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.

Average customer rating:

One dark little novel....
Snapshot of Life in Budapest
waste of time
tedious and awful
Tedious and self-indulgent

Prague: A Novel
Arthur Phillips
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375759778
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Amazon.com

In Prague, Arthur Phillips's sparkling, Kundera-flavored debut, five young Americans converge in Budapest in the early 1990s. Most are there by chance, like businessman Charles Gabor, whose parents were Hungarian. But one of them, John Price, has the more novelistic motivation of lost love. He is following his older brother, Scott, intent on achieving an intimacy that Scott, a language teacher and health enthusiast, is just as intently trying to escape. The romantic hero of this unsentimental novel, John Price lives like an expatriate of the 1920s. He longs for experience (and more or less stumbles into a writing job for an English language paper), but even more so for the great, obliterating love that takes the form of the perky assistant Emily Oliver. Mark Payton, a scholar of nostalgia whose insights are touched with mysticism, seems often to speak for the author, even in his barely repressed desire for John Price. For who would not love the good and unaffected, in the confusion, opportunism, and irony that characterize fin-de-siècle Europe? Phillips's five seekers are like mirrors that reflect Budapest at different angles, and that imperfectly--but wonderfully--point toward the unattainable city: the glittering, distant Prague. --Regina Marler

Book Description

A novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making.

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A first novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune -- financial, romantic, and spiritual -- in an exotic city newly opened to the West. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague, where the atmospheric decay of post-Cold War Europe is even more cinematically perfect, have it better. Still, they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making. What they actually find is a deceptively beautiful place that they often fail to understand.

What does it mean to fret about your fledgling career when the man across the table was tortured by two different regimes? How does your short, uneventful life compare to the lives of those who actually resisted, fought, and died? What does your angst mean in a city still pocked with bullet holes from war and crushed rebellion?

Journalist John Price finds these questions impossible to answer yet impossible to avoid, though he tries to forget them in the din of Budapest's nightclubs, in a romance with a secretive young diplomat, at the table of an elderly cocktail pianist, and in the moody company of a young man obsessed with nostalgia. Arriving in Budapest one spring day to pursue his elusive brother, John finds himself pursuing something else entirely, something he can't quite put a name to, something that will draw him into stories much larger than himself.

With humor, intelligence, masterly prose, and profound affection for both Budapest and his own characters, Arthur Phillips not only captures his contemporaries but also brilliantly renders the Hungary of past and present: the generations of failed revolutionaries and lyric poets, opportunists and profiteers, heroes and storytellers.

"Dazzling... brilliant... the most memorable fiction debut of the year."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

"Arthur Phillips's bold and ambitious novel, Prague, is one of those rare books that help define and identify a whole generation, in the same way that Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises introduced his lost generation."
   PAT CONROY, AUTHOR OF THE PRINCE OF TIDES

"In Prague, Arthur Phillips spins the Jazz Age novel. His expatriate Americans have settled in Budapest rather than Paris, and instead of champagne and ragtime, they outfit themselves with Gauloises, paprika-dusted sandwiches, punk rock, and post-Cold War irony. But their passion -- to know America and to shrug it off -- is timelessly literary. A hip-hop remix of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, a meditation on a generation, a polemic, a love story, a new branch of sociology, Prague tries to do it all and succeeds."
   PAGAN KENNEDY, AUTHOR OF BLACK LIVINGSTONE

"An intricate and wordly-wise novel, with sly and acute perceptions on every page, Prague sets itself the challenge of extending the tradition of brainy Central European fiction from an American perspective, and succeeds handily."
   PHILLIP LOPATE, AUTHOR OF PORTRAIT OF MY BODY

"Phillips's exhilarating exploration of time, memory, and nostalgia brings to mind such giants as Proust and Joyce."
   LIBRARY JOURNAL

Customer Reviews:

One dark little novel...........2007-07-29

I actually enjoyed Prague but I would've liked it a lot more if it hadn't been hyped as a light-hearted romp through expatriate life. You can't blame the author for that but believe me, this is a pretty dark book. Really, from what happens to the characters, you'd have to think that living in Budapest was about as psychologically damaging as serving in Vietnam.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a black comedy, you could do worse. I liked Phillips' writing (I found it leisurely, you might find it glacial) and as a American living abroad, I found his insights spot on. Sometimes, you just can't change yourself by changing the scenery. And really, while the Lost Generation were legendary boozers, isn't there a bit more to expat life than endless drinking games?

Anyway, I thought it was pretty good book. Just be warned it's a bit different from how it's been sold.

Snapshot of Life in Budapest.......2007-07-01

Writing a novel about ex-pat life in a foreign country offers 2 choices: a story that shows the city and lifestyle to outsides (usually written by casual visitors who just need a setting for their story), or a novel about real life with real people and events, for other ex-pats of the country. Despite Arthur Phillips' protestations to the contrary in the afterward (paperback edition), Prague clearly falls into the second category, starting with the title.

"Prague" is an insider joke for residents of Budapest during the time, the city where things were really happening, the place where they all wanted to be, but weren't. But this is only hinted at in the story itself, is generally inconsequential to the plot, and unless you've lived in the area, it will not be obvious, leaving the title incomprehensible and misleading. Had the novel been written for non-expats it would have had a title that encompassed life in Budapest (for example, Coffee at the Gerbeaud, or Chain Link Bridge), or least generalized to Eastern Europe.

What starts in the title flows through the rest of the novel - inside jokes to a small group of expats during a particular period that fail to resonate with non-residents.

The novel also can't quite decide whether it is about a story or a character, and if a character, which one. It jumps around between characters before deciding to focus on John Price. Unfortunately, John is only somewhat sympathetic as a character. He pines for Emily, but has a relationship Nicky, and casually cheats on her. He's a journalist for the local English lanugauage daily, but plants stories to help his friends win business deals for which he gets a kickback.

Nor is there a particular plot that gets followed through the novel, though most of the action revolves around a privitization deal and John's pining for Emily.

So what we end up with is a description of a year or so of life in Budapest during the early 1990s from the point of view of 5 American/Canadian somewhat-friends. The time and place are interesting, and the book does an excellent job conveying what it was like to be there at that special time in history by people who frequently remarked at how special a time in history it was. The prose is decent, but not particularly artful and frequently long-winded. I found myself frequently skimming the text, especially as I grew closer to the end.

Phillips is clearly talented, but inexperienced. It is obvious that the story was made up as he went along, with the only goal of describing what it was like to be at that time and place. It could have used another draft to tighten up the plot, and editing to cut it down by 25%.

So here's my recommendation - if you want to experience life in Budapest in 1990, and don't mind feeling like an outsider and missing all the insider jokes and ironies, this is a very good introduction. Much better than reading a travel guide. As a novel, it's not bad, but not great, either.

waste of time.......2007-05-01

It took me a year to read this book and I am 50 pages shy of finishing it and still not understand why it's called Prague when the action is in Budapest. At times it was the description of the city (Budapest) that kept me turning the pages, especially that I visited Prague and Budapest long time ago and the book brought back nice memories. Other than this and occasional wonderful and witty phrases, the action gets boring, the characters got mixed up in my head (especially after pauses in reading), everything is so lax....

tedious and awful.......2007-01-31

i hated reading this book:

(1) the language is pretentiouly self conscious and awkward, in short it is poorly written.

(2)the characters are unidimensional caricatures and uninteresting.

(3)it really has no insights or anything interesting to say

do not waste your time or money

Tedious and self-indulgent.......2006-09-21

First I should say that this book makes a decent backdrop if you're spending some time in Budapest - the descriptions of the city and its people are sharp, witty and perhaps even accurate. Soon enough, you'll start recognizing not only the famous sights, but will start seeing the book's characters in the inhabitants.

Alas, altough the book gets off to a good start, and you develop a faint interest in its characters, it gets tedious, self-indulgent, and just boring. There's a wonderful page-turner of a history chapter in the middle, but it's all downhill from there. By the end, I lost interest in all of the characters, their endless rondezvous, contrived conversations, silly dealings... I lost my suspension in disbelief and just wanted the book to end. It should have ended about 100 pages sooner. But I persisted until the end, with little reward.

Arthur Phillips is clearly a talented writer, but this book seems somewhat immature, forced, and conceited. And I hope the editing is more aggressive next time around.

And really, I wanted to like the book. I really tried... But I can't really recommend it beyond the first half.

The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague

Average customer rating:

An inside account of the revolutions of '89
Solid read from an insider's perspective
Very Informative
Before the Fall:
A wonderful book

The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague
Timothy Garton Ash
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679740481
Release Date: 1993-08-31

Customer Reviews:

An inside account of the revolutions of '89.......2007-01-06

An often eye-witness account of the democratic revolutions of 1989 in Poland, Hungary, East Germany and Czechoslovakia.

The writing is a little uneven but it provides an excellent inside account of exceptional historic events. Ash left me with a very strong sense of the contingent and uncertain nature of the revolutions. Miscommunications, errors, spur-of-the-moment statements, all combined to move events forward much, much more quickly than any of the participants expected.

Yet these succeeded in being peaceful revolutions, driven by a deliberate choice by their leaders to take and hold the moral high ground. There was a corresponding inner collapse by the existing authorities, who really had nothing to which they themselves were committed or could fight to defend.

I found this an inspiring tonic after reading Richard Evans' grim "The Third Reich in Power". Ash has left me feeling much more optimistic about human nature!

Solid read from an insider's perspective.......2006-08-01

A good snapshot of the mood during 1989 and how events in the four featured countries were connected. Also, thoughtful insights as to how to view this book, especially this edition, which is re-printed many years later. Ash's theory as to what, if any, learnings are to come out of how each government went about their transformation is especially relevant given the status of those same governments today. Not always the easiest read, nor the best on the subject, but a good companion for further investigations.

Very Informative.......2006-05-20

It was a very informative book, especially considering the author could write it from the point of view that he did. The only major downside, which I will point out is a downside on my part and not his, is that I sometimes would get a little confused when he mentioned too many foreign names.
Nonetheless, it was an excellently written book.

Before the Fall:.......2006-05-08

Eberhart - 1

Before the Fall:

A critical analysis of The Magic Lantern a book by Timothy Garton Ash

By: David C. Eberhart II

The Magic Lantern is a based on the events leading up to the fall of the soviet empire as

experienced from a first hand point of view. The title of the book is taken from a theater in Prague

called "the magic Lantern". This was where the reformers and revolutionaries came together to rid

themselves of the communist regime and to start anew. This is a common theme in this book. That

theme being one n which the reformers and the revolutionists work together with the communists of

old to recreate the old soviet satellite countries. According to Ash this "refolution" (p.14) worked

very well since the powers that be wanted to reform the system from above and the lay people wanted

to reform the system from below. As such changes of power were expected and reform was

implemented. However in each case; Hungary, Prague, Warsaw, and East Germany the unexpected

often cropped up. But the people and the communists worked together to over come these issues. In

effect this refolution and compromise brought about the end of the communist empire and ushered in

a new dawn of free market capitalism.

The book is divided into seven easily read chapters. But the meat and potatoes of the book is

written in the four chapters devoted to the Eastern European states held by the dominant soviet

oppressors. The language is often harsh but one must realize that this book was written shortly after

the communists were removed from power. The old hatreds are still fresh and this hatred is subtly

woven into the chapters. This is done by blaming the communists for most of the problems with the

economy, the stifling of innovation, and the backwardness of these areas. The most obvious of these

references is in the chapter on Berlin. Wall sickness (P. 65) was the name given to the general

malaise of the east Berliners. The fact that they were walled in depressed them and reduced the

Eberhart - 2

people to shadows. Once the wall is removed the people are instantly transformed into glorious

people.

The transformation of an oppressed and tired people into a glorious and productive people is

another common thread in the book. As if by magic the problems of the people disappear when the

communists are no longer in power. This is an odd facet of the book. Since the book also states that

the communists were always in power, even when they were not officially in power. The people may

have voted the communists out but the communists often controlled the military, the police, and the

economy. As such the reformers, the revolutionaries, and the communist party had to swallow their

pride, make compromises, and work together.

It was the right time to do this. Communist Russia was falling apart. Relations between Russia

and the U.S.A. had grown friendly and the Russians could not afford to toe the hard line between it's

satellite nations and mother Russia. So dialogue and compromise was often used to smooth the way

between the satellites and Russia. But this meant that Russia gave up it's last ace in the whole. That

being the truth. Instead of covering up and hiding the truth, the communists came clean. This mean

that when the communists lost the first free election in Warsaw they did not try and cover it up.

Instead they admitted defeat, validated the new government, and tried to work things out to the best

of everyone's ability. This might not seam so shocking today but in the later part of the 1980's any

compromise with the Communists was unthinkable. Especially when it was the Communists who

helped make the first moves towards openness.

To complicate matters as Russia and the Soviet Empire was evolving China was on the offensive.

When student demonstrators protested the Communists in Tiananmen Square the Chinese

Communist Party reacted with violence. Tanks, tear gas, bullets, and the combined might of the

Chinese army ruthlessly crushed this act of defiance. This was terrifying. For the most part the

Eberhart - 3

Chinese were viewed as the lesser of the two communists evils. Between Russia and the Chinese the

Chinese were viewed as the nice guys. If China was this desperate and ruthless in keeping control of

her empire then the question remained. Would Russia react in the same manner? OR would it be

worse? No one thought that Russia and the Soviet Empire would use dialogue and peaceful means to

restore order among the Soviet Union.

Instead of controlled markets the people wanted free markets. The Soviet Union was fragmenting

and instead of giving up power completely the party decided to work with the leaders of the

revolution and the reformers to create a new era of "good will" between Russia and her former

Satellites. After all with the economies of Eastern Europe heavily recessed who else was going to

trade with them but the former Empire.

However Mr. Ash tends to view things from the reformers side and not the Communists. Instead

of seeing how the Communists opened up and worked with the revolutionaries Mr. Ash instead tells

us that it was the revolutionaries and reformers who forced the Communists open. Ash , our author

and self proclaimed hero, takes the moral high ground in his writings and admits that he is on the side

of the revolutionaries. He admits his bias to sway the reader into his form of objectivity. But he is

not objective. Indeed he states very early in his writings that, "I cannot emphasize too strongly that

this is not a comprehensive history of the events of 1989 in Eastern Europe" (P. 20). By stating that

he does not have the entire history written here in his book he tries to trick you into accepting his

form of reality. After all the history of this time period, and specifically the year 1989 had a lot going

on but by only presenting one side and a very small side of this temporal period we are flooded with

his bias. By omission he taints what he writes faster than if he was more vocal on the subject. By

remaining silent he subtly influences the reader to side with him.

The problems with Mr. Ash is his optimism. He tends to play down the violence, the pain, the

Eberhart - 4

tears, and the awful fear that the Eastern Europeans felt under the Communists. Instead of trying to

focus the reader on the dread of the time Mr Ash gets you to focus on the positive. Things might

have been very bad but the was under the Communists. The image of hope, unity, and brotherhood is

stated in bright optimism. Perhaps this is how the people actually felt. After decades under the

Communists perhaps this is the breath of fresh air everyone wanted. But Mr. Ash contradicts his own

optimism in the Chapter on the Warsaw election. "My own . . . suggested that the main reason was a

deep tiredness and disbelief in the capacity of any political force." (P.31) So the elation Mr. Ash tries

to convey may have been his own optimism or perhaps he was picking up on the promises the

reformers felt but this optimism was probably not felt by the majority of people. Change is difficult

for anyone and instead of wanting a complete revolution most people just wanted things to get better.

The people got more than they bargained for when Communist Russia decided to give in to the

people's demands.

Even with Mr. Ash's cheery optimism one has to wonder if this man is truly qualified to report on

the events that are conspiring. All to often the reader gets the impression that Mr. Ash is like Forest

Gump. That being a man who is always in the right place at the right time and looked at for advice.

If he was a mover and shaker in the politics that transpired than his reporting of events is tainted.

Since he states that he used television, personal observations, and even telephone conversations to

reconstruct the events leading up to the events in the book one has to ask if the author is just making

his observations up. The majority of notes, telephone conversations, and meetings have nothing

documented to check upon. So it is the word of the author against the rest of the historical

community.

Most people have gone into a bar or spent time with a survivor from a great event. Whether it be

a war or a natural disaster. The common line most people use is "No Shi@#$%T their I was . . . "

Eberhart - 5

These stories are often colourful but based only slightly in fact. The mind can play tricks on your

memories of the situation and in the immortal words of Patrick Warburton, "Stories are not made up.

Instead they are made "Good". The idea being that a boring story or one that is uninteresting is

embellished to make it more palatable to the reader. This is obviously what has happened here in the

magic lantern.

Although an amusing read the book is not a reliable work for historical research. To much of this

book is based on faith instead of hard historical evidence. It is almost as if the writing style of the

author mirrors the movement of Solidarity. After all these brave men and women placed much on

faith and ignored the brutal history of the Communists party. Whether this was done on purpose or

if it was a side effect of living with these refolutionaries does not matter. What matters to the

historian is the ability to track the primary documents that this author's work is based on. Since these

primary documents do not exist you can not prove one way or another that what Mr. Ash says is true

or not true.

You then have a wonderful story that frustrates the historical community. The fall of the Soviet

Empire and the liberation of the Satellite nations could have happened exactly like Mr. Ash says it

did or it might not have. There is no real way to find out since the majority of Mr. Ash's sources are

all his friends or have a stake in presenting the history of these events as Mr. Ash has presented them.

In the end you have to take this book with a grain of salt and realize that it is only one piece of the

puzzle of 1989. To understand the whole you must research the entire time period and come to your

own conclusion. Sadly since most of the books written about these events are from first hand

accounts the majority will be biased. It is then up to the historian to look at all the materials

objectively in order to reconstruct the events leading up to 1989 and this time specifically. Still it is a

start and when used as part of a larger source of research this book is able to shed light on some of the

Eberhart - 6

mysteries of the fall of the Soviet Empire. But as a stand alone book this book alone is not sufficient.

The Magic Lantern, like the reference to Aladdin's lamp we learn one thing. That being when

you let the genie out of the bottle you can never stuff him back inside. The same was true of the

book. For when Communism falls and freedom comes to Eastern European everything is changed

forever. For good and for ill, for better and for worse, for richer or poorer. So saying the

Refolutionaries were an odd marriage between the locals and the communists. It worked and in that

manner so does the book. One only has to realize that, like a marriage, this book is often frustrating

at times and leaves you asking for more. Which is probably what the refolutionists felt, so in the end

you are able to feel what they feel as they experienced it. An odd feeling when reading a historical

work but one that is surprisingly justified for this work.

NOTE: I got an A+ on this paper and yet no one thinks this review is helpful. Go figure . . .

I've got better things to do tonight than die.

--Springer

I know not whether laws are right,
or whether laws are wrong.
All that we know
is that we who live in Gaul,
is that the wall is strong.
And everyday is like a year.
A year that is oh so long.

-- Oscar Wilde

A wonderful book.......2006-01-30

I decided to read this after finishing Tina Rosenberg's THE HAUNTED LAND and Slavenka Drakulic's CAFE EUROPA. Both of these books cite THE MAGIC LANTERN, and I see why. Timothy Garton Ash's reportage is personal, immediate, and fascinating. As I write, these events took place more than sixteen years ago, yet the book puts you right there. It's a good, lively introduction to these largely bloodless revolutions and well worth reading. The chapters on Prague and Warsaw are highlights.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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

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

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

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

Customer Reviews:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

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

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Russians:

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

The Westerners:

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

The Chinese:

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

The Arabs:

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

The Divinity:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous and insightful book!
A "Must Have" also a History treasure of old Vienna
Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague
Not a bad recipe in the bunch
From the Author to Pio

Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague
Rick Rodgers
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0609604538
Release Date: 2002-02-05

Amazon.com

Reading Rick Rodgers's Kaffeehaus is like strolling through the streets of three of the world's most romantic cities--Vienna, Budapest, and Prague--where the coffeehouse is the center of the universe and that little something sweet to go with your afternoon cup is considered high art. Eleven chapters on subjects ranging from "Sweet Yeast Breads" to "Strudels" and "Sweet Dumplings and Noodles" cover the gamut of sweets you're likely to find in the classic kaffeehauser. Rodgers provides recipes for such legendary treats as chocolaty Sachertorte, flaky Sour Cherry Strudel, sugar-dusted Banana Gugelhupf, jam-filled Linzertorte, and rustic but soul-satisfying squares of Plum Cake.

A renowned cooking instructor and cookbook author, Rodgers has developed the patient voice and attentiveness the job requires, and these qualities shine through in his inviting recipes. Though the book focuses exclusively on the impressive desserts found in coffeehouses, rather than those that are home-baked, Rodgers has developed recipes accessible enough for recreating such scrumptious treats in any home kitchen. Filled with culinary lore--from the scandalous story of Rigo Jansci, the handsome gypsy violinist who lured an American millionairess to leave her husband for a passionate affair and inspired the sinful chocolate dessert that now bears his name, to the great Sachertorte controversy that gripped Vienna in the 1830s--Kaffeehaus is a treat for armchair travelers and adventurous bakers alike. --Robin Donovan

Book Description

Transporting readers to three of the most romantic cities in the world, this beautiful book brings to life their old-world charms and architectural gems, and presents 150 impeccable recipes for recreating their legendary cakes and pastries in the home kitchen.

Vienna, Budapest, and Prague have a special hold on our imaginations, conjuring up a sense of timeless elegance, of historical and cultural riches–and of tables laden with the most extraordinary desserts imaginable. Rick Rodgers explores all these treasures in Kaffeehaus, a cook’s tour enhanced with stunning full-color photographs.

Rodgers visits such culinary landmarks as Café Slavia in Prague and Café Sperl in Vienna, sampling apple strudel, the Emperor’s pancakes, hot chocolate, and other classics and gathering the recipes (and secrets) of master bakers. With an attention to detail developed through years of teaching, he explains how to make the perfect accompaniments to a cup of coffee, as well as spectacular endings to elegant meals.

Filled with food facts and lore (from when coffee first came to Vienna to the great Sachertorte controversy), Kaffeehaus is a treat for armchair travelers and cooks alike.

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous and insightful book!.......2007-10-04

I'm soooooo glad I ordered this book. Its a true winner! Many beautiful and familiar recipes that I've grown to love over the years. Highly recommended!

A "Must Have" also a History treasure of old Vienna.......2007-09-01

I gave all my children this book, since it is part of their cultural background. A great book! I love those cook books which also give part of the history.
Signed,
Old Grandmother from Europe who has done it all and seen it all and knows what is delicious .

Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague.......2007-07-26

The book is nice, in that the recipes seem very authentic. But I was disappointed that there weren't more pictures. There were a few pictures to add a little interest and color, but not as many as I was expecting.

Not a bad recipe in the bunch.......2007-06-17

My sister and I have been baking from this book over the last two years for all our important celebrations, and everything recipe we have tried has worked perfectly. I have never owned a cookbook that was so consistently excellent. Thank you Rick Rodgers. Please write more cookbooks! We just served the poppy, apple, walnut bars last night--not too sweet and made up perfectly.

From the Author to Pio.......2007-01-10

Thanks for your kind words about Kaffeehaus. The recipe you are looking for is in the book on page 130. In fact, it is on the cover of the book! Did you look in the index? It is there as Esterhazyschnitten, because the cake is typically baked as a large strip and cut into slices (Schnitten). If you wish, you can bake rounds and cut them into wedges. While is an authentic recipe from Budapest, lately I have been making it a little less sweet by reducing the sugar in the buttercream to 1/2 cup from 2/3 cup. Happy baking!

The Great Jewish Cities of Central and Eastern Europe: A Travel Guide and Resource Book to Prague, Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest

Average customer rating:

Awesome guide and resource book
Delightful
Absorbing insight into jewish life
More than a travel guide
Eye-opening. Don't leave home without it!

The Great Jewish Cities of Central and Eastern Europe: A Travel Guide and Resource Book to Prague, Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest
Eli Valley
Manufacturer: Jason Aronson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765760002

Book Description

The Great Jewish Cities of Central and Eastern Europe: A Travel Guide and Resource Book to Prague, Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest is the most comprehensive guidebook covering all aspects of Jewish history and contemporary life in Prague, Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest. This remarkable book includes detailed histories of the Jews in these cities, walking tours of Jewish districts past and present, intensive descriptions of Jewish sites, fascinating accounts of local Jewish legend and lore, and practical information for Jewish travelers to the region.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome guide and resource book.......2000-09-22

I was lucky to find this book in the library and used it extensively while in Warsaw, Cracow and Prauge. The detail is incredible, the writing style excellent with a lilt of humor. This book -made- my trip so I'm buying my own copy. If you take this book to Europe with you don't bother hiring a guide or taking a tour. It has more than any individual could offer.

Delightful.......2000-05-19

This book is a gem! I pick it up and settle down in my chair and am transported in time and place to Eastern Europe. I was in Prague before I read the book (it had not been published yet) and now when I read the Prague sections everything comes to life. Mr. Valley has a way with words. He supples the reader with his dense knowledge of his subject in an easy to read, matter of fact style. I would recommend this book to anyone whether or not they are planning to travel to the cities described. I am eagerly awaiting his next book.

Absorbing insight into jewish life.......2000-03-16

Having known Eli many years ago at University, I couldn't wait to read this book to re-establish spiritual contact. What I wasn't prepared for was the depthand passion that Eli had written on the subject. This is a masterpiece that once you have picked up you will not put down until you have seen the cities and experienced the tours first hand. My only regret is that the vast majority of those reading this book may never actually visit Prague.

More than a travel guide.......1999-12-17

I picked this book up from a friend's bookshelf intending to flip through the pages. I ended up taking it home with me and reading it from cover to cover. It's well written and filled with a great deal of fascinating history. Not having ever been to the cities mentioned in the book, I can't comment on the accuracy of the tourist information. But this book would be of interest to anyone who has a curiosity about the history of Jewish life in eastern Europe. If it's ever reprinted, photographs would make it even better.

Eye-opening. Don't leave home without it!.......1999-10-18

For anyone interested in the Jewish history of Eastern Europe, this book is compulsory. It also presents conceptual and detailed history of over a thousand years and up-to-date descriptions of what the traveller will find now. Don't leave it behind despite its heft.

Fodor's Prague and Budapest, 2nd Edition: Completely Updated, Where to Stay, Eat, and Explore, Smart Travel Tips from A to Z (Fodor's Gold Guides)

Average customer rating:

Two for the price of one
Virtually 5 Star

Fodor's Prague and Budapest, 2nd Edition: Completely Updated, Where to Stay, Eat, and Explore, Smart Travel Tips from A to Z (Fodor's Gold Guides)
Fodor's
Manufacturer: Fodor's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679007318
Release Date: 2001-04-10

Book Description

"An excellent choice for people who want everything under one cover." - Washington Post

Fodor's Pocket Guides are designed for people who just want the highlights. They contain full, rich descriptions of major cities around the globe including the most worthy sights, the best restaurants and lodging, plus shopping, nightlife, and outdoors highlights - all in a new trim, petit package.

All the basics you need to help you decide what to see and do in the time you have.

Smart contacts and detailed practical information, including the scoop on public transportation, local holidays, what to pack, and more.

The very best dining and lodging in every price range.

Great recommendations for shopping nightlife, outdoor, activities, and essential side trips.

Detailed maps with sights, restaurants, night spots, and hotels clearly marked.

Easy-to-use new interior design with blue ink and fun graphics.

Customer Reviews:

Two for the price of one.......2007-09-17

So they say you want a guide published recently and that makes this product just a little out of date, but it's a good guide.

Since it isn't the latest, newest thing it rang my chimes as the cheapest thing for a summer trip in 2007. Backpacking and trying to pack light I cut out the sections of the book I wanted. (Which works when you are essentially paying for the shipping.)

Budapest especially is going through some massive changes so if you want up to the minute buy something new. (The upcoming change to the Euro comes to mind.) It's a beautiful city, but beware, outside the tourist zones or say the mall or near the universities nobody really speaks English or German either.

Prague is, well, it's Prague. Who needs a guidebook anyway, just follow the masses and pay to enter everything. Wrong. There are some less-traveled gems in Prague and this book lists some of them. Not a bad buy at all.

Virtually 5 Star.......2001-05-20

This a very nice and comprehensive travel guide. I have no doubts of takeing it to my trip. The only BIG MISS in it, is that thera are no www pages or e-mail references for hotels, restaurants, museums, guideing services etc. etc.

Historic Coffeehouses: Vienna, Budapest, Prague

Average customer rating:

Concise, effective--and best not left to the coffee table!
Don't Leave Home Without It
A Great Cup of Coffee and More

Historic Coffeehouses: Vienna, Budapest, Prague
Carol Dittrich
Manufacturer: Lemieux Intl Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0966726995

Book Description

This complete guide to all historic coffeehouses in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, includes descriptions, addresses, hours of operation, menus, photographs and maps.

Customer Reviews:

Concise, effective--and best not left to the coffee table!.......2004-09-28

The author delivers a guide that the true European cafe wanderer will find eminently useful.
Departing from the effete texts destined to decorate coffee tables and accomplish little else, the text doesn't waste energy and resources in dwelling on its subjects' aesthetics for the reader's vicarious experience; instead, it presents an abundant array of venues, each worthy of exploring, savoring, and, ultimately, remembering for its own charms.

Don't Leave Home Without It.......2002-11-26

This is an excellent guide to finding some of the real treasures in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague - the coffee houses. In this suscinct, yet detailed piece, you become very close to the rich and splendid aromas and bright and unique personalities and romance that each of these social "temples" have to offer. Not only has the author captured the essence of the coffee houses, but she also shares with us interesting historical details, perspectives and notes. Enjoy the comments and discriptions of these "museums" with special attention to one of my favorite subjects, architecture. Absolutely a joy to read and use as a compass through the wonderful streets of these absolutely fantabulous cities.
I rate it right up there with my Perlman cigar guides which have enriched my travel experiences well beyond anything I could have found by just "wandering". Don't leave home without it!

A Great Cup of Coffee and More.......2002-11-06

As we prepare to visit Vienna for the second time, this book is helping us to prepare our itinerary adding this time many visits to those sometimes off the beaten track coffee houses. What a gem of a book, packed with so much valuable current information such as addresses, hours, etc., as well as historic data. Its definitely being packed in our carryon luggage along with a couple tried and true tour books. Here's to the author ... thanks to the last drop! How about some other city editions?

Average customer rating:

THE SHADOW MASTER SCORES
Recommended!
Fantastic Trip
Chacko is master of his craft in "The Shadow Master"
Chacko is master of his craft in The Shadow Master

The Shadow Master
David Chacko
Manufacturer: Authors Choice Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0595158617

Book Description

Set at the end of the Cold War, this psychological thriller crosses Eastern Europe following the trail left by the mysterious death of an archeologist and his even more mysterious "find."

Customer Reviews:

THE SHADOW MASTER SCORES.......2005-04-28

After the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Klement Zeman, an intelligence officer, comes home to find his brother dead in a strange hotel room. The "natural" death quickly becomes mysterious as Klement begins a furious hunt through the wreckage of the old system and the chaos of his brother's life. Beautiful women, invaluable treasure, angry spirits of the dead, archeological digs and mass murderers, are just some of the things he encounters. They all fall by the side of the road when Klement comes to the end of his journey in the New Europe on the verge of a New Millennium.

THE SHADOW MASTER is an almost perfect book. This one should have Six Stars.

Recommended!.......2002-02-13

In May, 1990, Klement Zeman left The Horn of Africa for Hungary. There, he would identify his brother's body and transport it to its final resting place. Karel, the brother, had been an archeologist. His site was a crypt in Hrad Luchov, near the boundary of Moravia and Slovakia. Karel had found something at the site that had changed his life completely. A life that somehow ended in a high class hotel of Budapest.

Dangerous people were after what Karel had found, "The Vigesimal Hours" and the hosts! The book was "illuminated" (painted) by one known only as The Shadow Master. Within it were prophecies. Revelations. It told of The Second Coming!

Klement simply wanted to know how his brother had come to die in a hotel that was way above his financial means. The question leads Klement on a quest of epic proportions.

**** This is one of those books that begins with a mysterious death and several questions, then steadily builds up steam until everything explodes at the end! Very climatic! In a few spots, I found myself fascinated and repulsed at the same time. Recommended reading. ****

Fantastic Trip.......2001-03-30

David Chacko's new novel is an exciting piece of work that succeeds in doing everything it says it will. And that's plenty. The Shadow Master takes place after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It begins as an espionage story that becomes a novel of politics and finally ends in a shakey walk along the bridge between the living and the dead. The action and horror are well set up as the tale unwinds from its central event--the death of an archeologist, Karel Zeman. His brother Klement, a spy come in from the cold, conducts an investigation that inevitably leads to the discovery of Karel's secret life--a beautiful woman who haunted his last days in Budapest; a mistress in Prague; an object of fantastic value unearthed in an ancient castle; and the man of great wealth and greater cruelty who emerges from behind the curtain at last. How does The Shadow Master end? Not where it began, and not with characters who have the same perceptions that they held in the beginning. By that time, the miraculous has become the expected and the dead a part of the living past.

Chacko is master of his craft in "The Shadow Master".......2001-03-20

If you missed David Chacko's earlier novels, don't pass up this page turner. Once again he proves he is master of his turf in both a literal and a literary sense. Let him take you into the shadows of the lush landscape of Eastern Europe where you will meet some equally shadowy and intriguing characters.

Chacko is master of his craft in The Shadow Master.......2001-03-20

If you missed David Chacko's earlier novels, don't pass this one up. It is a page turner. Chacko proves once again that he is master of his turf in both the literal and literary sense. Let him take you into the shadows of the lush landscape of Eastern Europe where you will meet some very interesting and intriguing characters.

Vienna Prague Budapest, 2nd (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan)

Average customer rating:

A nicely succinct guide.
Complete
Excellent Guide

Vienna Prague Budapest, 2nd (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan)
Mary-Ann Gallagher , Matthew Gardner , and Sadakat Kadri
Manufacturer: Cadogan Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1860113664

Book Description

Now fully redesigned, this new edition of Cadogan’s unique three-city guide contains the most up-to-the-minute practical information and listings, along with color photographs and maps. Vienna, Prague and Budapest are growing in popularity as city break destinations thanks to their beautiful city centers and increasing number of trendy restaurants and hotels. Prague offers the ultimate romantic getaway with its stunning medieval Old Town, cobbled streets, gothic churches and magnificent castle, the largest ancient castle in the world. The center of Vienna is UNESCO-listed and is a cultural paradise, featuring several excellent museums, the stately Imperial Palace that once served as the residence to the powerful Hapsburg dynasty, and Sigmund Freud’s house. Meanwhile Budapest, a veritable fountain of medicinal waters, is home to dozens of swimming pools and bathing halls dating back to the Turkish Occupation and a wonderful place to relax in a spa after all that sight-seeing and shopping.

Customer Reviews:

A nicely succinct guide........2007-10-17

We used this guide for just Budapest and Prague, not Vienna. It was usefully succinct in its description of the importance of the sights it reviewed. Also, it helped those having a limited amount of time to identify the "must see" sights and gave a quick introduction to the money, culture, etc., of the country involved. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that it failed to lay out walking routes to hit the sights it mentions, something that would have been even more useful.

Complete.......2007-09-20

Is a complete book of information, not only basics, is really a guide to visit this 3 destinations. I recommend it.

Excellent Guide.......2007-06-12

We planned to visit these never before seen cities on a recent tour. We looked in libraries and bookstores for guides to them and found this one which had all the information we needed and more for our tour,and we would certainly look at these author's tour guides in the future for other destinations.

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