The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

Book Description

At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.

The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.

After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.

Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.

Customer Reviews:

What an Adventure.......2007-10-18

What a great book. It is amazing to me that in the face of all the danger and near death experiences, these men continued to behave in the most civilized manor. Very inspiring for me.

river of doubt.......2007-10-06

This book was great, if you like adventure, exploration, or teddy roosevelt this is the book for you.
not boaring at all this book is awsome

A Gripping Tale of Men of Character.......2007-09-21

Oh, for a President who had even one tenth of the character and integrity of the Teddy Roosevelt portrayed in this book. This is a real-life version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but the central figure never loses his sense of dedication and honor. Although there is plenty of suspense, even horror, in the story, I found it to be ultimately quite inspiring.

Awesome.......2007-09-20

This book went into so much detail about TR's expedition in Brazil that is hardly mentioned in other books on his life. And what a story it is! I heartily recommend it to anyone.

They Don't Make Presidents Like this Anymore..........2007-09-20

And that's not a statement of partisan politics, but it does say a lot about leadership. Volumes have been written about Theodore Roosevelt, the soldier, the statesman, the adventurer, and the president, but if there is a single book that captures the vitality, the determination, and the indomitable spirit of this great American, it is "The River of Doubt." Former National Geographic writer and editor Candice Miller pulls no punches and leaves no stone unturned in spinning this vibrant and suspense-packed tale of risk and discovery cutting through the heart of the Amazonian jungle on an uncharted Brazilian river. Miller brings the Amazon to life in all its bloody glory, an unfathomably dangerous place where even the frogs are deadly, where schools of piranhas can turn an ox - or a man - to a skeleton in minutes, a place where, despite caymans and poison dart-wielding natives, it is the insects - insects of all types and descriptions - that pose the greatest risk.

This is an epic journey facing not only the challenges of a wild river cascading over rapids and waterfalls through an impenetrable jungle, but also treachery and even murder. Roosevelt and expedition co-lead Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, an officer of the Brazilian military and renowned Amazon explorer, find themselves surprisingly ill-equipped for their voyage through one of the planets most inhospitable regions, and ironically are soon near starvation in a green hell that while teaming with life, food is stubbornly unattainable. Meanwhile, it is a poignant tale of the bond between father and son, as Roosevelt and second son Kermit alternately sacrifice and suffer for each other while proudly denying emotion. This is one of those stories that, after weeks of terror, when Roosevelt and the tattered remains of his party emerge feverish from malaria and near starvation, you'll ask, "why haven't I heard about this before now."

Were this fiction, it would strain the bounds of credibility. But that this is the story of a former President of the United States is truly staggering. A remarkable achievement, "The River of Doubt" is a must read, illuminating a fascinating slice of world history in the twilight of the age of exploration while providing an intimate peak into the unparalleled character of Theodore Roosevelt. Bully!

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

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:

this is not a field guide
Birds in Brazil

Birds in Brazil
Helmut Sick
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Brazil: Amazon And Pantanal (Travellers' Wildlife Guides)
Pantanal: South America's Wetland Jewel
Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica.

ASIN: 0691085692

Book Description

Here is a substantially revised and updated English-language version of the only comprehensive, scientific treatment of Brazil's 1635 bird species. Written by the then dean of Brazilian ornithologists and published in Brazil in 1985, it not only lists every individual Brazilian species and provides detailed accounts for most of them but also gives an extensive treatment of the characteristics of each bird family found in the country. In addition, it analyzes the composition of Brazil's avifauna and relates it to the country's geography.

Customer Reviews:

this is not a field guide.......2004-12-06

I read the other review and was deceived. The other reviewer made it sound like a field guide comparing it to Peterson. NO!!!! There are a total of 45 color plates covering less than 500 of the about 1500 Brazilian birds and some of these plates are black and white.

Birds in Brazil.......2000-10-16

Birds in Brazil is a big book, beautifully produced on quality paper. It is exhaustive but never exhausting on the topic of Brazilian birds . The color illustrations are beautiful, but unfortunately they are separate from the text about the birds. That is the book's only fault. The text is in smooth and enticing English, and where the same birds are to be found migrating to the United States, the information is quite comparable in completion and interest to the American field guides of Roger T. Peterson. That leads me to believe that the information about birds that we don't experience will be equally accurate. This book is captivating and well worth the price. It is a coffee-table style book that we will be proud to use and to display.

Average customer rating:

Amazing
The finest guide to birds in Colombia
¡Qué belleza!
An example for every Field Guide
Made birding in Amazonia easy

A Guide to the Birds of Colombia
Steven L. Hilty , and William L. Brown
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Birds of South America: Non-Passerines: Rheas to Woodpeckers (Princeton Illustrated Checklists)

ASIN: 069108372X

Book Description

Describing all of Colombia's birds, Steven Hilty and William Brown bring together information on one of the world's largest avifaunas-nearly 1,700 species. Over half of all the species of birds in South America are included, thus making the book useful in regions adjacent to Colombia, as well as in the country itself. The primary purpose of the work is to enable observers to identify the birds of the region, but it also provides detailed species accounts and will serve as an important handbook and reference volume. Fifty-six lavish color plates, thirteen halftone plates, and ninety-nine line drawings in the text illustrate over 85% of the species, including most of the resident birds. Notes on the facing-page of each place, and range maps of 1,475 species, facilitate identification.

Written with the field observer in mind, the text gives special attention to comparisons of similar species, transcriptions of voices, and comments on behavior, status, and habitat. It also provides ranges, breeding data, and references. Notes outline taxonomic problems and briefly describe species that eventually may be found in Colombia. Introductory chapters and photographs highlight Colombia's geography, climate, and vegetation, and discuss migration and conservation questions, and the history of Colombian ornithology. Appendices contain a large bibliography, a section on birding locations, and coverage of two of Colombia's far-flung island territories, Isla San Andrés and Providencia. Maps depicting vegetation zones, political boundaries, national parks, and the most text localities are included.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-03-09

I live in Medellín, Colombia, South America, I was looking for this book in the spanish edition, but it's hard to find it, so I bouhgt the enlgish version.
This book is an excellent knowledge tool and it will open the eyes of the readers to one of the many wonders we have. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia is just AMAZING. For those who love animals, in special birds, consider buying it, you won't regret it.

The finest guide to birds in Colombia.......2004-09-10

"A Guide to the Birds of Colombia," by Steven L. Hilty and William L. Brown is mandatory reading for serious field observers. This book treats all of the 1,695 species of resident and migrant birds known to have been reliably recorded in Colombia and on its island posessions of Gorgona and Malpelo prior to 1984.

Moreover, this massive Princeton University Press text (836 pages) includes sixty-nine color and black and white plates by Guy Tudor (one of the most talented living bird illustrators in the world) & others. And before I forget this book includes superb line drawings by Michel Kleinbaum.

I found the sections on Topography, Climate, Vegetation, Habitat Descriptions, and Conservation & National Parks excellent. In addition, the review of Colombian Ornithology and the Range Maps are valuable field observer tools. In conclusion, this is a meticulous text with an expert index that will absolutely fill all the needs of serious field obsevers. Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

¡Qué belleza!.......2003-01-18

Es un libro que no debe faltar en la biblioteca de ningún ornitólogo. Describe casi la totalidad de especies de aves del país con más especies de aves en el mundo. Excelente.

An example for every Field Guide.......2002-04-08

This work is all a bird watcher could wish for. The splendid paintings by Tudor add to the very helpful in-depth descriptions. Completed by nearly 1500 distribution maps there's nothing left to wish, except go out there and see them. I used it when birding in Peru and I could still determine nearly all the birds I saw.
It's an example for every bird field guide.

Made birding in Amazonia easy.......2000-09-27

Since no definitive bird guide is available for the Amazon region and Brazil in general, I was forced to choose between this guide and the Birds of Venezuela. I ended up with Hilty and Brown's book by sheer coincidence, and I was not at all disappointed. The text and information is superb throughout, and I was able to identify several species on habitat description alone. For example, the authors clearly describe the preference of many taxa for varzea (seasonally flooded) or terra firme forests, which made a fleeting glimpse more of a certainty, and the range descriptions were invaluable. If I have only one very minor criticism, it is that I have never found plates in black and white particularly helpful, and since several artists were employed, there were differences in visual interpretation in several groups (e.g. the Picidae). However, these are minor detractions from an outstanding volume.

Galapagos: The Islands That Changed the World

Average customer rating:

A Perfect Combination of History and Picture Book

Galapagos: The Islands That Changed the World
Paul D. Stewart
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Galapagos
Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands: An Identification Guide, 2nd Edition
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Waterproof Galapagos Islands Map by ITMB

ASIN: 0300122306

Book Description

Rocky, fragile, beautiful, strange—the Galápagos archipelago is unlike any other place on earth. Its geology, its unique flora and fauna, and its striking role in human history intersect in surprising and dynamic ways. This book is the most wide-ranging and beautifully illustrated book available on the famous islands. Not since Darwin’s Naturalist’s Voyage has a book combined so much scientific and historic information with firsthand accounts that bring the Galápagos to life.
Galápagos: The Islands That Changed the World describes how tragedy and murderous pirates curtailed settlement of the islands and how the islands’ pristine nature, spectacular geology, and defining isolation inspired Darwin’s ideas about evolution. The book explores the diverse land and marine habitats that shelter Galápagos species and considers the islands’ importance today as a frontier for science and a refuge for true wilderness.
The book’s extensive gazetteer provides details about endemic plants and animals as well as travel advice about visitors’ sites, diving, photography, when to go, and what to take. Vividly illustrated throughout, this guide is an indispensable reference for natural history enthusiasts, armchair travelers, and island visitors alike.

Customer Reviews:

A Perfect Combination of History and Picture Book.......2007-03-09

There are many books on the Galápagos Islands but Paul Stewart's work is certainly one of the most appealing and true representations of this famous spot in the Pacific Ocean. Naturally, Darwin occupies an important part of Mr. Stewart's prose, but equally impressive is the space given to extraordinary photos. This is not surprising given that Paul Stewart is first and foremost a photographer.

Whether this book can finally dispel the doubts of some people about evolution vs creation is anybody's guess but it will not be for lack of authentic facts as described by the author. The book is a real page-turner.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
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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Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
The Medieval Empire of the Israelites

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.

Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca

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Excellent
A gem of a cross-disciplinary book

Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca
Ben Orlove
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520229592

Book Description

This beautifully written book weaves reflections on anthropological fieldwork together with evocative meditations on a spectacular landscape as it takes us to the remote indigenous villages on the shore of Lake Titicaca, high in the Peruvian Andes. Ben Orlove brings alive the fishermen, reed cutters, boat builders, and families of this isolated region, and describes the role that Lake Titicaca has played in their culture. He describes the landscapes and rhythms of life in the Andean highlands as he considers the intrusions of modern technology and economic demands in the region. Lines in the Water tells a local version of events that are taking place around the world, but with an unusual outcome: people here have found ways to maintain their cultural autonomy and to protect their fragile mountain environment.
The Peruvian highlanders have confronted the pressures of modern culture with remarkable vitality. They use improved boats and gear and sell fish to new markets but have fiercely opposed efforts to strip them of their indigenous traditions. They have retained their customary practice of limiting the amount of fishing and have continued to pass cultural knowledge from one generation to the next--practices that have prevented the ecological crises that have followed commercialization of small-scale fisheries around the world. This book--at once a memoir and an ethnography--is a personal and compelling account of a research experience as well as an elegantly written treatise on themes of global importance. Above all, Orlove reminds us that human relations with the environment, though constantly changing, can be sustainable.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2003-04-13

(Planeta.com Journal) -- Lines in the Water (University of California Press, 2002), a beautifully written ethnography of rural fishermen and their families. The book's subtitle "Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca" specifies the center of action, but the scope is much broader and deeper. It's actually hard to find the words to say how delightful this book is. Author Ben Orlove is an environmental science professor at the University of California, Davis, and his book is based on three decades of trips to Peru and Bolivia. The book is a showcase of fresh writing and a major contribution to the literature about South America. Orlove provides a frank account of the role academics themselves play. He includes himself in this story and shares candid observations -- from his reactions to office politics to daydreaming about museums. This book is highly recommended. Eco travelers visiting Lake Titicaca would do well to read this book in advance.

A gem of a cross-disciplinary book.......2003-02-24

This is a gem, written with great respect for the indigenous people who live aound Lake Titicaca, well-annotated and with wonderful photographs by the author. Orlove has broad interests - anthropology, economics, natural history, environmental issues, to name a few, and a talent for accessing interesting memories. He conveys his astute observations in clear and vivid prose.The book is organized nicely - I especially liked the material in the final chapter, entitled "Paths", which offers an antidote to the sad fact that roads and highways are so often destructive to local people and to biodiversity. Paths, literal or metaphorical, also provide valuable linkages and essential connections among the various components of this remote but very interesting and community with ancient roots. Orlove provides the reader with a sense of having traveled those paths for a short while with him.

Average customer rating:

A promising book undone by the author's peculiar personal views
concise and graceful
Suggested only for those with no Latin experience
Not worthy of Oxford
Wonderful!

A Natural History of Latin
Tore Janson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0199214050

Book Description

Beginning in Rome around 600 BC, Latin became the language of the civilized world and remained so for more than two millennia. French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian are among its progeny and it provides the international vocabulary of law and life science. No known language, including English - itself enriched by Latin words and phrases - has achieved such success and longevity. Tore Janson tells its history from origins to present. Brilliantly conceived and written with the same light touch as his bestselling history of languages, A Natural History of Latin is a masterpiece of adroit synthesis. The author charts the expansion of Latin in the classical world, its renewed importance in the Middle Ages, and its survival into modern times. He shows how spoken and written Latin evolved in different places and its central role in European history and culture. He ends with a concise Latin grammar and lists of Latin words and phrases still in common use. Considered elitist and irrelevant in the second half of the twentieth century and often even banned from schools, Latin is now enjoying a huge revival of interest across Europe, the UK, and the USA. Tore Janson offers persuasive arguments for its value and gives direct access to its fascinating worlds, past and present.

Customer Reviews:

A promising book undone by the author's peculiar personal views.......2007-07-14

I read Latin and Greek as an undergraduate (mainly with a view to Indo-European linguistics) and have long sought a book I could recommend to friends and family who want to know something about classical languages. I thought A NATURAL HISTORY OF LATIN would be just the thing, but I found the book rather problematic.

A NATURAL HISTORY OF LATIN is a translation and adaptation by Merethe Damsgaard Sorensen and Nigel Vincent of Tore Janson's original "Latin; Kulturn, historien, spraaket" published in Stockholm in 2002. The book is written at a high school level, avoiding jargon and explaining matters as clearly and simply as possibly. Janson starts at the very beginning, with Latin as a single descent of the Indo-European proto-language, a small language confined to Rome overshadowed by its strong neighbour Etruscan. He introduces the major writers of Latin literature, and even quotes passages from the major poets, giving the original Latin and a translation.

Since Latin is a remarkably tenacious language, holding on long after the disappearance of Roman society, and Janson discusses the use of Latin by the Roman Catholic Church, philosophers, and natural scientists. While Janson talks of the rise of new languages after the fall of the Roman Empire that were descended from Latin yet no longer Latin, I was baffled by his omission of the Strasbourg Oaths, which many readers find an entertaining example of language change.

Though Janson avoids discussion of morphology (the changes the endings of Latin words can go through) in the main of the book, the end of the book contains a 35-page appendix on Latin grammar so that the curious reader can learn more. There is also a basic vocabulary of the most common and influential Latin words, and a collection of common phrases and expressions.

In spite of covering many of the basics of the use of Latin, I found the author injected his own personal biases into the text far too often. Some of my other reviews have complained about his comparison of Cato with Fascist party members, Epicurius with Karl Marx, his assertion that Julius Caesar commited genocide. Now, these are intriguing matters, but Janson makes the comparisons so flippantly that it just drags the level of the text down. Beyond these, there are other problematic passages. For example, after discussing Catullus' poems to the boy Juventius, Janson writes, "That a man might be in love with both women and men did not cause any great surprise in antiquity... It was not regarded as deviant behavior." Such a blanket statemetn is dishonest, for while the elites of Roman society condoned pederasty, grown men who took the passive role in homosexual acts were despised in the strongest sense. Just look at the character of the cinaedus in Petronius' "Satyricon", for example.

The author loves to get his digs in at Christianity as well, with a revisionist goal that goes against the long traditions of Oxford University Press' classicist publishing. Of Tertullian, whom classicists have long admired for his eloquent defence of his faith in front of Roman persecution, Janson writes, "[His books'] most striking characteristic is their spiteful attitude to everyone who thought differently from Tertullian himself." Later he writes, "It was not easy to know at the time who actually was a heretic. It depended on who was successful in having their view of original sin or the Trinity finally accepted as the true teaching of the Church." And of St Augustine, Janson writes, "His ideas are strange or even repugnant. This is especially true of the idea of original sin." The doctrine original sin hardly began with Augustine, nor is it a concept limited to Christianity among the world religions (Buddhism, for instance, has us stuck in cycles of samsara because of lusts and desires).

With his peculiar biases, Janson betrays the fine tradition of Oxford University Press' books on the classical world, and I find the book too enervating to recommend to others. Maybe I should look at Joseph Farrell's Latin Language and Latin Culture: From Ancient to Modern Times instead.

concise and graceful.......2006-12-04

I wonder if we all read the same book...I read as book as my introduction to things Latin and I am glad I did. The author packs a lot of information into a short book and I think he does it very gracefully. His approach is scholarly but he does not lose his sense of humor. I don't know very much about Rome and the Latin language. FOr me this book was time well spent.

Suggested only for those with no Latin experience.......2006-04-05

I bought this book because I am very interested in the Classics and the Latin language. I have taken Latin for many years, and can read it pretty well, but have learned almost nothing of its origins or development, and little of its influence on modern languages.

Some chapters, such as the ones about Latin's beginnings, its metamorphosis into the Romance languages, and the way it has affected English, I found interesting. Unfortunately, these only comprised a small portion of the book. The rest told me stuff I already know, like the basics of the language and the Roman Empire's history and literature, or went on and on about medieval philosophers who don't seem very important to Latin.

Also, the text sometimes seemed badly translated, and didn't flow very well overall.

If you have little or no education in Latin and are looking for a comprehensive review of its mechanics and history, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, I would recommend you look elsewhere.

Not worthy of Oxford.......2006-01-15

Having ordered this book as a Christmas present to myself, I was eager to see a new treatment of the evolution, growth, and spread of the Latin language. Instead, I received a book that should have been titled "Latin Literature, A PC Summary for Women and Children." This may offend some of you more sensitive types, but you should not be upset with me. My new title for this book is not a joke reflecting any personal bias, but on the contrary, it is an accurate description of the arrogance and soft-bigotry of the author/translators in charge of this waste of foliage. The authors make repeated comparisons of ancient literature to "TV soap operas" and at one point they even absurdly compare Plautus' Menaechmi and Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors to our own Dallas! You remember, 'who shot J.R.?' and all that. This, not my politically incorrect title, should be offensive to your 'sensibilities.' The authors constantly insult the intelligence of their intended audience, all the while attempting to stretch similes and metaphors beyond their means. They repeatedly compare Stoic philosophy to Nazism, Lucretius as a forerunner to Marx, old Roman values as repugnant, and also display a blatant disregard for the value of lost literature in general. Here are two small samples of this reprehensible approach:

1. - p.26 - We do know that there were quite a few writers besides Cato and Plautus, whom we have already mentioned, and in particular we have many works by another writer of comedies, Terence. But, as far as we know, the works that have been lost are not terribly many and they were probably not of any great value.

2. - p. 36 - For the most part he [Caesar] marched his army around and fought pitched battles, which makes the narrative rather monotonous, as millions of schoolchildren have discovered, since his account of the Gallic war has quite undeservedly taken up a great deal of time in the traditional Latin syllabus.

It is not necessarily the particulars of the argument but rather the atmosphere of constant complaining and pessimism which I found to be too much to take. If you're one of those clever nay-sayers who would more than likely happily point out that this is hypocritical of me, then by all means pick up a copy of this book, it's perfect for you. If the selections I chose do not seem to fit with my general point, I will post others in the future. Yes, I read the whole book. Yes, I know that my examples come only from part 1. Which reminds me, the last 122 pages is essentially an extremely poor appendix of Latin grammar and Roman sayings. It would have been more useful to append a juice box so that your kid could have a refreshing drink and have something left over to throw at you for buying this. For those of you who made the difficult decision to stay in school past the tenth grade there is a plethora of good alternatives about Roman culture, history, literature, and language any of which would be better than this one.

Wonderful!.......2005-10-07

This book is supposed to explain things like how the language grew and how it spread. It does that and it does talk about why it proved to be as useful as it became. What makes this book great, is that it doesn't start there. It barely begins there.

He then spends a lot of time explaining how words moved from Latin to other languages such as English how we still have Latin names for our months and our days of the week. March was the first month originally, so October was 8th (think Octogon) and September was 9th. July for Julius. and August for Augustus. Again, what would be expected.

What goes beyond what I expected was the analsis he provides of the development of Latin poetry both from the perspective of having been mere translation of, the imitations of, the Greek works, and then forming and following rules of its own. Read this book and you'll know more than the history of Latin. You'll have a good overview of the development of Latin literature and a synopsis of some of the major works. You'll also get a basic understanding of how the Roman government worked and the strange way years were names in antiquity.

He even has a small chapter (2 or 3 pages) on Latin terms in Harry Potter. The Hogwarts motto means "A Sleeping Dragon Shouldn't be Tickled".

He's an interesting author. Not many writers would pause in a discussion of linguistic history to denounce the military career of Julius Ceaser. He's intelligent and assumes his reader is as well. It makes for a wonderful book. I can't praise it highly enough.

The Forgotten Peninsula: A Naturalist in Baja California

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Great field book!
a lovely piece of writing about an amazing place

The Forgotten Peninsula: A Naturalist in Baja California
Joseph Wood Krutch
Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0816509875

Customer Reviews:

Great field book!.......2005-12-19

This is the book we use on NOLS expeditions, and we have to literally carry these books. It is worth carrying.

a lovely piece of writing about an amazing place.......2003-07-13

This is one of the books that first drew me to Baja california years ago. Unfortunately much of what Krutch saw has inevitably been swept away by the rising tide of tourism & development, but enough remains that Krutch's lyrical prose is more than a eulogy, one can still find some of teh magic that he describes so well here. I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone planning on visiting Baja California and/or anyone who is interested in the intersection between natural history and literature -one gets both here.

The Fall of Natural Man: The American Indian and the Origins of Comparative Ethnology (Cambridge Iberian and Latin American Studies)

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The Fall of Natural Man: The American Indian and the Origins of Comparative Ethnology (Cambridge Iberian and Latin American Studies)
Anthony Pagden
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521337046

Book Description

This book gives a new interpretation of the reception of the new world by the old. It is the first in-depth study of the pre-Enlightenment methods by which Europeans attempted to describe and classify the American Indian and his society. Between 1512 and 1724 a simple determinist view of human society was replaced by a more sophisticated relativist approach. Anthony Pagden uses new methods of technical analysis, already developed in philosophy and anthropology, to examine four groups of writers who analysed Indian culture: the sixteenth-century theologian, Francisco de Vitoria, and his followers; the â€~champion of the Indiansâ€™ BartolomÃ© de Las Casas; and the Jesuit historians JosÃ© de Acosta and Joseph FranÃ§ois Lafitau. Dr Pagden explains the sources for their theories and how these conditioned their observations. He also examines for the first time the key terms in each writerâ€™s vocabulary - words such as â€~barbarianâ€™ and â€~civilâ€™ - and the assumptions that lay beneath them.

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