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.

Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945

Average customer rating:

Very Good
Falling apart as I read...
Hastings does the end of World War II
Imrpessive! A sober reminder of what war is about.
Loved reading this book!

Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
Max Hastings
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375414339
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Book Description

Armageddon is the epic story of the last eight months of World War II in Europe by Max Hastings–one of Britain’s most highly regarded military historians, whose accounts of past battles John Keegan has described as worthy “to stand with that of the best journalists and writers” (New York Times Book Review).

In September 1944, the Allies believed that Hitler’s army was beaten, and expected that the war would be over by Christmas. But the disastrous Allied airborne landing in Holland, American setbacks on the German border and in the Hürtgen Forest, together with the bitter Battle of the Bulge, drastically altered that timetable. Hastings tells the story of both the Eastern and Western Fronts, and paints a vivid portrait of the Red Army’s onslaught on Hitler’s empire. He has searched the archives of the major combatants and interviewed 170 survivors to give us an unprecedented understanding of how the great battles were fought, and of their human impact on American, British, German, and Russian soldiers and civilians.

Hastings raises provocative questions: Were the Western Allied cause and campaign compromised by a desire to get the Soviets to do most of the fighting? Why were the Russians and Germans more effective soldiers than the Americans and British? Why did the bombing of Germany’s cities continue until the last weeks of the war, when it could no longer influence the outcome? Why did the Germans prove more fanatical foes than the Japanese, fighting to the bitter end? This book also contains vivid portraits of Stalin, Churchill, Eisenhower, Montgomery, and the other giants of the struggle.

The crucial final months of the twentieth century’s greatest global conflict come alive in this rousing and revelatory chronicle.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good.......2007-09-05

Insightful, thought provoking overview of the horror of the last nine months of WWII in Europe. While I couldn't put this book down and the assessment and theories of this time were excellent, I did find the work somewhat disjointed and awkwardly written at times. Overall, however, it is a very rewarding history that offers new perceptions and challenges old conceptions. Well worth your time.

Falling apart as I read..........2007-08-11

This book has a profound view of the 2nd WW from Normandy eastward, I am enjoying it alot and it is easy to understand and follow (even though it jumps about in time). I love books and often re-read them at later dates. I have bought many books from Amazon, and have been very pleased. But this is the 1st book that has the problem of clumps of pages falling off as I read. They separate from the binding every dozen pages or so... Guess I won't be able to re-read this one! Anyone else with this defect? This book would get 5 stars from me were it not for this problem...

Hastings does the end of World War II.......2007-07-08

There are two main theories with regards to the American/Allied victory in World War II in the West. One holds that the Germans were brilliant soldiers, overwhelmed by a torrent of shells from artillery, airplanes, and tanks, and the other holds that the American army, starting out very green, gained experience and fortitude as the campaign extended in 1944-45. The first version is one that has held sway, for the most part, since the 1950s. It's based, in part, on the interrogations done by the U.S. Army at the end of the war, where they talked with German officers about the course of the war they had just lost. Most of the Germans, to hear them tell it, didn't really think they'd lost the war. If anything, they'd won, and been thwarted by Hitler, the Soviets, and American factories. The latter view, that the American army improved during the war, and wasn't as bad as these defeated German officers thought, is more modern, and has been put forward by a group of scholars, many of them U.S. Army officers.

Max Hastings is a British historian, and he holds with the older, more German viewpoint. One nuance is that he holds the British army in similar contempt, for the most part. Instead, he believes that the Soviets were the only ones who exhibited a proper amount of aggressiveness, though he does also mention repeatedly that the Soviet method of war resulted in their army suffering many more casualties than the American/British method.

This attitude colors pretty much the whole of Armageddon, Hastings' book recounting the campaigns in France, Poland, and Germany during the last winter and spring of World War II. Hastings is more nuanced than most historians when he speaks in this vein: he spends a lot of time telling you how good of a coalition-manager Eisenhower was, while denigrating his skill as a strategist. He also is refreshingly aware of Montgomery's shortcomings, personality-wise, and his inability to diplomatically get along with his American counterparts. Patton doesn't come in for the praise he often gets: the author notes the Hammelburg tragedy and denounces him pretty thoroughly for it, among other things, and winds up saying that he showed "flashes of brilliance" but wasn't an exceptional commander.

Hastings is a good writer, and for the general reader interested in World War II this is a worthwhile book. For the specialist be aware: the author quotes Martin van Creveld and other historians you've probably already read, and his interpretations, to say the least, are sometimes controversial. While I agree with his assessment of the Arnhem battle (he says that if Browning did say they'd gone "a bridge too far", then he didn't understand the concept of the battle: without the last bridge, the whole thing was worthless) his verdict on Zhukov (the best general of the war) is eccentric at best, especially since he then proceeds to tell you that his crossing of the Oder in 1945 was a disaster.

I've always been dubious of authors who use the German view of the war more than is appropriate, and I think Hastings is a bit guilty of this. It's why the book doesn't get five stars from me, because otherwise this is a good book, and I enjoyed it.

Imrpessive! A sober reminder of what war is about........2007-06-12

Max Hastings is a renowned author on World War II subjects, and especially on the campaigns of the Western Front. This book is a rich and valuable account of the last year of the war, startimg from September 1944, directly after the Falaise Gap actions and continuing until the end of the war in May 1945. He achieves a splendid mix of great battles and hundreds of personal stories, being academic and popular history at the same time which is something really difficult. Many personal accounts from civilians to soldiers are sprinkled throughout the chapters, and thus effectively remind the reader of the human tragedy taking place as the Third Reich falls around them. From the concentration camp prisoners to the Dutch suffering from hunger and cold, to the bomber crews flying on dangerous missions, to the inhabitants of bombed-out German cities to the East Prussians being brutalized by the advancing Red Army seeking revenge, Hastings has included everything possible in this monumental account.

The readers who want to learn more about the titanic battles of that period will get some fresh perspectives and some hard to find statistics, but Hastings' aim is not simply to tell the military history of that era. He focuses rather on some interesting and straightforward questions, like why did it take almost a year after D-Day for the allies to finally defeat Nazi Germany. Hastings' criticism on the Allied side is sincere and sometimes harsh. He accuses the Western Allies for lack of aggressive leadership despite overwhelming superiority of resources, for a nasty relationship between the U.S. and the Brits, for significant waste of materials, for waging the wrong battles (like that in Huertgen Forrest) and for an absolute reliance upon artillery which very often slowed advance to a crowl. He praises the German Army for its operational and tactical skills and for the superior weapons it employed, but also acknowledges the advantages that the Soviets enjoyed due to their brutal methods and complete disregard for human and material losses.

Of course this is a history about a war and the vast scale of suffering makes the narrative powerful and grim. The text is supported by some good but general maps and many black and white photographs, some of them very dramatic indeed. I would say that although this book is massive in appearance and may seem too much detailed for some readers, it doesn't offer really new conclusions for anyone who has studied this subject thoroughly. It just concentrates every available (and interesting) piece of information in a sinlge large account which it reads quickly and smoothly because it is generally very engrossing.

Loved reading this book!.......2007-05-29

This sensational book is full of details, both personal and military, and does not get bogged down in too much of the latter. It was an addictive reading experience for me and I must admit I have never read a book about war before.

Average customer rating:

Readable, but a bit lacking
Gripping - if one sided
Eminently Readable Account
The politics and logistics of an avoidable war.
The definitive account of a war where many died for so few.

The Battle for the Falklands
Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393301982

Customer Reviews:

Readable, but a bit lacking.......2007-10-16

I was in college when the Falklands war broke out and never really understood what actually happened and why.

I bought "The Battle for the Falklands" as a way of finding out and whilst this book is easy to read and well written I found it lacked a certain personnel perspective. I researched other titles and ended up seeking out "9 battles to Stanley" by Nicholas Van De Bijl.

This told me more of what I wanted to know in terms of how hard both sides had actually fought and the reality of battle. It showed, in several cases, how close the British forces came to defeat and ultimately that victory was a result of superior training, ability and a certain amount of luck. Despite the rhetoric the Argentineans weren't a walk over and although this book only deals with the land base forces I think it is more realistic and informative.

It certainly helped me understand the sacrifices each side made and the futility of war.

Gripping - if one sided.......2006-09-24

A superb collection of the players and events leading up to the Falklands conflict. The comparisons between the infamous 1983 South Atlantic war and today's headlines are not accidental. Hastings and Jenkins lend a broad stage to the conflict and protray it well as it unfolded among the nations of the world. As the book unfolds, the challenges of an ill equipped force against an uncertain enemy and the politics of every move are made clear. One of the most telling lines was the reference to the revelation of the assault on Goose Green by the BBC prior to the actual attack, a revelation which cost the British and Argentinians additional lives and casualties.

Although there is some treatment of Argentina's perspective, this is largely a book about the UK effort. I was very impressed with the detail, honesty and flow of the work. And nary a mention of Prince Andrew!

Eminently Readable Account.......2004-01-13

The 1983 British bid to recapture the Falkland Islands is one of the most important and least studied military undertakings of recent history. Hastings' book has been around for a long time and it's probably the best known work about the short-lived campaign. It's well researched, well written, and well edited and the order of battle appendix is a nice addition too. The epic foot march across East Falkland (in artic conditions) by the Marines and Paras of the Commando Brigade is only one of a host of impressive accomplishments by British forces. This is a veritable cornucopia of "lessons learned" from infantry operations, to air defense conundrums, to fleet tactics, to logistical problem-solving, it's all in here. If you're a military professional, this is a must read. It's too bad there are not more titles available on this topic.

The politics and logistics of an avoidable war........2004-01-03

This has to be the most definitive account, from a British perspective, of a war that continues to invoke emotive reactions when discussed either side of the Atlantic. The narrative is perfectly balanced with the immediacy of the action described by Max hasting who was on the ground with the Task Force and the intrigue of the politics explained with unnerving clarity by Simon Jenkings. The book interwieves a stark narrative of the realities of battle with an enlightening view on the working of politicians and their influence on the start and ultimate outcome of war. While the book should appeal for those with a thirst for the factual, there is sufficient analysis of both the strategy of battle and the politics of war to satisfy most. I began reading this book looking for answers to how and why the war started, in this regard I feel the account fully satisfied my curiosity. What surprised me was the degree to which the descriptions of the strategy for naval warfare invoked images and scenarios that were as reminiscent of ancient history as they were relevant to contemporary conflicts. Descriptions of diplomatic efforts to forestall a war, the series of mis-communications that led ultimately to open conflict, the initial celebrations in suport of the Task Force and the ultimate subdued reaction to conclusion of war all make sobering reading. For detailed tactical accounts of naval battles this must be one of the best case studies since the Second World War. The ultimate question as to whether the war was justified or otherwise is analysed in conclusion although the authors err on the side of impartiality raising more questions than answers. A thoroughly recommended read.

The definitive account of a war where many died for so few........2004-01-03

King Harold II and the Bayeux Tapestry (Pubns Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies)

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King Harold II and the Bayeux Tapestry (Pubns Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies)

Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1843831244

Book Description

Harold II is chiefly remembered today, perhaps unfairly, for the brevity of his reign and his death at the Battle of Hastings. The papers collected here seek to shed new light on the man and his milieu before and after that climax. They explore the long career and the dynastic network behind Harold Godwinesson's accession on the death of King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, looking in particular at the important questions as to whether Harold's kingship was opportunist or long-planned; a usurpation or a legitimate succession in terms of his Anglo-Scandinavian kinships? They also examine the posthumous legends that Harold survived Hastings and lived on as a religious recluse. The essays in the second part of the volume focus on the Bayeux Tapestry, bringing out the small details which would have resonated significantly for contemporary audiences, both Norman and English, to suggest how they judged Harold and the other players in the succession drama of 1066. Other aspects of the Tapestry are also covered: the possible patron and locations the Tapestry was produced for; where and how it was designed; and the various sources - artistic and real - employed by the artist.GALE OWEN-CROCKER is Professor of Anglo-Saxon Culture at the University of Manchester.

Average customer rating:

The Best Volume on the Conquest
I LOVED IT BUT WHY ONLY FOUR STARS YOU ASK
Short but excellent introduction
A Little Thin....
1066 and All That

1066: The Year of the Conquest
David Howarth
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140058508

Customer Reviews:

The Best Volume on the Conquest.......2007-05-25

This is not Howarth's best work, but it is the best work available on the Norman Conquest. Reaching into the murky depths of the 11th century, Howarth manages to sift through dry historical data in an exciting story format. While reading the book it's easy to forget that you know the outcome and you find yourself marching with the beleaguered King Harold to an uncertain fate in the autumn of 1066.

The book has a bias, but the author is straight-forward about it. He's very pro-Harold, anti-Edward, and sympathetic toward William, even if he is portrayed as the antagonist. The book is unusual in that it it gives more information than most about the events leading up to the Conquest, instead of grinding down in the minutia of October the 14th. Having said this it still covers the Battle of Hastings giving a feel for the event and indulging in a few speculations about some of the details. The author doesn't waste words however, as all this is done in a very small volume.

Anyone looking for a quick, easy, readable, but still scholarly work about the Norman Conquest will never find a better book than this one.

I LOVED IT BUT WHY ONLY FOUR STARS YOU ASK.......2007-02-06

this book, magnificent, incredible, couldn't put it down... vivid details, a real tour de force of historical significance... why only four stars... the author makes countless references to the bayeux tapestry an artistic account of pre and post conquest but not a single picture in the entire book showing us what the tapestry looks like... painful because the book is gripping and you ache to see what the author is talking about each time he makes reference to it... i'll look up the pic on line and print it out to look at it, but i'd have paid more just to have a color pic included in the book with appropriate captions guiding the reader to the references made in the body of the book

Short but excellent introduction.......2006-12-23

Howarth's book on the year 1066 is well-written, factual, succinct, and engaging. To my way of thinking, he walks the fine line between too much and too little detail quite adroitly, and the book is one you can easily read again and again (any time a little refresher of the basic facts is required).

I also like his use of a small, "typical" English village throughout the story. One tends to think of the Norman Conquest in large socio-political terms, but it's sometimes important to refocus one's attention on how (and when or if) it actually affected the smaller villages, where ordinary commoners lived out there lives in relative isolation from the royal court. Quite a refreshing perspective.

A Little Thin...........2006-11-11

What there is of this book is actually pretty good and I am considering changing to 4 stars. It's packed with historical facts yet reads well. The author has done the primary research and compiled essential data into an enjoyable read. As a primer on this era, this book is a good start.

My only complaint is that the author has parsed his data too well; this book is surprisingly short. Perhaps he did that in view of readers' interest but I would have preferred a few more details.

1066 and All That.......2006-08-06

"1066 and all that..." being the stock British phrase for the Norman Conquest, this book should have been titled "All That." You slog through so much extraneous, badly organized material (including Saxon and Scandinavian names)that it makes the stereotypical Russian novel look like a model of clarity. Up to about page 100 there's the occasional paragraph pointing out which way we're going and after that, golly, sometimes a whole page or two of clear storyline. There's actually some interesting stuff but 11th century history and politics were a mess and this book doesn't do much to clear things up.

A Needle in the Right Hand of God: The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry

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Context for the Bayeux Tapestry
Impressive!
Unusual insights, engaging writing

A Needle in the Right Hand of God: The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry
R. Howard Bloch
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400065496
Release Date: 2006-11-28

Book Description

The Bayeux Tapestry is the world’s most famous textile–an exquisite 230-foot-long embroidered panorama depicting the events surrounding the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is also one of history’s most mysterious and compelling works of art. This haunting stitched account of the battle that redrew the map of medieval Europe has inspired dreams of theft, waves of nationalism, visions of limitless power, and esthetic rapture. In his fascinating new book, Yale professor R. Howard Bloch reveals the history, the hidden meaning, the deep beauty, and the enduring allure of this astonishing piece of cloth.

Bloch opens with a gripping account of the event that inspired the Tapestry: the swift, bloody Battle of Hastings, in which the Norman bastard William defeated the Anglo-Saxon king, Harold, and laid claim to England under his new title, William the Conqueror. But to truly understand the connection between battle and embroidery, one must retrace the web of international intrigue and scandal that climaxed at Hastings. Bloch demonstrates how, with astonishing intimacy and immediacy, the artisans who fashioned this work of textile art brought to life a moment that changed the course of British culture and history.

Every age has cherished the Tapestry for different reasons and read new meaning into its enigmatic words and images. French nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century, fired by Tapestry’s evocation of military glory, unearthed the lost French epic “The Song of Roland,” which Norman troops sang as they marched to victory in 1066. As the Nazis tightened their grip on Europe, Hitler
sent a team to France to study the Tapestry, decode its Nordic elements, and, at the end of the war, with Paris under siege, bring the precious cloth to Berlin. The richest horde of buried Anglo-Saxon treasure, the matchless beauty of Byzantine silk, Aesop’s strange fable “The Swallow and the Linseed,” the colony that Anglo-Saxon nobles founded in the Middle East following their defeat at Hastings–all are brilliantly woven into Bloch’s riveting narrative.

Seamlessly integrating Norman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Byzantine elements, the Bayeux Tapestry ranks with Chartres and the Tower of London as a crowning achievement of medieval Europe. And yet, more than a work of art, the Tapestry served as the suture that bound up the wounds of 1066.

Enhanced by a stunning full-color insert that includes reproductions of the complete Tapestry, A Needle in the Right Hand of God will stand with The Professor and the Madman and How the Irish Saved Civilization as a triumph of popular history.

Customer Reviews:

Context for the Bayeux Tapestry.......2007-04-12

Of all the great historical and artistic sites in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps second on my list of places I would like to visit (Troy comes first). Actually not a "tapestry" (it is technically an embroidery) the Bayeux Tapestry, dating from the Eleventh century pictorially tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England and victorious battle at Hastings. Exactly who sponsored its creation, designed it, and embroidered it remain mysteries, as does its ultimate purpose. Bloch's new book does not seek to supply sensational answers to these continuing controversies (as did, for example, Andrew Bridgeford's "1066: The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry"), nor even to solve the perplexing mystery of the identity of the woman "Aelfgyva" who appears in the Tapestry. Instead, Bloch provides a fast-reading discussion of the historical and artistic context for understanding the Tapestry. He concludes that there are many Scandinavian/Norman elements incorporated into the the design (and Scandinavian textiles are the most closely related art works known), but that Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts appear to supply the models for the style of illustration. And the author traces back important design elements to Byzantine silk weavings.

Bloch contends that the Tapestry was consciously created as a way to bring together the Anglo-Saxon and Norman peoples on both sides of the English Channel (although it seems to me that this view is suspiciously congruent with modern notions of multiculturism rather than Eleventh century realities). Regardless whether one accepts or rejects this viewpoint, the book's narrative provides an informative examination of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon worlds which gave birth to this unique artistic treasure.

Impressive! .......2007-04-03

Dr Bloch explains the tale of the Tapestry in a very clear and appealing manner. In particular, he describes the sequence of events depicted by the Tapestry itself as well as the political environment of early 11th century Europe that led to the pivotal Battle of Hastings. His insights are cogent and sound. I highly recommend this brief but thorough work.

Unusual insights, engaging writing.......2007-01-11

It's said that the Devil can quote Scripture to prove his own point - and something like that has been tried with the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England. The French claim it as French. The English have claimed it as Anglo-Saxon. During World War II, Hitler tried to use it as a kind of Book of Genesis for the Third Reich. William the Conqueror, 7th Duke of Normandy, was the descendant of Vikings. ("Norman" derives from the Latin for "Northmen.") The Scandinavian connection appealed to Hitler's racial, mythic notions. Among the Tapestry's 11th century images of conquering warriors, he sought ancient origins for his supposed Germanic super-race.

In fact, maintains R. Howard Bloch, these competing claims are only possible because the Tapestry itself hardly takes sides between the conquered Anglo-Saxons and the conquering Normans, and seeks to reconcile those whom it portrays. Its point of view is neither clearly Norman nor Anglo-Saxon. Without dwelling on fixing blame, it shows both armies fighting bravely. ("French and English fall together," it says of the battle at Hastings.) All may go on to become King William's peaceful subjects. Bloch finds in the Tapestry's well-recognized ambiguities an intention by its designer to tell the story without maligning either Normans or Anglo-Saxons.

Sterling Professor of French and the Director of the Humanities Division at Yale, as well as author of several books about the Middle Ages, Bloch brings an unusual array of qualifications to this subject. His mother, formally trained as a textile engineer, was a craftswoman who covered the walls of their home with creative needlework; his father an expert in the manufacture of finished cloth. In considering the Tapestry, its purposes and the influences it reflects, especially those found in other woven, painted or embroidered fabrics, Bloch speaks the language of textiles as one born to it.

He points out from the beginning, as all writers on the Bayeux Tapestry must, that it isn't strictly a tapestry at all, but an embroidery, on a long (about 230 feet) linen strip; and that we have no other record like it. Despite the crude medieval drawing, the Tapestry vividly brings alive the sweep of events. The most photorealistic horses, for example, could not pulse with more vitality, or fall in battle more convincingly, than they do in these images. In the Tapestry's unfolding story, we see the Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwineson swear his oath of loyalty to Duke William. It doesn't tell us whether he had a choice, or was tricked. Is King Edward the Confessor of England, on his deathbed, revoking his promise of the crown to his kinsman, Duke William of Normandy? Promising it to Harold? There sits Harold in majesty, crowned -- if it was with indecent haste, the Tapestry doesn't say so -- the day after Edward's death. Duke William "is told of Harold," the Tapestry tells us neutrally, and he prepares to invade. There is the mysterious woman, Aelfgyva. With generations of scholars we wonder who she is, and why she is here. Is that cleric merely touching her head, or slapping her so that she'll never forget something she's witnessing? The images quicken their pace, reaching the bloody clash at Hastings and the Norman victory. Something is missing at the end of the Tapestry; perhaps the lost portion showed King William in majesty, matching the earlier crowned and enthroned Harold.

Professor Bloch understands the Tapestry with an appreciation of what may be called the southern angle: that the Normans who had campaigned in or been to the Italian peninsula, Sicily, the Holy Land, Constantinople, brought back with them both novel combat tactics and a network of cultural threads that linked their northern homeland with Byzantium and with the whole Mediterranean world. He points out not only the famly Scandinavian links of style and motif with the Tapestry, but those found in sumptuous Byzantine silks, proposing lights for what have been obscure corners of Tapestry interpretation. In so doing, he gives greater attention to the enigmatic borders of the Tapestry -- those often-cryptic passages above and below the main narrative -- than do some other commentators.

He argues that the Tapestry deliberately leaves crucial questions unanswered. It means to withhold one-sided judgments. The Tapestry does NOT tell us whether Harold swore fealty to William willingly, or whether he knew he was holding his hands outstretched over sacred relics, making the oath a much more serious matter. It leaves unstated, not alone what King Edward intended at the last, but what it was in his power to do. Though the evidence suggests that English hands made the Tapestry, it is NOT clear whose voice, so to speak, tells the story. The Tapestry, Bloch maintains, is not a work of partisan propaganda. King William, he says, wanted Anglo-Saxons and Normans reconciled under his unifying rule -- and wanted the wider world to acquiesce in his dreams of even wider empire. Without knowing for sure when or where the Tapestry was made, or by whom ordered, or where it was designed to be displayed, Bloch says, we can find all this on its face. It's an argument that anyone interested in the Norman Conquest, the events surrounding it and those that flowed from it, should want to consider; and it is engagingly written. I couldn't put it down. Its story is, of course, still relevant -- to, among much else, the fact that Prince William of England will someday be King William V because he'll be counting from King William I, the Conqueror.

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A masterpiece of Roman times examined
A masterpiece about a masterpiece

The Bayeux Tapestry
Lucien Musset
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1843831635

Book Description

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most extraordinary artefacts to survive from the eleventh century. A fragile web of woollen thread on linen, its brilliant colours undimmed after nearly a thousand years, this masterpiece is unique as a complete example of an art form beloved of the aristocracy in the Romanesque era - the `historiated' or narrative embroidery. The momentous story it tells is that of one of the turning-points in English and European history, the struggle for the succession to the English throne which culminated in the Battle of Hastings in the fateful year of 1066. The version told is that of the Normans who commissioned it - of Harold's perjury and its dreadful price, death and defeat in battle. Yet the sympathies of the English hands that designed and created it are equally evident. And the Tapestry itself is so close to the events it describes, and portrays them in such vivid detail, as to make it in its own right a historical source of the first order, not only for the political crisis of 1064-66 but also for the social history of eleventh-century life.This book presents a full-colour reproduction of the entire Tapestry, with a detailed commentary alongside each episode, equipping the reader to follow the story blow by blow and this marvellous work of art step by step. In addition, a preliminary study sets the Tapestry in its artistic, cultural and historical context. The late Lucien Musset, Emeritus Professor of the University of Caen, studied the Tapestry of nearby Bayeux for nearly fifty years. This erudite but highly readable survey distils a lifetime's scholarship into a wise and impeccably researched synthesis which enables the modern reader to appreciate what the Tapestry meant in the context of its time, at the start of the last millennium.

Customer Reviews:

A masterpiece of Roman times examined.......2006-03-18

THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY could also have been featured in our history shelf; but it's reviewed here for its appeal and importance to fiber artists as well. The Tapestry is one of the most notable achievements of the Norman Romanesque period, surviving intact for over nine centuries when even cities have fallen. It was entrusted by Napoleon to the citizens of Bayeux and today is displayed in a local gallery. The history of 11th century England and Normandy is surveyed along with the artistic importance of the Tapestry in a title which doesn't intend to revolutionize the study of the piece, but to survey reliable scholarship on the subject. Chapters take a scene-by-scene approach and analyze both historical and artistic elements of the Tapestry while Richard Rex's translation provides smooth enlightenment.

A masterpiece about a masterpiece.......2005-12-17

If one cannot see the Bayeux Tapestry in person (and I have been privileged enough to have done so), this book may well be the next best thing. Beautiful, two-page spreads highlight the colour, the detail and the magnificence of the what is perhaps the most famous tapestry in the world.

The Bayeux Tapestry itself is over 70 yards long - that is long enough to be hung from the window of a twenty-story building and still be able to touch the ground. Threads of wool embroidered onto the precious linen are brilliantly transformed into a work of art - were this an abstract representation or simple story-telling device, the work would still be famous and remarkable. Yet it has the added advantage of combining unparalleled craftsmanship with a pivotal story in history - the tale of the Norman Conquest, the last successful invasion of Britain.

The story on Tapestry begins in 1064, with the English king Edward the Confessor, much loved and respected, trying to ensure a peaceful succession. The next two years would see other events transpire, ending with the death of King Harold, shot by an arrow in the Battle of Hastings. The details are fascinating, including the appearance of a comet (which turned out to be one of the periodic appearances of Halley's Comet) shortly after Harold's coronation - comets in this period were usually seen as signs of foreboding and doom, and certainly that was the case for Harold.

William the Conqueror is certainly the hero of this Tapestry, and the origins of the Tapestry are still a mystery. There are historical events throughout the Tapestry, and Musset's text looks at most of the Tapestry in 58 sections, going into great detail about what is presented in the embroidery. For example, Harold is shown dying with an arrow through the eye - history does confirm this type of death, and an early engraving of the Tapestry doesn't show the arrow wound for Harold, but given that perjurers and frauds were thought to die of wounds to the eyes, the later addition of the arrow may have been a propaganda move to help justify William's rightful claim to the throne.

Lucien Musset was a professor at the University of Caen, and had a life-long love affair with the Bayeux Tapestry, spending nearly 50 years in study and reflection. This book represents a stunning life-long labour of love, and one that is magnificent in both word and visual form. Musset's text develops historical, artistic and social themes for each of the sections, and adds a richness to the experience of surveying the Tapestry. It is not to be missed.

Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made in France?: The Case for St. Florent of Saumur (The New Middle Ages)

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Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made in France?: The Case for St. Florent of Saumur (The New Middle Ages)
George Beech
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1403966702
Release Date: 2005-05-12

Book Description

This book presents the hypothesis that the Bayeux tapestry, long believed to have been made in England, came from the Loire valley in France, from the abbey of St. Florent of Saumur. This is based on a number of different kinds of evidence, the most important of which is signs of a St. Florent/Breton influence in the portrayal of the Breton campaign in the tapestry, about a tenth of the whole.

A Stranger to Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944

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To much detail for a simple person.
Fine...If You Like Poetry
This book proves war is hell.
Tragic but Fascinating
Terror, boredom, revulsion, obedience...life as cannon fodder.

A Stranger to Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944
Willy Peter Reese
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374139784
Release Date: 2005-10-20

Book Description

A Stranger to Myself: The Inhumanity of War, Russia 1941-44 is the haunting memoir of a young German soldier on the Russian front during World War II. Willy Peter Reese was only twenty years old when he found himself marching through Russia with orders to take no prisoners. Three years later he was dead. Bearing witness to--and participating in--the atrocities of war, Reese recorded his reflections in his diary, leaving behind an intelligent, touching, and illuminating perspective on life on the eastern front. He documented the carnage perpetrated by both sides, the destruction which was exacerbated by the young soldiers' hunger, frostbite, exhaustion, and their daily struggle to survive. And he wrestled with his own sins, with the realization that what he and his fellow soldiers had done to civilians and enemies alike was unforgivable, with his growing awareness of the Nazi policies toward Jews, and with his deep disillusionment with himself and his fellow men.

An international sensation, A Stranger to Myself is an unforgettable account of men at war.

Customer Reviews:

To much detail for a simple person........2007-10-11

I really had high hopes for this book because of what a rare find it was and how lucky for everyone it even got published but after just one page of it I was wanting to put it down. It has plenty of good parts with great detail but to much detail, detail that only a poet could understand. The writer was a dreamer and I found it so hard in between his details about the trees and flowers to even keep track with what was going on. If you are looking for a book about the sufferings of the Russian people then this is the book for you to many times his unit fell back on the help of locals and to many times they took advantage of it, many times I felt like I was reading a book about escaped prisoners running through the country side and not a book about the proud German Army that I have gained so much respect from reading other books. The lack of characters in the book will also bother you, you have no other soilders to read about or follow during his hard times, nor is their much listed about his unit and their exploits and any unit pride. This book is a true product of drafted men fighting in a war they never should have.

Fine...If You Like Poetry.......2007-09-20

I was excited to read what sounded like a fascinating memoir from a relatively rare point of view: a German solidier on the Eastern front. What I ended up with was a rambling, at times barely coherent attempt at writing memorable quotes. By the time I was 2/3 of the way through the book, I found myself pleading, "Just tell me what happened! Quit trying to sound so poetic!"

Toward the end of the book, Reese finally starts describing what he was going through in a less-flowery manner. Then it became pretty interesting. It just took a LONG time to get there.

Reese's story is a tragic one, but there are more informative war memoirs out there if you want actual information.

This book proves war is hell........2007-06-06

Willy Peter Reese. I had never heard of him before the first part of June 2007. I met Reese, in his memoirs. He bared his soul for me. I sat next to him as he endured the frigid cold of a Russian winter. He told me of his pain when wounded. I watched as he and his fellow soldiers wore lice infested uniforms, suffered from pyoderma and lymph inflammations.
I watched a young man, quiet and reserved, go to war. In degrees I witnessed this young man give up on life and accept the horrors of war.
Reese, through his writing style, has left behind a compelling piece of literature; painting the war on the eastern front in such vivid colors so as to burn a hole to the readers soul.
Please read, A Stranger To Myself. For those who glorify war this may give you a realistic perspective of what can, and usually does, happen when soldiers face each other. As an Army veteran I am not so naive as to think war can be avoided every time, but when one reads what war is really all about then it is worth the time to try diplomacy first.
Read this book. It will take your breath away.

Richard Neal Huffman
The Bear And IDreams in Blue: "The Real Police"

Tragic but Fascinating.......2007-04-08

This book, which is basically the memoirs of a young German soldier fighting in Russia during WWII, was tragic but fascinating. The language that young Willy Reese is beautiful and gripping. The young man who wrote this, in other words, was a prolific writer. He used captivating language and an unbridled vocabulary. His metaphors and allusions where breath taking and you never got bored from the raw detail that he used to describe the horrors of war. And with this book you also gain an unparalleled account of the horror and wickedness of fighting in the Eastern Front. I would recommend this book if you like WWII history or if you like to read a pseudo-prose poem and memoir with outstanding and fantastic language.

Terror, boredom, revulsion, obedience...life as cannon fodder........2007-02-14

A remarkable book which left a deep impression on me. At once literary in style and harrowing in its descriptions of life as cannon fodder, albeit thinking, passionate, feeling cannon fodder.

Willy Peter Reese was no hero. I am not even sure he was brave. However, as a good German boy he did his duty to the fatherland. First he trained to put on the "mask" of the soldier. Then he went of to war in Russia, mask in place.

He passed through a land where atrocities were the reality. He pillaged food from the starving. During the German Army's massive, fighting retreat Reese's unit was always among the last to get the order to fall back. His young eyes took in the full terror of the Nazi's scorched earth terror tactics. And he was part of it.

Along with his comrades, he routinely drank himself into some other world. When there was no other way to move it, he and his fellow soldiers relentlessly dragged the unit's artillery piece. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year.

All the while, his young mind processed what he witnessed. Temperatures so cold he could only cry. A body infested with parasites. Legs and feet with open oozing wounds. Taking shelter in hand dug hovels. Corpses hanging from trees, lying in ditches, everywhere. In between the bouts of horror and killing, however, were sights of beauty and moments of mental and spiritual clarity. His writing only stopped when his life ended.

Yes, Reese was trying to write like a writer. His loves were Rilke and others of that ilk. His book though, must be taken as a whole. To dissect it, to say this part is too wordy or that part is too introspective, is to miss the point. No, Willy Peter Reese was not a hero. He did his duty as he saw it. He tried to stay alive. He was not brave. Surely, then, he was the typical German male of the day who was thrust into a situation over which he had no control. He did not rage against his lot nor did he relish it. He simply existed through it as best he could.

1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry

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Author sheds light on an ancient mystery
A thousand year old mystery in one of the worlds great works of art.
Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry
Committed and fascinating history writing
Incredible and interesting

1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry
Andrew Bridgeford
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802777422
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Book Description

For more than 900 years the Bayeux Tapestry has preserved one of history's greatest dramas: the Norman Conquest of England, culminating in the death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Historians have held for centuries that the majestic tapestry trumpets the glory of William the Conqueror and the victorious Normans. But is this true? In 1066, a brilliant piece of historical detective work, Andrew Bridgeford reveals a very different story that reinterprets and recasts the most decisive year in English history.

Reading the tapestry as if it were a written text, Bridgeford discovers a wealth of new information subversively and ingeniously encoded in the threads, which appears to undermine the Norman point of view while presenting a secret tale undetected for centuries-an account of the final years of Anglo-Saxon England quite different from the Norman version.

Bridgeford brings alive the turbulent 11th century in western Europe, a world of ambitious warrior bishops, court dwarfs, ruthless knights, and powerful women. 1066 offers readers a rare surprise-a book that reconsiders a long-accepted masterpiece, and sheds new light on a pivotal chapter of English history.

Customer Reviews:

Author sheds light on an ancient mystery.......2007-09-25

Andrew Bridgeford's "1066, the Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry," brings a fresh interpretation to an amazing, mysterious piece of cloth. This strip of linen seventy meters (230 feet) long presents an account of events leading up to William the Conqueror's successful invasion of England. The traditional interpretation is that the Tapestry was a costly trophy commissioned by a Norman baron or bishop celebrating the Norman victory. Bridgeford disputes that view. He finds conflicting messages stitched onto the fabric, messages that tend to support the French, rather than the Norman, point of view. He even finds support for the English, and perhaps a challenge to Duke William's right to the English throne. Such messages would have been punished by death, and whoever commissioned and stitched the Tapestry would have taken great risks. Nevertheless, the ambiguous message was embroidered less than a decade after William's invasion.

What were the real intentions of the sponsor who dictated the images and message stitched into the Bayeux Tapestry? The whole tale is here: ambiguous negotiations, fatal misunderstandings, Duke William's landing, the battle of Hastings, the death of King Harold in battle and the aftermath of war in a ravaged land. The Tapestry (an embroidery, really) was originally longer, but the final scenes are missing. Did fire, damp or rats carry the ending away? Or did fear suborn courage, causing an unknown hand to cut off a dangerous truth in a deadly world? That is one of a thousand mysteries inhering to the Bayeux Tapestry.

Nor is that all. The Tapestry brings us a dwarf who may have been a founding father of French literature; and reminds its contemporary viewers of an unlovely tale, of two queen-mothers thrusting their several sons forward, sometimes fatally, in their own lust for royal power. Why? How do these apparent sub-plots relate? It has been an abiding mystery, one for which Andrew Bridgeford may have supplied - if not the missing end of the cloth - then at least several answers.

By Robert Fripp, author,
Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine

A thousand year old mystery in one of the worlds great works of art........2007-04-09

Many years ago I saw the Bayeux Tapestry while on holidays in Europe. My lasting impression of the work is the sheer size of it. It was much larger than I would have believed based on the odd picture seen in a book I'd come across before leaving home. I now wish I'd been able to read a book like this one before I'd viewed the Tapestry (or embroidery actually).

This book takes you scene by scene through this massive work of art - and a different picture slowly emerges than the one you might have read about in other books on the subject. This embroidery is the work of a conquered people - and to please their new masters it superficially shows their success in the conquest. However, the events, and how the artist chooses to highlight them brings out another story, and its not the same one that the Normans told of their "right" to conquer England. The Tapestry also brings into focus formerly obscure people that never feature in any other period work on the conquest - and the author of this book has done some research into these named individuals and dug up some very interesting information indeed.

If you have any interest in the Bayeux Tapestry or the Norman conquest of England in 1066 this is a book you should read. The author is a Lawyer by trade and not a historian but he has done dome very impressive and detailed research with this book. I didn't know much about either the Tapestry or the Norman conquest before reading this book, so even if you don't know much about this period this is still a good read as the author tracks down the mysteries in the Tapestry that many other writers gloss over.

Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry.......2006-03-23

Excellent transaction. Very informative book and exactly what I was looking for.

Committed and fascinating history writing.......2005-11-17

I found this to be a very interesting and worthwhile book. To briefly summarize, the author examines the famous Bayeux Tapestry, traditionally thought to be a work celebrating the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and comes up with a very interesting theory concerning its origins and meanings. I won't spoil the work for you by revealing what the author's theories are, but he does make (for the most part) an interesting case for them.

Although the author does describe the history of the tapestry itself, which is fascinating (an odd bit of ironic trivia: the Bayeux Tapestry nearly was destroyed on more than one occasion and suffered its greatest threat from the French themselves, during their revolution. The occupying Germans, during WWII, seemed to treat it with the most respect), the bulk of the book is taken up with scene by scene retelling of the Norman Invasion, using the art of the tapestry as a text. I found this section very enjoyable. It was rather like a favorite uncle going through a photo album and embellishing the pictures with fantastic stories. It was fascinating to see how much the author was able to read into the artwork of the tapestry, filling the woolen characters with action and personality. Bridgeford really was able to make the times, and the tapestry, come alive with action and life.

Are his theories true? I have no idea, and as the author himself admits, there will never be a way to know for sure about any of it. I can tell you this, though; he makes his case with vigor and it will really make you think about a time and people nearly a thousand years passed.

That's what good history writing is supposed to do.

Incredible and interesting.......2005-09-28

This book's theory that the Bayeux Tapestry offers up a different history of the Battle of Hastings then historians have put forth. It was so interesting and enlightening. The ideas put forward just got me thinking of even more possible points of interest displayed in the tapestry. A thought provoking read. Highly recommeneded!

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