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.

Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America

Average customer rating:

Fantastic Read
A reference book, a novel, a history book - highly educative, encompassingly tender
Wonderfully researched personal stories

Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America
Sylviane A. Diouf
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Slavery & Emancipation | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0195311043

Book Description

In the summer of 1860, more than fifty years after the United States legally abolished the international slave trade, 110 men, women, and children from Benin and Nigeria were brought ashore in Alabama under cover of night. They were the last recorded group of Africans deported to the United States as slaves. Timothy Meaher, an established Mobile businessman, sent the slave ship, the Clotilda , to Africa, on a bet that he could "bring a shipful of niggers right into Mobile Bay under the officers' noses." He won the bet. This book reconstructs the lives of the people in West Africa, recounts their capture and passage in the slave pen in Ouidah, and describes their experience of slavery alongside American-born enslaved men and women. After emancipation, the group reunited from various plantations, bought land, and founded their own settlement, known as African Town. They ruled it according to customary African laws, spoke their own regional language and, when giving interviews, insisted that writers use their African names so that their families would know that they were still alive. The last survivor of the Clotilda died in 1935, but African Town is still home to a community of Clotilda descendants. The publication of Dreams of Africa in Alabama marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic Read .......2007-08-21

This book is wonderful, excellent. This book is so educational and knowledge filled, without being an academic bore. I don't even know where to start. I will say buy your hard back copy now. This author deserves financial support through the purchase of this book. The story of the Clotilda Africans should be known.

Dreams tell us about the lives and the journey of 110 Africans who were brought from Dahomey, known today as Benin in West Africa. A schooner by the name of Clotilda was built and dispatched from Mobile Bay to the Kingdom. A newspaper article had appeared in the Mobile Press Register that the King of Dahomey was doing a brisk sale in Africans.

Timothy Meaher, a wealthy businessman in Mobile, had commissioned the building of the Clotilda for the journey to Dahomey, even though the transportation of Africans was abolished in 1808. However, Africans were still being brought into the country.

The Africans were primarily spoils of warfare and the raids of villages. They came from various ethnic groups and cultures. However, the core group, were Yorubas. The Yorubas live in what is now Benin and southwest Nigeria. They had names like "Kossola,, Abache, Abile, Omolabi, Kupollee, Kehounco, and Arzuma."

Ms. Slyviane tells us their story primarily through the eyes of the last survivor of the Clotilda Africans, Cudjo Lewis aka Kossola, a Yoruba. He survived all of his children, wife, and shipmates.

This is a fascinating story of African American history, American history, and African history. Cudjo and his shipmates had dreamed and planned to get back to their homeland, but it never happened.

What makes this book so fascinating is that we actually know the slaver, the captain, the ship, and where they came from. Not only that, about 30 of the Africans lived on Meaher's land. So there is first hand information and resources from the slavers, the Africans, and their descendents

A reference book, a novel, a history book - highly educative, encompassingly tender.......2007-08-10

I cannot recommend this book any more feverishly. It is incredibly well researched and written. The author lays down the historical facts in a clear manner and then leaves the characters to entice you into their lives and speak to you. The stories are never sensationalized, if anything, it is this lack of dramatization that enables the stories to unfold naturally.

The book clearly shows how within a relatively short space of time certain aspects of a culture may vanish, but other aspects which form the core of a community's make-up are improvised regardless of the circumstances and continued down the line (the communal spirit of the Africans, reverence to authority, conflict resolution etc). Cudjo's life was the one delved into in the greatest detail and it evolved to be as remarkable as it was melancholic.

After the last of the African deportees dies, I can only imagine the loneliness that would have haunted him - being alone in America, a land that he had lived in for three quarters of his life, but one that was still alien to him, one where no other local born Africans were in his immediate vicinity would surely have quelled his tenacious will and defiant spirit. For him to have lived the rest of his years, not being able to converse in his native tongue or to express his innermost feelings in a manner capable of being immediately understood by his neighbors would surely have been unbearably painful. There is an African proverb that states that "you know who a person really is by the language they cry in". When all he had ever known was gone and he lamented for them in his native tongue, I wonder, did the people around him understand the depth of his despair? After all his personal losses and tragedies in America, he finally relents of his desire to go back to Africa and surmises that he was indeed alone on earth - his family in America was no more and he figured that his family in Africa would also be no more - an unbearable set of circumstances to accept. The author should be commended for unearthing and bringing to life such a great story, but even more importantly, for doing so in as lucid a manner as is possible. My only question is how on earth do we let a story as remarkable as this just dawdle with no attempt to publicise it more. It would be great if we could have a children's book on the story.
A trip to AficaTown in Alabama is in the offing for my family.

Wonderfully researched personal stories.......2007-07-17

Dreams of Africa in Alabama is a beautifully written and meticulous book. It's evident that Ms. Diouf spent a considerable amount of time and detail with her research. The author describes the Alabama slave trade and the events that lead to the maiden voyage of the modified schooner, Clotilda. She devotes two chapters to the lives of the "shipmates" - one prior to their capture and the other chronicling their imprisonment in the barracoons (slave pens) and their subsequent Middle Passage voyage. The remaining chapters recount the lives of the deported Africans during their enslavement and post emancipation.

In 1808 the United States abolished the international slave trade. In order to circumvent the law, many Southerners modified existing ships to camouflage their true intent and evade naval officials. The Clotilda was one such ship. Seeking to make a profit on the sale of Africans, the Meaher brothers and their associates went about the business of arranging a slaving run. Many of the captured Africans were placed into slavery as a result of lost tribal wars and/or suspect alliances between African Kings and European and American merchants.

When the humiliation and brutality of slavery was over, the shipmates endured Jim Crow, disenfranchisement and other forms of maltreatment. In spite of those obstacles, the Africans purchased land just outside of Mobile, Alabama, and became a self-sufficient community with a bank, farms, schools and churches. The shipmates limited their interaction with non-African people. Other than their contact with Americans and African Americans in the workplace, the Africans made little effort to interact anyone who wasn't from the continent in their personal lives. Intermarriages between Africans and African Americans occurred in small numbers. There were attempts to return to their families and homes in Africa; run-ins with the law; and a desire to dispel the rumors of their savagery and cannibalism.

This book is a sobering and painful account of some of the atrocities Africans endured. Ms. Diouf interviewed the descendants of the Mobile, Alabama slaves, and poured over mountains of archives in libraries and private collections to give the reader an up close and personal view of the lives of the shipmates of the Clotilda. There are many more stories and details to be discovered when you read Dreams of Africa in Alabama.

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad

Average customer rating:

no illustrations in my edition
Great book for an 18-year old remedial reader
Familiarity breeds comfort in the classics
Very good retelling--but not the best
Black Ships Before Troy

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad
Rosemary Sutcliffe
Manufacturer: Frances Lincoln
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1845073592

Book Description

Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. Rich with arresting imagery and memorable characters, its powerful metaphors still permeate modern culture. This brilliant retelling offers young readers an exciting introduction to the heroes of ancient Greece while providing the complete story of the battle of Troy. The legendary beauty, Helen, is abducted, leading to a decade-long conflict in which even the gods and goddesses take sides and intervene. This is the Trojan War, where the most valiant heroes of the ancient world are pitted against one another. Here Hector, Ajax, Achilles, and Odysseus meet their most formidable challenges and in some cases, their tragic ends. Rosemary Sutcliff makes such extraordinary stories as those of the Trojan horse, of Aphrodite and the golden apple, and of the fearsome warrior women, the Amazons, accessible to contemporary young people. Superb illustrations enhance the story's dramatic appeal.

Customer Reviews:

no illustrations in my edition.......2007-10-10

I have not yet read this book- so my review is only based on my disappointment that I bought this book after reading about the wonderful illustrations. I have a much longer version of the Iliad, which I am reading to my children. I bought this so I could read it to them also, to give them more of an understanding of the Iliad. I read the wonderful reviews about the illustrations and thought the book sounded perfect. While the cover is beautiful, it is the ONLY illustration in the whole book. The older edition must be the one with the pictures, I will be checking into whether or not it is still available.

Great book for an 18-year old remedial reader.......2007-03-15

I have been tutoring an 18-year old remedial reader in basic phonics. We first read D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, as he wanted to read about heroes. We then graduated to Black Ships Before Troy, as he had seen the movie, Troy. This is a great book. It is well-written, full of intriguing details and actions which are brought to life by Sutcliff. She is one of my favorite authors, anyway, so I knew it would be good, but it is GREAT. We can hardly wait to move on to the Odyssey.

I'm sure it would be good for younger, excellent readers, but it is a great hero book for older students and adults, too.

Familiarity breeds comfort in the classics.......2007-01-04

Rosemary Sutcliff excels at story telling by making the epic story of the Iliad understandable and thrilling to a seven year old. I have read this book to my son at least three times, beginning when he was seven years old. He is now so familiar with the story and characters of the Iliad as a result of Black Ships Before Troy that to read Homer's Iliad will simply mean meeting these familiar characters again. Sutcliff's writing is so engaging that parents as well will enjoy this book. An absolute bonus is the excellent illustrations by Alan Lee.

Very good retelling--but not the best.......2006-12-20

My seven year old and I read this together immediately after finishing the version of the Iliad retold by Ian Strachan and illustrated by Viktor Ambrus. While Sutcliff and Lee's effort is a good one, and I would recommend it highly, Strachan and Ambrus's is superior: the language is tighter and less florid, the artwork more dynamic and compelling. Unfortunately, the Strachan version is out of print and hard to find, but this one is a more than acceptable substitute.

Sutcliff's language is full (to the point of distraction) of similes and other figures of the "wine-dark sea" sort, which like a tongue-tingling seasoning (see what I mean?) is fine in moderation, but she overdoes it. Nevertheless, it's a good introduction to the Iliad. At 113 pages, it's possible to read this at bedtime over a week if you've checked it out from the school library, as my son did.

But do check out my review of the Strachan version.

Black Ships Before Troy.......2006-08-07

Most anyone knows that they are supposed to read Homer's Iliad at some point in their life, but many are intimidated by its complexity. For starters, try Rosemary Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy. It is a beautiful and delightful read for all ages. You can easily sort the characters and get a grip on the plot without wading through the epic or the longer narrative. Once you have done this, you may muster the courage to attack the Iliad itself and impress all of your friends, or you can just let them think you are an expert in ancient literature after Black Ships Before Troy.

Average customer rating:

Ugh
Clive Cussler books
Think you know Clive
not a winner
Unrealistic responses and poor judgement

Black Wind: A Dirk Pitt Novel
Clive Cussler , and Dirk Cussler
Manufacturer: Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0399152598
Release Date: 2004-11-30

Book Description

Clive Cussler's dazzling new Dirk Pitt(r) adventure.

Clive the Mighty!" hailed Kirkus Reviews about Cussler's last Dirk Pitt(r) novel, Trojan Odyssey. "Hurricane Clive at his most tumultuous." Nobody has been able to match Cussler yet for the intricate plotting and sheer audacity of his work, and Black Wind sets the bar even higher.

In the waning days of World War II, the Japanese tried a last desperate measure-a different kind of kamikaze mission, this one carried out by two submarines bound for the West Coast of the United States, their cargo a revolutionary new strain of biological virus. Neither sub made it to the designated target.

But that does not mean they were lost.

Someone knows about the subs and what they bore, knows too where they might be, and has an extraordinary plan in store for the prize inside-a scheme that could reshape the world as we know it. All that stands in the way are three people: a marine biologist named Summer, a marine engineer named Dirk, and their father, Dirk Pitt, the new head of NUMA. Pitt has faced devastating enemies before, and has even teamed up with his children to track them down. But never has he looked upon the face of pure evil . . . until now.

Filled with dazzling suspense and breathtaking action, Black Wind is Cussler at the height of his storytelling powers.

Customer Reviews:

Ugh.......2007-10-06

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that when the Cusslers sit down to write a book they first bring out a huge box of crayola crayons and whenever the part comes to introduce a character they blindly pull out a crayon to describe the color of that chacters eyes.

And why does Dirk Jr appear to be the oldest 20 something year old in the world. There is a huge problem when a now 70ish year old Cussler is writing a story whos characters are straight out of college.

When the kids showed up in (I think it was Valhalla Rising or Atlantis) it should have ended with Dirk Sr excusing himself as the kids made there way touring his car collection in the hanger, and dirk retreating to his living area upstairs, grabbing a quick shot of scotch and pulling out that huge gun of his and putting it to him temple. Is anyone else disgusted at the domestication of Al and Dirk?

Cussler and Dirk Sr. have officially jumped the shark. Oh the irony.

Clive Cussler books.......2007-08-01

I like the action and the style of Clive Cussler books. The hero Dirk Pitt stimulates my imagination.

Think you know Clive.......2007-07-23

Dark Wind was a great read. Clive and Dirk Cussler were really great together. The interesting plot and charachter twists were fun.

not a winner.......2007-07-22

Being a long time Clive Cussler/Dirk Pitt fan I must say that this book is not by Clive nor about Dirk(Sr.)The best thing to do at this point is to get rid of all the children involved with the project.This includes Mr. Cussler the younger.If Mr. Cussler the elder is unable to continue writing, without help,then retire Dirk Pitt and crew.I would surley miss them but I missed them in this book also.

Unrealistic responses and poor judgement.......2007-07-05

Most of the writing is very much canned with relationships straight out of melodrama; however, this can be excused considering the scope of the novel. What cannot be excused are the unrealistic responses to dangerous situations the characters constantly encounter and yet, are able to escape with little or no consequences. The use of Deus Ex Machina can only be forgiven in extreme cases--this is not one of them.

The characters are two dimensional in their perfection as well as their near invulnerability. They have no flaws which is an impossibility. The reaction of the United States government to the situations outlined in the novel are naive at its most basest.

To say the least, I am very unhappy with this novel.

Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail

Average customer rating:

Captivating story with a style to thoroughly engage.
A MUST READ for sailors, historians, and African Americans!!
Understanding Afro-American contributions to exploration
Great overall, Still Eurocentric in Spots
History as it should be -- entertaining and informative.

Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail
W. Jeffrey Bolster
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Slavery & Emancipation | World | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0674076273

Amazon.com

Among the more intriguing facts that this fascinating book contains is this statistic: by 1803, nearly 20 percent of seamen's jobs were filled by black men, most of them freemen. Historian Jeffrey Bolster, himself a sailor for a decade, covers the story of black sailors from Africa through mid-1800s America. Working as seamen helped blacks support families and helped facilitate communication among widely dispersed people. There were dangers--free blacks could be kidnapped and sold into slavery, and all black sailors were subject to vicious racism. Yet for all the drawbacks, sailing was a profession black men saw as "an occupation of opportunity."

Book Description

Few Americans, black or white, recognize the degree to which early African American history is a maritime history. W. Jeffrey Bolster shatters the myth that black seafaring in the age of sail was limited to the Middle Passage. Seafaring was one of the most significant occupations among both enslaved and free black men between 1740 and 1865. Tens of thousands of black seamen sailed on lofty clippers and modest coasters. They sailed in whalers, warships, and privateers. Some were slaves, forced to work at sea, but by 1800 most were free men, seeking liberty and economic opportunity aboard ship.

Bolster brings an intimate understanding of the sea to this extraordinary chapter in the formation of black America. Because of their unusual mobility, sailors were the eyes and ears to worlds beyond the limited horizon of black communities ashore. Sometimes helping to smuggle slaves to freedom, they were more often a unique conduit for news and information of concern to blacks.

But for all its opportunities, life at sea was difficult. Blacks actively contributed to the Atlantic maritime culture shared by all seamen, but were often outsiders within it. Capturing that tension, Black Jacks examines not only how common experiences drew black and white sailors together--even as deeply internalized prejudices drove them apart--but also how the meaning of race aboard ship changed with time. Bolster traces the story to the end of the Civil War, when emancipated blacks began to be systematically excluded from maritime work. Rescuing African American seamen from obscurity, this stirring account reveals the critical role sailors played in helping forge new identities for black people in America.

An epic tale of the rise and fall of black seafaring, Black Jacks is African Americans' freedom story presented from a fresh perspective.

Customer Reviews:

Captivating story with a style to thoroughly engage........2004-04-22

Anyone interested in the history of sailing, prisons, religious mysticism, African-Americans, the early United States, and occupational hazards would be well-advised to read this clear, concise, absorbing book. Bolster obviously did his research, and his narrative pulls the reader into the story of the under-studied community of black sailors "in the age of sail". Highly recommend for scholarly or other mind-broadening pursuits.

A MUST READ for sailors, historians, and African Americans!!.......2003-08-26

The is an excellent well-written book about the role African Americans sailors played in our country's history. My major criticism, however, is that the author included only 6 pages on pirates. More should have been written, because few people are aware that many fugitive slaves joined pirate ships. And before our country gained their independence pirate ships were democratic. Pirates elected their captains and voted on what ship they would take and where they would sail. And most pirate ships treated their fugitive slave hands as equals. In other words they ate the same food, performed the same tasks, and received the same amount of plunder as the white hands. Blackbeard had several fugitive slaves sailing on his ships. Read about one fugitive slave joining Blackbeard's crew in The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo. Other than not giving more information about BLACK PIRATES, I think this book is very informative and should be on every library shelf. I plan to reread it!

Understanding Afro-American contributions to exploration.......2002-04-11

Bolster, a mariner and historian, provides a coverage of the history of black seafaring in the age of sail and reveals the role black sailors played in America. Chapters hold many nearly-forgotten facts gleaned from source materials, providing important keys to understanding Afro-American contributions to exploration.

Great overall, Still Eurocentric in Spots.......1999-06-05

This is a very important book and should launch more studies of this very important subject. This book contains much to recommend it; it is very informative and is very well written as well. The only complaint I have is that it falls prey to the (pervasive) Eurocentrism that pervades the disciplines of Maritime History and Archaeology (although the book does not contain any archaeology). The weakest chapter in the book is the chapter on the "African Roots of Black Seafaring" in which the author writes on page 47: "Africans' maritime technology unquestionably was less sophisticated than that of the Europeans."

This unabashed Eurocentrism is unfortunate. The obvious question raised is this: By which standard is technology judged? Bolster might wish to consult some of the "postcolonial" literaure such as James Blaut's "The Colonizer's Model of the World" which thoroughly debunks the notion (much repeated and unquestioningly accepted) of European seafaring superiority. Jim Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me" also debunks this thinking.

The reasons behind Europe's "conquest" of the world are multifaceted. "Technological superiority" was only a small (and in my opinion not even the most important) component.

Still, "Black Jacks" is very good and a hearty fireside read.

History as it should be -- entertaining and informative........1999-03-16

Black Jacks is a fascinating read about a little-known aspect of American history. To his credit -- and to the reader's benefit -- Bolster has written about history in a way that makes it not only accessible, but also allows the information about our past as a nation to resonate and inform our present.

The Middle Passage: White Ships/ Black Cargo

Average customer rating:

The Middle Passage:White Ships/Black Cargo
dynamic and haunting images
Haunting Imagery
Silent Testimony
POWERFUL !! A Must-Have for Libraries

The Middle Passage: White Ships/ Black Cargo
Tom Feelings
Manufacturer: Dial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0803718047

Customer Reviews:

The Middle Passage:White Ships/Black Cargo.......2007-03-20

Tom Feelings book the Middle Passage is an excellent book to use with students to help them learn about a topic that is often ignored (slavery). The images are striking and casue students to delve deeply into their emotional being to identfy the true feelings of slavery during a horrendous period of time. This books created great discussions and my students were able to broaden their scope on several topics: the middle passage, slavery, emancipation, etc. The best visual read that my students and I have had in a life time.

dynamic and haunting images.......2006-03-04

The Middle Passage is a phenominal series of paintings depicting the transportation of black slaves across the Atlantic. I use this large format book as a visual aid in my N.Y.C. art classes. It has inspired the type of dialogue we all want to have in our classrooms.

Haunting Imagery.......2005-12-07

Arguably miscategorized as a children's book, The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo is a fascinating chronological still portrait of the slave trade. Tom Feelings' images are graphic yet beautiful, cruel and realistic, uplifting but heartbreaking. The absence of words intensified the images on the pages by letting them speak for themselves.

I particularly thought that the black and white (of the images as well as the intentional black/white of the figures in the images) was extremely powerful. The artwork is superb, but because of its violent subject material, other viewers might find it difficult to turn the pages. The details in the works are amazing, and the juxtaposition of the beauty of the human form and the cruelty of the slave trade is haunting.

A major asset to any book collection.

Silent Testimony.......2005-12-05

Inaccessible and obscure to many because of its controversial categorization under children's books, Tom Feelings' The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo relays a story that simply cannot go untold. People of all ages will experience a strong reaction to the vivid, black and white illustrations chronicling the brutal history of America, of race, and of humanity that can never really be fully remembered. I would advise against simply handing the book to a child without being prepared to undergo the painful process of explaining the meaning of the narrative relayed by Feelings. The artist graphically captures many of the different atrocities that occurred: violence, rape, and dehumanizing conditions. The book sparks productive discussion between all people on the slave trade and on the different methods of representing that history.

POWERFUL !! A Must-Have for Libraries.......2005-06-08

Excellent pencil drawings depict the harvesting and the transport of human beings as commodities to be sold in the slave trade. A powerful resource.

This book has been classified as an Art book. Share it with every Art Teacher you know !!! Horrific, terrifying illustrations should motivate us to ensure that something like this NEVER happens again !!!

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Ian Myles Slater on: A Most Irregular Affair
Deadly Dudley Dull
An excellent story of mutiny
A good read especially for a history book.

Black Ship
Dudley Pope
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0850529735

Book Description

This is the tale of the bloodiest mutiny in the history of the Royal Navy - the butchering of the officers aboard His Majesty's Frigate HERMIONE 32 guns, in the West Indies in 1797. Having disposed of the captain of the frigate, Hugh Pigot, a brutal and sadistic commander and all his officers both guilty and innocent, the mutineers surrendered the ship to the Spanish.

The author describes the daring recapture of the HERMIONE from under the guns of the Spanish forts, and the Royal Navy's relentless pursuit of the mutineers over the next ten years

Dudley Pope is a superb naval historian, and the author of a series of novels set during this period of history.

Customer Reviews:

Ian Myles Slater on: A Most Irregular Affair.......2004-01-20

By what seems to have been an odd working of coincidence, in 1963 two books were published on mutinies in the British Navy which took place in 1797. I will describe both events, because some earlier reviewers seem to have been rather unclear about the context of the account of one of them by the popular nautical historian and novelist, Dudley Pope (1925-1997).

It must be remembered that these mutinies took place during the first round of war with post-Revolutionary France, while Napoleon Bonaparte was just one more ambitious general, and the English upper and middle classes were seriously concerned about home-grown Jacobins chopping off their heads. Both mutinies were causes of concern, at times amounting to hysteria, but for different reasons

James Dugan's "The Great Mutiny," apparently long out of print, was a detailed (although not completely satisfactory) account of the "Great" (very large scale) Mutiny on the ships-of-the-line (three-deckers mounting 74 to 120 guns) at their bases at Spithead and the Nore. Although widely feared (or assumed) by the public and politicians to be an act of sympathy with the French Republic, the real trigger for this generally peaceful refusal to obey orders was simpler. It was fury at the decision to raise the pay of the army (which had known nothing but defeat), and keep that of ordinary seamen (who had been winning battles) where it had been for about a century.

The mutineers, who did have a list of reforms they wanted, insisted on their patriotism, claiming that they would gladly obey orders to fight the French, or any other [provide offensive epithet] foreigners. Xenophobia was, it seems, a remarkably effective antidote to apparent self-interest, despite the efforts of some more radical elements.

It was immediately recognized that the crews of frigates (cruisers, mounting 22 to 44 guns), except for those anchored under the guns of the three-deckers, did NOT join in the mutiny. These seamen had the hope of prize money from captured merchantmen (something available to the main fleet only in the rarest of circumstances), and seemed to have less interest in a comparatively negligible increase in official pay. Frigate captains, at least, must have felt relieved.

In this context, therefore, it was a particular shock when, later in the same year, the crew of the frigate "Hermione" suddenly rose up, killed officers and a hapless midshipman, and took the ship into a foreign port -- not French and Republican, but Spanish and Catholic, which to some traditionalists must have seemed even worse.

This very different, and, in comparison, slightly paradoxical, rebellion at sea was the subject of Pope's 1963 volume, "The Black Ship." The book has been reprinted at intervals over the years, a tribute to, among other things, its literary quality. (Also, I suspect to Pope's continuing production of naval fiction and non-fiction.)

"The Black Ship" explains how the combination of an incompetent and unfeeling captain and Irish nationalism -- not the example of France -- produced a chain of events on "H.M.S. Hermione" which seemed to defy the conventional wisdom of the navy. Pope traces the career of Captain Pigot, the favored scion of a distinguished naval family, and makes it quite clear that hardly anyone else liked him.

Unlike Bligh, who was a superb seaman, Pigot must have inspired both fear and contempt from those serving under him with his shiphandling skills. (Pope gives examples, including Pigot's efforts to blame everyone else.) Again unlike Bligh, Pigot was genuinely malicious, not merely a (catastrophically) poor judge of the feelings of others. Even so, he might have lived out a routine career, or managed to fall victim to the "hazards of the sea" which accounted for most of the Royal Navy's losses in the wars with the French Republic and Empire. (Quite possibly taking a ship and its crew with him....) Why something else happened is the burden of the first part of Pope's history of the miserable affair, and he provides a convincing explanation of just what went wrong.

The responses of His Britannic Majesty's Government and the Royal Navy make up the latter part of the story, which includes legal, political, and diplomatic issues. The recapture of the "Hermione" provides Pope with a chance to display a really good captain in action, in the same waters, with the same regulations and the same problems. The difference is remarkable, and that story, although secondary, is worth the price of the book by itself.

Some readers will probably know that bits and pieces of "The Black Ship" (and the events of the "Great Mutiny") show up in Pope's novels about Lord Ramage, written later in his career (eighteen volumes, 1965-1989), fairly lightly fictionalized. In addition, a renamed double of Captain Pigot makes an offstage appearance in one of Northcote Parkinson's novels of the Napoleonic Wars ("disguised" by a transfer to the Indian Ocean, and a very different resolution to the mutiny).

Deadly Dudley Dull.......2002-01-11

With Dudley Pope's whole ouvre of 15 Ramage novels, plus a couple of others of his fiction, under my belt I opened The Black Ship with much anticipation of good writing and telling narrative. I was wholly disappointed. His scrupulous reliance on documents made for accuracy I'm sure, but the same story could have been told much more effectively, with no loss of accuracy, in the form of s novel. Pope was an eminent naval historian but he went seriously off base trying to analyze Captain Pigot's personality to explain his cruel and inconsistent discipline, and it just didn't come off with a ring of truth. His "evidence" was sparse and episodic; he had to see Pigot's uncle as more influential on the boy than the father to make even a ghost of a case, and even if Pigot was the worst-ever captain it wasn't by very far: There were other captains, even discussed by Pope but not in context with Pigot, whose discipline overmatched Pigot's arbitrariness.
Having failed to persuade me that Pigot was just a spoiled brat who couldn't stand to be crossed, Pope went on to fail to persuade me that his behavior was the sole cause of the mutiny. The whole naval system of the day -- Pope gives you enough of it to see (for yourself) other contributing causes -- was rotten with injustice and oppression, and the Hermione incident, if the bloodiest, was still only one of a rash of mutinies that came down on the heads of the Admiralty during the Napoleonic War. Which reminds me, I was annoyed and am still puzzled by Pope's persistent refusal to use the name "Napoleon," referring only to "Revolutionary France" where any reasonable person would have said "Bonaparte."
The best chapter in the whole book was the last one, about an unrelated cutting-out of the Hermione (the mutinied ship) long after the events which were the explicit subject of the book. I only hope that Pope's Decision at Trafalgar, which I've also bought but not yet read (I need a breath of fresh fiction!), will prove more interesting.

An excellent story of mutiny.......1999-12-29

A well written historical book that gives great insight into life in the British Navy during the Age of Sail. The mutiny itself is far more violent than the Bounty, and the images evoked linger far afterwards. Dudley Pope is as good a sea writer Ive read, including Forester.

A good read especially for a history book........1999-09-19

I liked "The Black Ship" a lot and recommend it to anyone liking the Patrick O'Brian series of novels and stories about British sailing ships. "The Black Ship" is not a novel but rather a history of the mutiny onboard a British war ship that took place in September of 1797. The author based his story on logs, official diaries, Court Martial records and lots of other historical documents. There was an excellent personality study on the captain for which Pope even consulted with a shrink. That bit of extra really made the account exciting to read and contemplate. Ordinarily such history would be rather dry I think but Dudley Pope writes so well that a story came through.

The novel was almost as good in some ways as the Patrick O'Brian series. There are not the warm evenings of music, conversation and toasted cheese at sea in the South Pacific and such. Reading "The Black Ship" added to my knowledge of the life onboard British war ships of the era and hence added to my enjoyment of O'Brian novels.

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Like playing Paper Pirate Dolls!

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl - A Pop-Up Pirate Ship (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
tk
Manufacturer: Disney Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1423108086

Book Description

Featuring one central, giant pop-up of the Black Pearl, this title will also have press-out sheets of characters so young readers can move their favourite pirates around the ship, acting out scenes from the films! The Black Pearl unfolds into a three-dimensional pop-up in this novelty title for kids. Press-out sheets supply the kids with their favourite characters from the films so they can re-live all their favourite scenes aboard the cursed ship. All the artwork will be done in an appealing, animated style kids will love.

Customer Reviews:

Like playing Paper Pirate Dolls!.......2007-05-29

The book opens up into the Black Pearl and it has paper characters that you pop out to play with. My two boys (who are generally VERY hard on things), actually love this and have been very careful not to tear it (which just shows how much they love it!) It is great to bring on trips because it is like a compact action toy for them, since it has their favorite characters and the ship. The only thing that I wish they had done was install some sort of pocket to store the characters in once they are "popped out".

Black Night Off Finisterre: The Tragic Tale of an Early British Ironclad

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Probably all there is to say about this event
Seemingly well researched up until he blows his credibility

Black Night Off Finisterre: The Tragic Tale of an Early British Ironclad
Arthur Hawkey
Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Naval | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

HMS Captain was the first sea-going turret warship built in unprecedented circumstances to provide all-around firepower. But in only four months it capsized and sank. This definitive account of the Captain's loss details the decade-long public controversy that led to the building of the warship.

Customer Reviews:

Probably all there is to say about this event.......2000-02-06

I'm not sorry I bought this book, although it does have its weak spots. Basically this volume pulls together material from a small set of 19th century sources and presents the modern reader with a full set of information about the loss of HMS Captain and the controversy surrounding the reason for the loss - certainly a very specialized subject. This obscure event is important because historically the construction of wooden warships had been largely a matter of following time-honored rules of thumb, but with the advent of iron warships and new types of armament in the 1860s, it was not fully appreciated how these rules needed to be changed to avoid tragedies such as that described in this book. That the design of the Captain was fatally flawed due to the lack of understanding of technology changes at the time is a case perhaps similar to that of the British Comet airliner, which failed because its design occurred during a time of significant technology change (to pressurized jets), but its designers failed to realize fully the consequences of that change.

Besides filling in this little piece of naval history, another good part of the book was the author's semi-technical explanation of some of the basics of naval architecture, such as metacentric height and what it means in terms of a ship's stability and suitability as a gun platform. I've never come across a book which described this so well.

Apart from this, the book had its lesser moments as well. I suspect that these all derive from the author's attempt to fill a certain number of pages with material related to the main subject (because a 50-page book would have been a waste of time). The lengthy passages recounting or quoting from the court martial and exchanges of official communication following the loss are difficult to plow through, especially since they are written in the stilted and convoluted version of English used by upper-class Britons of the 19th century. And I suspect that the complaints voiced by another reviewer also are a result of the author's desire to fill pages, while almost entirely relying upon source material published over a century ago.

I know more now that before I read the book, so in the end, it was a worthwhile read for me.

Seemingly well researched up until he blows his credibility.......1999-07-07

The book seems at first glance well researched, and it reads well, although the writing style seems a tad tabloidish. I was quite impressed, and would have given this 5 stars, but for for two sections in the chapter, "Why Didn't They Ask Kernan?". This chapter almost seems to be trying to make a mountainous mystery out of a very small puzzle (how did the ship's boat float away so readily?), as if trying to make a big headline to attract more passersby. Then the coup de grace -- he throws in some psychic premonitions, taken with as much gullibility as the rest of the book demands hard evidence, even going so far as to claim that a few kinfolk back in England were disturbed in their sleep that very night. Out of 470 or so crew, this is hardly amazing, and the lack of anything more than second or third hand story telling is in stark contrast to the rest of the book.

I began to read with a much more critical eye after that. I have no doubt as to his general conclusions being correct, but I wonder how much of his evidence is hand picked out of context merely to support a conclusion reached before he began his book.

Book Description

Book Description

Michigan's "storms of November" are famous in song, lore, and legend and have taken a tragic toll, breaking the hulls of many ships and sending them to cold, dark, and silent graves on the bottoms of the Great Lakes. On November 18, 1958, when the limestone carrier Carl D. Bradley broke up during a raging storm on Lake Michigan, it became the largest ship in Great Lakes' history to vanish beneath storm-tossed waves. Along with the Bradley, thirty-three crew members perished. Most of the casualties hailed from the little harbor town of Rogers City, Michigan, a community that was stung with grief when, in an instant, twenty-three women became widows and fifty-three children were left fatherless. Nevertheless, this is also a story of survival, as it recounts the tale of two of the ship's crew, whose fifteen-hour ordeal on a life raft, in gale-force winds and 25 foot waves, is a remarkable story of endurance and tenacity.

Written in a style that is equally appealing to young adults and adult readers, Black November is a tale of adventure, courage, heroism, and tragedy. Kantar, the author of 29 Missing, a book about the loss of the great lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, has once again crafted a dramatic narrative that is both informative and compelling. Although the Carl D. Bradley has been called "the ship that time forgot," Black November recalls that tragic day nearly fifty years ago and is a moving tribute to the ship and its crew.

Illustrated with B/W photographs. Bibliography

ALSO OF INTEREST: 29 Missing: The True and Tragic Story of the Disappearance of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Customer Reviews:

A Good Read.......2007-09-29

Black November is a well written short novel on the life of the Carl D Bradley and the men that sailed on her. An event such as the sinking of the ship could be an in depth, long novel, however this book tells the story while maintaining interest and keeping things to the point. Their is a brief illustration section mid-way through the book which is informative. I highly recommended this book for the Great Lakes enthusiased wanting to "get-their-feet-wet" in Great Lakes Shipwrecks and the like. For someone wanting to know more about the men and everyday life of the Great Lakes sailor, I recommend Gales of November-The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. All-in-all a good read and respectful to those who perished on the Bradley and their families.

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