Amazon.com
You might argue that there's no point to this English-language edition of a Russian book, because only the most feverish Russian monarchist could take seriously, as a political issue, the question of whether the last Tsar's heir survived the Bolshevik massacre at Ekaterinburg. But this is a bit like saying that it doesn't matter how Amelia Earhart died: a mystery is a mystery, each with its own special claims on our attention. We know that Cheka thugs buried two fewer bodies than they fired at, and forensic evidence shows that if those two got away, they were almost certainly Nicholas's two youngest children, Anastasia and Alexei. There have been many Alexei pretenders in Russia, but none with so well-documented a claim as the one presented (a little breathlessly) here, on behalf of the schoolteacher Vasily Filatov, who died in 1984. Computerized facial matching says that he must be Alexei, and there is an enormous amount of other circumstantial evidence. Intriguing ... as, in a rubber-necking sort of way, is the forensically detailed reconstruction of what happened on the murderous night of July 16 to 17, 1918. But note that the relevant genetic information about Filatov has not been disclosed. Many experts, using just the methods emphasized here, were convinced beyond doubt that Anna Anderson must have been Alexei's sister Anastasia ... until DNA samples showed up. So caveat lector. What really drives this book is the series of grainy, haunting images of Filatov: was he just a peasant turned teacher, or did those deep, inscrutable eyes, which do look so very, very like the eyes of the young tsarevitch, hide for six decades a terrible story about crawling away from a pile of corpses? --Richard Farr
Book Description
The Russian Romanov dynasty came to an abrupt end on the night of July 17, 1918, when the imperial family was executed by the Bolsheviks. Or did it? Compelling new evidence reveals that Tsarevich Alexei, the fourteen year-old son of Nicholas II and heir to the Russian throne, may have escaped the bloodshed and been adopted by a local family in a nearby village.
Meticulously researched and documented, The Escape of Alexei details how Bolshevik soldiers bungled the execution, leading to confusion and chaos during the shooting. Young Alexei was merely wounded and unconscious when he was loaded onto the back of a truck with corpses of his murdered family and driven to the secret burial site. Falling out of the truck en route and left for dead, he was found by sympathetic soldiers who attended to the young hemophiliac's wounds and helped him escape, introducing him into a peasant family where he grew up under the name of Vasily Filatov.
The world of Russia's heir to the throne turned upside down. Vasily Filatov became an apprentice shoemaker, and eventually a high school geography and history teacher. He married, had children, and told his family the story of the Tsarevich's escape in the third person, as historical narrative. he never explained how, as a village teacher living under the oppressive silence and censorship of the Soviet Union, he was fluent in several foreign languages, had an in-depth knowledge of the private life of the Romanov family, and an uncanny grasp of the details surrounding the 1918 execution. With the advent of perestroika in the 1980's, the Soviet archives were finally opened to the public and, to his family's amazement, many of the incredible stories that Vasily Filatov had told his with and children were revealed to the world as historical fact.
In this startling volume, three well-respected scientists provide a convincing, thoroughly documented account of how such an extraordinary escape was possible, and how the executioners managed to cover up the fact that the body of the heir to the throne was missing. Drawing on official records and documents from Russian archive, the grisly personal accounts of soldiers who took part in the execution, and utilizing the latest scientific and forensic technology, the authors offer evidence that Alexei Romanov and Vasily Filatov were on and the same.
Filatov died in 1988. But his widow and children provide intimate reminiscences that bring this astonishing tale to life. And 101 black-and-white personal photographs reproduced throughout the text demonstrate the remarkable physical resemblances between members of the Romanov and Filatov families.
Customer Reviews:
Nice, but not a match.......2006-03-06
It all boils down to this: there is no way that the little boy and the man in the front cover (or in any of the other pictures) are the same person. Alexei's eyebrows tend to be very square, yet Vasily's are drooping down. Age may change appearance, but there is the "essence of the person" and these two don't match. The rest of the story is interesting, especially the history, but the argument is not airtight or even water-tight. There are other explanations. As for the writing, the book tends to drag on at times, but overall it is entertaining reading.
entertaining read but very implausible.......2004-11-06
Although this book does an admirable job of piecing together a convincing argument that Tsarevich Alexei survived from circumstantial evidence, it will not convince anyone who knows anything about Russian history. Facial structure alone is no match for DNA analysis and simple facts. For my part, I didn't think that the picture of Filitov matched the picture of Alexei at all. Disregarding that, however, this book's conclusion is highly improbable. Multiple Romanov executioners have stated that one of them kicked the tsarevich in the head, and then Chekist Yakov Yurovsky shot Alexei three times point blank in the ear. Perhaps the authors do not believe this, but there is no chance anyone, let alone a hemophiliac, could survive that. The authors contend that Alexei was only seriously wounded, not dead, when he and his family were put into the truck and driven off to be buried, and that Alexei then fell out of the truck and escaped. Even if this is true, he would have bled to death in hours. Medical treatments were simply not available at that time to treat even minor bleeding. So while these authors provide the most believable explanation regarding the possible survival of Romanov family members, it is not believable enough to make this book worth buying.
Not convinced.......2004-06-18
I am a sucker for all things Romanov, and haven't read anything about the Russian Royal Family in a year or two. So I was anxious to start The Escape of Alexei by Vadim Petrov, Igor Lysenko and Georgy Egorov. Those looking to this book for a Romanov-fix won't find it here.
The premise that someone could have survived the Romanov massacre in Ekaterinburg in July 1918 is a tempting one. It gained even more momentum when two bodies turned up missing when the remains of the Royal Family were found in 1978. The group chosen to kill the Romanovs was a disorganized bunch, and the scene of the murder was complete chaos. But the theory that Vasily Filatov was actually the tsarevich Alexei is a laughable one.
First and foremost, there has been no DNA testing, and the authors give us lame excuses why this has not been done. We've already been duped by Anna Anderson, who was proven by DNA to be an impostor after her death. Second, the fact that a hemophiliac could live to the ripe old age of 83 stretches the imagination-especially without medical intervention. The book does have good photos, but the young Alexei looks nothing like Filatov. There are many statements made by Filatov's family, but just because Filatov loved the celebrate New Years' and birthdays, read poetry, or played classical music doesn't prove he was Alexei. Filatov also didn't seem to pass on much concrete information about growing up as the tsarevich. There are just too many gaps in the story, and too much lacking here.
The book itself is tedious at times-especially the background information at the beginning. The body of the book is only 176 pages, and much of it is repetition. And the 26 page appendix is filled with worthless information.
So, for true Romanov aficionados, I suggest you pass on The Escape of Alexei and pick up something a little more worthwhile.
Not very persuasive..........2003-11-05
I don't suggest this book at all. It was not very persuasive and in one of the pictures, one Grand Duchess is misidentified! You'd think their "brother" would know who is was! It seems completely made up.
Time Well Spent...Doing Something Else.......2002-06-11
This book is absolute rubbish! Don't even waste your money on it. You'd do better reading The Cat in the Hat rather than this. For any Romanov fan, this book is a must-a must throw in the trash. I don't know why people still insist that Aleksey survived Ekaterinburg. Just drop it. He didn't survive. Anastasiya didn't survive. Maria didn't survive. None of them survived! They most likely just burned the two "missing" bodies and scattered the ashes around the site...
Average customer rating:
- Some good history here -- Myths persist, though
- A Fun Book to Stimulate Interest in History
- Paul Fritz ?
- And then what happened, Paul Revere?
- Now I know a lot about Paul Revere's Ride.
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And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? (Paperstar)
Jean Fritz
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ASIN: 0698113519 |
Customer Reviews:
Some good history here -- Myths persist, though.......2005-08-19
Jean Fritz' attempt to tell the story of Paul Revere's ride is an engaging tale, but it is riddled with the myths that have accumulated around this pivitol event in U.S. history. She does a good job giving Revere's personal history, and readers can get a good sense of the context in which he was working. Still, she refuses to let go of some myths that have long since been proven false.
Of course, no historian still believes in the "one if by land, two if by sea" nonsense that Longfellow invented for his 19th century poem. But Fritz includes it here as if it is fact. And how's this for a misleading version of the reasons behind the revolution: "Now the English were causing trouble, telling the colonies they couldn't do this and couldn't do that, slapping on taxes, one after another." Hmm.
Well, what Fritz doesn't tell you is that the "this and that" the English were telling the colonists not to do consisted primarilly of burning native settlements and murdering the inhabitants. The English had a non-confrontational policy toward the natives along the colonial border, while the Americans wanted to move in and take the land, by force if necessary. This was one of the main disagreements between the colonies and the English, but Fritz hides this behind some silly word choices. She also neglects to tell readers that the taxes were being levied to pay for the defense of the colonies during the French-Indian War (quite a reasonable stance from their point of view).
This book is OK on a very surface level, when read as a strict adventure tale. But don't make the mistake of thinking that this is very serious history.
A Fun Book to Stimulate Interest in History.......2002-01-31
This is a fun book that should help your youngster develop an interest in American History. It is easy to read an has great illustratiions. You will not be disappointed with this purchase. Look for others by the same author.
Paul Fritz ?.......2001-02-08
This book was great! Fritz makes learning FUN! I never knew that Paul Revere forgot his spurs on his ride! Did You?
And then what happened, Paul Revere?.......2000-07-06
The story of Paul Revere is simply written by Fritz. Aftereach account she writes, "And then what happened? This patternthroughout the book makes the book easy to read, as you always know what the next section will be about. The information provided about Paul Revere is authentic. Young readers would find the information appealing. Not only does Fritz give authentic accounts of Revere's ride through Boston, Concord and Lexington, but she adds specific details to each. For example, she tells of how Revere and Adams had to return to a tavern in Lexington to get a trunk of important papers Adams had left, and how they walked right through the American lines in the process. While the actual text is informative yet light-hearted and easy to read, the illustrations provide essential support. This adds to the simplicity of the book. Included at the end of the story is an author's note on historical facts contained within the story that were not completely developed in the text. Fritz in her notes adds to the events so that the reader gets a true account of history. Overall, this book is an appealing, authentic, and easy to read account of Paul Revere's life, perfect for the middle school child!
Now I know a lot about Paul Revere's Ride........1999-08-14
Jean Fritz has a fun way to teach facts and have fun at the same time. She makes reading enjoyable and interesting.
Amazon.com
John Dominic Crossan is the leading contemporary scholar on the historical Jesus, which means that his vocation is to look behind, around, and through Christ's resurrection, toward the goal of establishing what can be known about the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
His search for the historical Jesus, however, takes place in the larger context of the life of the church. Among the goals of The Birth of Christianity is to teach readers how our habits of worship have created false gods. To that end, Crossan attempts to unearth the religion's earliest forms. What did Christianity look like, Crossan asks, between the crucifixion and the conversion of Paul? And what might Christianity look like today had Saul never set off toward Damascus?
Crossan's conclusions don't come from newly discovered documents; they come from freshly-minted academic methodologies. He uses anthropology, history, and archaeology to construct his arguments about the essential nature of both Jesus' religion and Paul's. The 25-cent summary of his conclusion is that Jesus did not recognize the dualism between spirit and flesh that formed the basis of Paul's apocalyptic Christianity. In other words, Jesus was more Jewish than Paul.
The ramifications of this argument are huge. Crossan says much of Christian worship--and many of the world's injustices--are based on the dualistic Christ that Paul preached. Though Crossan doesn't bully readers into accepting his conclusions, he does press hard for them to situate their own beliefs in relation to his interpretations of Jesus and Paul. At every point in the evolution of his argument, he asks readers questions such as "How do you understand a human being?" and "What is the character of your God?" Then he proceeds to answer these questions himself. Finally, he tells readers what he thinks these answers mean.
It's an incredibly civilized style of argument--both spiritually and intellectually respectful and always rhetorically engaging. Though The Birth of Christianity weighs in at almost 600 pages of text, you'll probably want to read every word. And after that, you'll probably be hungry for more.
Book Description
"This book is about the lost years of earliest Christianity, about the 30s and 40s of the first century, about those dark decades immediately after the execution of Jesus. . . . The obscurity of the 30s and 40s can be emphasized by the comparative brilliancy of the 50s. From that later decade we have the letters of Paul. . . . From them, above all else, we receive the temptation to gloss speedily over the 30s or 40s and move swiftly to those better-documented 50s. . . . Before there was Paul the apostle in the early 50s, there was Paul the persecutor in the early 30s. What was there for him to persecute?"
-from The Birth of Christianity
In this long-awaited companion to his landmark The Historical Jesus, John Dominic Crossan, the world's foremost expert on the historical Jesus, explores the lost years of earliest Christianity, those immediately following the execution of Jesus. He establishes the contextual setting by an interdisciplinary combination of anthropological, historical, and archaeological approaches. He identifies the textual sources by a literary analysis of the earliest discernible layers within our present gospels, both inside and outside the New Testament. Context and text come together to challenge long-standing assumptions about the role of Paul and the meaning of resurrection, and to forge an eloquent and powerful new understanding of the birth of the Christian church.
John Dominic Crossan, one of the most influential figures in biblical scholarship, combines innovative scholarship with compelling insight in illuminating the mysteries of the origins of Christianity. Crossan's meticulous research into the anthropological milieu within which Christianity arose, and his study of the emergence of early Christian communities, form the basis for his stunning and original theory. Separating history from theology and redaction, he presents a vivid account of early Christianity's interaction with the world around it, and of the new traditions and communities established as Jesus' companions continued their movement after his death.
With ancient traditional Judaism under increasing pressure from both Roman commercial exploitation and Greek cultural domination, the Kingdom-of-God movement of Jesus and his followers establish radical but non-violent resistance in the Lower Galilee of the late 20s. As early Jewish and Greek-influenced schools of thought present competing visions of the nature of the spirit and the flesh, it is the message brought by Jesus during his life that creates the spiritual center of the early church.
The Resurrection, while essential to the story of Christ as told through the centuries, is understood in a different light when presented in the setting of a Mediterranean culture in which events such as apparitions by the dead and ecstatic visions were far from unusual. While the eschatological teachings of Paul play a large role in the growth and development of the church, they are seen to follow, rather than define, the moment of its birth.
Ground-breaking and brilliantly crafted, *The Birth of Christianity* is an indispensable addition to our understanding of the origins of the Christian faith.
John Dominic Crossan is the author of The Historical Jesus, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus?, and Who Is Jesus? He chairs the Historical Jesus section of the Society of Biblical Literature and was codirector of the Jesus Seminar. John Dominic Crossan, the world's foremost expert and best-selling author on the historical Jesus, presents a fascinating and essential inquiry into the rise of Christianity in the years preceding and immediately following the Crucifixion. Crossan's interdisciplinary approach sheds new light on the cultural and theological context in which the Christian church arose, and raises essential questions about the role of St. Paul and the significance of the Resurrection.
"Christianity arose out of the interaction of the historical Jesus and his first companions. It was not invented by Paul. That is the stunning hypothesis of Crossan's The Birth of Christianity. Like the master craftsman he is, Crossan has forged a picture of the earliest Christianity-of the dark years, the 30s and 40s[B.C.E.]-in debate with other scholars and in the combination of social science theory, Galilean archeology, close textual analysis, and historical reconstruction. No one controls the issues, the data, and the options as well as Crossan. His reconstruction is essential reading for anyone serious about Christian origins and its fate in the third millennium."
-Robert W. Funk, chair, The Jesus Seminar, and author of The Acts of Jesus
Praise for earlier work by John Dominic Crossan:"[John Dominic Crossan is] excellent and timely in drawing on aspects of social anthropological theory to elucidate the thought processes and human relationships behind the extant sources. He and his colleagues in American biblical studies have done a great service in recent years in bringing these perspectives to bear on the origins of Christianity ... Mr. Crossan paints his Jesus with great warmth and power."
-The New York Times
Customer Reviews:
A magnificent edifice, but is it built on sand?.......2006-10-10
Like a lawyer with a weak case, Crossan relies on razzle-dazzle and hand-waving, but I'm afraid the jury will have to render a verdict of Not Proven.
As a layman, in the academic and religious senses, I'm not qualified to criticize his argument in detail, so I can only go by my sense of smell, which in this case detects reductionism, anachronism, grasping at straws, cherry picking of the work of others, and perhaps even wishful thinking.
The subtitle might lead you to expect a hypothetical reconstruction of events between 30 and 50 CE, but that's not really what Crossan is up to. In fact, the sources we already have for those years, namely Acts and the letters of Paul, are somewhat arbitrarily swept off the table right at the beginning of the book, and only referred to subsequently when needed to support an argument. Instead, Crossan builds an elaborate argument, painstakingly making his case point by point, revealing his conclusions only after a lot of (very selective) side trips into anthropology, archaeology, literary criticism, psychology, and God knows what else.
In a way it's a shame that Crossan feels he has to work so hard to make his case, as his basic point certainly has merit -- that the historical Jesus and his immediate followers were primarily social reformers firmly rooted in the Jewish concept of justice. They probably lived communally in Jerusalem (just as they are described in Acts, of course), and after Jesus' death, were more interested in his teachings than his divinity.
Possibly, but if that's all Jesus was, why should we still be so interested in him 2000 years later? Surely, at a minimum, he was one of the most original and charismatic thinkers of all time. Spiritual giants like Jesus, even if they are only human, still have the ability to see beyond the narrow confines of the space and time in which they find themselves. For Crossan, though, Jesus is closer to a proto-Gandhi or Martin Luther King than to a figure of almost, if not literally, superhuman stature.
With all my reservations, though, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It may be a hard slog, but parts of it are brilliant and profound. I certainly learned a lot from it, and I'm eager to explore the subject with other authors. It could be that they will convince me that Crossan is full of hooey, but I'm still not sorry I spent so much time in his very entertaining company.
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.......2006-07-11
What a big disappointment this book was.
As I read it, I kept expecting eventually to hear about the birth of Christianity. But this book is not about the birth of Christianity. Rather you read 600 pages devoted to John Dominic Crossan's ego.
Mr. Crossan repeatedly writes: 1. What he is going to tell us, 2. Why he is going to tell us, 3. How he is going to tell us, etc. But, he never tells the story of the birth of Christianity. There is no story or history explaining the early development of Christianity. It is not that there is a story that I disagree with, or one that I find boring; rather, there is no story at all.
The book's title is not just misleading, it is an absolute lie. This book is not about the birth of Christianity.
Mr. Crossan's book is pathetic, when compared to G.A Well's "Who Was Jesus" or L.Michael White's "From Jesus to Christianity" or Arthur Drews' "The Christ Myth." All three are much better books. And while I may not agree with everything these authors say, at least they tell a story of how Christianity developed.
The Birth of Christianity is Revisionist and Boring.......2006-05-10
The Birth of Christianity
This book is more "the death of clarity" than "The Birth of Christianity."
Crossan squanders a great deal of time and consumes precious ink in this book, the stated purpose of which is to offer the reader an account of the first two decades of the early Christian Church. Crossan says less about this than one would hope and takes more pages of print than necessary to do so. He seems concerned about connecting the beginnings of Christianity to the larger cultural milieu and showing how Christianity is much more like the rest of the culture than heretofore imagined.
For instance, he points out that stories about Augustus and other ancients are like unto the stories about Jesus (their births the result of a divine-human encounter) and he compares Christ's resurrection appearances to commonplace wishful visions of the grief-sick minds of bereft loved-ones in any century.
This would be reason enough to avoid this book but frankly, Crossan is also guilty of boring the reader.
Why would we wish to hear about the "Perfect Storm" sinking in a book that purports to be about the decades between Christ's resurrection and Paul's letters? I cannot think of any reason.
But Crossan pads his text with that and similar filler - as if he reached for everything he had been reading at the time and said, "Mmm, how can I put this in there, too?" The end result is an unsuccessful mishmash of words, words, words-enough to make a tenth grade English teacher quit and get a job at the five and ten.
If you want to read about the first several decades of the Christian church there are better-many many much better-books to read. Serious readers, whether laypersons, clergy or theologians, would be better served to go again to the classic scholarly writers who have tackled this subject successfully. They will have all the detail with no filler whatsoever:
- A History of Christianity, Volume 1: Beginnings to 1500 (Revised) Kenneth S. Latourette - still THE classic resource of the history of the church. No serious reader should miss it.
- The Early Church (Hist of the Church). A brilliant work of scholarship, beautiful prose.
And the best of the recent books on this subject:
- From Jesus to Christianity: How Four Generations of Visionaries & Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith - filled with charts, graphs, sidebars and other features to help the reader understand the message.
This emperor has no clothes!.......2006-04-28
Wandering, rambling, overly detailed, distracted, unfocused...
I really wanted to learn about the birth of Christianity. This looked like the book to give me insights into early Christianity before the influence of Paul. Instead, I read 600 pages of methodology and documentation that overwhelmed the scant information I found in Crossan's book.
Crossan seems to want me to appreciate his spiritual journey and academic work. For my purposes, I want to hear his conclusions and leave the details to the academics.
If I want to learn about the city of Rome and its glory, Crossan would tell me how he decided upon the types of luggage he evaluated, the decisions and choices of clothing he packed as it related to the time of year and the restaurants he intended to visit, and what the ride to the airport was like. I might, or I might not, finally read a little about Rome if I have the tenacity to stay with his diversions and ramblings into unnecessary details. The book reads like Crossan dictated any and all of his thoughts while "writing" this book and never allowed the book to benefit from the focus found with editing.
Call me lightweight, but I read to learn about an area of interest and not about the methodology of how the writer approached the subject. Crossan seemed to never get to the point. Somewhere he got the idea that I cared about his views of his spiritual beliefs. I just wanted to learn about the birth of Christianity!
I suggest readers read the last few pages and see how Crossan closes his book. It's a whimper into nothingness. Professional reviewers may see clothes on this emperor. Lay readers are not unanimous in their respect for this book.
Disappointed...more of the same.......2006-04-22
Crossan is a brilliant man primarily because he was educated by the Church. In fact as a "priest" all he did was attend school on the Church's dime. He never did parish or missionary work. He took the easy way out when the gravy Train had run it's course.
Sad, in some ways as he is a brilliant man.
This latest book of his is very scholarly but really contains no new insights not found in his previous works.
I reccomend it only if you've never read his other books and are looking for a synopsis.
Book Description
Some of the finest writing and reporting on the events of September 11 was done by Der Spiegel, Germany's magazine of record. With its main office in Hamburg, base of operations for terrorist ringleader Mohamed Atta and many of the others, Der Spiegel's journalists were on the front lines of the earliest investigation into the identities of those who, on a cloudless summer's morning, brought Holy War to America.The award-winning team from Spiegel was also at Ground Zero, talking to people, gathering stories, interviewing survivors, seeking the words that might express the interconnections of horror and heroism. The words came to them from those who had been inside and somehow gotten out, and take us as close as we can get to what happened. Combining first-class investigative journalism and writing of extraordinary clarity, Inside 9-11 is a heartbreaking and gripping reconstruction of the events that changed us all. No book can encompass what took place on 9-11. But here is one that gives it human dimension.
Customer Reviews:
You are there!.......2006-02-14
I read this book soon after it was published in hard cover and to this very day I occasionally think back to the accounts of that horrible event documented in this dazzling recounting of the last day and days in the lives of the people involved.
Not only does it offer the reader painful moment by moment insight into the loss of so many innocents but also takes you through the planning and unstoppable march of the terrorists toward their personal obliteration.
This is not a book to speed read. It is best to absorb, reflect and wonder why, Dubya, why?
Truely heart rendering.
Page-turner .......2005-09-19
For those that want detail and inside facts that are missing from other books on this topic, this is the book to read. It lets you look into the last hours of the poor victims and also the criminals. Fast pased, though you may have to put the book aside to gather your emotions from time to time. I've read several books on this tragedy, but this one gives interesting facts that other books did not touch on.
The floor gets extremely hot and the staircases are collapsing.......2005-07-23
After the recent London underground bombing attack [juli 2005] my hometown bookshop displayed, on a special table, literature about terrorism. Here I found 9/11. I wanted to buy it allthough I hesitated, was I ready to read this? Once reading I finished it within days. The German writers-team of Der Spiegel took me through the stories of all kinds of people who were linked directly to 9/11. They interviewed members of the New York Fire Department and people who worked in the Twin Towers and how they all tried to resist the inferno after the planes hit. You also get acuinted with the hijacker's and their dark years before they attacked, as well as persons who knew them well, like landlords, co-workers, friends and family. Every person somehow comes alive by perfect narration, and many details are moving. Its very personal, which makes it touchable. The writers convinced me they are born writers. I can really recommend this book. It gives faces, like me and you, to a very bad event of the recent past. And last but not least, it presents insight in how different people cope with the aftermath of 9/11.
A reinforcement of stereotypes.......2005-07-11
This book starts out interestingly enough, drawing us into the lives of characters whose lives were about to be so tragically affected by the horrendous events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Unfortunately, it gradually deteriorates into that familiar litany suggesting that all Americans are self-sacrificing heroes, and most Muslims are murderous, manipulative, shady characters.
An appalling ignorance of cultural differences -- for example the importance of the Qu'ran, or respect for women that is demanded by Islam -- is demonstrated by the authors. Instead, these are brushed aside as strange quirks of a secretive cult.
If you want a read that confirms the stereotypes of Americans as uniformly brave and caring of others, and Muslims as cowardly terrorists, this would be an excellent book.
If, however, you want a more balanced account of the bigger picture, I'm sure (I hope) there must be better, less-biased information available.
If you must read this, read with awareness of pro-American faultless flag-waving patriotism.
A disappointing piece of flagrant propaganda.
-Mick Loosemore
Surrey, Canada
Rubish.......2004-12-11
Bla bla bla. Read "Inside Job" by Jim Marrs and watch the DVD "9/11 In Plane Sight", maybe you'll learn the truth!
Book Description
The book that rewrites the fiction of secular dinosaur lore. Beautifully illustrated, highly imaginative. Takes young, inquisitive readers on a pre-flood journey through God's creation. Travel side by side with Tracker John and his pet dinosaur DJ! Children will love the heartwarming story and fun-filled adventure. Adults will appreciate the scientific teaching of a biblical alternative.
Customer Reviews:
Biblical view of dinosaurs.......2007-07-03
Biblically accurate, but a little advanced for my Pre-K and Kindergarten kids. Too much text to keep their attention. Will be useful for later grades. Great way to find out the truth about dinosaurs and why they couldn't have lived millions and millions of years ago.
Deceptive indoctrination tool.......2007-01-02
This book is a great indoctrination tool for anyone who wants to shield their child from current theories on dinosaur extinction and replace them with pseudoscientific hogwash masquerading as Christianity. The authors use the book as an excuse to attack science and promote Creationism.
This book does not represent the Christian viewpoint. It represents a very limited fear-based viewpoint.
It is perfect for those people who believe that accepting science means rejecting God.
Pope Pius accepted evolution as a possible theory over 50 years ago.
Creationists listen to me for a moment. Imagine a God who can create small cellular organisms and an environment to act upon them and eventually come up with self-aware soul-containing beings.
This is less preferable to a God who makes mud-people and then magically breathes on them?
If you want your child to grow up ignorant this book is for you!
Truth or faith?.......2006-08-30
This book is NOT a science book. This is a Christian explanation to help fill in the gap, since dinosaurs weren't mentioned in the bible. If you truly want to teach your children science... let them examine ALL theories. I think it's ignorant and unfair to shelter your kids from information that is commonly understood to be the most likely theory, by scientist around the world. This is definately a "homeskooling" book for people who want to impart the theory of "inteligunt desine".... but my kids are actually going to college someday. So I'm going to pass on this one.
Great alternate to secular books.......2006-03-10
This book is a great alternative if you are looking for something that presents a Creationist view (ie Intelligent Design) of our world. It gives various theories on when the dinosaurs lived as well as what happened to them - all of which are in line with Biblical teaching. I was thrilled to have something in print that taught what our family believes.
First Dino book I haven't had to edit.......2005-11-25
This is a book about dinosaurs written from the perspective of biblical truth. Anyone who thinks science and religion are opposites should skip reading the rest of this review and this book. For everyone else, don't be fooled into thinking the religion of evolution has any scientific basis. This book shows how we find out about dinosaurs now, how they were created with the rest of the animals on day 6, and how all those who didn't get on the Ark died with everything else when the flood came. It also explores what happened to the dinosaurs since then. If you believe in a literal six day creation and the biblical flood, then this is "must have" book for your children.
Average customer rating:
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Great Disasters (What Happened Next)
Valerie Nott
Manufacturer: Franklin Watts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding
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ASIN: 0531143600 |
Book Description
At twenty-five, Orson Welles (1915-1985) directed, co-wrote, and starred in Citizen Kane, widely considered the best film ever made. But Welles was such a revolutionary filmmaker that he found himself at odds with the Hollywood studio system. His work was so far ahead of its time that he never regained the wide popular following he had once enjoyed as a young actor-director on the radio.
Frustrated by Hollywood and falling victim to the postwar blacklist, Welles departed for a long European exile. But he kept making films, functioning with the creative freedom of an independent filmmaker before that term became common and eventually preserving his independence by funding virtually all his own projects. Because he worked defiantly outside the system, Welles has often been maligned as an errant genius who squandered his early promise.
Film critic Joseph McBride, who acted in Welles's legendary unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind, provocatively challenges conventional wisdom about Welles's supposed creative decline. McBride is the first author to provide a comprehensive examination of the films of Welles's artistically rich yet little-known later period. During the 1970s and '80s, Welles was breaking new aesthetic ground, experimenting as adventurously as he had throughout his career.
McBride's friendship and collaboration with Welles and his interviews with those who knew and worked with the director make What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? a portrait of rare intimacy and insight. Reassessing Welles's final period in the context of his entire life and work, McBride's revealing portrait of this great film artist will change the terms of how Orson Welles is regarded.
Customer Reviews:
Orson Welles Book.......2007-07-01
I have always been a fan of Orson Welles on radio and television. Having collected a ton of radio broadcasts on CD and audio cassette and having watched most of his movies, I appreciate the genius of his work. I picked up a copy of this book recently and am amazed at the amount of research put into it. An aspect of Welles rarely discussed is his magic career. At the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention this September in Aberdeen, Maryland, I plan to attend the presentation about Orson Welles and his magic career so I can watch rare footage and films with Welles, and get an even deeper insight to his trickery. Book comes recommended.
Fascinating and informative.......2007-03-06
While I might be biased because a many parts of this book included stories about my father, Gary Graver, this is not something you want to miss out on if you have any interest in Orson Welles or the inner workings of the Hollywood movie industry. I knew Orson when I was a young boy and teenager during the time my father worked with him, but my memories are nothing compared to the vivid details and thoroughness of Joe's writings.
This book taught me a lot about a man whom I admired and feared. He was rather scary from the perspective of a ten year old, but he often took time to have me sit with him while he taught me card tricks. I am so grateful that these stories are now available for everyone to read. Thank you Joe for your commitment in documenting what no one else ever has and sharing these wonderful stories.
Its value thus is twofold: as a biography for Welles fans, and as a history of film industry operations and politics........2006-12-11
Mention the name Orson Welles and his most famous involvement - with the radio scare 'War of the Worlds' - immediately comes to mind; but for a deeper understanding of Welles' life and career you need What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career. His later projects were largely self-financed and erratically distributed, but film critic and biographer Joseph McBride has a personal familiarity with Welles from previous projects worked on with him and here shows how the Hollywood studio system forced Welles out of the industry. Its value thus is twofold: as a biography for Welles fans, and as a history of film industry operations and politics.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
A Great Director's Independent Years.......2006-11-06
Everyone knows that Orson Welles made _Citizen Kane_, possibly the most audacious and most analyzed movie to come out of Hollywood. And then what happened? He had been called a "boy genius", having made the movie (co-written, directed, and starred) when he was but twenty-five years old, but within a decade the term was used with sarcasm, and Walter Kerr wrote that Welles had become "an international joke, and possibly the youngest living has-been." Welles had been knocked down, and in the view of many, he never got up. Certainly, he never made anything like a _Kane_ again, but that isn't really fair: no one has. It is true that he never produced the sorts of films that were Hollywood-popular, but he did not at all disappear. Joseph McBride, a film historian who knew Welles, has answered the title question in his book _What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career_ (The University Press of Kentucky). The answer, quite simply, is that Welles worked and worked for decades in film, writing scripts, making movies, and (perhaps because few would bankroll him) doing things his own way. It's a sad story, in many ways. No one could doubt Welles's genius, and there are so many "if only" episodes in this book that it is often a depressing account. But Welles was not a tragic figure; he reflected years later that he might have made a mistake in staying in films (rather than, say, returning to the theater in which he had previously made his mark). But he would not have had it any other way: "I'm just in love with making movies," he said, and indeed, it was only death that stopped him.
McBride necessarily describes the problems that beset Welles immediately after _Kane_, when Welles could no longer get anything close to the full control of a film which he had practiced on his first movie. Still wanting to make movies, he left Hollywood to continue in Europe. McBride makes the case that contributing to Welles's decision for self-exile was his fear that he would be called to testify in the Communist witch-hunts. Welles loved shooting films and he especially loved editing them (as anyone who has seen _Kane_ can tell). There are plenty of pictures Welles worked on whose footage has been lost, but many others have the footage saved by fans or by creditors, and they frequently propose bringing out a finished version, hiring someone to pull the scenes together into a finished movie even so long after Welles's death in 1985. One producer mentioned she'd like to see a particular film screened not as an unfinished work by Welles, but as a film the way he might have finished it; but she says, "Finished by whom? Who can you substitute for Orson Welles?"
McBride does not go deeply into Welles's inability to finish things. Certainly it was attributable in a large part to Welles's way of skin-of-his-teeth filmmaking, whether or not it was some deep-set psychological disability. Welles could have written a magnificent autobiography, but when he got advances for such a work, he always returned them to the publishers. McBride writes, "Welles was deeply ambivalent about reminiscing, perhaps because he would have had to address issues he usually found too painful or delicate, such as his sexuality, his family life and some of his more traumatic experiences in Hollywood." Some of the stories of incompletion here, however, are extraordinary. His finished negative of _The Merchant of Venice_ was simply stolen from Welles's production office in Rome. The Iranians held funding for his meditation on filmmaking in the sixties, _The Other Side of the Wind_, and then the Shah was overthrown. "It's hard to imagine a movie career more littered with sensational catastrophes than mine," Welles admitted. He seldom admitted that he was the source of the less sensational catastrophes; a cameraman who worked with Welles late in his career said that Don Quixote was never completed because Welles "moved around too much, stuff got lost." For sensational and unsensational reasons, the losses recounted here are staggering. Nonetheless, McBride shows that they cannot be blamed, as some critics say, on Welles's being lazy or dilatory. The decades were filled with work for him, and he was pounding out a manuscript for a brand-new project on the night he died. As an independent filmmaker, Welles may have never fully lived up to his potential, but with a record of films that includes _Touch of Evil_ or the supremely weird _Lady from Shanghai_, his pattern of incompletion must be a minor sin. Much of McBride's personal account comes from his being an actor in _The Other Side of the Wind_ (of course, never finished) as were such droppable names as John Huston and Dennis Hopper. McBride's story won't re-make Welles's post-1950 career, but it isn't just a story of loss and lost opportunities; it is one of real movie history and at least some genuine artistic success.
The Real Story behind a Misunderstood Talent........2006-10-07
This book's title aptly describes its critical task in taking issue with the misleading images perpetuated by certain critics and journalists concerning the significance of Orson Welles as a major cinematic talent who developed, rather than declined, after making CITIZEN KANE. The author had the benfit several years of contact with the director before he died as well as the opportunity to appear before the camera in the still unreleased THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND.
McBride has been engaged in Welles's scholarship since his early 1970s monograph dealing with the director and is in a good position to promote the case that Welles was more of what we would describe as an independent film director rather than a Hollywood figure. This book covers similar territory to the first two volumes of Simon Callow's biographical project but has the advantage of extending beyond the final chapter of HELLO AMERICANS to document Welles work in Europe and his return to Hollywood up to his eventual death. It is also a much more balanced work than either of Callow's two volumes by avoiding tendencies towards cheap character assassination (mercifully limited in Callow's second volume but still present in certain instances) to document a person who was both a genius and a difficult person.
The key argument of this book is that the director was more sinned against than anything else. His Hollywood career was deliberately sabotaged by studion executives and he was under surveillance by the FBI for some 15 years. Despite that, Welles never gave in but directed several fascinating films and worked on others that still remain to be completed up to the very moment of his life. Welles was a fascinating character, a product of the New Deal Cultural Front, and a cinematic innovator in many ways. He left a legacy of completed American and European films as well as other works that challenged the boundaries of mainstream cinema. McBride delivers this argument in an eloquent manner and documents his sources meticulously.
This is one of the best biographies that has appeared so far on the subject. It aims to reveal the truth concerning Welles's real creative challenge to the establishment which several notorious treatments have attempted to deny. McBride writes in a very engaging manner and makes a strong case for the reassessment of the legacy of Orson Welles as one of America's major talents of the twentieth century. It is a really important work demanding wide readership and respect for its very valuable achievement.
The University of Kentucky Press also deserves congratulations for publishing this work along with the recent books on Cecil B. De Mille, Thomas Dixon and Peter Lorre which are all instrumental in rewriting film history and refuting so-called standard interpretations.
Book Description
All of James A. Michener's storytelling and reportorial skills are brought to the fore in this stunning and heartbreaking examination of the events that led to the 1970 shootings at Kent State, which shook the country to the roots and had a profound impact on the anti-war movement.
Customer Reviews:
Typical Michener Fiction.......2006-11-14
James A. Michener built a writing career on impeccable research of a subject and writing as if he did not have a clue about editing. It seemed as if Michener attempted to outdo himself in the number of words he produced for each subsequent book.
It appears as if Michener could not pull himself away from his novelized form of history while penning this work on the Kent State shootings. There is one main character that is pure fiction, the "drifter." That character - as stated by Michener when he got caught in his web of make-believe after the book was published - is an alleged composite figure.
In actuality, he may be based on a real-life male who was a government informant, hired to infiltrate organizations and then trumping up "facts" to prove they were prepared to unleash violent acts against individuals and institutions.
But people as real as Homer Simpson and scenes that may have been built better in the back lot of a movie studio did not prevent Michener from defending the book. But a writer does not report news by penning a great lie.
Michener refused to let facts get in the way of his storytelling. If nothing else, this book is a great example on how myth becomes reality & how an author can get onto the fast track for a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A balanced account, wriiten at the time........2006-06-27
I just finished this book, and I don't know what book some of the other reviewers on this page were reading, but Michener certainly doesn't exonerate the National Guard, as Ohio law did, nor does he make a case for or against the war in Vietnam, other than to quote those who do (or don't). His negative stance on the radical SDS is based on the actions of the organization itself, which at its best was irresponsible, at its worst was criminal.
This book was fascinating. How Michener and his staff managed to do such detailed and intricate research, and compose and have published a 500-page book barely a year after the event, is nothing short of incredible. It's only drawback, as others have mentioned, is that it was written so close to the incident that there is no real "distance" perspective, and it made me want to read more current books on the subject.
I was six years old when the Kent State incident occured. I always knew of it, of course, but knew only the barest details. I'm a conservative guy, and I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the brave men and women in the military, especially those in harm's way defending OUR freedoms. But after reading this book, even I was saying, "why did these guys open fire?" There certainly didn't seem to be any need to. Some students were throwing rocks and tear-gas cannisters back at the Guard, but most evidence shows that they weren't any closer than 40 or 50 yards away at the most. I concluded (as does Michener) that those who fired into the crowd were mostly scared, poorly trained kids, most that had never seen any kind of combat, and that thought they were in more danger than they actually were. Some Guardsmen in the book are quoted as saying that they were firing at a particular student who was about to throw something at them, and Michener leaves the decision about whether to believe them up to the reader. In any event, this was an absolutely tragic mistake, and four people died because of it, and this should never have happened.
Of course, there are factions in this country that will disparage and dismiss any article, book, or similar publication that concludes anything but that the Ohio National Guard were cold-blooded killers, or that the students on the campus that day were anything but flower-toting, non-violent, peace-loving angels. If you are intelligent enough to see past these easy generalizations, then read this book. It will not disappoint.
A great read.......2005-11-09
A wonderful book without the radical liberal slant!The Kent State incident was one of the turning points for the public perception of the war and of and for those who opposed it.
40 secretaries, one orphan..........2003-04-01
Good photo
of the history prof and the guard spokesman.. other photos
from Taylor Hall School of Journalism.000000 *io p epp0w
so8 slusky U Yellow Sk210y
The Best Book I Have Read on the Subject.......2001-11-21
When I read the reviews of this book I became curious. Several reviewers, who claimed to have been there, stated they did not want me to read this book. I began thinking, 'What do they not want me to know? What are they trying to hide?' So I took a gamble and read it. All the other books I have read on the subject were completely biased toward the students, but Michener interviewed students, friends and family of those students killed, the guardsmen, local politicians, faculty, police, firefighters, business owners, citizens of Kent and Ravenna, etc. I was surprised he didn't ask the janitor what he thought. When all the opposing points of view came together, I got a much clearer picture of the situation, and the circumstances, which led to the tragedy. If you want a biased book that ignores any facts that do not support their case, (e.g., Ohio law relieves the National Guard of liability for any injuries or deaths incurred while combating a riot) I recommend, I.F. Stone's 'How Murder Went Unpunished at Kent State.' But if you want a book that is unbiased, and lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions, this is the book. Or better yet, read them both and determine for yourself, as I did, who you believe is telling the truth. But in my opinion, James Michener's dedication to uncovering the truth made him one of the greatest writers in American history. And as for I.F. Stone, who the heck is he?
Book Description
One of the most complex mysteries in world history is the assassination of President John Kennedy. More than thirty years after his death we still don't know what really happened. From careful research using over 25 sources and over a span of more than fifteen years the author, formerly employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, has selected 501 questions, both frequently asked and one-of-a-kind. Examples: What prominent world-figure claimed to not remember where he was on the day of the murder? What was deleted to cause the 18-minute gap on the Watergate tape? Why did Jacqueline Kennedy climb out onto the trunk of the limousine? What were the odds against 18 material witnesses being dead within 39 months of the assassination?
Written in easy-to-read stle this book asks, then answers the questions and ends by giving the reference to which the reader wishing more information may go. One-hundred and fifty photographs of people and scenes involved with the Kennedy murder add interest to the book.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptional book. Extrordinary Research!.......2004-07-01
What at first seems to be just another "JFK - what really happened book", turns out to be one of the best investigative pieces of research I've seen on the subject.
The power lies in the questions. The realization that something really corrupt and unspeakable happened in this country is hammered home with a simple yes or no answer determined by indepth research. The implications of those involved is chilling.
I've seen the JKF movies and read a few books and remember when the asassination was announced. Information I've never heard before is presented in this book.
"What Really Happend", brings up facts and answers questions that will send chills up your spine. Eye opening information presented in a concise and chronological format making a complex subject and course of events more comprehensible.
This is a hard-to-find book, but well worth the search.
great great book.......2002-08-10
this book is a simple question and answer book.
it dosen't go into the assassination of JFK, but rather it answers the questions of who was this guy and what was his role.
you learn about when ex-President Jimmy Carter was giving a speech on the JFK assassination and then the tv sound just went mute. the book answers what Jackie was actually reaching over the car for and who people like Lee Bowers were and what Richard Nixon and J Edgar Hoover had to do with the JFK assassination.
this is a very simple book, but it's very informative and very well written.
has numerous photos of some of the people mentioned in the book.
great book.
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