History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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

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

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

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

Customer Reviews:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

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

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Russians:

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

The Westerners:

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

The Chinese:

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

The Arabs:

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

The Divinity:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

The Archaeologist was a Spy: Sylvanus G. Morley and the Office of Naval Intelligence

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Spymaster extraordinaire
Searching for German Submarine Bases

The Archaeologist was a Spy: Sylvanus G. Morley and the Office of Naval Intelligence
Charles H.,III Harris , and Louis R. Sadler
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0826329373

Book Description

Sylvanus G. Morley (1883-1948) has been highly regarded for over a century for his archaeological work among the Maya pyramids. As director of the Carnegie Archaeological Program, he supervised the reconstruction of ChichÃ©n ItzÃ¡, one of today's most visited sites in Central America.

Harris and Sadler present information showing Morley used his archaeological skills and contacts to covertly spy for the U. S. Office of Naval Intelligence during World War I. His primary charge was to detect and report German activity along the more than 1200 miles of eastern Central American and Mexican coastlines. To aid him in this special "fieldwork," Morley recruited other archaeologists, assigned them specific territories in which to work, and, together, they maintained a constant vigil.

In this remarkable story of a remarkable man and his colorful associates, Harris and Sadler bring to vivid life an unknown story of early American intelligence. They illuminate the start of today's vast spy apparatus. A lively, scholarly, and useful job.--David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers and Hitler's Spies.

Â“This is superior scholarship. Rumors and allegations existed about anthropologists acting as spies, but this is the first credible account. Sadler and Harris have written the most significant book available on U.S. intelligence during World War I in Latin America. For historians of intelligence agencies, this is a must read volume.Â”Â—William H. Beezley, University of Arizona

Sylvanus G. Morley was the most influential Mayan archaeologist of his generation and perhaps the greatest American spy of WWI. Harris and Sadler document for the first time Morley's dual career as a scholar and a spy. Working for the Office of Naval Intelligence, he proved an invaluable source of information about German and anti-American activity in Mexico and Central America.

Customer Reviews:

Spymaster extraordinaire.......2004-05-28

Other reviews tell you accurately what this book is about. If you're looking for a spy, chase, suspense, thriller, or murder account, this isn't it, despite the flashy cover. Instead, this is primarily an unabashedly pro-American history report on a World War I sidelight, intended for those interested in the development of American intelligence services. If you are into Maya archaeology, this book will remind you that Morley (author of the pioneering: The Ancient Maya, 1946) was a very impressive hyperactive fellow.

For what it is-a dry academic piece with flashes of patriotism-this is an informative book. It substantially expands on a two-year episode in the fuller picture of Morley's adventurous career depicted by his biographer, R. L. Brunhouse (1971, Sylvanus G. Morley). Harris and Sadler's focus is really on the development of the Office of Naval Intelligence, using Morley as its central figure, I think, because he left uniquely complete diaries of this period (and throughout his life). The authors delve deeply into old ONI files and look at other academic spies, and at sub-agents recruited by Morley and his stumbling handlers, and what befell them. (They build on their previous book on clandestine activities in Mexico: The Border and the Revolution). Because extensive extracts from Morley's diaries and his 32 espionage reports are included, there's a great deal of entertaining local color on the 1917 state of radio, shipping, ports, earthquakes, diplomacy, Central American politics, etc. If you know this area you may enjoy these details of how it used to be. There is very little, however, on Morley's archaeological discoveries and publications during these years.

Morley may indeed have been America's greatest WW I spy in terms of his successful assessment of the submarine threat, but he turned up no German spies while Black Listing a few German companies in Central America. Harris and Sadler leave the reader with no way to evaluate their claim that Morley was the "greatest," because they don't compare his accomplishments to other theaters of the war, or services beyond ONI. Nor do they follow up their own references to German propagandists and activists in Mexico who might actually have been threats.

Another theme that briefly emerges, only to be dismissed with an editorial huff, is that of the propriety of archaeologists, or field scientists in general, becoming spies in foreign lands. Such activities, when they become known later, bring all their innocent fellow scientists in the field into suspicion, disrepute, and actual danger in the eyes of foreigners and officials who control their access. This is in addition to the common peasant suspicion that people like Morley walking around with compass and tape are really "looking for gold, or working for the government to take the farm away."

Searching for German Submarine Bases.......2004-01-20

During the First World War, the German submarine forces were a serious threat to allied victory. If the Germans had been able to construct a secret base in some remote corner of Central America, the potential damage to shipping would have been immense. How to ensure that this did not happen before satellite reconnaissance and computerized communications monitoring? One answer the Office of Navel Intelligence devised was to recruit archaeologists who were tramping around the jungles and rivers as part of their academic pursuits.

One of the most productive archaeologist/spies was Sylvanus Griswold Morely, M.A. Harvard, who spent most of the war years journeying through the Central American jungles and rivers in search of ancient ruins and preparing detailed reports on the potential for German exploitation of the remote sites. This book describes his travels in Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Sylvanus was accompanied by cartoonist John Held who prepared detailed maps of their excursions. The book includes some samples of Held's excellent cartography. Charles Harris and Louis Sadler also discuss other academic recruits to naval intelligence and their contributions in Central America.

Book Description

A significant and unique contribution to World War II literature, this book chronicles in meticulous detail the building and operation of the largest German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in the United States in Aliceville, Alabama. This history discusses how the residents of Aliceville helped build, operate, and supply the camp, as well as become inextricably intertwined with camp life and the 6,000 German POWs held there. Focusing on the relations between the captured Germans and local Americans, this title investigates the nature of war, peace, and the principles of human dignity.

Customer Reviews:

relevant story told with great accuracy and skill.......2007-07-11

I grew up in Aliceville in the 1950's and 60's; I also spent a lot of time in Germany in the 1980's. I swam in the POW pool, I played baseball and football on the fields at "the camp", I went to VFW meetings with my father in the old officer's club and I know almost every local person mentioned. I did not find a detail incorrect. It is an astonishing job of research.

The books tells a great story and is expertly written. It manages to keep the reader's attention from start to finish. There were so many interesting and enlightening details that I was never aware of until I read the book. It's only shortcoming is that it does not have enough photographs of the actual camp and even the town at that time. I wanted to see more muddy "streets", pullman cars, tarpaper baracks, jeeps, jazz bands, and violins made from popcicle sticks!

But I guess I will just have to wait for the movie which will be made. It's just too good a story and too relevant for our times not to be communicated more widely!

Thank you, Ruth. You really did a great job.

More Than Factual Lessons..........2007-05-09

Thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating book! 'Guests Behind the Barbed Wire' is an important story not just for history's sake, but for it's ability to perfectly capture a unique snapshot in time when adversaries were able to co-exist with dignity during the violence and turmoil of WWII. Ruth Beaumont Cook meticulously details and reconstructs the story of Aliceville, taking the reader through the despair and confusion of the time, and ultimately arrives at a place of hope. A must-read for history buffs!

Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision

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In depth information about a little known topic
WOWW
Highly recommended especially for college library, international studies and Turkish history shelves.
Compelling!
Refuge and its reward

Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision
Arnold Reisman
Manufacturer: New Academia Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0977790886

Book Description

This book chronicles the story of a group of individuals caught at a crossroads and targeted in the cross fires of history. In 1933 events in their native Germanic lands presented them with a "Hobson's choice"-leave if you can or die! Their lives were saved because Turkey was discarding the society and culture inherited from the Ottomans' derelict and shattered empire while recognizing and addressing the need to modernize its society, culture, way of living, and system of higher education. Using a collection of third-party archival documents, cotemporaneous family and collegial correspondence, memoirs, oral histories, photos, and other surviving evidence Arnold Reisman documents the fears, the courage, the heartaches, and the determination of these brilliant people as well as their contributions to shifting established paradigms in several fields of knowledge. He also speculates about Turkey's inabilities to fully capitalize on these emigres' legacy. The book is intended for lay readers interested in history of the 20th Century, history of science, history of Turkey, the Holocaust, and in a case study of post-Islamic national development. "This book adds to our knowledge of an important aspect of the Holocaust, and of the behavior of Nation States in the modern world of woe and grief." - Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill's official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. He is the author of The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. "This book should be on the 'must-read' list of books about World War II and the years preceding it." - Dr. Israel Hanukoglu, Former Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel. Currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology, College of Judea and Samaria, Ariel, Israel. "This book involves five major topics: science, history, politics, economics, and the arts. It is the earliest comprehensive essay in the English language, on the German Ã©migrÃ©s who, while taking refuge in Turkey after 1933, contributed to the modernization of its higher education, and to the implementation of research activities and social reforms." - Prof. Dr. Feza GÃ¼nergun, Chair for History of Science, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University, Beyazit-Istanbul, Turkey.

Customer Reviews:

In depth information about a little known topic.......2007-02-02

This book is about the story of the German-Jewish professors that were displaced by the [..]and were invited to come to Turkey by Ataturk's government. About 150 of them came in the 1933-1938 time frame. Some stayed for a few years, many stayed for 10 years or more. Some have stayed until retirement.The book, about 470 pages long and illustrated with many photographs and other material, is a really well-researched investigation into * the world circumstances that made this episode possible* the individuals who arranged the mechanics of this immigration* the personal life stories of these very capable scholars* how they adapted to life in Turkey* how they impacted Turkey's university education and modernization* the nature of the support and non-support they received from the government and the people This was a subject I had fleeting knowledge about. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which greatly enhanced my knowledge and understanding of the subject. It also provided yet another illustration of the vision and genius of Ataturk in making deft use of every opportunity to improve his nation. It triggered in my mind the thought that Turkey probably had a second similar opportunity at the time of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, when top tier scientists in select fields could have easily been induced to come to Turkey. Unfortunately, political cadres in charge at the time had nowhere near Ataturk's vision. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It is very readable and has many details that our generation can relate to. An interesting trivia is that Einstein was one month away himself from coming to Turkey within these group of scholars, when he received an offer from Princeton.

WOWW.......2007-01-01

A fascinating read.

I am very involved with genealogy, so I really enjoyed the memoirs.

The structure of the book was different and refreshing.

Highly recommended especially for college library, international studies and Turkish history shelves........2006-12-10

Written by Arnold Reisman Ph.D., who has served as Visiting Scholar in Turkey at both Sabanci University and the Istanbul Technical University, Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision is enlightening true story of how the Turkish Government of Mustafa Kernal Atatuk and Ismet Inonu accepted German and Austrian Jews, and took advantage of these victims of racial prejudice and persecution to aid the Turkish Republic's progress in academic, scientific, and medical undertakings. Tracing the lasting impacts of builders, preservers, creators, social reformers, healers, and scientists, as well as the problems they encountered, the turbulence caused by World War II and their attempts to emigrate to the U.S., Turkey's Modernization is a fascinating parable of how Turkey capitalized upon the best and the brightest - as well as of its stumbling blocks, such as its cultural predispositions for encouraging talented scientists to be content as hired hands rather than strike out and forge new businesses. Highly recommended especially for college library, international studies and Turkish history shelves.

Compelling!.......2006-09-26

Arnold Reisman's book, Turkey's Modernization, was a history lesson of the best kind. I have read a number of books on the Nazi takeover of various countries. Yet, I had never experienced the joy of learning how Turkey welcomed those expelled from Germany.

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, he decided to dismiss all Jewish professors from German colleges and universities. Geniuses of technology, physics and the arts fled into Turkey's waiting arms and began its well-deserved modernization.

The "emigres" (renowned scientists, architects and artists) are responsible for some of the most magnificent structures in Turkey still standing today. These brave professors taught Turkish students and were revered by most in the country. Of course, they had to deal with jealousy from Turkish professors for a number of reasons. Some of the emigres were paid a higher salary and enjoyed various perks, yet this was all deserved. It certainly couldn't heal a people
who were devastated at having to leave their homes and families to chart an unknown territory. Yet, thank God they did! Hitler's lost was absolutely Turkey's gain!

These professors were too many to be named in this review. You must read this book in order to understand and celebrate the contributions of these refugees from Nazism. They were saviors to Turkey and the students they benefited.

Turkey's Modernization was a book I couldn't put down. It should be required reading for all who are history majors and any who can enjoy a story of lemons turned into lemonade.

Armchair Interviews says: Another unique view of history most do not know.

Refuge and its reward .......2006-09-25

The convergence of two historical developments are at the center of this book. First , is the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany. Second, is the creation of modern Turkey, and its effort to develop a first- rate set of academic institutions. This convergence meant that a number of leading German and Austrian academics were invited in the years 1933-1939 to teach and help establish their disciplines in Turkey. Among these are some figures of world - reputation including Erich Auerbach, the author of one of the greatest of all works of Literary Criticism, 'Mimesis' the leading figures of the 'Berlin Group' the philosopher Hans Reichenbach, the mathemitician aerodynamist and positivist philosopher Richard von Mises, the positivist philosopher Carl Hempl, the composer Paul Hindemith, the theatrical producer Carl Ebert,and the astrophysicist Findlay Freundlich. One of the first scientists and a major figure in expediting the whole process was the pathologist Philip Schwarz. All in all close to three - hundred distinguished academics and their family members made their way to Turkey during this time. The effect of their efforts amounted to nothing less than a total transformation of the higher education system in Turkey, in the sciences, humanities, and arts, but also in public health, library, legal, engineering and administrative practices.
Reisman provides a thorough documentation and often moving narrative of this process, including his telling of many of the individual stories of the academicians involved. In the background he provides an overall history of modern Turkey and brings this up - to- date even providing an explanation of the current situation of the academic world in Turkey and why the original reforms carried out by these academicians have not always had the results desired.
This is a large book impressively researched and very clearly and movingly written.
I could not recommend it more highly.

Rhineland Emigrants Lists of German Settlers in Colonial America (#6540)

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Rhineland Emigrants Lists of German Settlers in Colonial America (#6540)

Manufacturer: Clearfield Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0806309342

Book Description

This is a collection of articles pertaining to the European origins of Pennsylvania German immigrants which originally appeared in the magazine Pennsylvania Folklife, successor to The Pennsylvania Dutchman.

Book Description

This book is a rare and important gift. One of the few memoirs of combat in World War II by a distinguished African-American flier, it is also perhaps the only account of the African-American experience in a German prison camp.Alexander Jefferson was one of 32 Tuskegee Airmen from the 332nd Fighter Group to be shot down defending a country that considered them to be second-class citizens. A Detroit native, Jefferson enlisted in 1942, trained at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, became a second lieutenant in 1943, and joined one of the mostdecorated fighting units in the War, flying P51s with their legendaryÂ—and feared Â—Â“red tails.Â”Based in Italy, Jefferson flew bomber escort missions over southern Europe before being shot down in France in 1944. Captured, he spent the balance of the war in Luftwaffe prison camps in Sagan and Moosberg, Germany.In this vividly detailed, deeply personal book, Jefferson writes as a genuine American hero and patriot. ItÂ's an unvarnished look at life behind barbed wireÂ— and what it meant to be an African-American pilot in enemy hands. ItÂ's also a look at race and democracy in America through the eyes of a patriot who fought toprotect the promise of freedom.The book features the sketches, drawings, and other illustrations Jefferson created during his nine months as a Â“kriegieÂ” (POW) and Lewis CarlsonÂ's authoritative background to the man, his unit, and the fight Alexander Jefferson fought so well.

Customer Reviews:

Thank You Alexander Jefferson.......2005-10-29

Among the many groups to whom we owe more than we can ever repay there is the Tuskegee Airmen. Determined to become Army Air Crop pilots and to fight for America, these men enlisted in the army. In spite of the determination of some to make them fail, they didn't. In spite of a 'quota' as to how many would be allowed to graduate (not discovered until many years later) some 900 made it through the system. Most became fighter pilots, after all if they flew bombers they might have had white crewmen under them and in those days that just wouldn't do.

Lt. Jefferson made it through. And eventually he flew with the famous 332nd, the Red Tails. Most of the missions of the 332nd were to escort bombers. NO Bombers were ever lost to Enemy Aircraft while being escorted by the 332nd.

On his 19th mission Lt. Jefferson was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. He spent the next nine months in a German POW camp. When finally returned to the United States after being liberated he walked off the ship to be told, "Whites to the right, niggers to the left."

Thank you Alexander Jefferson for all that you did, including writing this book.

The Lives of Danielle Steel: The Unauthorized Biography of America's #1 Best-Selling Author

Average customer rating:

A very good read
Will I ever get this book???
Fans, please chill out!
Others Missing the Point
Complete Junk!!!

The Lives of Danielle Steel: The Unauthorized Biography of America's #1 Best-Selling Author
Vickie L. Bane , and Lorenzo Benet
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0312955758

Book Description

Dressed to the nines and draped with diamonds, Danielle Steel is America's favorite author. She has enchanted readers with each of her 44 bestselling novels-- and has a total of 350 million books in print! Now, this stunning, uncensored biography reveals how closely Danielle's fiction is based on real life-- the rich men, the dangerous men, the heartbreak, the struggles, the triumphs....and the secrets too dark to tell.Read all about:* Her cruel, lonely childhood which became the inspiration for her novel Loving* Her long-hidden marriage to a convicted rapist, the scandalous real story readers will recognize in her novel Now and Forever* Her third husband, a handsome heroin addict, who, like the protagonist of Remembrance, broke her heart and nearly ruined her life* Her lavish spending and opulent lifestyle in a San Francisco mansion* The tragic death of her nineteen-year-old son in 1997* The break-up of her fourth marriage-- and the new man in Danielle Steel's lifeWith eight pages of photos!

Customer Reviews:

A very good read.......2005-12-03

This is a great book. Danielle Steel is not just some rich arthur in her mansion in San Francisco. She is a compasionate person who actually feels and gets involved with the less fortunate. I didn't feel that this book was slanted either way. I think it is a fair portrait of one's life. Definitely an intestersting read.

Will I ever get this book???.......2005-07-28

Sorry, but I can't rate this book fairly as I still don't have it. It's been almost 5 weeks since I ordered it, and I'm still waiting. Several complaints, and I got a 5 dollar discount on my next order. Why would I order anything else when I have to wait so long to get what I was promised in 2 weeks? Next time I will buy at the local book store. Yes, I will pay more but at least I will have the opportunity to read it before I die of old age.

Fans, please chill out!.......2004-01-24

I have to say it: I am not a Danielle Steel fan in the strict sense of the word. I find her prose repetitive, her dénouements fairly sugarcoated and her writing rather low-brow in general, especially for a writer who scoffs at the romance writer definition and would like to be compared with Judith Krantz or Sidney Sheldon. And yet, there is something about her books that keeps me coming back for more. I especially enjoy her period works, like "Vanished," "Zoya," or "Crossings" and I have to say she has a knack at making a good portrayal of the times in which her books are set. The plots are intricate enough and one can almost invariably bond and relate to her characters without difficulty. As to this unauthorized biography, "The Lives of Danielle Steel," it has helped me understand more about the persona who is behind the fiction. The research on the author's life is very thorough and it also makes some good points about her fiction. This book doesn't intend to tarnish Danielle Steel's image, all the opposite: it helps her fans discover her as a human being. It's true that it gouges up a lot of rubbish about her past but in the end it was she who took the decision to marry ex-cons and drug-addicts. We all make mistakes and have to live them down as best we can. I found the book as entertaining as any of Steel's books and, as I have already said, it helped me relate better to Danielle Steel now that I know that she's human.

Others Missing the Point.......2001-12-11

All of these negative reviewers are missing the point. This book was written to show the interesting parallels between Danielle Steels life and the characters in her book. The book doesn't go out of its way to say that Danielle is a bad person - it's just saying, "look, her books are a lot like her life." You people should just relax and enjoy the parallels between life and fiction. This is a great book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm also a Danielle Steel fan - I've read all of her books - and I now look back at them with a different eye, which is fun!

Complete Junk!!!.......2001-05-25

I have been reading Danielle Steel novels for several years, including the book she wrote about her son's life, and this overdrawn gossip column, The Lives of Danielle Steel, is complete junk. I wouldn't be shocked at all if the authors of this book never even read a Danielle Steel novel, which I consider "real" fiction. If you are a true fan of Danielle Steel don't even bother to read this book because it tells nothing about the author's real life.

Tearing the Silence: On Being German in America

Average customer rating:

Wow.
book review
Thought-provoking collection
On being German in post-war America
"Tell me about your life . . ."

Tearing the Silence: On Being German in America
Ursula Hegi
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 068484611X

Amazon.com

Ursula Hegi grew up in Germany and moved to the United States at age 18. As she grew older and raised a family, questions about her roots and her native land haunted her until, at last, she felt compelled to write about them. Tearing the Silence brings together her interviews with dozens of German-born Americans, and their confrontations with the taboo of the Holocaust.

Customer Reviews:

Wow........2007-04-18

Hegi has proven herself as equally talented in the nonfiction arena as she has steadfastly excelled in the fiction genre.

book review .......2007-03-12

very interesting reading , You don't have to of German heritage to understand the why and how German's are viewed since the war .

Thought-provoking collection.......2004-04-02

Ursula Hegi moved to the US from Germany at the age of 18. She was born one year after the war ended, and she remembers vividly what her elders told her about those years. In her Introduction to _Tearing the Silence_, she states why she wrote this book, and how it helped her identify with her cultural heritage. With the title _Tearing the Silence_ she makes her point very clear: Post-war German immigrants have stories to tell.

Hegi conducted interviews with post-war German immigrants in the US. Most of the stories were similar to her own: born and raised in Germany during, or after, World War II, and immigration to the United States before age 20. Some are children of SS officers, others are children of privates. Some live happy lives and do not focus on the past, others are haunted by what happened.

There are some great stories in the book--very thought-provoking. I was amazed at how some of the same phrases were repeated in all of the stories--even though the interviewees never met each other. Many were told that there parents "...never knew about the Holocaust", and others said "Germans suffered too..."

With _Tearing the Silence_, Hegi provided a much-needed contribution to World War II history, and biography.

On being German in post-war America.......2002-08-04

Tearing the Silence is one of the most important books that I have read, as I am the child of parents who grew up in the Third Reich. It was a truly rewarding experience reading this book and it helped me understand how others in my situation have been affected by the Nazi aspect of their German heritage. If I remember correctly, though, the author really only interviewed people of the "2nd Generation" born shorty after the war; there are, however, people like myself who were born somewhat later and had to come to terms with their heritage during the 1980s rather than the 1960s. The inclusion of one or two interviews with people in this situation would have added considerably to the book.

"Tell me about your life . . .".......2002-01-16

"We are not political." This assertion by the German family hosting the senior judge in the 1961 film Judgment At Nuremberg typifies the prevailing attitude of the parents of Hegi's subjects. It lies at the foundation of the "great silence" experienced by Ursula Hegi and other children who had to come to America to discover the Holocaust. Hegi and her peers grew up in a vacuum of information about the Nazi years. Realization came as a shock, disillusioning some, generating anger and resentment in others. But as Hegi's subjects relate, few cast off their roots. Some made pilgrimages to the sites of the Nazi crimes. Others sought understanding from parents who kept them in ignorance. Assembling a collection of interviews with her counterparts, Hegi gives us their viewpoints, life histories and introspections of their pasts. It's a unique and worthy effort.

In trying to reveal the present feelings of German children who came to America, Hegi undertook to understand for herself why Germans remained reticent about the Nazi years. She delved into people's lives through the interviews, asking them to examine their own feelings to see how they equated with her own. Clearly, the responses amazed her with their familiarity. Silence from the older generation and a strong desire to understand the root causes of Nazism in the younger, immigrant population.

The stories told, garnered from twenty three individuals, relate the upbringing and disrupted lives of Germans, usually children, who carry the burden of their parents' origins. American children, cognizant of the Holocaust in ways the immigrant children were not, might characterize their German-born peers as "Nazis," even when it was clearly impossible. For most of the interviewees, the accusation was more mysterious than offending. Confident of their own innocence, whatever resentment arose was usually directed at their families in Germany.

While this book is of great value in bringing the memories of the post-Nazi generation into view, it also poses some interesting questions. Oppressive fathers and submissive mothers aren't a uniquely German phenomenon. We aren't even clear as to whether these dominating parents are viewed as Nazis or sympathizers by Hegi's subjects. The only common theme, unique among immigrants to America, is the Holocaust. Some wonder how "normal" people could have engaged in such barbarity, asking themselves how they would have reacted had they been aware of the circumstances. Hegi, as investigative journalist in this book, is careful to avoid judgment. But the subjects raising these questions pose another: how did they view injustices in their adopted country.

Few current prejudices are related in the interviews. One man admits to discomfort at seeing the "Dots;" South Asians "who "smell bad" and "never offer you a fair profit." The reader cannot help but wonder how these people reacted to the protest movements of the 1960s. Did they react to racial hatred in America with quiet acceptance as their parents had done in Germany? Unlike Germany, the violent reaction to protest was visible on any news channel in America. Did they object to America's most controversial war, or support it? One is left with the impression that these exiles comprised part of Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority" and that they, like the parents they admonish, remained equally silent when confronted by issues of moral weight. What Hegi has done is document again the universal that ethical values remain the province of those who stand to be counted. They are, after all, no more or less than human.

Average customer rating:

A scholarly analysis of German immigration during the 1700's

Hopeful Journeys: German Immigration, Settlement, and Political Culture in Colonial America, 1717-1775 (Early American Studies)
Aaron Spencer Fogleman
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Colonial Period | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Germany | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Cultural | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Emigration & Immigration | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Palatines, Liberty, and Property: German Lutherans in Colonial British America (Early America: History, Context, Culture)

Trade in Strangers: The Beginnings of Mass Migration to North America

Foreigners in Their Own Land: Pennsylvania Germans in the Early Republic (Pennsylvania German History and Culture Series)

Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration

The German-American Experience

ASIN: 0812215486

Book Description

In 1700, some 250,000 white and black inhabitants populated the thirteen American colonies, with the vast majority of whites either born in England or descended from English immigrants. By 1776, the non-Native American population had increased tenfold, and non-English Europeans and Africans dominated new immigration. Of all the European immigrant groups, the Germans may have been the largest.

Aaron Spencer Fogleman has written the first comprehensive history of this eighteenth-century German settlement of North America. Utilizing a vast body of published and archival sources, many of them never before made accessible outside of Germany, Fogleman emphasizes the importance of German immigration to colonial America, the European context of the Germans' emigration, and the importance of networks to their success in America

Customer Reviews:

A scholarly analysis of German immigration during the 1700's.......1998-12-14

Aaron Fogleman presents new research to help in understanding some characteristics of the German migration to the new world during the 1700's. His language is somewhat stilted, or others might describe it as scholarly, somewhat like a graduate school thesis. But there is lots of good information between it's covers. One of the most interesting themes in the book is tracking the immigrants from one particular region located between Heidelberg and Heilbronn, along the Neckar River. This detailed information helps one to see exactly what was involved in the decision to go to the New World, in the trip getting there, and in beginning a new life in Pennsylvania. The author also treats the German political scene in colonial Pennsylvania.

The book is heavily foot-noted, with an extensive bibliography and index. A good source book for further studies of the Pennsylvania Dutch culture.

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