The Secret Man: An American Warrior's Uncensored Story

Customer Reviews:

A Question.......2006-07-07

I have a simple question:
Whether or not this book is factual, should we not, as readers, think first about how good the book is as a story rather than a documentary?
It seems to me that most people fail to realize a good story when they look into the truth and facts about it. Sometimes you have to forget you are in this "real" world and let yourself go to a world where everything is real and nothing is real. I guess what I'm really trying to say is: This book is meant for enjoyment not education, so stop making it so!

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY WAY OFF BASE.......2005-09-27

The Publishers Weekly Review is so apparently off base and tainted it is painfully obvious it was crafted by someone who is politically bias or has a personal axe to grind. What else could it be with the reviewer willfully making false and misleading statements that are contrary to the readily observable facts; intentionally and deceptively declaring there is no substantiated or supportive evidence of Dux claims when the proof exists and is presented in the book!

Aside from Frank Dux and his book being vindicated by revealing current events, shamefully, Publisher's Weekly fails to mention that various Official Government Documents that are officially notarized by the appropriate military authority as well as a sworn notarized testimony given by a Soviet Major General Korneinko (made under penalty of perjury) corroborate Dux story. Included are Soviet Identification papers of Dux. They are all presented in the photo section of the book for anyone to examine. Substaintiated evidence that pales in comparison to the common sense fact such reference books are as a matter of professional standards and practices vetted by a publisher's (HarperCollins) lawyers long before ever being allowed to go to print. Facts and claims are routinely checked and double checked. Unlike one critic of Dux whose source is a book that is self-published and relies on sources that all stand to financially profit by discrediting Dux. At least, this is what my own independent investigation revealed.

Notably, Publisher's Weekly cleverly skirts their legal exposure (libel) by stating in doing their review they did not see the photos in the book. Indeed, how could they miss them? As a direct result I feel they are not to be trusted. I have lost all faith in their integrity or at least this one reviewer. Someone dropped the ball here or made it up as they go. This is a book you should feel privileged to read if you can find it.

how secret that this secret might be?.......2005-07-12

if you.re looking for some ninjitsu techniques or action, its not something like that... but this man has some abilities that is used by his country...

THE BEST READ EVER!!!.......2004-12-22

Fortunately, I don't take anything at face value. Otherwise, I would miss out on a truly enlightening and factually informative book. Some of the comments that I read after reading the book I find are out of touch with reality, not the other way around.

Great read as I had anticipated would be the case back, in 1996. When you stop to consider the CIA official policy is that fiction is never in need of denial combined with the fact that if there existed no controversy surrounding this book, the author wouldn't be a CIA whistleblower, would he? Otherwise, why would a government agency feel so compelled to officially issue a statement and deny Dux's activities or Eugene Hausenfaus's or the CIA's Cuban "plumbers" role apprehended in bugging the democratic national convention, the Watergate? The systematic pattern of behavior of denying what we suspect to be true at the time proves its real in my mind. "I think, thou'st CIA does't protest it too much!" Especially, since eight years have gone by and the denials given back then were eventually found out to be lies and spin control.

Any person who calls attention to them self by calling attention to abuses of power are bound to become the targets of personal attacks. This is what the intelligence community is entirely dependent upon in order to survive. What they describe as plausible deniability. No fraud or fanciful reading going on here just our government and its friends hard at work at attempting to keep us ignorant and their friends out of jail.

This guy has got brass balls! Frank Dux's reveals the FBI and CIA engaging in abuses of power by their involving themselves in the political process of our free elections. Discrediting potential political candidates as well as whistle-blowers, like himself (pgs 66-69). Thankfully, someone cares enough to speak out.

This book reminded me that the freedom the world enjoys today only occurred because of the willingness of the few to bend a few laws and risk imprisonment to fight and carryout this nation's secret wars, in the 1980's. Just like what is going on in Iraq, Semper Fi, my brothers!

It was a great read. I find it comical that I actually came across people that will say they read the book and then will chastise it and refer you to the same sources that Dux exposes in his book that are proven to be self-admitted liars guilty of having fabricated testimony and evidence against him, or nuns, etc. Making it painfully obvious they never read the book when you embarrass them by asking please "re-read that section" and tell me what you think of that... LOL.

Why are people directing people to what in reality is a self-published author that is, at least apparent to me, relying on sensationalism to sell his own book.

Dux deserves to be read as he stands up to and wont be bullied by persons who wield political power for their own gain and who under the color of authority committed heinous crimes against humanity.

It's no surprise to me that General Singlaub (who is the former Chairman of the fascist organization, WACL, that is affiliated with the Bulgarian Nazi party, Ku Klux Klan, and other hate groups), was implicated by Dux as a suspected war criminal (allegedly, responsible for overseeing the executions of 20,000 civilians in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia), and who was forced to resign by President Carter. I recall how Congressional Medal of Honor, Lt. Colonel Herbert, US Army and his book "Soldier" became the target of a propaganda/perception management campaign carried out by, you guessed it, the fascist critics of WACL.

Informative and an insightful read that connects the dots for me between certain historical events. I believe people are motivated more out of jealousy and greed than some CIA conspiracy to stop this book from being circulated.

You have to be ill informed or a complete idiot to consider it is just a matter of pure coincidence that, Lt. Commander, Richard Marcinko, USN, the founder of the elite anti-terrorist platoon, SEAL team 6, and his book, Rouge Warrior, was trashed in exactly the same calculated manner and by the very same people. What are they afraid of? Like Marcinko's book, this is the real deal. Otherwise, no one would care.

After I read the book The Secret Man and did my own due diligence, shame on Publishers Weekly. I would have eagerly purchased it instead of coming across it by chance, if not for their "off the cuff" review. The only discernable reason for not being able to tell if Dux was posturing from creating a work of fantasy, as Publishers Weekly states, is made obvious to me or anyone else who has actually read the book. Apparently, the person charged with reviewing it either never bothered to read it or merely skimmed the work and couched their comments, placing it and Dux in a questionable light, in order to conceal their own dereliction of duty if not incompetence or political leanings. I had no difficulty in corroborating his statements of fact as being true. Five stars as it was informative while entertaining, I couldn't put it down.

False and exposed as a fraud.......2004-11-17

Frank Dux has been exposed as a liar and a fraud in several mediums. The Los Angeles Times first exposed Dux as a fraud after the movie Bloodsport was released. After The Secret Man came out, author B.G. Burkett examined Dux's military records which reveal that Dux never left California during his less than 6 months with the Marine Corps. You can read the entire, bizarre, and sad account in Burkett's book, Stolen Valor. Dux's entire military career as a secret operative is a total fantasy.

Secret Man : An American Warrior's Uncensored Story

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Secret Man : An American Warrior's Uncensored Story
Frank Dux
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OES0PE

The Secret Man An American Warrior's Uncensored Story

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The Secret Man An American Warrior's Uncensored Story
Dux Frank
Manufacturer: Regan/Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UD7GWM

Secret Man, the: An American Warrior's Uncensored Story

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Secret Man, the: An American Warrior's Uncensored Story
Frank Dux
Manufacturer: HarperAudio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K0QJW8

Book Description

South Armagh was described as "Bandit Country" by Merlyn Rees when he was Northern Ireland Secretary, and for nearly three decades it has been the most dangerous posting in the world for a British soldier. Toby Harnden has stripped away the myth and propaganda associated with South Armagh to produce one of the most compelling and important books of the Troubles. Drawing on secret documents and interviews in South Armagh's recent history, he tells the inside story of how the IRA came close to bringing the British state to its knees. Additionally, for the first time, the identities of the men behind the South Quay and Manchester bombings are revealed.

Customer Reviews:

An impressive contribution to the history of troubles.......2007-09-03

Toby Harnden's book is an excellent account of the troubles in South Armagh and North Louth. It is unbiased and thoroughly researched with contributions from participants on all sides of the divide. It provides a really insight in how each side conducted their operations and their effect on the local people. It shows the recent troubles in an historical context and explains how the area and its independently minded people have always walked their own path. Strongly recommend for anyone with an interest in the recent history of the north of Ireland

Outstanding read.......2007-03-21

Toby Harnden is a knowledgeable and talented writer. I wholly enjoyed this book and hope this is just the first of many from him.

Fascinating history of an infamous area.......2006-05-25

As other reviewers have commented, Harnden's impartiality will surprise many given the editorial line of his employer 'The Daily Telegraph'. He breaks new ground with his investigations, as he writes many people in South Armagh were open and candid with him as they wanted to tell the stories which had been ignored and/or misrepresented by the media for so long. The grudgng respect Britsh Army figures express for the PIRA will surprise, and the descriptions of operations are fascinating even for those generally more interested in politics than in military history.

A true understanding of the struggle.......2005-10-05

Even the most biased can learn something from this book, it was an absolute eye opener. From the actual level of British presence in Ireland and the lengths that her people have gone to protect her, Bandit Country also gives an insight to how meticulously and secretly the IRA operates on and how intelligent the Volunteers are, both academically and worldly. It also gives an insight of the British soldiers that should not have been allowed patrol such an area due to their youth and time ahead of them in their life. Both sides lost promising people, no matter what your views are on the situation in Northern Ireland. What is most astonishing is that the book only covers one particular area in one of the 32 counties in Ireland, furthering your desire to investigate the other remaining counties situated north of Ireland. This book is a must read and if you are only to ever read one book on the situation in Northern Ireland, well this is it.

Very interesting, but a little disorganized.......2005-07-10

An terrific description of the IRA's history and recent operations in South Armagh, one of the most notorious areas of Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Admirable both for its attention to technical and tactical detail -- what makes a good sniper's rifle, how do the IRA stage a sniper's attack (it takes up to 20 people), the meticulous care that went into some of their ambushes -- and for its ability not to take sides, even though the author's newspaper would clearly be associated with the British establishment. It really makes you feel what it was like to be on the ground, and gives you a great understanding of how the region's history of ungovernability relates to the events of the Troubles.

I have two criticisms, neither of them major. First, although it's a gripping read and each paragraph seems to follow from the previous one, on a chapter-by-chapter scale it's a bit disorganized. One chapter, dealing with the Kingsmill massacre and other events over the course of several years, is entitled "A long-awaited day", but never identifies which day in particular it's talking about. Second, it's all about military operations by the IRA in South Armagh and doesn't attempt to deal with the internal politics of Sinn Fein or the IRA. Given the huge temperamental and historical differences between South Armagh on the one hand and the Belfast and Derry brigades, you leave the book surprised that Tom "Slab" Murphy and Gerry Adams were ever in the same organisation, let alone that South Armagh stuck with the Adams/McGuinness leadership through the change to a political approach.

But these are quibbles. This is an excellent book, unsurpassed as a description of the war on the ground. Recommended.

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Bandit Country
Martin Evans
Manufacturer: Athena Press Publishing Co. UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1844019519

Book Description

In another time and another place, they could have been lovers. but in 1970s Northern Ireland, they must fight each other to the death. It is 1978, the height of the Troubles, and flame-haired beauty, Mairead O'Connell, teaches children at the local primary school deep in south Armagh's 'Bandit Country', where British soldiers fear to tread. One such soldier is Martin Strong. Posted in nearby Crossmaglen with his teenage mates from peaceful England, he is thrown headfirst into a world of peril and violence he cannot understand. He instantly falls for the charms of the Irish redhead, but when it turns out that Mairead is a wanted member of an IRA Active Service Unit, Strong's allegiances and his passions are tested to their limits. Bandit Country is a gripping adventure firmly rooted in the wild countryside and rural towns of war-torn Ulster. A tale of loyalty and treachery, love and war, it twists and weaves through the dramatic lives of the combatants all the way to a breathtaking finale.

Guaracha Trail;: Adventures of an American doctor battling for a "lost" silver mine in the bandit country of northern Mexico,

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Guaracha Trail;: Adventures of an American doctor battling for a "lost" silver mine in the bandit country of northern Mexico,
George Parker Stoker
Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

North America | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007E0UNQ

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Red Dog in Bandit Country
Bill Redding , and Fleur Beale
Manufacturer: Longacre Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Cambodia | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 187713581X

Book Description

Warning: This area is frequented by paramilitaries, guerillas and bandits.

But danger only fires the blood of Bill (Red Dog) Redding. He flies a perilous payroll delivery to the heart of Colombian bandit country, then takes explosives work with a construction company where safety last seems the motto.

With a nose for adventure and an instinct for survival Red Dog quickly makes his mark. He gentles a man-killing horse, defuses a potential explosives disaster and dines weekly with the Bandit Queen and her twelve excitable, gun-toting sons.

However, before long Red Dog makes a surprising and hazardous discovery. This, along with complicating factors, sets his shoulder blades twitching and suddenly he must flee for his life through bandit-riddled mountains.

Red Dog's extraordinary real-life exploits are told in his own laconic vernacular to writer, Fleur Beale. His entire life is the stuff of adventure novels and this story is guaranteed to keep all enterprising daredevils reading till way past lights out.

Note: Sadly Bill Redding died while this book was in production. He was working in Mozambique at the time, clearing land mines. · This is a `wild-west' non-fiction story. (We're told there isn't enough non-fiction for young male readers.) · It¹s a memoir told as a narrative but written like fiction. · Written in a clear, succinct and direct style. · Great sense of drama and story telling. · Fleur Beale is a well-known, well respected children's writer and has captured the voice of Red Dog completely. · Bill Redding is a colorful character; he'll make good copy. · Subtle dissemination of hard-earned knowledge and wisdom. · Excellent survival skills delivered in the course of action. · Although the readership is listed as 10 to 15 it's the type of story which can be enjoyed by many. We all enjoyed it here!

Soldier U: SAS, Bandit Country
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Soldier U: SAS, Bandit Country

Manufacturer: 22 Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000I1Q4WO

Product Description

Novel about soldiers of the UK's SAS, seeking a sniper in Northern Ireland

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Bandit Country
Toby HARDEN
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVA3QQ

Bandit Country: Travels In Lawless Lands

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Bandit Country: Travels In Lawless Lands
Rob Schultheis
Manufacturer: Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Sudan | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

Pakistan | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Serbia & Slovenia | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1585744700

Book Description

There are more and more places on the planet that have slipped out of the geopolitical network of nation-or statehood. Together, these emerging no-man's-lands constitute a new Terra Incognita: a vast zone of unexplored ways of life, natural wonders, and grave dangers.
Schultheis finds himself in such dangerous and fascinating places as:

- Pakistan's NWFP-the country of the warlike Pathans, the world's most numerous tribal people. Traveling through the Khyber Pass, where smuggling czars have boasted that "no Kaffir has ever spent the night and lived," the author does make it through to the morning-with a dozen armed Afghan bodyguards.

- The southern Sudan-where rebel armies of the Christian and animist Dinka, Nuer, and other seminomadic tribes fight for independence from the slave-trading Arab central government in Khartoum.

These travels, along with journeys to Dagestan, Kosovo, and the American Southwest, are stories told with a wry, ironic sense of humor that will captivate anyone who loves adventure tales, history, geography, or the exotic side of world politics.

Bandit raids in the Big Bend country (Publication no. 19 of the West Texas Historical and Scientific Society)

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Bandit raids in the Big Bend country (Publication no. 19 of the West Texas Historical and Scientific Society)
Wilfred Dudley Smithers
Manufacturer: West Texas Historical and Scientific Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006PCQEM

Letters from China: Quaker Relief Work in Bandit Country, 1944-46

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Letters from China: Quaker Relief Work in Bandit Country, 1944-46
John E. Simpson
Manufacturer: Ross-Evans
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1874498059

Book Description

A bold new theory on what sparked the "big bang" of human culture

The abrupt emergence of human culture over a stunningly short period continues to be one of the great enigmas of human evolution. This compelling book introduces a bold new theory on this unsolved mystery. Author Richard Klein reexamines the archaeological evidence and brings in new discoveries in the study of the human brain. These studies detail the changes that enabled humans to think and behave in far more sophisticated ways than before, resulting in the incredibly rapid evolution of new skills. Richard Klein has been described as "the premier anthropologist in the country today" by Evolutionary Anthropology. Here, he and coauthor Blake Edgar shed new light on the full story of a truly fascinating period of evolution.

Richard G. Klein, PhD (Palo Alto, CA), is a Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University. He is the author of the definitive academic book on the subject of the origins of human culture, The Human Career. Blake Edgar (San Francisco, CA) is the coauthor of the very successful From Lucy to Language, with Dr. Donald Johanson. He has written extensively for Discover, GEO, and numerous other magazines.

Customer Reviews:

Very nice overview, with problems.......2007-08-19

As other reviewers have noted, this book presents a very nice summary of the current (as of 2002) knowledge about the history of the hominid lineage(s). (I know I'm supposed to say "hominin." Can't bring myself to do it.) The title, however, promises a "bold new theory" about the apparent very rapid flowering of human cultures roughly 50K years ago, and I have two problems with the book in that regard. First, I think "theory" is too strong a word for Klein's idea, because a scientific theory should be a solid and testable explanation that takes account of all the known facts. Klein presents a plausible-sounding hypothesis -- that some sort of genetic change, probably concerning language functioning, took place 50K years ago in Africa, but he adduces little evidence to support that idea. A genetic change is a reasonable idea of what might have happened, but Klein admits he sees no way to test that idea. He just thinks it's the best explanation for the explosion of culture seen in the archeological record shortly after 50K. My second objection is more substantive: his hypothesis conflicts with the genetic and archeological evidence that human beings had spread over a very large part of the world, including all the way into Australia, well before 50K years ago. For his hypothesis to be correct, all those pre-50K humans would have to have been swept away by the new improved version, and the genetic evidence that is available shows nothing of the sort. (For a thorough exposition of the genetic evidence based on mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome, including much information about the times at which various important genetic events must have occurred, see Oppenheimer's "The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out Of Africa.") Either the other evidence about when modern humans spread across the globe is wrong (unlikely but not ridiculous, given the uncertainties of dating), or Klein's 50K genetic change is wrong. They can only be reconciled by reconciling the dates -- maybe Klein's hypothesized genetic change took place 30K or 40K years sooner than he thinks. That, however, would place the genetic change far before the great cultural explosion that Klein supposes it to have caused.

Neither "bold" nor "new," but excellent nonetheless.......2006-07-27

Professor Klein and science editor Blake Edgar refer to "innovation" as the key to the great leap forward made by humans about 50,000 years ago. This was the beginning of human culture--the "dawn" as they call it. It wasn't a change in physiology--humans had been anatomically modern for something like 150,000 years. What changed was the wiring in the brain, or the chemistry in the brain or the linkage between the modules in the brain, or, as they express it, there was a "neurological shift"--at any rate, something that would never show up in a fossil.

This is Klein's theory and it is a persuasive one, albeit one that can never be proven--well, probably can never be proven. If under some ice sheet (as the planet continues to warm) we find a 100,000-year-old human intact, perhaps an examination of his or her brain and a comparison with the modern brain will give us the proof. Barring that very unlikely event, there is no way we can see what changed.

But it doesn't matter. Formal proof of Klein's conjecture (and of course, he is hardly the first to present such a theory) is unnecessary. We know from the behavioral changes that took place in something like a twinkling of an eye that humans beginning about 50,000 years ago were suddenly different. They had a culture that developed from the use of what might broadly be called symbolism. We can see this in the petroglyphs and cave art and artifacts that they left. We can also see it in the way they displaced the Neanderthals in Europe and left no trace of Homo erectus elsewhere in the world, and how quickly they spread to the far corners of the planet.

It is easy to see that they must have had symbolic language as well. Indeed, I think language really is the key to what happened, and this is Klein's point as well. The key idea is that "language is almost a kind of sixth sense, since it allows people to supplement their five primary senses with information drawn from the primary senses of others." (p. 146)

Today's mighty culture would be impossible without written language or some means of taking down and recording and maintaining human knowledge. Prior to written language this was done through an oral tradition handed down from one generation to the next. Myths, stories, poetry, ideas, information and methods were memorized and recited. Prior to that however, prior to the use of symbolic language, there would have been only a limited ability to pass ideas down from one generation to the next. It would have been difficult to even share some ideas with a contemporary. But once symbolic language developed, people could demonstrate events and things not present with others through the use of words--that is, symbols standing for the actual objects or events--nouns and verbs.

From a representation symbolically of something seen or something that happened, it was only a step to a representation of something never seen before--such as a net for catching birds or fish or a stampede of wildebeests over a cliff.

This is the innovation that Klein refers to. This is the difference between the Late Stone Age culture and the Middle Stone Age culture, between the Upper Paleolithic and the Mousterian. A human arm can throw a spear, but a human arm extended with a lance can throw the spear farther and with more force. People could travel only so far without water, but a people who carried water in skins or watertight baskets (not preserved in the fossil record obviously!) could travel much farther. Actually I imagine that the first truly modern humans carried soup--yes, soup with its sterile, boiled water--in skins on their backs!

What this book is about then is a close and detailed description of the progression from archaic humans to fully modern humans. It is a carefully constructed argument that shows that the change was not gradual, as some would have it, but abrupt. Whatever one may think about Gould and Eldredge's punctuated equilibrium, Klein makes it clear that in the case of human evolution, a key transformation--indeed THE key transformation--occurred quickly. The most persuasive part of their argument is that the "new" humans were able to not only dazzle us with their symbolic art, etc., they were able to grow their populations and thrive in places where humanoids had never survived before.

This book is also full of interesting information about archeology and anthropology, including how fossils are dated and theories developed. One of my favorite tidbits is this: the size of archaic human populations could be surmised by the size of tortoise bones! Since tortoises were relatively easy to catch, the biggest ones, "the most visible and the most meaty" would have been taken first. So as "the number of collectors increased, average tortoise size declined." (p. 166)

For many readers, the most interesting part of the book might be the distinction that Klein and Edgar make between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens: "It doesn't follow that Neanderthals and modern humans couldn't interbreed or that they never did, but the DNA results strongly support fossil and archeological findings that if interbreeding occurred, it was rare...this inference, together with fossil evidence...justifies their assignment to...separate species..." (pp. 185-186)

This is not an easy book, but it is not unnecessarily difficult either. I think Klein and Edgar did a good job of treading that fine line between being too technical (and jargony) and not technical enough.

By the way, despite the sensational subtitle (which only appears on the cover), the authors scrupulously and wisely avoid using the word "consciousness" throughout, and nowhere do they speak of a "Big Bang of Human Consciousness."

Misleading cover!.......2006-06-01

A book on human morfologic evolution
and ancient tools (stones).
A few words on culture precisely.
If you donýt want to read about
bones, stones, more bones and more
stones read instead "The Prehistory
of the Mind", by Steven Mithen.

Misleading Cover.......2006-03-26

There are in-depth reviews on this site that do justice to this otherwise excellent book. I would like to focus here on the one singularly troubling aspect (of this book) that has not received much attention in the other reviews.

The book's cover gives the impression that it reveals and expounds on a significant new theory on the genesis of human consciousness. At the least, a glance at the cover will give the impression that this theory is the central thesis of the book.

Much to my surprise and disappointment, however, I had to wait till the last 3-4 pages to discover what this 'bold new theory' was! Klein merely speculates in a few paragraphs that there was a fortuitous genetic mutation, circa 50,000 years ago, that resulted in a significant advance in human brain fuction.

There is no discussion on where this mutation occurred. If Homo Sapiens had already spread out of Africa by this time (as Klein states), how did the mutation effect all of humanity? If this is such a 'bold new theory', why does Klein spend so little space discussing it? Klein admits that no physical evidence for such a hypothesis can be found - the theory is not testable. Nevertheless, this does not let him off the hook for giving his thesis the detailed exposition that it deserves.

Undoubtedly, Richard Klein is one of the greatest anthropologists today. Given that, I am disappointed that he would (ostensibly) resort to a flashy title to increase this book's popularity. Klein's theory may well be actually what happened, but then it surely deserves a more in-depth treatment than what is presented here.

If you want to read a succinct account of human evolution and tool making, this book will satisfy you. There are a few other books, however, that are better in this respect. I was expecting more.....

A nice book for beginners and the informed alike........2006-03-10

The Dawn of Human Culture provides the reader with a thorough presentation of the evidence for the advance of culture from its earliest appearance in the Paleolithic among our early ancestors to its more mature form during the Neolithic among fully modern humans. It is a very readable book, providing short definitions of some of the terms for those without a paleontology/anthropology background, and introducing some of the techniques used in professional archaeology, like DNA studies, carbon 14 dating, etc. His writing style tends to bring his material to life for the reader.

Many of the primary pieces of information that the author introduces are more recent finds and the reinterpretation of earlier finds. I found this very helpful, since I don't generally read the journals, and I'm not as familiar with the recent work in the field. He also adequately describes the present day state of affairs in paleontology, discussing issues like the pitfalls in dating and in the taphonomy of artifacts--that is, what has occurred to the remains during the several thousand if not millions of years since the death of the subject.

Although Professor Klein discusses the "out of Africa" hypothesis, he doesn't really discuss it's opponent the multiple origins theory, so the point of view of the book is somewhat biased or at least less balanced than it might be. Certainly the data is predominantly in favor of the former theory over the latter, but I think that there is still much to say about the multiple origins theory that a student might like to know and probably should know to make sense of the overall out of Africa argument.

The author also doesn't really discuss the issues that arise from "splitting" or "lumping" finds. This is something that probably needs to be thoroughly explained to the uninitiated so that they understand the effects on interpretation of assigning a specimen to a defined species as opposed to a new one. This basic understanding is essential to understanding why one paleontologist believes one thing while another proposes something completely different. This is especially significant for high school students. No one expects the professionals to really come to an agreement any time soon, but a clear explanation of the cause of their disagreements might give paleontology itself greater credibility among those who only know it from the outside.

At the Dawn of Modernity: Biology, Culture, and Material Life in Europe after the Year 1000

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At the Dawn of Modernity: Biology, Culture, and Material Life in Europe after the Year 1000
David Levine
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0520220587

Book Description

Looking at a neglected period in the social history of modernization, David Levine investigates the centuries that followed the year 1000, when a new kind of society emerged in Europe. New commercial routines, new forms of agriculture, new methods of information technology, and increased population densities all played a role in the prolonged transition away from antiquity and toward modernity.
At the Dawn of Modernity highlights both "top-down" and "bottom-up" changes that characterized the social experience of early modernization. In the former category are the Gregorian Reformation, the imposition of feudalism, and the development of centralizing state formations. Of equal importance to Levine's portrait of the emerging social order are the bottom-up demographic relations that structured everyday life, because the making of the modern world, in his view, also began in the decisions made by countless men and women regarding their families and circumstances. Levine ends his story with the cataclysm unleashed by the Black Death in 1348, which brought three centuries of growth to a grim end.

Making Silent Stones Speak: Human Evolution and the Dawn of Technology

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Origins of many things

Making Silent Stones Speak: Human Evolution and the Dawn of Technology
Kathy D. Schick , and Nicholas Toth
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books
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Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools
Lithic Analysis (MANUALS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD, THEORY AND TECHNIQUE)

ASIN: 0671693719

Book Description

In this dramatic reconstruction of the daily lives of the earliest tool-making humans, two leading anthropologists reveal how the first technologies-- stone, wood, and bone tools-- forever changed the course of human evolution.

Drawing on two decades of fieldwork around the world, authors Kathy Schick and Nicholas Toth take readers on an eye-opening journey into humankind's distant past-- traveling from the savannahs of East Africa to the plains of northern China and the mountains of New Guinea-- offering a behind-the-scenes look at the discovery, excavation, and interpretation of early prehistoric sites.

Based on the authors' unique mix of archaeology and practical experiments, ranging from making their own stone tools to theorizing about the origins of human intelligence, "Making Silent Stones Speak" brings the latest ideas about human evolution to life.

Customer Reviews:

Origins of many things.......2003-12-19

This book is about the beginnings of technology, an almost exclusively human trait. The idea of using materials in such a way as to benefit daily life or perform task that we, as individuals, are unable to do is a giant step into the unknown. The author discusses tool-making in all its many facets. It is now considered very possible that tool-making contributed to an exapansion of brain possibilities but in fact made us into something different that the surrounding creatures with whom we fought and lived.

The idea of artificial means toward an end catapulted mankind and gave us control of our surroundings. No longer were large beasts from out of our grasp. The type and variation of the various stone blades is mind-boggling but the interpretation is just about as creative. The sharing of this technology with other humans started a process of spreading knowledge that has continued up to this day.

Book Description

This work investigates the medieval understanding of sacred place and argues for the centrality of bodies and bodily metaphors to the establishment, function, use, and power of medieval churches. Using Chartres Cathedral as a focal point, the intimate relationship between the two facades of Christian sacred place, building and body are laid bare and the traditional division of sacred and profane jurisdictions are questioned. Examining non-devotional uses of churches in the Middle Ages, Dawn Marie Hayes shows how the tension between the jurisdictions of sacred and profane operated as a defining binary of Medieval culture and society and plots the development of the sacred in relation to emerging political, economic, and social groups and trends.

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Boushra's Day (From Dawn to Dusk)
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Dawn of a Millennium: Beyond Evolution and Culture

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Dawn of a Millennium: Beyond Evolution and Culture
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The Dawn Of Civilization - The First Wold Survey Of Human Cultures In Early Times

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The Dawn Of Civilization - The First Wold Survey Of Human Cultures In Early Times
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DAWN OF CIVILIZATION/FIRST WORLD SURVEY OF HUMAN CULTURES IN EARLY TIMES

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DAWN OF CIVILIZATION/FIRST WORLD SURVEY OF HUMAN CULTURES IN EARLY TIMES
Clark, Mellaart, Mallowan, Aldred, Culican, Lloyd, Hood, Wheeler, Watson, Christie, Phillips, Powell, Bushnell Piggott
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Dawn of Civilization: The First World Survey of Human Cultures In Early Times

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Dawn of Civilization: The First World Survey of Human Cultures In Early Times
Stuart Piggott; Editor; Texts And G.H.S. Bushnell T.G.E. Powell E.D.P
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ProductGroup: Book
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Concern over environmental problems is prompting us to reexamine established thinking about society and politics. The challenge is to find a way for the public's concern for the environment to become more integral to social, economic, and political decision making. Two interpretations have dominated Western portrayals of the nature-politics relationship, what John Meyer calls the dualist and the derivative. The dualist account holds that politics--and human culture in general--is completely separate from nature. The derivative account views Western political thought as derived from conceptions of nature, whether Aristotelian teleology, the clocklike mechanism of early modern science, or Darwinian selection. Meyer examines the nature-politics relationship in the writings of two of its most pivotal theorists, Aristotle and Thomas Hobbes, and of contemporary environmentalist thinkers. He concludes that we must overcome the limitations of both the dualist and the derivative interpretations if we are to understand the relationship between nature and politics.

Human thought and action, says Meyer, should be considered neither superior nor subservient to the nonhuman natural world, but interdependent with it. In the final chapter, he shows how struggles over toxic waste dumps in poor neighborhoods, land use in the American West, and rainforest protection in the Amazon illustrate this relationship and point toward an environmental politics that recognizes the experience of place as central.

Political Nature: Environmentalism and the Interpretation of Western Thought

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Political Nature: Environmentalism and the Interpretation of Western Thought
John M. Meyer
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Binding: Paperback
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