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.

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

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Nothing Unnatural About It; It's Sacred
This verse unlocks the heart.
If you have been affected by cancer it is worth reading!!!
Suprising turn of events
Disappointed

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Terry Tempest Williams
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679740244
Release Date: 1992-09-01

Amazon.com

The only constants in nature are change and death. Terry Tempest Williams, a naturalist and writer from northern Utah, has seen her share of both. The pages of Refuge resound with the deaths of her mother and grandmother and other women from cancer, the result of the American government's ongoing nuclear-weapons tests in the nearby Nevada desert. You won't find the episode in the standard history textbooks; the Feds wouldn't admit to conducting the tests until women and men in Utah, Nevada, and northwestern Arizona took the matter to court in the mid-1980s, and by then thousands of Americans had fallen victim to official technology. Parallel to her account of this devastation, Williams describes changes in bird life at the sanctuaries dotting the shores of the Great Salt Lake as water levels rose during the unusually wet early 1980s and threatened the nesting grounds of dozens of species. In this world of shattered eggs and drowned shorebirds, Williams reckons with the meaning of life, alternating despair and joy.

Book Description

In the spring of 1983 Terry Tempest Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer. That same season, The Great Salt Lake began to rise to record heights, threatening the herons, owls, and snowy egrets that Williams, a poet and naturalist, had come to gauge her life by. One event was nature at its most random, the other a by-product of rogue technology: Terry's mother, and Terry herself, had been exposed to the fallout of atomic bomb tests in the 1950s. As it interweaves these narratives of dying and accommodation, Refuge transforms tragedy into a document of renewal and spiritual grace, resulting in a work that has become a classic.

Customer Reviews:

Nothing Unnatural About It; It's Sacred.......2006-10-28

The first time I went to Utah, I read Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" and loved it. This time, at a bookstore in Moab, I picked up Williams' "Red" for a contemporary view of the ecological issues around this gorgeous desert landscape, which is unlike any place I have been. Although I liked "Red," people told me "Refuge" was even better.

This is a very special book. I'm no birdwatcher, but it made me want to be. I'm no scientist, but I wished I were. I'm no Mormon, but it gave me respect for a religion I have never been able to fathom. Terry Tempest Williams has profound insights into the natural world. Her observations of the Great Salt Lake and the many migratory birds that visit it are as moving as her account of the death by cancer of her mother and grandmothers. Not surprisingly, they taught Williams awe of birds and sunsets and their own bodies. All of them are brave and spiritual women, and we would be wise to learn from them.

I think what I most admire about Williams as a writer is her emotional courage. Time and time again, she strikes out where more conventional writers would hesitate. She finds redeeming passages from the Book of Mormon. She follows her mother through her long and circuitous spiritual journey with cancer. She follows her grandmother as she moves into Eastern thought and modern physics. She dips respectfully into ancient Indian and Mexican culture. She walks in the desert at some peril to her well-being. She speaks of the intimacy of her marriage and about her decision not to bear children.

Yet his is not a book "about" the desert or cancer or birds or Mormonism, but about life and how it can be richly observed, experienced. shared and redeemed. It's one brave woman's answer to "Desert Solitaire."

This verse unlocks the heart........2006-10-16

Terry Tempest Williams is a national treasure. Her unvarnished verse carries one deep into the mystery of the Earth and sends us helplessly into the depths of our own hearts. The landscape of wildness breaths a spectacular wisdom under the watchful eyes of this keen observer of wind, rock, desert, sky, sage, along with the birds who soar and dance and play in a benediction to non-sentient life.

When I need to recapture my own mortality along with my own humility, I always return to the verse of this elder of silence and truth. Williams stands alone in the power to convey both outer and inner wildness. Her verse is poetic and healing. One does not read these words but are instead initiated into the heart beat of wild nature. Savor its beauty as you might a calming sunset or a wind swept sea shore calling you ever deeper into your own soul.

Read everything she writes and find peace deep within.

If you have been affected by cancer it is worth reading!!!.......2006-06-26

I loved and hated this book. It is beatifully written. I found the author frustrating at times. Some parts got a little long winded about the birds. It takes you on a emotional rollercoaster but the pay off of finishing this book is worth it. Any one who has been affected by cancer will find this book very inciteful to the process of going through treatment and also the death process. Terry Tempest gives the most authentic and honest account of what life is like living through cancer I have every read. She put into words thought and feelings I could never express fully.
The research of the history of the Great Salt Lake was very fun to read about. I have lived in Utah all my life, but I have never been to the Lake I now am very curious to see it and the bird refuge. I think I will find the trip much more interesting now than if I had gone before reading this book.

Suprising turn of events.......2006-03-02

Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist living in Utah who has the history of cancer in her family. Cancer in this novel is paralleled with the flooding of the neighboring Great Salt Lake. Overall this book goes to show that cancer goes deeper than the person who it is diagnosed to. I would suggest this book on limited circumstances: One-if you can get past the strong feminine presence and domination of this novel. Two-do not read the last 60 or so pages. I approved of this book up until that point. If the book ended at that point, leaving out the harassment of the government it would be ten times better. To anyone who is in the process of reading Refuge, you won't want to read past around page 230. Enough said.
My rating(first 230 or so pages): 7.5/10
My rating(after page 230 or so) 2.5/10

Disappointed.......2006-02-03

Although I found the passages about Ms. Williams relationships with her mother and grandmother and their struggles with cancer to be well-written and moving, I am surprised that she and many other reviewers imply that the cancers were the consequences of nuclear testing. I think of myself as an environmentalist, and I believe that such testing is likely to have been harmful to human health; however, the striking family history of breast and ovarian cancer in this case strongly suggests that there is a genetic disorder (mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene) that was responsible for the cancer in these women. I was living in Salt Lake City during the spring of 1983, and the flooding was indeed dramatic, but I was bored by the rather repetitious descriptions of the refuge and the birds.

The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815 (Studies in North American Indian History)

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Top five
A professional work
The Middle Ground and Victim Baiting
Breaking new ground
Influential beyond its scope

The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815 (Studies in North American Indian History)
Richard White
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521424607

Book Description

This book seeks to step outside the simple stories of Indian/white relations--stories of conquest and assimilation and stories of cultural persistence. It is, instead, about a search for accommodation and common meaning. It tells how Europeans and Indians met, regarding each other as alien, as virtually nonhuman, and how between 1650 and 1815 they constructed a common, mutually comprehensible world in the region around the Great Lakes that the French called the "Pays d'en haut". Here the older worlds of the Algonquins and various Europeans overlapped, and their mixture created new systems of meaning and of exchange. Finally, the book tells of the breakdown of accommodation and common meanings and the recreation of the Indians as alien and exotic. The process of accommodation described in this book takes place in a middle ground, a place in between cultures and peoples, and in between empires and non-state villages. On the middle ground people try to persuade others who are different than themselves by appealing to what they perceive to be the values and practices of those others. From the creative misunderstandings that result, there arise shared meanings and new practices.

Customer Reviews:

Top five.......2006-03-20

This belongs on any list of the five best books of American Indian history, or of North American colonial history. Richard White is brilliant. Read this book.

A professional work.......2006-02-04

Richard White managed to write a historical book that combines political, social, and cultural history with a wonderful writing style, which captures the readers' attention from the very beginning.

White indicated in the introduction of his book that he "seeks to step outside the simple stories of Indian/white relations- stories of conquest and assimilation and stories of cultural pesistence." The book is about a search of accommodation and common meaning, according to the author.

Richard White maintains that in the Middle ground of the Great Lakes, many different cultures met and accommodated their differences to be able to live together. This Middle ground of overlapping cultures and lifestyles brought mutual understanding, changes in all societies and influence on one another, not assimialtion. The big colonial wars, however, concludes White, led to sudden ruptures of accommodation and common meanings between Europeans and Indians.

The Middle Ground and Victim Baiting.......2005-09-15

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF RICHARD WHITE'S
THE MIDDLE GROUND

By Jeff Hendricks

Richard White. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Richard White's The Middle Ground is a detailed and extensive study of the inter-relationships between various European colonists and the Native American tribes they encountered in the Great Lakes reigon of the current United States from 1650 to 1815. The study traces the development of what Richard White argues was a "middle ground" of cultural accomodation that was created as a result of these encounters. The whole of White's book is dedicated to proving his "middle ground" argument.

At the beginning of White's study, he creates a category that lumps together the Native Americans of the Great Lakes region, known as the pays d'en haut, into a grouping that he refers to as the Algonquins. The Algonquins were an assortment of tribes from various areas surrounding the pays d'en haut who had been forced together into the region due to warfare in the east. White's study begins with descriptions of the brutal and murderous situation taking place in the pays d'en haut as the various factions of the Algonquins engaged in inter-village warfare amongst themselves, as well as war against the Iroquoi federation, which had been attacking the region from the east. In addition to these inter-tribal wars, the Algonquins living in the region were also forced to deal with the French colonists, who had begun to enter the pays d'en haut in order to profit from the fur trade. The entrance of the French traders into the region set in motion the events that would eventually lead to the formation of White's "middle ground."

White argues that the middle ground begins to form slowly, as the French colonists insert themselves into the day to day happenings of the pays d'en haut and work to achieve a position in the area that will allow them to carry on trade with the Algonquins. White shows how, in order to achieve a profitable trade situation, the French quickly realize that they need to bring the inter-tribal warfare to a hault - or at the least reduce it enough to permit trade to occur. In their attempts at building a trading realtionship with the Algonquins, the French realized that the Algonquins' social system differed greatly from their own. The French were products of a hierarchal society, and from that society they had been conditioned to see obedience and respect as things that were gained through force. When the French tried to impose their own notions of social order on the Algonquins, who lived in a collective based non-hierarchal society, they soon realized that they would have to accommodate and negotiate with the Algonquins to form a profitable trade relationship with them. Simply brutalizing the Algonquins into submission was not going to work. For the Algonquins, brutality did not breed submission - it bred resistance.

Another obstacle that the French encountered in their trade with the Algonquins was the differentiation between their respective economic systems. To put it simply, Algonquin economics were based on need, whereas French economics were based on excess accumulation and profit. The Algonquins were not accustomed to exploitative economic relations and thus resisted any type of trade that they did not view as meeting the needs of both parties involved. The French, on the other hand, could not understand an economic system based on mutual aid and cooperation. In order to push past this cultural/economic barrier to relations, the French had to create a system of trade that the Algonquins could view as a mutual exchange of gifts rather than a purely economic exchange of material for private profit.

The story of the formation of the "middle ground" was based on these and other mutual agreements and accomodations that were developed between the French and the Algonquins. To facilitate trade, the French singled out individuals from various factions of Algonquins to mold into trade emissaries, whom they referred to as "Cheifs." The French instituted a system in which they bestowed gifts to these Algonquin Cheifs, who in turn would distribute the gifts amongst their own village population. In time, these Algonquin Cheifs developed a degree of authority within their villages due to their distribution of goods, as well as their ability to communicate with the French. The European goods that the Cheifs distributed to members of their village soon became objects of status in the Algonquin world. As the Algonquins developed a want of these European goods, they began to spend some of their excess time hunting fur animals for the French which they could then trade in exhange for items such as rum, guns, knives, cloth, and various metalic utensils. Soon this system became cemented, enabling trade to take place in a somewhat peaceful manner.

Once the French had created Cheifs within the villages who could weild some degree of authority amongst their own people, they began to use their economic control of these Cheifs to press them to pacify the warriors of their respective villages. In this way, the French were able to help bring about the cessation of hostilities amongst many of the villages of the pays d'en haut. Soon, according to White, the various Algonquin peoples came to view their relation to the French as one of a child to its father. The French became the only people who could bring about an end to the bloody fighting amongst the various tribes that was occuring in the area. With this positon of negotiated power, the French were able to pacify the pays d'en haut long enough to build a profitable fur trade.

By 1701, the French had managed to help negotiate a peace between the Algonquins and the Iroquoi federation and thus had succeded in creating an atmosphere that would be favorable to their own economic exploitition of the region. A period of relatively peaceful French / Algonquin interaction existed on the "middle ground" for the next few decades as the French and Algonquins engaged in trading relations. However by the 1720s, the English had begun to inch in on French economic turf and by 1728 warfare had broken out between the English and the French/Algonquin alliance. Although White continues with his "middle ground" hypothesis throughout the remainder of his book, the war of 1728 was, in reality, the beginning of the decline of the "middle ground." Shortly after the French/Algonquin alliance succeded in driving back the British, the Algonquins broke apart into pro and anti French groupings. By the 1740s, many of the Algonquins had turned against their French-made village cheifs, who preached peace and conciliation, and joined a republic comprised of various Indian nations whose purpose was to disengage from the "middle ground" and regain their traditional pre-European lifestyles. As it became increasingly apparent to the Indian villagers that the the French and English were engaged in their own imperial struggle and were only really interested in using the villages as pawns towards their own ends, the middle ground laid down on its death bed.

From this point on, many tribes, including the Iroquoi, developed an understanding of the true imperial nature of both the French and the English and refused to fight on either side. Those tribes/villages who did decide to continue to fight on the side of the French in the Seven Years War (1754-1761) were doing so only as a part of their own strategy to rid the pays d'en haut of all European invaders - once the English had been driven out, the tribes had planned to turn on the French and drive them out as well. Although there were still short lived re-births of "middle ground" relations between the Algonquins and the French, these were not the norm. Concerning the English, there was almost never any middle ground of cultural accomodation between themselves and the Algonquins. After the defeat of French in the Seven Years War, the British occupied French positions in the pays d'en haut (in violation of a promise not to) and as White himself states, "[the British] vision of the pays d'en haut was a simple one: the British were conquerors; the Indians were subjects. It was a view that abolished the middle ground." The problem for the British was the fact that the Algonquins had never actually been conquered - they still retained village cohesion and the ability to resist British incursions with force. As the Algonquins began to resist the British with force, the British cynically tried to bring back a policy of cultural accomodation with the Algonquins in order to normalize trade relations. This transparent attempt to become "fathers" to the Algonquins was quickly scrapped in the face of Algonquin resistance to what they came to realize were British attempts to occupy their lands. By the 1760s, open warfare had once again broken out amongst the Algonquins and against the British. This pattern of short lived peace followed by rebellion and war became the norm in the pays d'en haut for the remainder of White's study, as the various factions of Europeans encroached upon Algonquin lands. By the early 19th century, at the conclusion of the book, the French traders and English traders had, for the most part, been replaced by American frontier squatters who, along with the implicit and explicit support of Washington, embarked on a campaign of removal and extermination.

Thus, a major flaw with White's analysis is the fact that the "middle ground" of cultural accomodation, which White describes throughout the book as being of central importance to the relations between the tribes of the pays d'en haut and the European invaders, was in fact already dead before White had even progressed halfway through his study. Although White's descriptions of the various ways that the French and English developed methods to facilitate cultural understanding with the Algonquins were interesting and insightfull, it really should not have been the central theme around which the book was written. The over-the-top focus on the "middle ground" argument found throughout White's book also leads one to question what political effect White had intended his study to have on the previous and current historiography on the subject.

White's book has been described by many historians and reviewers as a refreshing and intelligent attempt to tell the story of Native Americans in a way that it has never been told before. Colin G. Calloway, upon reviewing, The Middle Ground, stated that he believed it to be a success because it altered from the established norm: "most studies of Indian-White relations [are] too simplistic in their story of conquest and assimilation or of cultural persistence in the face of tremendous odds." This speaks to what seems to be an attempt by White to frame his study as the real story - a story that attempts to avoid taking sides, either by resorting to romanticization of the Algonquins or slander of the Europeans. However, the overall attempt at fairness and objectivity with which White seems to cloak his study in seems transparent at many points.

A major symptom of this problem lies with White's research materials and his interpretation of them. White's study relies very heavily on documentation produced by the colonizers themselves. This reliance may be a result of objective circumstance, as the Algonquins did not leave written documentation of their own activities, however when one is forced to rely on one-sided documentation to make a historical argument, it should be common sense to understand that documents cannot always be accepted as factual interpretations of past events. White runs into deep trouble when he incorporates, sometimes word for word, the writings of those Europeans whose economic and religious intrests rested with the demonization and slander of native populations.

In the case of European/Native American interactions, historians such as David Stannard in his book American Holocaust, have shown that many of the European accounts of interaction with Native Americans were deliberate exaggerations, if not outright fabrications. Stannard has shown that it was common for European Army officers or Priests to exaggerate accounts concerning violence, spirituality, and sexuality in order to justify to themselves and their superiors that their conquests and conversions were of necessity. Continually throughout his book, White relays descriptions from military officers and priests that portrayed the Algonquins as savage, brutal, cannibalistic, drunken savages. Attacks committed by Algonquins against Europeans are continually described in bloody detail while European attacks against Alqonquins are most often only stated as dry numerical fact.

There are other problamatic factors with White's choice of event descriptions in his study. Granted, no historian can include everything in one historical study, White makes a few profound ommissions of historical occurances that would have had great impact on the overall cause and effect cycle of his study. As was stated earlier, White begins his study in the midst of a brutal war beging waged against the Algonquin refugees by the Iroquoi federation. White takes great time reprinting the descriptions of this warfare written by French colonists such as Allouez and Priests such as Nicolas Perrott. Page after page, White allows descriptions of extreme, bloody and canibalistic brutality being waged by the Iroquoi Federation against the Algonquins to enter his narritive without so much as a single remark about the possibility of exaggeration on the part of the colonizers. The worst offense of these opening pages is the fact that White fails to even mention at all the fact that the Iroquoi were only in the pays d'en haut because they had been pushed west into Algonquin lands by the British.

White's opening pages paint a picture of the Iroquoi as brutal imperialistic invaders out to steal land and kill off animals for profit - White calls the Iroquoi Federation "an engine of destruction." All of this in the first few pages really begs the obvious question: what then were the Europeans? White shows his carelessness, or possibly his sympathy for European conquest, when he continually describes effects without refrence to their origin. Why were the Iroquoi fighting with the Algonquins? Why had Indian on Indian violence become endemic within the pays d'en haut region? Why were Native American village structures falling apart? Why was there rampant alcohol abuse? Why did some of the Native Americans succumb to killing animals for profit? White is only providing the symptoms while ignoring the root of the problem.

The debate over victimization and agency is one that is needed and correct for historians to involve themselves in and this debate is especially important when writing histories that deal with the European invasion of the Americas. However, White's The Middle Ground has vastly over-emphasized the agency at the expense of the tragic victimization of the Native American peoples of the pays d'en haut. White and his supporters are correct in appluading the fact that White's work has moved away from a Turnerian paradigm in which the Native Americans were marginal and inconsequential barriers to progress which were quickly overrun by Manifest Destiny. To its credit, White's book is an execellent resource for researchers, and his extensive documentation of dates, places and names makes his book important as an encyclopedic refrence. However, the analysis and arguments contained within The Middle Ground cannot lead to a realistic interpretation of how the events of the pays d'en haut actually played out.

Native American historians such as David Stannard, Ward Churchill, and others of the victimization with agency school, come much closer to a realistic portrayal of what the cirumstances were when it came to the interactions between the European invaders and Native American Tribes. Their success stems from the fact that they make a concerted effort to get at the Native American perspective on the colonization of the Americas wheras White makes absolutley none.

Although in many ways White's book moves away from the classic Turnerian framework, it remains fully within it in at the same time. White fails to move away from basing his analysis on primary sources written by the colonists themselves and in doing so he has produced yet another one-sided account, in line with the Turnerian framework. White's book may not be Eurocentric, as it does involve the Algonquins as central players in the narrative, but it still remains entrenched in European bias and, because of this, it fails in its attempts to make a legitimate argument or to provide a realistic view of the actual events that occurred in the pays d'en haut from 1650-1812.

Jeff Hendricks
www.tiamatpublications.com

Breaking new ground.......2005-02-03

Richard White should be awfully proud of himself. Using a close examination of a particular time in a particular place, he manages to open one's eyes to an entirely new way of thinking about the long term dynamics of human interaction that we call "history". Works like these are the fruit of all the painstaking hard work that American historians have been contributing over the last one or two generations. The studies of gender, environment, disease and race might seem like annoying "political correctness" to the close-minded, but when divorced from ideological polemics (pro or con) they have proven to be goldmines of fresh perspective. This book is an elegant example of what can be achieved when the primary evidence is reassessed in the light of this new spirit of inquiry.

Amply supported by a wide selection of primary sources, White plunges into a detailed dissection of the course of history in what the French called the "Pays d'en haut"--the roughly triangular territory bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Great Lakes--from the establishment of French hegemony to the defeat of Tecumseh at the hands of the United States. Characters, landscape and events are vividly drawn, but underlying it all is White's astonishing theoretical angle: that the various participants--traders, chiefs, colonial officials, missionaries, prophets, warriors and women--were forced to continually construct the rules of a common game that their respective cultures and traditions were inadequate to navigate by themselves. Of course, neither Europeans or natives discarded their cultural baggage wholesale--rather, they raided each other's ideologies and practices for tools they could use for their own purposes, refashioning them into novel combinations and thus a new "culture". Under White's sharp lens, activities and categories which might seem unambiguous--"murder", "trade", "prostitute", "father", "metal tool"--are shown to actually be embedded in a kaleidoscopically shifting galaxy of symbols, mutually forged, mutually apprehended (and misapprehended) by the resourceful women and men of the "middle ground". White carefully traces the strategies of exploitation and survival mediated by French, Algonquin, British and Iroquois participation in this new world--scenes of sickening brutality, unexpected mercy and clever dealing merge with those of day-to-day business and coexistence in a vast mural that rings as true as any history I've yet encountered. I am eager to see how this brand of method and insight will be employed in other histories.

Influential beyond its scope.......1999-08-20

Anyone who has attended an academic history conference in the last five or so years already realizes the impact that this densely-written, but provocatively argued book by an historian of the American west has had on the study of American history. For both good and ill, White's central thesis -- that Indians and Europeans in the Great Lakes region created together and sustained an elaborate system of cultural and political contact that endured for centuries based not on mutual understandings, but mutual MISunderstandings, often deliberate ones -- has come to set the tone for the most recent studies of cultural encounter and creolization in the New World. Indeed, White's "middle ground" bids fair to assume the blanket hegemony exercised over the American historical imagination a decade or more back by the idea of "republicanism." And, not without cause: White's book is in many respects a stupendous achievement -- exhaustively researched, laser-subtle analyses, and ambitious in scope. What weakens the book is White's tendency to often assert the existence of a so-called cultural "middle ground" between Indians and others in advance of the evidence he presents. The "middle ground" is too often presented as a given, one that can act as the explanation, rather than as the hypothetical that it actually is, the actual subject that should be under investigation. This said, the influence of this book will be felt for years to come.

A Year in Paradise : How We Lived Our Dream

Average customer rating:

An Enjoyable Book
A quick year
Captures the Essence
Informative, unpretentious, and entertaining.
Fun to read

A Year in Paradise : How We Lived Our Dream
Stephen Wright Watterson
Manufacturer: Eagle Cliff Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Boating | Water Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0970616708

Book Description

What is it like to cut loose and sail away for a year?

How do you really do it?

Join them in their Adventure!

Taking their cat along as a referee, Steve and Margaret Watterson spent a year on their 30-foot sailboat traveling from Cleveland, Ohio to the Florida Keys and back. In this book, they describe their experience--the good times and the bad--in order to share it with those who dream of some day cutting off the phone, canceling the paper, and locking the door behind them.

If you have ever wondered how to actually do this, you will enjoy this book. The Wattersons tell how much they spent, how they handled mail, and what charts and cruising guides they used. They cover insurance, how to prepare a boat for this kind of trip, and much more.

Customer Reviews:

An Enjoyable Book.......2005-12-07

This is an amusing and enjoyable book. My husband and I are planning to cruise down the Intracoastal Waterway, and I found this book to be full of useful information about the Erie Canal and the Waterway, and about living aboard a 30-foot boat for a year while cruising south. The book puts you there just as if you were actually having the experience. I highly recommend it to anyone who dreams of such a trip.

A quick year.......2004-02-17

The book gives a quick overview of a long journey. It's an easy read, but the details are thin for anyone looking to make this journey. "Honey, Let's Get A Boat" provides better information and detail than "Our Year". Most of the pictures and maps appear to be borrowed from cruising guides. It does give some highlights, that are extracted from newsletters the author wrote - which is the impression I got while reading it - a compendium of personal newsletters to friends, rather than for someone looking to make this journey.

Captures the Essence.......2004-02-15

What I like about this book is that it captures the real sights and smells of traveling the Atlantic Intracoastal. I believe that this must be what it's really like to live on a 30-foot boat for a year cruising up and down the East coast of the US. The author's descriptions put you right in the picture, and his sense of humor will make you chuckle. There is also a lot of useful information in this book. Anyone who dreams of doing anything like this some day will get a lot of enjoyment from this book.

Informative, unpretentious, and entertaining........2004-02-15

I was captivated by this story of a 60-something couple taking the voyage of HIS dreams. While their particular trip in itself was not extraordinary --- many boaters do this --- the author's wry and self-deprecating sense of humor makes this account of their adventure an outstanding read. It is also chock full of very useful information, but primarily it is just a good book to curl up with when you feel like escaping to an achievable dream.

Fun to read.......2004-02-12

I found this book to be entertaining and fun to read. It details the author's boat cruise down the Intracoastal Waterway from start to finish, including all the planning involved. It is a "we did it, so can you!" book. But mainly, it is just an easy to read story, and the author's personal take on events is amusing. Buy it, you'll like it!

The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

Average customer rating:

Searching for the stoic Indian
Native Americans Live in a Universe
Excellent synopsis of the shamanic practices of the Ojibwe.

The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians (Civilization of the American Indian Series)
John A. Grim
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Shamanism | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Native Healing | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Accessories:

ASIN: 0806121068

Customer Reviews:

Searching for the stoic Indian.......2007-03-29

I compliment the author for the amount of work put into this book and the attempt to represent shamanism. However, it is rather patronizing in its presentation.

Native Americans Live in a Universe.......2003-02-04

Thourough account of shamanism in the Ojibwe society, but applicable to the phenomenon as a whole. A great researcher, Mr. Grim provides perspectives from other areas of the world such as Siberia to exhibit similarities of human experience both in the shamanic realm and in the human psyche.

Excellent synopsis of the shamanic practices of the Ojibwe........1999-04-26

The author wisely places the practices of shamanism within the cultural context. At no point does the author make the mistake of reducing the shamanic practices to deities and such but correctly emphasizes the "forces" and movements of nature of which the shaman is an "expression." Excellent read for anyone generally interested in shamanism or specifically in the Ojibwe practices of the Mide society.

Fly Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead of the Great Lakes

Average customer rating:

It's all in the details
FLY FISHING FOR SALMON & STEELHEAD OF THE GREAT LAKES
Not what I wanted
How to catch more Great Lakes trout and salmon
Hooked on Steelhead

Fly Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead of the Great Lakes
Kenn Filkins
Manufacturer: Wilderness Adventure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0923568425

Book Description

Finally, a book that shares the whole truth on Great Lakes fly fishing techniques with refreshing honesty.

Fly Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead of the Great Lakes is the first book to present a complete panorama of fly fishing strategies for locating, hooking, and landing the migrant salmon and steelhead of the Great Lakes tributaries.

This comprehensive, entertaining guide casts light on opportunities and techniques for the fly fishermen lured to rivers in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, New York, and Ohio. Fly Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead shares insightful stories and comments from many experienced fly fishing guides. It is the first book to cover the non-traditional-but tremendously successful-Great Lakes fly fishing techniques. Each chapter contains charts, photographs, and anecdotes to clarify the methods described.

Customer Reviews:

It's all in the details.......2006-03-22

I picked up this book to learn the techniques of Chuck-n-Duck fishing. It explains the rigging, structure, casting, etc... It's a great help to get started, but it doesn't make up for time on the water.

It covers Great Lakes steelhead and salmon fishing and not the NW. There's a big difference between the two mindsets and techniques.

I would definately buy it again.
Tight lines.

FLY FISHING FOR SALMON & STEELHEAD OF THE GREAT LAKES.......2006-02-24

Superb book. While this book does not have the nice glossy pictures that Steelhead Dreams does, its content is much better in my opinion. I especially liked the fact that Filkins presents all fly fishing methods applicable to Great Lakes salmonoid fishing without prejudice. He covers a wide swath of Great Lakes streams and I learned a great deal about some of the variations that exist in the fishery. A must read for the Great Lakes salmon & steelhead fisherman.

Not what I wanted.......2003-07-15

This seemed like a mediocre reference to me. I returned it a day after recieving it in the mail. Perhaps it is more appropriate for the more eastern Great Lakes. Minnesota streams were mentioned on only two pages.

How to catch more Great Lakes trout and salmon.......2002-12-08

Very informative book on fly fishing for salmon and trout in the Great Lakes and why and how it is different from salmon fishing in the northwest. Full of useful information and innovative techniques. If you want to catch more salmon or steelhead in the Great Lakes' tributaries, this is must reading. For more info on Great Lakes slamon fishing go to www.TimesFlyN.com.

Hooked on Steelhead.......2000-06-23

I bought this book to improve my luck on the St. Joe River. I loved it , cover to cover. Flies for the fish, not for display or to store in another flybox. This is a guide to practical, easily tied fish getters and how to present them. I felt included as I read about the rivers I have fished here in the midwest. The author gives a clear, common sense explanation covering tackle from rods to tippets. I enjoyed his stories which put me back on streams I had fished long ago. I'm hooked!

Michigan Trees: A Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region (Biological Science Series)

Average customer rating:

A great book that just fell short of extraordinary
best tree field guide for the upper midwest

Michigan Trees: A Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region (Biological Science Series)
Burton V. Barnes , and Warren H. Wagner
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Shrubs | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Trees | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0472080180

Book Description

A fully illustrated learning guide; a favorite of backpackers, hikers, and naturalists.

Customer Reviews:

A great book that just fell short of extraordinary.......2002-10-22

Definitely worth the price and the book does its job of helping you identify tree species of Michigan. Offers additional in-depth information about the anatomy of leaves, twig cross-sections, fruit, wood characteristics and uses. Most of which is more than average readers will probably want to know, but is interesting reading none-the-less. All I wanted was a reference to ID the trees on my property.

I was pleasantly surprised that the book also includes information on vines and shrubs, but was quickly disappointed when I discovered that this section offered no illustrations or pictures of either - only text descriptions.

Contrary to the front cover, the book has no photographs! Another bummer. All species are represented by illustrations only, but at least I can honestly say the drawings seem extremely accurate and have great detail.

My four-star rating is also due to the incomplete shrub and vine sections. I realize that this is a "tree" book and that adding such information is a plus, but the writer(s) should have stayed consistent and included illustrations for these as well. Trying to identify features by descriptions only is tedious and really seems to take away the joy of the whole adventure. Too bad, it would have been the "icing on the cake".

I recommend buying this book as a main reference and suggest finding supplement information via the web. There are endless sites that offer much of the same information for free, but carrying this book into the woods would certainly be more convenient than lugging a stack of print outs.

best tree field guide for the upper midwest.......1999-10-13

If you need to help your kid with the perennial leaf collection or if you just want a handy field guide for trees, I have found none better than Michigan Trees. I own a well worn copy of the 1978 edition and it is so popular among friends I am ordering another to loan out.

Mobil Travel Guide: Northern Great Lakes 2007 (Mobil Travel Guide Northern Great Lakes (Mi, Mn, Wi))

Average customer rating:

Mobil Travel Guides not as complete as they used to be

Mobil Travel Guide: Northern Great Lakes 2007 (Mobil Travel Guide Northern Great Lakes (Mi, Mn, Wi))
Mobil Travel Guide
Manufacturer: Mobil Travel Guide
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0762742615

Book Description

Take the Mobil Travel Guide with you when you travel through the Northern Great Lakes to give you recommendations on where to stay and eat, as well as the many attractions such as the Dinosaur Gardens Prehisotrical Zoo in Alpena, Michigan; the North Shore Scenic Railroad in Duluth, Minnesota; and the Cedar Creek Settlement and Winery in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Michigan abounds with water activities, as it touches four of the five Great Lakes in cities including South Haven, Ludington, Traverse City, Alpena, and Detroit. Minnesota is a lake land too, boasting more than 4,000 square miles of water and one recreational boat for every six people in the state. It also has the first-class metropolitan Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Regional Travel Planner: Northern Great Lakes also includes chapters on seven of the distinctive American Byways™ in the region: Woodward Avenue, Edge of the Wilderness, The Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, The Great River Road, Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway, Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway, and North Shore Scenic Drive.

The Regional Travel Planner: Northern Great Lakes covers Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It also includes Side Trips to Sault Ste. Marie, ON; Toronto, ON; Windsor, ON; Winnipeg, MB; and Chicago, IL.

The Mobil Travel Guide Regional Travel Planner series (17 titles) gives you a driver's-eye view of trips throughout the United States and Canada. Pick up essential facts, fun trivia, must-do events, and driving details in the introduction to each state or province, then flip through the book to find annually updated attractions, hotels, and restaurants that fit your itinerary and your budget. Organized alphabetically by state/province, or by city when applicable, the guides make it easy to find just what you need.

Customer Reviews:

Mobil Travel Guides not as complete as they used to be.......2007-05-19

It had useful information, but some years ago the Guides were much more complete. If I had looked at one in a store, I probably would not have bought it.

Mobil Travel Guide: Southern Great Lakes 2007 (Mobil Travel Guide Southern Great Lakes (Il, in, Oh))

Average customer rating:

Mobil Travel Guide: Southern Great Lakes 2007 (Mobil Travel Guide Southern Great Lakes (Il, in, Oh))
Mobil Travel Guide
Manufacturer: Mobil Travel Guide
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0762742666

Book Description

From the bright lights and busy lakefront of Chicago to the rolling hills of southern Indiana to the prehistoric ruins of Ohio, the states that comprise the Mobil Travel Guide Southern Great Lakes offer a variety of fascinating and fun experiences. At the southern edge of Illinois, the flat farmlands end and the vast woodlands of the Shawnee National Forest begin. Mobil tells people where to stay nearby. You'll also find out about Illinois's growing wine-making industry and where to track the roots of Abraham Lincoln. In Indiana, your travels may take you to college towns, NASCAR tracks, the Indiana Dunes State Park, a summer resort, and much more. Ohio boasts several universities, with plenty of lodging and restaurant recommendations for parents' weekends and graduations. You'll also discover the many family fun destinations in Cincinnatti and Columbus. The guidebook also includes chapters on the America's Byways™ that traverse the states: The Great River Road, The Historic National Road, Lincoln Highway, Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route, Ohio River Scenic Byway, Amish Country Byway, and CanalWay Ohio Scenic Byway.

The Regional Travel Planner: Southern Great Lakes covers Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. It also includes Side Trips to St. Louis, MO; Louisville, KY; Mammoth Cave National Park, KY; and Pittsburgh, PA

The Mobil Travel Guide Regional Travel Planner series (17 titles) gives you a driver's-eye view of trips throughout the United States and Canada. Pick up essential facts, fun trivia, must-do events, and driving details in the introduction to each state or province, then flip through the book to find annually updated attractions, hotels, and restaurants that fit your itinerary and your budget. Organized alphabetically by state/province, or by city when applicable, the guides make it easy to find just what you need.

Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes

Average customer rating:

Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes

Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes
Norman Foster Smith
Manufacturer: Thunder Bay Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1882376080

Product Description

Of Michigan's great wealth of natural resources, few have been more important in the past or are more highly valued today than our forests and the trees which compose them. Not only are they a continuous source of raw materials for industry and agriculture but they affect the climate, water resources, and soil, purify our air, furnish food and shelter for wildlife and are indispensable to our vast recreational and scenic areas. They form a basic part of our diverse natural environment - our ""biodiversity."" Their protection and management are vital to the state's wellbeing. Industries which depend upon trees for their existence are major employers and rank high in the state's economy. The annual production and manufacture of forest products is measured in billions of dollars. The recreation ""industry,"" including vacation travel, resorts, food, lodging, hunting, fishing, and camping, is likewise a multi-billion dollar a year business. Equally important is the intangible wealth which trees bring to us through sheer enjoyment of beauty and love of nature. Whether in field, fencerow, woodlot or forest, or along highways, rural roads, urban streets, or greenbelts, this bounty is ours for the taking. We have only to picture ourselves without trees to appreciate this value.

Customer Reviews:

Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes.......2000-06-25

This book is excellent for learning more about specific trees of the Great Lakes Region. It goes into much more detail than any field guide will ever tell you. The book spends 2 pages per tree, detailing the life history characteristics and typical habitats that the trees will be found in. I particularly like the fact that for each tree you can see a photo of the entire tree, as well as close ups of the bark and leaves (sometimes fruit too). The book provides satisfactory descriptions for identifying trees; however, does not provide any way to "key out" trees, so you must have some idea what you are looking at before you refer to the book. As a student in Ecology, I have found this book ten times more valuable than the price; however, I found that I needed an additional field guide to key out unknown trees in the field.

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