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.

Average customer rating:

As if we all don't
Best of the Genre
"it'll be absolutely nothing like you expected it to be"
Solid Read, Great Perspective on the War in Iraq
Couldn't put it down

My War: Killing Time in Iraq
Colby Buzzell
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0425211363

Amazon.com

My War is a book that will challenge many of the most common assumptions about the Iraq War and the people fighting in it. Colby Buzzell, the book's author and a U.S. Army machine-gunner who did a year-long tour in Iraq, is not the stereotypical small-town soldier from a Red State. He grew up in San Francisco eating pot brownies at the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair, skateboarding, and listening to punk and heavy metal. He supported Ralph Nader for president, reads George Orwell, and his dad worked in Silicon Valley. But he was sick of his "life in oblivion," bouncing around from one dead-end job to another. As Buzzell writes in his typically gritty prose, "I didn't want to get all old and have my bratty grandkids ask me, 'Grandpa, where were you during the Iraq war?' and me going, 'Oh, I was busy doing temp work and data entry for 12 bucks an hour.'"

In search of adventure, Buzzell joined the army and got sent to Iraq. First stationed in the ultra-dangerous Sunni Triangle, he quickly mastered how to use the M240 Bravo machine gun: "Just get behind that muthafucka and just fire it." His fellow soldiers, mostly hip-hop fans or headbanging metal-heads like him, killed time watching porn on mini-portable DVD players or listening to Metallica on their iPods while on patrol. Long boring spells were interrupted by wild fits of confusing action. On one of Buzzell's first missions, two platoons fired thousands of rounds at near point-blank range at an unarmed Iraqi civilian. Amazingly, he survived. Out of boredom, Buzzell started a blog, one of the first by an ordinary "Joe" grunt in Iraq. It became a media sensation and got Buzzell in trouble with the REMFs ("Rear Echelon Mutha Fuckers") because of his less-than-glamorous portrayal of the war and his superiors, whom he accuses of constantly lying to the public and the soldiers under their command. My War may be disappointing to readers looking for deeper introspections on the moral questions behind the war, but it is a pretty convincing case against the claim that everything in Iraq is going fine. --Alex Roslin

Book Description

Skateboarding party animal Colby Buzzell traded a dead-end future for the army-and ended up a machine gunner in Iraq. To make sense of the bloody insanity surrounding him, he started a blog about the war and how it differed from the government's official version. As his blog's popularity grew, Buzzell became the embedded reporter the Army couldn't control-despite its often comical efforts to do so.

The result is an extraordinary narrative, rich with unforgettable scenes: the Iraqi woman crying uncontrollably during a raid on her home; the soldier too afraid to fight; the troops chain-smoking in a guard tower and counting tracer rounds. Drawing comparisons to everything from Charles Bukowski to Catch-22, My War depicts a generation caught in a complicated and dangerous world-and marks the debut of a raw, remarkable new voice.

Customer Reviews:

As if we all don't.......2007-09-23

It is ignorant enough reading it. This stuff should not be sold especially while the war is still going on. Granted if you saw something like you would just tell everyone about it as if they would understand. Unless if you were selling your soul for the money. I was there for 15 months and I don't care to tell the story to people who won't understand. Only those close by could ever know because I guard my integrity from being a sellout, obviously I'm not from San Francisco although I do live in California. And if the author does have PTSD; well I would like to know how he lied to the system because there should have been personal resistance in authoring an account. It is different when part of a covert group such and MACVSOG who never had any credit. You had your credit had your medals take 'em and shut up.

Best of the Genre.......2007-09-19

Some day this war's going to end. Maybe not so much end as just stop. Decades after that happens we'll probably still be trying to figure out why we went, what we accomplished, and whether or not it was worth it. Buzzell's book has nothing to do with that. It's a raw, sometimes jaded, often hilarious, but always honest account of daily military life in a war zone. We can all be thankful that men like Buzzell volunteered to serve, did so honorably, and passed along their stories.

"it'll be absolutely nothing like you expected it to be".......2007-08-09

Colby Buzzell wrote a blog during his deployment in Iraq by the same title as his book. _My War_ details his experiences as an infantryman there, as well as his run-ins with the Army over his blog. There is much to like here: Colby is brutally honest and writes exactly what is on his mind.

He "stream of conscious" writing (at least the first third of the book) was a bit difficult - long, rambling, run-on sentences, reminiscent of a high school student's journal. As the book progresses, his writing tightens up, becomes much clearer, and his "voice" much stronger. Whether this is intentional or not, it is telling of what is happening to Colby: he is maturing, growing up and finding his voice (and himself.)

As a Gulf War veteran, I have mixed feelings about _My War_. Writing about his life before he joined the Army, I honestly didn't like him. As Buzzell entered the Army and was sent to Iraq, a palpable change took place - as his writing changed, so did my opinion of him. By the end of the book, I became genuinely fond of him. Similarly, I found some of the things he complained about ridiculous: you're a grunt. Suck it up. On the other hand, I shared his frustration at the bureaucracy and underhanded methods the Army used in handling him and his blog. His commitment to his platoon members and fidelity to his battallion CO was inspiring.

I would recommend it along with John Crawford's _The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell_ and Nathaniel Fick's _One Bullet Away_ for other perspectives on the infantry in general and OIF specifically.

Solid Read, Great Perspective on the War in Iraq.......2007-07-22

This is a must read for everyone interested in a contemporary perspective on war and the politics of the current Iraq conflict. Buzzell gives us an honest appraisal of himself, the Army, war and his comrades with humor and humility.

Couldn't put it down.......2007-06-27

Im one of those people that read for leisure. I take my time and enjoy my book. However with My War it was the kind of book I couldnt take my time with. I just wanted more! Its a truly fantastic read. A true page turner. Colby Buzzel is funny and honest and writes things as he sees it. I thought the book would be a bit political (being American) but some how despite all thats going on with this war he keeps politics to a minium and writes it how it is. How the troops cope on the ground. A great book which I would recommend to anyone. Well Done Mr Buzzell.

Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War

Average customer rating:

BRILLIANT...SIMPLY BRILLIANT!!!
Beautiful Sensitive Window on Faith
Loved it...
The real stories from the lines
First, Second and Third impressions of the book

Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War
Andrew Carroll
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Letters & Correspondence | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0385519745
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

Words of wisdom, hope, humor, and strength from those who have been tested by fire and maintained their faith

The first book of its kind, Grace Under Fire is an inspiring and spiritual collection of letters and e-mails by U.S. troops and their families from the American Revolution through the War on Terrorism.

Andrew Carroll, editor of the bestselling War Letters, went through his massive archive of seventy-five-thousand previously unpublished wartime correspondence to pick out the most intimate, dramatic, historic, and insightful letters and e-mails ever written about God, religion, and spirituality. The fifty best of these are featured in this incredible book, and they emphasize how extremely important faith has been, and continues to be, in the lives of U.S. troops and their families.

What is especially remarkable about Grace Under Fire is the sheer diversity of the collection, which includes several extraordinary letters by two brothers who fought on opposing sides of the Civil War; a prophetic letter by Rabbi David Goode, one of the famed Immortal Chaplains who gave his life for his fellow soldiers; a lighthearted letter by a World War II nurse who met the Pope; and a profound and impassioned reply to the timeless question, “Where is God in wartime?” by a doctor serving in Iraq.

Warfare can reveal the worst in human nature, but it can also bring out the best, and these correspondences are a testament to the heroism, compassion, grace, intelligence, and inherent goodness of American troops and their families. And although the letters and e-mails featured in this book were written in times of armed conflict, they transcend the subject of war. They are about determination, hope, patriotism, fighting for something greater than one’s self, and, of course, the enduring value of faith. Regardless of whether we have served in the military or not, we can all find inspiration and courage in these powerful and insightful words.

Customer Reviews:

BRILLIANT...SIMPLY BRILLIANT!!!.......2007-06-17

Grace Under Fire is BRILLIANT...simply BRILLIANT!

It is overwhelmingly touching, powerful and inspiring and any one of these letters will pierce your heart. I was profoundly moved by the e-mail written by the late David Bloom.

Through these letters of faith in GRACE UNDER FIRE, Andrew Carroll gives us a glimpse of our service men and women and their families; we read about what they had...what they never lost...and what it means to "have faith", feel its power, how it has changed them or how they have reconnected with their faith.

GRACE UNDER FIRE is no ordinary book--this is another literary treasure from Andrew Carroll; this is the book you hand deliver and say "You must read this."

Beautiful Sensitive Window on Faith .......2007-06-08

The threads of faith are smoothly woven by soldiers from the Revolutionary war through our current conflicts. Their personal letters written to loved ones are sensitive and plain spoken in the face of the terror of their war. Bravo to Andy Carroll for sharing these personal reflections. I found this book very inspiring!

Loved it..........2007-06-07

I loved this book. We have been sending copies to our Troops as a community project in care packages and their feedback is terrific, they love it! As w/all of Mr. Carroll's work it brings the true and authentic stories home with what our men, women, and families experience while at war. One of the nicest things about this book is the elegance and quality, it simply feels good in your hands. I have given this book out already to civilians numerous times as gifts. I appreciated reading about the spiritual aspect and how faith does bring hope and encouragement during times of struggle, loneliness, and pain.

The real stories from the lines.......2007-06-07

I thoroughly have enjoyed this book and have read it several times. I have used it several times as guided discussions in a classroom setting. I felt it an important part of our front line stories that I got copies for the chaplains on base. I have actually gone back and gotten some of Andrews earlier books and have come to realize that warfare itself has changed, the verbage we use has changed but the feelings and emotions are still the same.

First, Second and Third impressions of the book.......2007-06-07

This is an outstanding book that I've read many times and shared with numerous friends of faith. The book, the works behind it, and the multiple intents for it are worthy of as much praise as can be heaped upon it. It's written for everyone: the common person who's never been to war, those have been or are in the thick of things overseas and especially the families of those who serve. It's a way to understand others thoughts and feelings as well as your own if you're in those circumstances.

Andrew Carroll has faith and a heart that is bigger than Texas in his desire to help others in their times of need to understand things bigger than themselves. This is one of his works in that human endeavor to make life better for others. A humanitarian award should be given to him for his desire to make life a little easier or better for others and to help others share their feelings over such harsh and emotional issues in life.

This is a must read for anyone concerned about war and the feelings that it invokes in service members, their families and even their friends. Read it for yourself and then share with others whom you know.

Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression

Average customer rating:

Book review
Not great, but still very good.
Informative. But It Dragged.
Listening to people's stories
Required Reading For The 21st Century Depression

Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression
Studs Terkel
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Oral History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1565846567

Amazon.com

First published in 1970, this classic of oral history features the voices of men and women who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s. It includes accounts by congressmen C. Wright Patman and Hamilton Fish, as well as failed presidential candidate Alf M. Landon, who recalls what it was like to be governor of Kansas in 1933:

Men with tears in their eyes begged for an appointment that would help save their homes and farms. I couldn't see them all in my office. But I never let one of them leave without my coming out and shakin' hands with 'em. I listened to all their stories, each one of 'em. But it was obvious I couldn't take care of all their terrible needs.

The book includes also the perspectives of ordinary men and women, such as Jim Sheridan, who took part in the 1932 march by World War I veterans to petition for their benefits in Washington, D.C., where they were repelled by army troops led by General Douglas MacArthur. Or Edward Santander, who was a child then: "My first memories come about '31. It was simply a gut issue then: eating or not eating, living or not living." Studs Terkel makes history come alive, drawing out experiences and emotions from his interviewees to the degree few have ever been able to match.

Book Description

Studs Terkel's classic history of the Great Depression.

In this unique re-creation of one of the most dramatic periods in modern American history, Studs Terkel recaptures the Great Depression of the 1930s in all its complexity. The book is a mosaic of memories from those who were richest to those who were most destitute: politicians like James Farley and Raymond Moley; businessmen like Bill Benton and Clement Stone; a six-day bicycle racer; artists and writers; racketeers; speakeasy operators, strikers, and impoverished farmers; people who were just kids; and those who remember losing a fortune.

Hard Times is not only a gold mine of information—much of it little known—but also a fascinating interplay of memory and fact, showing how the Depression affected the lives of those who experienced it firsthand, often transforming the most bitter memories into a surprising nostalgia.

Customer Reviews:

Book review.......2007-05-09

Book was never received and four inquiries to book dealer were ignored. I gave it one star because there was no zero or less.

Not great, but still very good........2007-03-09

This is the second book by Terkel I've read, the other being his superlative "The Good War". Like that book, it is a joy to read, and it was often hard to put down. He usually opens his interviews with just enough exposition to set up a scene, and then lets his subjects talk. And, do they! The personalities of each come through such that you feel as if you're sharing the room with them, an experience that is the more poignant for the realization that most of the people in this book are long-dead, taking their stories with them.

Nonetheless, the book has its weaknesses. Though the Great Depression is by definition an extremely broad subject, I never felt quite like I was getting a good "slice of life" of the times. For instance, there seem to be a disproportionate number of interviews with former Communists and socalists; though their movement was powerful during the Thirties, one may get the idea that they were more common than they actually were--especially since, as one reviewer noted, much of the book is set in and around Chicago. On the whole, it's a less gripping text than "The Good War"; reading that book felt like an awakening, while this one will reveal little to those with a working knowledge of the Depression-era U.S.

All that said, I'm glad I read it, and still recommend it for anyone interested in this complex and unsettling period of American history.

Informative. But It Dragged........2005-08-12

There is undeniable value in recording the memories and perspectives of people who have lived through something as remarkable as the Great Depression. The Internet of the future may provide the best possible compilation of such raw materials: only then may we see video and hear audio of the actual event, culled from tape recordings and home movies of the 1970s and before, and from film reels of the 1920s and after. Compared to resources like those, the relatively brief excerpts that Studs Terkel offers in this book cannot help but feel tailored, managed, and limiting.

I say the Internet of the future may be the ultimate resource. But in an important sense, that is exactly wrong. The ultimate resource would have been to have lived during those times -- to have experienced the event firsthand, and to have interviewed people and recorded information as it was unfolding. Do we, indeed, obtain a more compelling, a more visceral impression of the Great Depression by reading these timeworn memories, from the 1960s, of events that had taken place some 30 years earlier?

In some ways, no decade in the 20th century could have been farther away from the 1930s than were the 1960s. We had newfound suburban materialism; the race to the Moon; John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.; the Great Society; LSD; rebellious youth and college as one's real home; American global supremacy; Vietnam and the Cold War. We were *so* far removed from the 1930s, by then. When Americans looked back from the later decade to the earlier one, they could not help but do so through very colored lenses. The values of the 1960s -- the things that people would tend to speak about, in the 1960s -- did visibly flavor the way that Terkel's interviewees spoke about their distant past.

Terkel's work is not history. It is a compilation of raw materials that a historian could use for some purposes. No doubt the historian would have to work through heaps of old material that might frequently repeat itself or express the same general impressions, just as Terkel's increasingly tedious interviews tend to do, as one progresses through the book. But a good historian would find a way to condense that material, to extract its most telling points, and to organize and present them in an intriguing and highly thought-provoking manner. This would be true even of the historian whose written work rested heavily upon verbatim quotations from primary sources. You have to make a point. You have to say something provocative if you expect people to get excited about your work.

I do recommend skimming this book, dipping occasionally into its anecdotes and observations. There is much to be learned here. But I don't believe it is going to give many people just what they want for the Depression. Instead, consider reading a novel about the 1930s, or one written in the 1930s; browse old magazines and, particularly, old newspapers, including both the big ones (e.g., the New York Times) and the small, local ones -- if you can find any of the latter that have been preserved in your area.

Gather your own data from these sources and elsewhere, and don't restrict yourself, as much of Terkel's book does, to one city. The 1930s was a world unto itself. This book does not do it justice.

Listening to people's stories .......2004-10-31

Studs Terkel discovered the great value of talking and listening to people, having them tell him their stories. In this way he developed a technique for gathering together a tremendously rich picture of life in the Depression. And these accounts generally have an authenticity and power of their own.
This is social history which is highly readable.

Required Reading For The 21st Century Depression.......2002-12-19

This book is a compilation of oral recountings of the Great Depression of the 20th Century, taken by Studs Terkel. The book can be regarded as an excellent primary source of information from a historical point of view. These are anecdotes from people ranging from sharecroppers on up to highly placed executives, politicians, and professionals. Terkel leaves no stone unturned, as these stories (grouped by occupation and social stratum) show how the Depression affected people in all walks of life in the United States.

No secondary source is going to prove as truthful as the stories themselves. No high-flying armchair analysis by a detached political commentator, PhD or windbag is going to give you the true flavor of what our country went through after October, 1929.

We are in the midst of an economic downturn that has 800,000 American citizens without unemployment insurance, a looming health crisis among unemployed members of the middle class, and a war on the horizon. If you want to be prepared and to understand the ramifications of this situation, I urge you to not only read this book cover to cover, but also to go out and find people who lived through this time and listen to their stories. Go to your grandparents, parents, elderly relatives, the old guy on the porch across the street, the local senior centers. Ask them to talk.

Understanding history helps us understand the future.

Studs Terkel's book is a recounting of the past, but is also a story of our coming future.

Read it!

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Time and Narrative, Volume 3 (Time & Narrative)
Paul Ricoeur
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Rhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Time and Narrative, Volume 2 (Time & Narrative)

Time and Narrative, Volume 1 (Time & Narrative)

Memory, History, Forgetting

Oneself as Another

Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning

ASIN: 0226713369

Book Description

In the first two volumes of this work, Paul Ricoeur examined the relations between time and narrative in historical writing, fiction, and theories of literature. This final volume, a comprehensive reexamination and synthesis of the ideas developed in volumes 1 and 2, stands as Ricoeur's most complete and satisfying presentation of his own philosophy.

Ricoeur's aim here is to explicate as fully as possible the hypothesis that has governed his inquiry, namely, that the effort of thinking at work in every narrative configuration is completed in a refiguration of temporal experience. To this end, he sets himself the central task of determing how far a poetics of narrative can be said to resolve the "aporias"—the doubtful or problematic elements—of time. Chief among these aporias are the conflicts between the phenomenological sense of time (that experienced or lived by the individual) and the cosmological sense (that described by history and physics) on the one hand and the oneness or unitary nature of time on the other. In conclusion, Ricoeur reflects upon the inscrutability of time itself and attempts to discern the limits of his own examination of narrative discourse.

"As in his previous works, Ricoeur labors as an imcomparable mediator of often estranged philosophical approaches, always in a manner that compromises neither rigor nor creativity."—Mark Kline Taylor, Christian Century

"In the midst of two opposing contemporary options—either to flee into ever more precious readings . . . or to retreat into ever more safe readings . . . —Ricoeur's work offers an alternative option that is critical, wide-ranging, and conducive to new applications."—Mary Gerhart, Journal of Religion

His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France: The World War I Memoir of Warren R. Jackson

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How amazingly UNAWARE we all are!

His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France: The World War I Memoir of Warren R. Jackson
Warren R. Jackson
Manufacturer: Presidio Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

World War I | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0891417516
Release Date: 2001-10-11

Book Description

Through the words of a man who lived it, the reader experience the discomfort, hunger, and danger of life in the maelstrom of mortal combat.

Customer Reviews:

How amazingly UNAWARE we all are!.......2002-08-29

An incredible true story of Warren Jackson's life in Europe. How little this country knows what kind of conditions our fore fathers went through during World War I. Jackson tells his story from the heart, during the entire book. Some parts of his story, you'll be wishing there was more he would of said, but definately a good read.

My Carrier War: The Life and Times of a Naval Aviator in WWII (Hellgate Memories Series)

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A Gripping Human Story of a Carrier Pilot
Absorbing story of one man's coming of age in a time of war
A Must Read
A patriots story
Transports the reader back to a time of war and danger

My Carrier War: The Life and Times of a Naval Aviator in WWII (Hellgate Memories Series)
Norman E. Berg
Manufacturer: Hellgate Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1555716199

Book Description

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Three days later, a young Navy pilot-in-training won his wings and found himself flying torpedo planes against enemy targets in the Pacific.

From his days as a Naval aviation cadet aboard the "Yellow Peril" biplane trainer, to his first bombing runs on Guadalcanal, to his life aboard an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific, Norman Berg offers a fast-paced narrative filled with humor and meticulous attention to detail. Much more than a simple WWII memoir, this story goes beyond the action of battle to explore the author's innermost conflicts and chronicles one young couple's wartime struggle to balance love, duty, and commitment.

Customer Reviews:

A Gripping Human Story of a Carrier Pilot.......2003-04-15

I just finished reading My Carrier War by Norman E.Berg. It is an absorbing and interesting page-turner. Mr. Berg's memories of his WW II experience offer a gripping picture of what it took to be a naval pilot in 1941 and beyond, as well as the human story of a young husband and father who faced combat as leader and participant.

This account offers an in-depth variety of information and illumination, regardless of the interest of any particular reader. It's about learning to fly, about learning to be a naval pilot, about the characteristics of warplanes, about flying from an aircraft carrier, about life at sea, about falling in love, about making a personal life in the midst of war, about separation from your loved ones, about dropping torpedos and divebombing, about comradship, about U.S. strategy in winning the south pacific, and about humanity in a time of war.

Beyond the details, this writer knits the story together in an engaging way. There is no tedium in this book, nor is it a superficial recitation of dry history. It offers a timeless lesson in facing personal challenges and prevailing. The book is interestingly illustrated with photographs and maps. It is a satisfying read.

Absorbing story of one man's coming of age in a time of war.......2002-08-29

This chronicle is a rich tapestry of war time action woven against a background of a boy's transformation into manhood through duty, love, and acceptance of personal limitations. Norman Berg brings his combat missions alive with gripping vividness of detail. But it is the comparatively economical passges on his subjective experiences that give this book its poignancy. Staying the course in war and sixty years of reflection have added the tincture of a profound sense of fate to this writer's ink. It makes this memoir shine.

A Must Read.......2002-08-22

I couldn't put it down. As someone who was born after WWII, I was able to appreciate better the time period where we all went through this difficult period. May we never have to do that again. Thank you Mr. Berg for a well written book and am looking forward to seeing it in movie form.

A patriots story.......2002-02-28

Capt. Berg tells the true story of patriotisms conflict with his new family life and how he conquered his fears to serve two long flying tours in the Pacific war during the early and darkest hours of the war that affected and changed not only America but the entire world. Berg is one of the "Greatest Generation" and we are lucky to hear his story in his own words spoken from the cockpit of his torpedo bomber . I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. A Great Story. Eugene A. Olsen, Capt. USMM (ret)

Transports the reader back to a time of war and danger.......2001-12-14

My Carrier War: The Life And Times Of A Naval Aviator In WW II is a gripping memoir of Norman E. Berg, who was a pilot-in-training and earned his wings three days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. In addition to recounting harrowing battles, My Carrier War also explores the author's inner conflicts and chronicles a young couple's efforts to balance military duty with commitment and love. Black-and-white photographs illustrate the powerful, evocative text. A memoir so strong it transports the reader back to a time of war, danger, and uncertainty, when the fate of America and the world was at stake, My Carrier War is a very welcome contribution to the growing library of World War II memoirs and autobiographies.

Time and Narrative, Volume 2 (Time & Narrative)

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Time and Narrative, Volume 2 (Time & Narrative)
Paul Ricoeur
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Rhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0226713342

Book Description

In volume 1 of this three-volume work, Paul Ricoeur examined the relations between time and narrative in historical writing. Now, in volume 2, he examines these relations in fiction and theories of literature.

Ricoeur treats the question of just how far the Aristotelian concept of "plot" in narrative fiction can be expanded and whether there is a point at which narrative fiction as a literary form not only blurs at the edges but ceases to exist at all. Though some semiotic theorists have proposed all fiction can be reduced to an atemporal structure, Ricoeur argues that fiction depends on the reader's understanding of narrative traditions, which do evolve but necessarily include a temporal dimension. He looks at how time is actually expressed in narrative fiction, particularly through use of tenses, point of view, and voice. He applies this approach to three books that are, in a sense, tales about time: Virgina Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway; Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain; and Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.

"Ricoeur writes the best kind of philosophy—critical, economical, and clear."—Eugen Weber, New York Times Book Review

"A major work of literary theory and criticism under the aegis of philosophical hermenutics. I believe that . . . it will come to have an impact greater than that of Gadamer's Truth and Method—a work it both supplements and transcends in its contribution to our understanding of the meaning of texts and their relationship to the world."—Robert Detweiler, Religion and Literature

"One cannot fail to be impressed by Ricoeur's encyclopedic knowledge of the subject under consideration. . . . To students of rhetoric, the importance of Time and Narrative . . . is all too evident to require extensive elaboration."—Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar, Quarterly Journal of Speech

Time and Narrative, Volume 1 (Time & Narrative)

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Brilliant

Time and Narrative, Volume 1 (Time & Narrative)
Paul Ricoeur
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

Reference | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Rhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0226713326

Book Description

Time and Narrative builds on Paul Ricoeur's earlier analysis, in The Rule of Metaphor, of semantic innovation at the level of the sentence. Ricoeur here examines the creation of meaning at the textual level, with narrative rather than metaphor as the ruling concern.

Ricoeur finds a "healthy circle" between time and narrative: time is humanized to the extent that it portrays temporal experience. Ricoeur proposes a theoretical model of this circle using Augustine's theory of time and Aristotle's theory of plot and, further, develops an original thesis of the mimetic function of narrative. He concludes with a comprehensive survey and critique of modern discussions of historical knowledge, understanding, and writing from Aron and Mandelbaum in the late 1930s to the work of the Annales school and that of Anglophone philosophers of history of the 1960s and 1970s.

"This work, in my view, puts the whole problem of narrative, not to mention philosophy of history, on a new and higher plane of discussion."—Hayden White, History and Theory

"Superb. . . . A fine point of entrance into the work of one of the eminent thinkers of the present intellectual age."—Joseph R. Gusfield, Contemporary Sociology

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2005-06-14

Ricoeur, who died in 2005, had an obscure type of fame, but one that will grow exponentially as his ideas are understood more and more. This mind-blowing volume takes Augustine's and Aristotle's views on time and synthesizes them into a position on how narrative works. Great stuff.

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Last Letters Home
Astonishing, meaningful, heart-wrenching

Last Letters Home

Manufacturer: CDs Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Iraq | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1593151632

Book Description

War letters are, by their nature, intensely emotional, honest and heartfelt documents. They are letters like no others, written when the extreme peril of battle forces one to look at life in an entirely new way. Moments and memories are cherished with an urgency they hadn't been before. The future is a dream.

Especially poignant among war letters are the last letters home. These messages may express many things--hope, pride, fear, exhaustion, love--but they take on an extraordinary new weight when the reader brings to them a foreknowledge of what has occurred. The letters in this LIFE book, from Robert Wise's comic pick-me-ups to his mom to Michelle Witmer's and Rachel Bosveld's dramatic accounts of action in Iraq to Jesse Givens's passionate last words to his young family--a letter that he told his wife not to open unless he was killed--give a thoroughly human face to the war in Iraq. Beyond the statistics are these lives, bravely lived.

In Last Letters Home, fourteen families share their stories with LIFE's readers and come before LIFE's cameras, just as several of them participated in the HBO/New York Times project of the same name, which has produced a documentary to air on Veteran's Day, November 11. It took courage for them to publicly recall bygone sons, daughters, spouses and parents. Courage--theirs and the courage of those now departed--is on every page of this book.

Customer Reviews:

Last Letters Home.......2004-11-21

I read this book on a flight from Houston to Raliegh. The young man sitting next to me was riveted. He read the book over my shoulder. He wondered how I could read a book like this after I told him my son was in the 3rd Infantry Division. My son was in Iraq from March 2003 to August 2003 and returns in January.

I told him books like these are important in keeping us in touch with the reality of what we face over there. All Americans should feel the pain along with the families of the soldiers who have died. This book brings home the painful reality.

I, too, was compelled to write our story for this very reason. Our son came home and for that we are forever grateful. Yet I want people to know the complexity of emotion that raged through my family while he was there. My book can be found on Amazon and is called "Letters Home - From 9/11 to Operation Iraqi Freedom A Military Mom Shares Her Family's Story of Patriotism, Courage and Love."

Thank you to the families who so painfully have shared their lives with us.

Astonishing, meaningful, heart-wrenching.......2004-11-12

When I was a student of political science, I had a professor who read to us letters home from the war front. He had a collection of pieces from lots of different countries, but messages were remarkably the same - human beings caught up in situations and conflict far beyond their making and often beyond our comprehension, not writing for king and country, but writing of home, writing to home.

This collection follows many fine examples of this genre, from fourteen families; these letters are made all the more meaningful and poignant by the fact that their authors didn't return home alive. The concerns are very basic, but take on a palpable feel to them for the reader today -- care for home, family, plans for the future, honest emotion including fear. This collection spans the range of people from the most recent conflict -- it shows that many of the aspects of war are depressingly the same, no matter what historical era one is in.

The courage of the families to put forward this kind of emotional part of their lives is matched only by the courage of the men and women who themselves lost their lives. The book, companion to a documentary produced by HBO, strives to be non-political; far from being an indictment of the current administration, it focuses instead upon the people involved at the 'ground level' of the conflict. Many of the families are in fact supporters of President Bush, firm in their convictions that the sacrifice of their loved ones was done in the name of democracy and the country.

There is a forward by Senator John McCain, himself a veteran with experiences to tell, but even his family did not suffer the fate of receiving a last letter home from him.

On this Veteran's Day, originally Armistice Day, after the war-to-end-all-wars (that in fact did not), it is proper to remember also those involved in the current struggles, which includes families back home, whose connection is largely through letters, and whose prayers are always that there will be another letter soon, that no letter becomes the last letter home.

Read a part of our current affairs that will become a part of history in these letters, from the perspective of those actually doing the work in Iraq.

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