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.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789

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Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789
Barbara Ketcham Wheaton
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684818574

Book Description

In this masterful and charming book, food historian Barbara Ketcham Wheaton takes the reader on a cultural and gastronomical tour of France, from its medieval age to the pre-Revolutionary era. Using a delightful combination of personal correspondence, historical anecdotes, and journal entries, Wheaton effortlessly brings to life the history of the French kitchen and table.

Vichy: An Ever-Present Past (Contemporary French Culture and Society)

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Vichy: An Ever-Present Past (Contemporary French Culture and Society)
Eric Conan , and Henry Rousso
Manufacturer: Dartmouth
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0874517958

Book Description

A plea for a more moderate, balanced, and accurate view of the Vichy regime.

Women and Gender in The Western Past: Since 1500

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Women and Gender in The Western Past: Since 1500
Katherine L. French , and Allyson M. Poska
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0618246258

The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present

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Lessons lost in our benighted age
An Incredible Book
A warrior idenitity crisis?

The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present
Shannon E. French
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0847697576

Book Description

Warrior cultures throughout history have developed unique codes that restrict their behavior and set them apart from the rest of society. But what possible reason could a warrior have for accepting such restraints? Why should those whose profession can fo

Customer Reviews:

Lessons lost in our benighted age.......2006-10-15

Professor French has produced a fascinating compilition of the heroic ideals of some of the world's greatest warrior classes. Some examples, the Medieval Knight and the code of Chivalry, the Samurai and their philosophy of Bushido, the Viking and the role of Heroic Honor in the Nordic lands. You will also find the monks of the Shaolin Temple in here, and the Native American plains tribes (An entire book would be needed to cover the heroic ideals of all the indigenous American cultures!).
The reason this book is so significant, is that the concept of Honor is virtually dead in our vapid, passive-aggressive, superficial "modern" society. Its a society dominated by hedonism, narcissism, and conformity. A society that has lost its sense of being and purpose, lost in the vast sewer of so-called "popular-culture".
In ages past, warriors formed martial fellowships adhering to a code of just and honorable conduct, so as to defend their people and way of life. It was often the struggle of their clan, tribe, or nation, against alien aggressors who would otherwise anhilate them, aggressors who might even be willing to go to any extreme to accomplish that end. Of course, in reading history, there are just as numerous examples of warriors who belonged to these institutions, whose actions and behavior was contrary to that code which they alledgedly stood for...but they don't really count. Every institution has its renegades and generally wayward members. The important factor, is that the majority did adhere to these codes, as well as they could, and the righteous nature of honorable conduct justifies itself. Those who lack a code of Honor often commit all manner of atrocities without remorse. A code of Honor, then, often serves as a guide to civilized behavior, a guide to limit or prohibit needless destruction in a conflict.
In our present age of mindless psycho-babble and "cultural-relativism" which lamely attempts to justify criminality, dependance, and ever-diminishing morality, we need a reminder of a higher philosophy of living, a concept of individuality, self-sufficiency, discipline, and self-respect. A previous reviewer, an obvious leftist, will naturally hate this book, as the concept of Honor conflicts with their perverse "alternative lifestyles"...their "if it feels good-do it" existance. The very concept is "childish?", in their point of view. As usual, some people just don't get the point. The warrior-quest is more vital now, to the human soul, than at any previous time in history.

An Incredible Book.......2004-09-09

This book literally blew me away. One of the most inspiring things I have ever read. By analyzing warrior cultures throughout history, The Code of the Warrior is an invaluable tool to teach people today what having a warrior code, or a virtuous code of ethics, is all about. You will walk away with a better understanding of the virtues of courage, integrity, loyalty, love, duty, honor and many others. And you will be inspired to develop your character to fight for what is honorable and true. An essential book for today's lethargic culture. If you want to develop your warrior potential and be a force in this culture for good, read this book!!

A warrior idenitity crisis?.......2004-07-25

Most of the editorial reviews on this book found in major media outfits praise this book. It is also praised by Republicans and conservatives.

I however find the book to be a bit of a stretch. The thinking is thin, the only deep, critical or insightful part of the book is the introduction and conclusion. The case studies, while braced with with that initial inquiry, are thin and one dimensional.

It assumes that the reader is somehow seeking a warrior identity, a mythic structure or meta-narrative. This is childish. It further makes these "mythic structures and meta-narratives" which somehow resemble the creatures and cultures of dungeons and dragons game, about every country except the US.

I think this book grew out of the authors flights of fancy, and she simply wanted a way to justify her D&D games.

Histories: French Constructions of the Past : Postwar French Thought (Postwar French Thought , Vol 1)

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Histories: French Constructions of the Past : Postwar French Thought (Postwar French Thought , Vol 1)
Jacques Revel
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1565844351

Book Description

The period from 1945 to the present has been one of the most intellectually fruitful in French history. Entirely new approaches to a number of fields have been developed, and the influence of French thinkers has resonated throughout the West, in many ways reformulating our approach to modern knowledge. This 654-page volume traces developments in French historiography from questions of social history and global history (1945-1960s), structuralism (mid-1960s through mid-1970s), the territory of the historian (1970s through mid-1980s), to criticisms and reformulations (1980s to the present). Featuring work by Franois Furet, Michel de Certeau, Michelle Perrot, Pierre Nora, Roger Chartier, Ernest Labrousse, Fernand Braudel, Claude Lvi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, Jacques Le Goff, Pierre Bourdieu, and others, this volume illuminates the most important controversies about historical method in the twentieth century.

Past Imperfect: French Intellectuals, 1944-1956

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Good, but not as good as I had hoped
A Fine Example
Ruthless dissection of French intellectual scene

Past Imperfect: French Intellectuals, 1944-1956
Tony Judt
Manufacturer: University of California Press
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ASIN: 0520086503

Book Description

The uniquely prominent role of French intellectuals in European cultural and political life following World War II is the focus of Tony Judt's newest book. He analyzes this intellectual community's most divisive conflicts: how to respond to the promise and the betrayal of Communism and how to sustain a commitment to radical ideals when confronting the hypocrisy in Stalin's Soviet Union, in the new Eastern European Communist states, and in France itself. Judt shows why this was an all-consuming moral dilemma to a generation of French men and women, how their responses were conditioned by war and occupation, and how post-war political choices have come to sit uneasily on the conscience of later generations of French intellectuals.
Judt's analysis extends beyond the writings of fashionable "Existentialist" personalities such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Simone de Beauvoir to include a wide intellectual community of Catholic philosophers, non-aligned journalists, literary critics and poets, Communist and non-Communist alike.
Judt treats the intellectual dilemmas of the postwar years as an unfinished history. French intellectuals have not fully come to terms with the gnawing sense of what Judt calls the "moral irresponsibility" of those years. The result, he suggests, is a legacy of bad faith and confusion that has damaged France's cultural standing, notably in newly liberated Eastern Europe, and which reflects the nation's larger difficulty in confronting its own ambivalent past.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but not as good as I had hoped.......2004-07-23

This is a decent book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had expected: Tony Judt's writing is usually crisper and more analytic. Alas, in this case he may have set out to write a book, but what he delivered has more than a whiff of sermon: too many sonorous phrases and not enough clinical analysis. Interestingly, I had exactly the same problem with Furet's 'The Passing of an Illusion', though I thought at the time that that was just a case of Academicianitis. Something about this subject seems to provoke reasonable people to clamber onto a pulpit to deliver an argument that should really be a slam dunk.

Sartre didn't just look like a wall-eyed toad, he was a wall-eyed toad all the way through, but Judt can't quite bring himself to say so. In fact he shows quite a bit of residual indulgence in the way, e.g., he describes Sartre's writing in the sixties as 'silly' when the proper word is 'disgusting'. (Deep in his heart, Judt seems to think his subjects should, in spite of everything, be granted more respect than the current generation and, in particular, more respect than Bernard-Henri Levy, but I don't see why - at least BHL has never endorsed the murder of people he doesn't like). Judt doesn't really in the end manage to explain to me why the little cacomorph and his friends were so indulged for so long.

The best bit is the discussion of the French relationship to liberalism (or why there isn't one), which is unqualifiedly good, together with the remarks on the sociology of postwar Parisian intellectual culture - not surprising, since this is the stuff Judt really knows. On the other hand, the one page summaries, analyses, and dismissals of philosophical positions are slightly embarassing. Richard Wolin got whacked around the quad and assigned 500 pages of Habermas by Richard Rorty recently for this sort of thing. Being on the side of Wolin and Judt, not Rorty, I wish they wouldn't do it. (Slightly) ironically, toward the end, Judt remarks in passing - he could/should have said a lot more - on the intellectual laziness and slovenliness of his subjects: the way they substituted glibness for thought, and showed no qualms about holding forth on a subject, be it economics, sociology, foreign politics or bombinating cockatrices, without knowing, or even seemingly caring, whether they really had the slightest idea. Rabelais's assessment of the Sorbonne needs no revision, 25 generations later.

This is part of a growing shelf of modern stuff to file beside Julien Benda: along with Judt, we have Furet, Wolin, Lilla, etc., but the definitive work on the pathology of French (and German) intellectual culture over the last hundred years has yet to appear. It will eventually: the subject is just too inviting.

A Fine Example.......2002-09-01

A fine example of polemical quidnuncery. Despite ostensibly, or nominally, being a history of post war French intellectuals, this tract shows precious little evidence of having read, let alone understood, the seminal works of the period (a period which, in retrospect represent an immense intellectual and political adventure). So, for example, there is not a jot of evidence that the author has engaged with Sartre's immense omnium gatherum, the "Critique of Dialectical Reason" or the flawed masterpiece on Flaubert. Instead, Mr Judt prefers, modestly, to confine his argument to what seems to be easier for him to understand, vis: cowardice, treachery small-mindedness and political tergiversations, all of which are sedolously catalogued.Thus, the private lives and political promiscuities of such obvious geniuses as Sartre are used as a proboscis or ferule (or tripwire) with which to berate the thinker in question for daring to deviate from bourgeois orthodoxies. While such diversionary peccadilos may be of interest to the quidnunc, they are no substitute for philosophical reflection - something in which this screed is sadly lacking.

Ruthless dissection of French intellectual scene.......1999-09-05

After reading Tony Judt's relentless ripping apart of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and other post-war French intellectual fellow-travelers, one might be forgiven for wondering whether the author actually likes France. I am sure he does; it is just the unbelievable pig-headedness and irresponsibility of some of France's most acclaimed "thinkers" in the 1940s and 1950s that he cannot stand. The question that nags at the reader as he progresses through this book is: Just why did anyone take Sartre and co. seriously? Tony Judt not only has the answer, he issues a very pertinent warning about the current French fashion for deriding the intellectual perversions of the immediate post-war era. Putting it bluntly, a certain type of bone-headed universalism and a penchant for meaningless abstract riddles that seem peculiar to French intellectuals have by no means disappeared.

Present Past: Modernity and the Memory Crisis

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The Force of the Past
worst book

Present Past: Modernity and the Memory Crisis
Richard Terdiman
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

French | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0801481325

Book Description

This book is about memory--about how the past persists into the present, and about how this persistence has been understood over the past two centuries. Since the French Revolution, memory has been the source of an intense disquiet. Fundamental cultural theories have sought to understand it, and have striven to represent its stresses.

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The Force of the Past.......1999-12-20

This book presents a brilliant account of how memory is both essential to our functioning in the world, and simultaneously weighs us down. The force of the past that still occupies us in memory is a constant theme in culture and individual experience. By studying both the general phenomenon and specific instances in a series of important 19th and 20th century texts, this book shows us memory's double-sided, Janus-faced character. On the one hand, memory makes it possible for us to feel we can own our past; on the other hand, memory recreates neurotic or repetitive interruptions of our awareness to the here and now. The author develops a powerful account of how memory functions in our lives, and examines a series of powerful texts (by Freud, Proust, Baudelaire, and Musset) that give voice to the theme of memory. Required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the stresses of modernity and postmodernity

worst book.......1999-08-24

This is by far the worst book i"ve ever read, and as they say those who don't do.. teach... and those who can't teach... teach gym. He should try teaching or something else but NOT WRITING! for god's sake spare us the littany!

French Inside Out: The French Language Past and Present

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incredibly informative and interesting!!!

French Inside Out: The French Language Past and Present
Henriett Walter
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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The Story of French

ASIN: 0415076706

Book Description

In this comprehensive introduction, Henriette Walter provides the reader with a panoramic view of the development of the French language in the past, present and future.

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incredibly informative and interesting!!!.......1999-09-10

Even if you don't speak French, this book is a fascinating history of language -- and much of it relates to English. I came away with a huge curiosity for more knowledge about the history of words! It's one of those books that has so many interesting facts you want to tell everyone around you.

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