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.

Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse; 2nd Ed., Revised

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A great book to understand insurgency and terrorism
The Textbook on Insurgency and Counterinsurgency
Great Reference
Beginning to Develop a Science of Terrorism

Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse; 2nd Ed., Revised
Bard E. O'Neill
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1574881728

Book Description

A systematic, comprehensive, and straightforward textbook for analyzing and comparing insurgencies and terrorist movements, Insurgency and Terrorism was first published in 1990 to broad acclaim. Observers, scholars, students, military personnel, journalists, and government analysts worldwide found it worthy of study. Now Insurgency and Terrorism has been thoroughly revised and updated to cover activity that has since occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, Colombia, and elsewhere and to address the new tactics and weapons usedâ€”and threatened. Author Bard E. O'Neill, the director of studies of insurgency and revolution at the National War College, addresses insurgencies with respect to ultimate goals, strategies, forms of warfare, the role and means of acquiring popular support, organizational dynamics, causes and effects of disunity, types of external support, and government responses. Course syllabi included.

Customer Reviews:

A great book to understand insurgency and terrorism.......2006-08-08

I have read the first edition of this book and I found it very useful to understand insurgency and terrorism. Moreover I wish I had read this book when I was in Colombia or in Haiti where we had to deal with insurgencies. In my opinion the book is an important tool for the intelligence analyst because it shows a framework to analyze the complex phenomenon of guerilla and insurgency. It was very valuable for me to learn about the four strategic approaches (conspiratorial - military focus - protracted popular war - and urban warfare)

As I wrote above, I read the first edition, so I don't know if the ideas that I'm going to write about are been included or not. The first one is about the "Legal Warfare" that was developed by the Insurgencies in Colombia and Argentina. It consists in accused soldiers of violations of human's rights. On almost every occasion they were false accusations. Therefore, they were judged and condemned by the civil authorities. However, nobody accused the terrorists of human right violations. The last one is about the insurgency that is developed from a defeated army. This is the case of what Col Volckmann said in his book "We remained" about the resistance in Philippines in World War II.

In conclusion, the book is brilliantly written and is very useful to understand and defeat insurgencies.

The Textbook on Insurgency and Counterinsurgency.......2006-03-15

Terrorism and Insurgency by Bard E. O'Neill, is an invaluable resource for those interested in understanding insurgency and the relevant factors that lead to its success or failure.

This book appears to be written for a classroom audience (the author in fact provides a proposed semester-length class schedule complete with lesson plans and assigned reading). However, O'Neill also has government analysts and policy makers in mind. Throughout the book, and especially in chapters covering government response and the conclusion, he stresses the value of providing as complete a picture as possible while keeping in mind objectivity and maintaining an unbiased approach to analysis.

O'Neill begins his book by looking at insurgencies and the related fields of terrorism and guerilla warfare. His framework for analysis includes understanding the nature of the insurgency, insurgent strategies, both political and military, understanding the physical as well as human environment, organization, and the role of external support.

In the final chapter, O'Neill lays out a comprehensive lense through which a government analyst could view its adversary and policy makers can create successful counterinsurgency operations. Urging the avoidance of polemics and shortsightedness, O'Neill provides a credible and realistic lense through which to create effective countermeasures.

O'Neill helps to settle many unhelpful arguments and issues for analysts. For example, he rejects the false dichotomy of freedom fighter versus terrorist, as one deals with ends (freedom fighter) and one is a means to get their (terrorism). As such, a freedom fighter can use terrorist tactics to achieve his ends.

Also, a driving factor that many insurgencies use to determine their strategies are the physical and human environment around them and the perceived and real government response. Understanding this is invaluable both for insurgents and counterinsurgency operations.

The ideology, or political campaign, the insurgent group promotes, serves the valuable function of differentiating friend from foe. Providing an alternative to this ideology is integral to separating insurgents from the majority population (assuming the insurgents are a minority).

Many insurgencies survive through external support from other states or insurgent groups. One method students and analysts can use to find weaknesses to exploit is by knowing which insurgent groups do and do not receive external support and the motives for the disparity.

Finally, many responses to insurgency fail because of inflexibility, sloppiness, ignorance, bias, anger, bureaucratic imperative or psychological aversion. These failings create often flawed and fatally mistaken counterinsurgency strategies. Avoiding this should be of primary concern.

Great Reference.......2006-02-17

This is an excellent book. The author is a well known and respected expert of the field. The book begins with an introduction that attempts to level set and baseline definitions and meanings. Although this may appear to be semantics, the differences both subtle and great is important. The book is well organized it is easy to refer to a specific chapter or section in the event you need a quick refresher and or reference. The book is well written, concise and offers a large quantity of foot notes at the end of each chapter. This book is for both the expert and the novice.

Terry Tucker, Adjunct Professor, Military Studies/History University of Maryland and Senior Doctrine Developer SANGMP, Vinnell Arabia

Beginning to Develop a Science of Terrorism.......2005-07-27

I had never thought of insurgency and terrorism as having enough material to justify having a textbook on the subject. Then again I didn't realize just how many different insurgencies are going on at any one time. In fact, he concentrates on the contemporary world, only mentioning in passing that Roman Armies also fought insurgents.

Part of a scientific analysis is to classify them into types based on common attributes. By assigning names to these classes, we make it so that we can use these names and immediately know what kinds of programs have worked against them in the past, and of course what have not.

Dr. O'Neill has looked into the Types of Insurgencies, Politics and forms of Warfare, Insurgent Strategies, the Physical Environment, the Human Environment, Types of Popular Support, Organizational Structure, External Support, and Government Response.

Through these classifications, he is, for the first time beginning to draw together a consistent approach to the study of terroism. Perhaps this is the start of a Terrorism Science to go along with Naval Science or Military Science.

The Colorful Apocalypse: Journeys in Outsider Art

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Great Travel Memoir
readable criticism and good travelogue
a wonderful examination of art and madness
Avoiding The Perfectly Obvious
Fiction Under the Guise of Fact

The Colorful Apocalypse: Journeys in Outsider Art
Greg Bottoms
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0226066851

Book Description

The Reverend Howard Finster was twenty feet tall, suspended in darkness. Or so he appeared in the documentary film that introduced a teenaged Greg Bottoms to the renowned outsider artist whose death would help inspire him, fourteen years later, to travel the country. Beginning in Georgia with a trip to Finster’s famous Paradise Gardens, his journey—of which The Colorful Apocalypse is a masterly chronicle—is an unparalleled look into the lives and visionary works of some of Finster’s contemporaries: the self-taught evangelical artists whose beliefs and oeuvres occupy the gray area between madness and Christian ecstasy.

With his prodigious gift for conversation and quietly observant storytelling, Bottoms draws us into the worlds of such figures as William Thomas Thompson, a handicapped ex-millionaire who painted a 300-foot version of the book of Revelation; Norbert Kox, an ex-member of the Outlaws biker gang who now lives as a recluse in rural Wisconsin and paints apocalyptic visual parables; and Myrtice West, who began painting to express the revelatory visions she had after her daughter was brutally murdered. These artists’ works are as wildly varied as their life stories, but without sensationalizing or patronizing them, Bottoms—one of today’s finest young writers—gets at the heart of what they have in common: the struggle to make sense, through art, of their difficult personal histories.

In doing so, he weaves a true narrative as powerful as the art of its subjects, a work that is at once an enthralling travelogue, a series of revealing biographical portraits, and a profound meditation on the chaos of despair and the ways in which creativity can help order our lives.

Customer Reviews:

Great Travel Memoir.......2007-07-17

The Colorful Apocalypse is a great travel memoir that explores the pyschology and creativity of 'religious outsider artists' with a unique and sensitive perspective. It's a truly fascinating read.

readable criticism and good travelogue.......2007-07-02

The Colorful Apocalype is an excellent book that offers a unique blend of cultural history and theory, travel writing, and autobiography. It is also a very human and touching portrait of Southerners using art and religion to make sense of their pasts. The author's own past dealing with mental illness gives him a unique perspective and keeps him from harshly judging others because he too has been close to "crazy." A very literary book filled with dazzling writing and insight into religious obsession and psychology that would be classified as outside the norm.

a wonderful examination of art and madness.......2007-07-02

Once again, Bottoms turns his incisive gaze onto the topics of madness and creativity. With this wonderful nonfiction look at the work of several outsider artists, Bottoms again shows us how art can save our lives, all of us. A masterful work.

Avoiding The Perfectly Obvious.......2007-05-13

First of all, this is not what I expected when I ordered it. I thought it would be a book OF art, and it is a book ABOUT four artists - Howard Finster, William Thomas Thompson, Norbert Nox, and Myrtice West. All four are "evangelical artists," who believe they have been grabbed by God and commended to paint. Professor Bottoms, who had a schizophrenic brother, is exploring the gray area between madness and Christian ecstasy. In his mind, they are struggling to make sense, through religion and art, of their difficult personal histories, to get past the "chaos of despair" and find ways in which "creativity can help order our lives."

This approach is both the book's greatest strength and greatest weakness.

Because the author is neutral on religion, he can critique without bering excessively "pro" or "anti." He is best when showing how the artists, coming from an extreme fundamentalism, are actually painting critiques of that very fundamentalism. He points out a major difference between these artists and his mentally ill brother: "... by contemporary psychological standards, he [West] probably was somewhat mad, but, as far as I could tell, he was not tortured or in pain in the least. He was a lot happier than most people I know ..." [p.54]

However, being that neutral also leaves him without a real conclusion other than the "revelations" the people have help them make sense of their world. Well-and-good, but that can be said of almost anyone, and is hardly what makes them unique. Statements such as "... I believe painting for West is like praying, a kind of concentrated ritual meant to show total devotion and thus bring about positive change ..." [p.47] is hardly unique to Ms. West, as many of us who "are religious" have such "concentrated rituals." For some, for example, attending Eucharist does this, and that is hardly a work of "outsider art," except, I suppose, in the sense we are to be in the world but not of it.

Fiction Under the Guise of Fact.......2007-04-13

The Colorful Apocalypse by Gregory Bottoms purports to be an insiders view of the Visionary Outsider Art of Norbert Kox, Howard Finster and William Thomas Thompson.

Promotional material from University of Chicago Press calls the book a "masterly chronicle" that weaves "a true narrative as powerful as the art of its subjects, a work that is at once an enthralling travelogue, a series of revealing biographical portraits, and a profound meditation on the chaos of despair and the ways in which creativity can help order our lives.'

The book is a less than enthralling travelogue, and if it is a revealing biographical portrait, it, it is a portrait of the fuzzy and distorted lens through which Mr. Bottoms views Visionary artists and the world. Worse, Bottoms has the audacity to attempt to dismantle the reputation and life-work of artists not motivated by ego or economic gain, but by their calling and spiritual vision.

As an artist, I am familiar with the work of all three artists, but I am most familiar with the art and journals of William Thomas Thompson. The book is replete with inaccuracies about Thompson who is portrayed as an unstable, right-wing fundamentalist, given to cursing and racist remarks; a portrayal that is totally divorced from truth. However, most important, Bottoms distorts and misinterprets the spiritual vision that caused Thompson to commit his life to painting!

[...]

At a time when there is so much outrage about the "artistic license" taken by author James Frey in his partially fabricated memoir, A Million Little Pieces; the fact is that Frey was writing about himself! He was not pretending to document the life or the life-work of someone else.

I would encourage those interested in Outsider or Visionary Art or the work of Norbert Kox, William Thomas Thompson and Howard Finster to research the artists themselves, until a factual book is written.

Revelation Unsealed: A Narrative Critical Approach to John's Apocalypse (Biblical Interpretation Series, V. 32)

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Revelation Unsealed: A Narrative Critical Approach to John's Apocalypse (Biblical Interpretation Series, V. 32)
James L. Resseguie
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New Testament Theology)

ASIN: 9004111298

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Apocalypse
Norman Rosenthal , and Norbert Schoerner
Manufacturer: Royal Academy Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810966328

Amazon.com

The horror, the horror. Three years after Royal Academy Exhibition Secretary Norman Rosenthal organized the controversial "Sensation" exhibit comes the sequel, "Apocalypse." It takes as its philosophical starting point the Book of Revelation, though the subtitle exposes a compromising catch-all: "Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art." The kitsch creations of Jeff Koons and Mariko Mori and the casual photography of Wolfgang Tillmans provide superficial beauty, while the most obvious horror is Hell, Jake and Dinos Chapman's truly apocalyptic sculpture comprising nine glass cases arranged in a swastika, containing 5,000 figurines of Nazis and their torturers indulging in unspeakable sadism. This Goyaesque vision of eternal return is the centerpiece of the exhibition, and rightly so. Collector Charles Saatchi's money was well spent. But, apart from the brutally understated paintings of Luc Tuymans, Rosenthal's evangelical vision creates an art theme park, from Gregor Schneider's claustrophobic cellarage, "a cathedral of erotic misery," or, more prosaically, a fairground haunted house through which one clambers, to Mori's dream machine and Darren Almond's Auschwitz bus stops. After such one-trick ponies, Maurizio Cattelan's blackly comic fallen pope, struck by a meteorite, proves welcome. Alive or dead, infallible or found out, the rich ambiguity goes to the crux of belief.

Rosenthal's attractive catalog for these memento mori from his 13 international Cassandras lends the exhibition invaluable context and strategy, especially given the apologia passing for notes on the gallery walls. Alongside a CV are photographs of other works by each artist, followed by stills of their apocalyptic exhibit. This can have a strange effect: Schneider's assemblage suddenly appears cinematic, while the films of Chris Cunningham (of Björk and Aphex Twin video fame) and Mike Kelley become necessarily photographic. And there is a typically overblown introductory essay by Rosenthal, which justifies his idiosyncratic curatorial conceit. Intended as a bifocal survey incorporating history and the postmillennial present, "Apocalypse" proves not so much a sensation as a curate's egg. --David Vincent, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

A Royal Academy of Arts Publication

Apocalypse accompanies one of the most exciting art events of the year. Concentrating on themes inspired by the coming of the 21st century, this internationally significant exhibition-the successor to the controversial "Sensation" exhibition shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York-will include installations, paintings, sculptures, and videos, many specially created for the exhibition by 15 internationally renowned and controversial artists whose identities are a closely guarded secret.

For the catalogue, the talented young photographer Norbert Schoerner has photographed the artists at work in their studios. Norman Rosenthal, exhibitions secretary at the Royal Academy and curator of the exhibition, contributes an introduction explaining his personal vision of the arts at this turning point in history. Thought-provoking and authoritative essays on each artist have been provided by leading art writers. Sure to attract international attention, Apocalypse is an essential purchase for anyone interested in contemporary art.

NORMAN ROSENTHAL is exhibitions secretary at the Royal Academy of Arts.

NORBERT SCHOERNER is a London-based photographer whose photographs have appeared in major fashion magazines.

MICHAEL ARCHER is a contributor to Art Monthly and ArtForum, and a lecturer at Chelsea College of Art & Design and Goldsmiths' College, London.

JAMES HALL is a contributor to ArtForum and the Times Literary Supplement (London), and the author of The World of Sculpture.

NATHAN KERNAN is a frequent contributor to Modern Painters and The Burlington Magazine.

Book Description

This ground-breaking commentary reveals the far-reaching influence of the Apocalypse on society and culture, and the impact it has had on the Christian Church through the ages.Approaching the Apocalypse chapter by chapter, the authors consider its effects, not only on theologians from Origen and Augustine to late twentieth-century theologians of liberation, but also on writers, artists, musicians, political figures, visionaries and others, including Dante, Hildegard of Bingen, Milton, Newton, the English Civil War radicals, D Ã¼rer, Turner, Blake, Handel and Franz Schmidt. They show that, despite the enormous range of interpretations, those who use the Apocalypse tend either to see it as a kind of sophisticated code to interpret history, or as a parable about the appropriate response to God in political, ecclesiastical, or personal life.

Born in Flames: Termite Dreams, Dialectical Fairy Tales, and Pop Apocalypses

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Screams out against lifelessness and the will to demean...

Born in Flames: Termite Dreams, Dialectical Fairy Tales, and Pop Apocalypses
Howard Hampton
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 067402317X

Book Description

Twenty years as an outsider scouring the underbelly of American culture has made Howard Hampton a uniquely hardnosed guide to the heart of pop darkness. Bridging the fatalistic, intensely charged space between Apocalypse Now Redux and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," his writing breaks down barriers of ignorance and arrogance that have segregated art forms from each other and often from the world at large.

In the freewheeling spirit of Pauline Kael, Lester Bangs, and Manny Farber, Hampton calls up the extremist, underground tendencies and archaic forces simmering beneath the surface of popular forms. Ranging from the kinetic poetry of Hong Kong cinema and the neo-New Wave energy of Irma Vep, to the punk heroines of Sleater-Kinney and Ghost World, Born in Flames plays odd couples off one another: pitting Natural Born Killers against Forrest Gump, contrasting Jean-Luc Godard with Steven Spielberg, defending David Lynch against aesthetic ideologues, invoking The Curse of the Mekons against Fredric Jameson's Postmodernism, and introducing D. H. Lawrence to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "We are born in flames," sang the incandescent Lora Logic, and here those flames are a source of illumination as well as destruction, warmth as well as consumption.

From the scorched-earth works of action-movie provocateurs Seijun Suzuki and Sam Peckinpah to the cargo cult soundscapes of Pere Ubu and the Czech dissidents Plastic People of the Universe, Born in Flames is a headlong plunge into the passions and disruptive power of art.

Customer Reviews:

Screams out against lifelessness and the will to demean..........2007-02-23

Howard Hampton's "Born In Flames," is so vividly written, each sentence like a crazed aphorism on some bleak American-gothic apocalypse just this side of redemption-via-imagination, a creatural re-imagining beyond the blood darkness, effluvia, and debris of our times and ordinary lives. One could study how to write essays and to organize cultural collections around wild tropes by such a book. Not sure the introduction gets at what the individual essays are doing alone or in the aggregate, but it is a book that calls out for one to come to terms with it, as a way of reading film and music and US culture as such, as crazed intervention, as a will to create and transform the ordinary in style and cultural-extremity production. He can get from moments in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid to larger shifts in the culture, and from Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia to the blood poetry of some US frontier apocalypse, still to come. That book so wrought is probably more crammed with speculation and implication than whole issues of PMLA in their professionalized repetition of approach and language. That cover screams out against lifelessness and routine modes of writing or being. This is a quest for rebirth, life "born in flames" not death or negation or the will to demean...

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A wealth of information, with some glaring omissions
IN-DEPTH

The Apocalypse Now Book
Peter Cowie
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0306810468

Book Description

The movie took years to be filmed and edited, and was the subject of endless stories, rumors, and speculation. At a screening at Cannes in May 1979, Francis Ford Coppola said simply, "There wasn't a truthful thing written about [the film] in four years." That year at Cannes, Apocalypse Now won the Palme d'Or, going on from there to worldwide acclaim and etching itself in the memories of audiences with unforgettable sequences like the dawn helicopter attack scored to Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" or Lt. Colonel Kilgore's chilling "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Here, generously illustrated with evocative stills from the film and revealing photographs from the set, is the story behind the movie where Vietnam met Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It is the extraordinary saga of Coppola and his crew and actors-who included Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford-battling hurricanes in the jungles of the Philippines, the calamity of a lead actor's heart attack, and crises both psychological and financial . . . in the end giving rise to a modern film classic.

Customer Reviews:

A wealth of information, with some glaring omissions.......2003-05-10

Talk about bad timing. After years waiting for a good Apocalypse Now book, Peter Cowie's comes out, right around the same time as "Apocalypse Now Redux." The irony being that Cowie wrote the book in 2000, a full year before Coppola unveiled his reworked masterpiece. This means that, due to how long the publishing process takes, the book has hardly any information about Redux, which is a shame. As Cowie's interview with Coppola took place in 1999, there are no quotes or thoughts from the director about what lead him to create Redux.

That being said, the rest of the book is very informative, in some cases too informative. The background, pre-production detail is nearly staggering. I would have liked to have learned more about screenwriter John Milius' original script idea, "The Psychedelic Soldier," which, after he was inspired by the idea to do a modern tribute to Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," became Apocalypse Now. Cowie, however, does do a great job of mentioning many of the early drafts of the script, even quoting from the rarely-seen first draft, in which the VC speak in goofy subtitles, and Colonel Kilgore is known as Colonel Kharnage.

The level of research Cowie has performed leaves me wondering over many glaring omissions. For example, the highlight of the book is a chapter titled "Buried Treasure," in which Cowie goes over the 5 ½ hour work print. Though he gives detailed descriptions of the major scenes that are in the work print, but were not included in the original version (or the Redux), there's no mention of the Photojournalist's death scene, which is a major revelation of the work print. Likewise, Cowie doesn't mention how deadly Martin Sheen's Willard is in the work print; for example, in it he kills a child in the climax.

Cowie also fails to cover little bits and pieces that are interesting in the film. For example, he doesn't mention that Lee Ermey, who would later make film history as the drill instructor in "Full Metal Jacket," plays one of Kilgore's helicopter pilots, during the beach raid sequence. And there is no detail about what scenes, exactly, Harvey Keitel filmed during the few weeks he spent on the set. But these little matters are trivial. The fact is, the book is a pretty good compendium of information about my favorite movie. There are no color photos, but there are some nice behind-the-scenes shots and stills, including a very nice one of Willard's head coming out of the swamp, enshrouded in fog.

The main thing I found interesting in the book was that cinematographer Storaro advised Coppola to end the movie on a pessimistic note. Watching one of the early edits, Storaro urged Coppola to integrate the scenes of Willard hacking at Kurtz with the caribou sacrifice, as well as the shots of Kurtz's compound exploding. The way Storaro envisioned it, Willard would kill Kurtz at the exact same time as the air strike, which would obliterate all of them. A very dark ending, but Coppola obviously didn't like it. The footage of Kurtz's compound being destroyed, by the way, is included as an extra on the Apocalypse Now (original version) DVD.

IN-DEPTH.......2001-08-23

If you loved the movie (either version), you'll love this book. I got it in time to read before Apocalypse Now Redux came to the big screen. I'd previously read Eleanor Coppola's notes and Karl French's Bloomsbury Movie Guide (BMG #1). Notes concerns itself mainly wth the family stuff that the Coppolas were dealing with at the time the movie was being made. BMG #1 is more of an encyclopedic a-z that deals more with subjects. Cowie gets it right by going beyond this by delving into Francis Coppola's private archives to focus on the movie itself. Part one of the book is broken down into such topics as birth of the project, assembling the team, pre-production, the screenplay, shooting (phases 1-3), the perils of post-production, and at last - a movie! Part two of the book deals with the 5 ½-hour rough cut, the characters themselves, the contrasts of the film set in asia as opposed to Conrad's novel set in Africa, and conclusions. While the other 2 books did what they intended to do, the Apocalypse Now Book is more in-depth which will give you a better understanding as to what it took to get this awesome film made and to the big screen. The horror indeed.

The Book of Jubilees; The Little Genesis, The Apocalypse of Moses

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Have not read completely yet.
The Book of Jubilees.
Great Book to Add to Your Bible and Religious Studies
Eye Opening - And Good
Genesis Revealed

The Book of Jubilees; The Little Genesis, The Apocalypse of Moses
Joseph, B. Lumpkin
Manufacturer: Fifth Estate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1933580097

Book Description

The Book of Jubilees, also known as The Little Genesis and The Apocalypse of Moses, opens with an extraordinary claim of authorship. It is attributed to the very hand of Moses; penned while he was on Mount Sinai, as an angel of God dictated to him regarding those events that transpired from the beginning of the world. The story is written from the viewpoint of the angel. The angelic monolog takes place after the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt. The setting is atop Mount Sinai, where Moses was summoned by God. The text then unfolds as the angel reveals heaven's viewpoint of history. We are lead through the creation of man, Adam's fall from grace, the union of fallen angels and earthly women, the birth of demonic offspring, the cleansing of the earth by flood, and the astonishing claim that man's very nature was somehow changed, bringing about a man with less sinful qualities than his antediluvian counterpart. The story goes on to fill in many details in Israel's history, ending at the point in time when the narrative itself takes place, after the exodus.

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The Book of Jubilees, also known as The Little Genesis and The Apocalypse of Moses, opens with an extraordinary claim of authorship. It is attributed to the very hand of Moses; penned while he was on Mount Sinai, as an angel of God dictated to him regarding those events that transpired from the beginning of the world. The story is written from the viewpoint of the angel. The angelic monolog takes place after the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt. The setting is atop Mount Sinai, where Moses was summoned by God. The text then unfolds as the angel reveals heaven's viewpoint of history. We are led through the creation of man, Adam's fall from grace, the union of fallen angels and earthly women, the birth of demonic offspring, the cleansing of the earth by flood, and the astonishing claim that man's very nature was somehow changed, bringing about a man with less sinful qualities than his antediluvian counterpart. The story goes on to fill in many details in Israel's history, ending at the point in time when the narrative itself takes place, after the exodus. Information about Watcher, Angels, and Nepthilim is contained in this ancient text.

Customer Reviews:

Have not read completely yet........2007-07-30

Sorry, I have not completed the book yet. But, I feel it is going to be an excellent source to clear up some confusing issues in the Old Testament. Thanks, AJ

The Book of Jubilees........2007-07-08

I found the book interesting and very comparable to the Old Testiment versions of events. The insights I gained regarding Jewish traditions surrounding the events in Genesis was worth the read.

Great Book to Add to Your Bible and Religious Studies.......2007-03-09

After receiving this book, I could not put it down and two more of my friends ordered it for our weekly Bible Study class

Eye Opening - And Good.......2006-06-01

I always thought there were many things left unexplained in Genesis. The Book of Jubilees fills in the gaps.

The titles, Jubilees, Little Genesis, and Apocalypes of Moses, refer to the same book. These are titles given to the same work in various times and places.

The book covers in great detail all of the questions I had after reading Genesis.

The book also gives the reason that the Watchers first came to earth - before they became the fallen angels.

15 In the second week of the tenth jubilee Mahalalel took to him to wife Dinah, the daughter of Barakiel the daughter of his father's brother, and she gave birth to a son in the third week in the sixth year, and he called his name Jared, for in his days the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth.

This is a very interesting book.

Genesis Revealed.......2006-03-14

What a wonderful translation!
I have read several others but this one is the best.
It is clear and direct, while keeping keeping grace and flow.
The name Jubilees is taken from the way time is told within the text. A jubilee is 50 years. The book covers Genesis and part of Exodus in an expanded and enlightening way. Many questions left unanswered in the Bible are revealed in Jubilees.

I have copied a few lines below:

1 When the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, and the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful, and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they gave birth to their sons and they were giants.
2 Because of them lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way. Men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walked on the earth were all corrupted in their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other. Lawlessness increased on the earth and the imagination and thoughts of all men were continually, totally evil.
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21 Because of these three things came the flood on the earth, namely, the fornication that the Watchers committed against the law of their ordinances when they went whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all they chose, and they made the beginning of uncleanness.
22 And they begat sons, the Naphilim (Naphidim), and they were all dissimilar, and they devoured one another, and the Giants killed the Naphil, and the Naphil killed the Eljo, and the Eljo killed mankind, and man killed one another.
23 Every one committed himself to crime and injustice and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled with sin.
24 After this they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moved and walked on the earth, and much blood was shed on the earth, and men continually desired only what was useless and evil.
25 And the Lord destroyed everything from the face of the earth. Because of the wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood they had shed over all the earth, He destroyed everything. "
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American Apocalypse: The Great Fire and the Myth of Chicago

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Little Here on the Fire

American Apocalypse: The Great Fire and the Myth of Chicago
Ross Miller
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Little Here on the Fire.......2000-08-13

A word of caution for the reader: this book tells us almost nothing about the Great Chicago Fire itself. It says a little about the city's history and a lot about its ethos, but the fire is only a backdrop. I hope I am not alone in feeling that something mentioned in a title should be included extensively in the book.

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