. Ranging from antiquity to the late nineteenth-century passion for Salomé and John the Baptist, and from the enlightenment to postcolonial Africa's challenge to the severed head as sign of barbarism, Losing Our Heads opens new areas of investigation, enabling readers to understand the shock of decapitation and to see the value in moving past shock to analysis. Written with penetrating wit and featuring striking illustrations, it is sure to captivate anyone interested in his or her head.

Customer Reviews:

A healthy dose of anthropological, medical, social and literary insight to accounts of beheadings from antiquity to modern times.......2005-12-03

Why are beheadings so captivating in society and literature? Losing Our Heads: Beheadings In Literature And Culture tackles a gruesome topic, providing a healthy dose of anthropological, medical, social and literary insight to accounts of beheadings from antiquity to modern times. College-level audiences will welcome Professor Janes' studies analysis of decapitation over history and in literature. One would anticipate gruesome details; but the focus on more than physical details makes for an intriguing discussion.

A healthy dose of anthropological, medical, social and literary insight to accounts of beheadings from antiquity to modern times.......2005-12-03

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