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:

Book that made me enjoy history

History of a Free Nation
Henry W. Bragdon
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Glencoe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0028213831

Customer Reviews:

Book that made me enjoy history.......2000-05-30

In my school, we used this book in the 7th and 8th grade, and because of this fascinating book, I started to enjoy history! Well worth reading.

Six Minutes to Freedom: How a Band of Heros Defied a Dictator and Helped Free a Nation

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A truly captivating and well written real-life suspense story.
Ron, Redding CA
Riviting
Amazingly true story
Could not put the book down

Six Minutes to Freedom: How a Band of Heros Defied a Dictator and Helped Free a Nation
Kurt Muse , and John Gilstrap
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0806527234

Book Description

Kurt Muse handed over his passport at Torrijos International Airport, just as he'd done countless times. Instantly, he sensed that something was wrong. Rather than the cursory glance followed by the whack of the entry stamp, the bureaucrat held the little book in both hands. He seemed to be studying it. And then he smiled. Kurt followed the clerk's gaze to a piece of paper taped to his partition. The sign was handwritten in Spanish:

Kurt Muse American Citizen Arrest Him

His life was over.

Born in the United States, raised in Panama, Kurt Muse grew up with a deep love for his adopted country. But by the late 1980s, Panama was suffering under the regime of Manuel Noriega. Innocent people disappeared. Beatings and murders became commonplace.

For Kurt Muse, accepting such a dictator was not an option. For two years, Kurt and a few friends operated clandestine radio stations on low-tech equipment smuggled into Panama. At first, they broadcast on a small scale. But in late 1987, the group realized that they could override any transmission from a government-run radio network, and Radio Constitucional was born.

Muse and his compatriots chose Noriega's Loyalty Day address, simulcast on every radio station in the country, for its first transmission. Just as Noriega began his self-serving message, Radio Constitucional seized the airwaves, urging the people to rise up in defense of their freedom. Kurt knew that if his identity was revealed, he and his family would be in grave peril. But he had no idea what kind of terror, confusion, and betrayal lay in store for all of them.

Six Minutes to Freedom spins the remarkable tale of Kurt's arrest by Noriega's henchmen and his months of imprisonment; the squalid conditions he faced in Panama's infamous Modelo Prison; his eyewitness accounts of his fellow inmates' torture; and the plight of Kurt's family as they fled for their lives. And it reveals, for the first time, the astonishing details of the long-awaited day when helicopters arrived in a firestorm of bullets to whisk Kurt Muse from under the noses of thugs who had been ordered to kill him.

This is Kurt's thrilling and highly personal story—the story of an American hero on foreign soil, who risked his life for his beliefs and for freedom…and became the only American civilian ever rescued by the elite Delta Force.

Customer Reviews:

A truly captivating and well written real-life suspense story........2007-10-13

This book made me relive the fear and the anxiety most Panamanians experienced under Manuel Noriega's dictatorship.
I believe that the book exagerates somewhat on the overall role that Kurt Muse played in the huge movement to get rid of the military regime, but the only clear error I found (very small if one considers the length of the book) is that Dr. Hugo Spadafora, who was horribly tortured and beheaded by Noriega's orders, had not previously been an anti-Sandinista guerrilla, as indicated in the book, but an anti-Somoza guerrilla.
Another detail that I interpret differently is that I think that the permanent guard soldier who was ordered to kill Kurt Muse if an American invasion took place had just gone to the restroom when the rescue mission started, which I think was an answer to all the prayers for Kurt's life.

Ron, Redding CA.......2007-08-24

I had seen this book once in a book store and passed it up. From reading the description and review on [...] I decided to buy it. The book was well written and very informative. I knew of the incident, Operation Urgent Fury and the rescue of Muse, but knew very few details. My attention was held until the very end. Although somewhat limited or shrouded I especially enjoyed th details of the rescue and the rescuers. This is one of those books that just make you proud to be an American.

Riviting.......2007-05-25

I rate this book right up there with my favorites "Endurance", "Touching The Void" and "Blackhawlk Down". I had a tough time putting this book down. Kurt Muse is one strong willed indivdual.
Edmund Burke said it best with "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

Amazingly true story.......2007-05-13

What an amazing story to be told. I can't believe this really happened - I couldn't put down this book until the very end. A very fast & enjoyable read.

Could not put the book down.......2007-01-16

I am from the Canal Zone but was not there when Noriega was in power. The book is very well written and I am glad I purchased it. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants a book that is exciting and historical. I think Kurt has accurately described this period in the history of Panama and the Canal Zone.

Culture and Prosperity: The Truth About Markets - Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor

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history matters
An Inconvenient Truth
worth the money
Full of ideas!
Capitalism requires much more than just "free"markets

Culture and Prosperity: The Truth About Markets - Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor
John Kay
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060587059
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Book Description

A witty and accessible tour de force that is immersed in the latest economic thinking, Culture and Prosperity is an indispensable guide to the world around us and destined to become a classic text for understanding the politics of globalization.

Guided by the belief that a combination of lightly regulated capitalism and liberal democracy -- the American business model -- is not just appropriate for America at the dawn of the twenty-first century, but a universal path to freedom and prosperity, the United States is an unrivaled colossus seeking to remake the world in its own image.

After a decade of successive market revolutions around the world, beginning with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and continuing in countries as diverse as Argentina and New Zealand, the effectiveness of the market economy as a route to prosperity and growth is not in question, but a more sophisticated appreciation of the strengths and limits of markets is urgently required.

In this new and illuminating analysis of the nature and evolution of the market economy, John Kay attacks the oversimplified account of its operation, contained in the American business model and favored by politicians and business people. He even questions whether it offers an accurate description of the success of the American economy itself.

In an absorbing argument that rewards close reading, and rereading, Culture and Prosperity examines every assumption we have about economic life from a refreshingly new angle. Taking the reader from the shores of Lake Zurich to the streets of Mumbai, from the flower market of San Remo to the sales rooms at Christie's, John Kay reveals the connection between a nation's social, political, and cultural context and its economic performance.

Customer Reviews:

history matters.......2007-03-14

This book offers an explanation of why some countries did not experience large economic growth since the end of WWII, with an emphasis on South India, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Latin America. The author provides two reasons. First, some countries such as India and Eastern Europe decidedly went the route of central planning, a system that could never master the coordination and communication aspects that free markets naturally achieve. Others such as sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America tried free markets, but did not have the political and social institutions to make it work.

Specifically, the author argues that disciplined pluralism is the key to a successful economy, and free markets are the best starting point to get there. Pluralism means that individuals and units of individuals have choices for nearly all their economic decisions, such as what food to grow, what job to take, where to live, where to invest in, etc, etc... Disciplined means that these choices are offered and made in a common framework that everyone mostly adheres to without second thoughts or asking questions. Not enough discipline or not enough pluralism and free markets can degenerate into either monopolies or anarchy.

The author supports his arguments by looking at the history of nations, states, cities and companies throughout the past 200 years from various places in Western civilization. In doing so, the author also highlights major achievements in economic thought and how they have reflected, interpreted, or sometimes guided the actions of individuals and nations. So the book is two-fold; it serves as a history of economics and a history of economic theory. All in all, a good book and great reading.

An Inconvenient Truth.......2007-02-27

Every year, around about the time of the G8 summit, we're bombarded by dozens of well-intentioned pleas from celebrities and... well, people who listen to them, for the powerful nations of the world to make things better in the poor nations of the world. The assumption is that given enough dollars of aid, we could make the lives of those in the third world better. It's a noble goal, and possibly attainable in small, temporary measures, but ultimately has proven to be untenable. Why is that?

The root of the issue lies deeper than access to resources, which is the thrust of most aid. Financial aid is a band-aid on a leaking dam. The problem lies in the culture of the society.

Kay tackles the problem with the studied eye of an economist, and illustrates how economics, being an artifact of human behavior, is defined by the culture in question. The concepts of markets, rational actors, prices, and demand are formalized observations of the way in which people interact with each other to produce the means of survival (and beyond).

One of the major determinants of individual economic behavior are the rules and rewards of the system. When economic liberties aren't guaranteed (through corruption, extortion, weak law enforcement, excessive taxation), the resulting disincentive hampers the growth of the economy. Accordingly, in most of the impoverished nations of the world, the government is found to be corrupt on multiple levels.

Fair government alone doesn't guarantee a prosperous economy either. While it is a requirement for a prosperous nation, prosperity still requires the initiative of the populace, a nebulous concept that stems from the values and ideals of the culture involved.

Aside from the weighty consideration of poverty, Kay also drops a lot of little nuggets about more quotidian economic concepts, such as why fair trade coffee is more of a benefit to the retailer than the farmer, why generic foods are given lackluster labels, and numerous other backstories on the rationale behind retailing and pricing.

Overall, a very fun book which, though not entirely capable of answering the claim of its title, does as good a job as possible.

worth the money.......2006-01-30

As I read his column in the FT regularly I did have some idea as to the general direction this book would take.

The main point that Mr Kay makes, and one that can be found in all his other writings, is that consumers are not always rational. He believes that a large number of people act adaptively but not rationaly - due to the political issues/corruption of particular countries and firms. (GE is one of his favorite - i.e. the group think, as well as the civil service in mandarin times).

Mr Kay also pokes holes in the efficient market hypothesis rather well - another characteristic that makes him popular in the FT - although not quite a popular as Mr Plender.

While I rate the book as five stars, there are a few issues with this book that detract from the overall experience. The flower market as a perfect example of a competitive market gets tiring but the really annoying feature is the use of fictional individuals (Heidi the Swiss, Sven, etc). I realize this makes things easier to point out differences between countries but it does get tiresome after awhile.

If you are already into micro/macroeconomics this really does not cover anything new - it's just presented in a good format that makes a convincing case to the 'lay man'. Good read.

Full of ideas!.......2005-12-21

Very interesting and engaging book, highly recommended. However, I agree with other reviewers that the author is a bit too indulgent towards the many defects of continental European societies.
I also wonder whether the scintillating intellect of Professor Kay would have flourished in the homogeneous, tranquil and inclusive environment of countries such as Switzerland, Japan or Norway.

Capitalism requires much more than just "free"markets.......2005-06-09

Kay shows that successful capitalistic development over time requires much more than just free markets.Free markets are a necessary,but not sufficient,condition for success.Additional requirements are the provision of significant amounts of public goods and infrastructure(health,education,transportation,communication),the rule of law,legal institutions,and the existence of social,political,and cultural institutions that minimize economic and political corruption.Kay's correct analysis is marred by his ignorance of three important side issues.First,he claims that Keynes provided no mathematical model of his theory of effective demand in the General Theory(Kay,p.179).Keynes's mathematical model is presented in chapters 19-21 of the GT.Keynes presented the major result on pp.261-262 TWICE-Full employment requires that the marginal propensity to spend equals 1.Keynes then presents the technical analysis in the appendix to chapter 19,chapter 20 and chapter 21.The formal result is that w/p=mpl/(mpc+mpi),where mpc is the marginal propensity to consume,mpi is the marginal propensity to invest,and mpl is the marginal product of labor in the aggregate.Unless mpc +mpi=1,labor,as a whole,will be unable to reduce the unemployment rate by cutting their money wage.Second,Kay apears not to understand the difference between uncertainty and risk.He mistakenly associates uncertainty with the work of Allais and Kahneman and Tversky.Uncertainty analysis requires theincorporation of Ellsberg's analysis.Ellsberg appears nowhere in this book.Finally,Kay appears to be completely ignorant of the nearly 50 years of work by Benoit Mandelbrot demonstrating that the foundations for the Black-Scholes equation and the Efficient Market Hypothesis,the existence of a stable normal probability distribution,does not exist.Overwhelming statistical evidence has demonstrated that the relevant probability distributions for price movements in all financial markets are NOT normally distributed.I recommend that Kay seriously consider reading Mandelbrot's 2004 book,"The (Mis)Behavior of Markets"and then revising his book.

Jealousy of Trade: International Competition and the Nation-State in Historical Perspective

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Jealousy of Trade: International Competition and the Nation-State in Historical Perspective
Istvan Hont
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0674010388

Book Description

This collection explores eighteenth-century theories of international market competition that continue to be relevant for the twenty-first century. "Jealousy of trade" refers to a particular conjunction between politics and the economy that emerged when success in international trade became a matter of the military and political survival of nations. Today, it would be called "economic nationalism," and in this book Istvan Hont connects the commercial politics of nationalism and globalization in the eighteenth century to theories of commercial society and Enlightenment ideas of the economic limits of politics.

The book begins with an analysis of how the notion of "commerce" was added to Hobbes's "state of nature" by Samuel Pufendorf. Hont then considers British neo-Machiavellian political economy after the Glorious Revolution. From there he moves to a novel interpretation of the political economy of the Scottish Enlightenment, particularly of David Hume and Adam Smith, concluding with a conceptual history of nation-state and nationalism in the French Revolution.

Jealousy of Trade combines political theory with intellectual history, illuminating the past but also considering the challenges of today.

The Twilight of the Nation State: Globalisation, Chaos and War

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the best synthetic work available
The Nation State - An Indian View

The Twilight of the Nation State: Globalisation, Chaos and War
Prem Shankar Jha
Manufacturer: Pluto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0745325297

Customer Reviews:

the best synthetic work available.......2007-06-05

While Saskia Sassen's Territory Authority and Rights rivals Jha's analysis of the globalization of capital--her historical account of the formation of the nation state form is far more detailed than Jha's--The Twilight of the Nation State presents the most carefully detailed analysis I have yet read of how actual domestic policies have changed under the pressure of globalisation and of how and why the Westphalian order has unraveled in a reactionary attempt by the US at hegemonistic reconstruction for the purposes of securing investment outlets for a mounting stock of idle liquid capital. The book has the detail of a first rate journalist that Sassen's important and theoretically ambitious book sometimes lacks (though there are more carefully worked out economic models in this book than Sassen's), and Jha fuses politics and economics more successfully than Daniel Altman in his Connected; moreover he better understands the political dangers ahead than the more upbeat Altman. There is much in the book with which I do not agree, but it is simply the best available synthetic account of globalization. It would be a shame if it did not receive the same level of attention as Sassen's and Altman's also indispensible books.

The Nation State - An Indian View.......2007-02-18

Prem Shankar Jha, one of India's leading commentators and a first-rate scholar, has produced an exceptionally ambitious and ultimately highly successful book ranging over the recent history of capitalism on the global level and much else. The book, featuring a brief foreword by Eric Hobsbawm, is influenced by Jha's encounter with the thinking of Karl Polanyi. He concludes in part that the relevance of the Nation State (and of unipolar American power) is diminishing. While every reader will find judgments to quibble with (I disagree with him on NATO's intervention to protect Kosovo in 1999 which I supported then as I still do now - although he is right to point out that NATO's action may also have had geo-strategic aims), overall his analysis is compelling and his writing displays tremendous narrative drive (especially relative to the scholarly competition on such issues). In the West, a few dozen voices are heard again and again on these matters. We need to hear more on these important topics from the best in the developing world. Prem Shankar Jha qualifies as that and more.

Culture and Prosperity: Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor

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Culture and Prosperity: Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor
John Kay
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060587067
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Book Description

Why are some countries rich and others poor? Why does a farmer in Sweden have a higher standard of living than a farmer in South Africa? Why does a schoolteacher in Switzerland earn more than one in Chicago? According to leading economic theorist John Kay, economic markets are key to the wealth or poverty of the world's nations. In Culture and Prosperity, Kay explores why market economies outperform socialist or centrally directed markets -- and why the imposition of market institutions often fails. His search for the truth about markets takes him from the shores of Lake Zurich to the streets of Mumbai, through theories of evolutionary psychology and moral philosophy to the flower market at San Remo and Christie's salesroom in New York.

Witty, engaging, and grounded in cutting-edge economic theory, Culture and Prosperity is essential for understanding the state of the world today.

A Free Nation Deep in Debt: The Financial Roots of Democracy

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This book offers relentless proofs that public debt works
Insightful!
England's Democracy versus France's Ancien Regime
Insightful!
An excellent history of public debt and its role in developi

A Free Nation Deep in Debt: The Financial Roots of Democracy
James Macdonald
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691126321

Book Description

For the greater part of recorded history the most successful and powerful states were autocracies; yet now the world is increasingly dominated by democracies. In A Free Nation Deep in Debt, James Macdonald provides a novel answer for how and why this political transformation occurred. The pressures of war finance led ancient states to store up treasure; and treasure accumulation invariably favored autocratic states. But when the art of public borrowing was developed by the city-states of medieval Italy as a democratic alternative to the treasure chest, the balance of power tipped. From that point on, the pressures of war favored states with the greatest public creditworthiness; and the most creditworthy states were invariably those in which the people who provided the money also controlled the government. Democracy had found a secret weapon and the era of the citizen creditor was born. Macdonald unfolds this tale in a sweeping history that starts in biblical times, passes via medieval Italy to the wars and revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ends with the great bond drives that financed the two world wars.

Customer Reviews:

This book offers relentless proofs that public debt works.......2004-11-25

I have not finished this marvelously over-written book but I can tell you I no longer look at the U.S.'s problems the same way. This book of history has much to say about our current problems with social security, health insurance and the Middle East. The most impressive insight I have taken away from this book is that a King with a hoard of gold is no match to a republic where everyone willingly shares the debt load, no matter how great that debt is. You have to wonder if the U.S./U.K. would do better in Iraq if they spent more time setting up money markets. I also understand why the Palestinians refusal to use direct deposit will forever keep them poor and undeveloped.

Insightful!.......2004-06-08

This impressively researched opus reflects an obsession with One Big Idea that never comes quite clearly into focus, but revolves around the critical historical role played by national credit. Behold an author who not only quotes the Biblical book of Numbers, but also interprets it as a document of financial history, ignoring the contentious issues of authorship and anachronism that make scriptural exegesis such challenging work for specialists. He traces the way government and conflict are funded from Herodotus to the Hanoverian Court to Woodrow Wilson. Like the River Platte, this work is a mile wide and an inch deep; but the river has a definite direction, and this meanders. If you fancy an intriguing browse through major and minor points of political and fiscal history, we have found just the book for you. Some scenes are indelible, like the Germans celebrating WWI bond purchases by driving iron nails into a big wooden statue of a Field Marshall, and may jolt you if you think Allied and Axis powers were funded differently. The U.K. and the U.S. sponsored similar popular financial mobilizations, complete with bombastic slogans (no statues, though).

England's Democracy versus France's Ancien Regime.......2003-11-14

MacDonald argues that democracy arose to allow governments to borrow for war from their people. There is superb chapter on France versus England in eighteenth century. England had half the GNP of France, but it was always able to outspend France in their wars. England relied on 3% perpetual debt, readily marketable by holders, with published information about budget and single market indicator of England's credit rating. Plus England was run by "heroic citizen-creditors" who were willing to entrust their capital to Bank of England (for loan for war) because they ran the government and were sure they would get taxes to make the debt sound.
France had kings who defaulted on a whim, a bramble bush
of borrowing instruments, a terribly inefficient tax system, with lots of exemptions for their aristocrats, no public information and a lousy resale market. French citizen did not lend to France. England paid 3% on its debt and France paid 11% on its debt as the Revolution neared. England carried debt of double its GNP and France went bankrupt which killed the ancien regime with debt of 2/3d of GNP. Terrific story.
MacDonald is concise and accurate summarizer of the literature on issues (American Revolutionary War debt) that I know about.

Insightful!.......2003-10-16

An excellent history of public debt and its role in developi.......2003-08-25

This book is not what you think. The title suggests the repeat of the theme exposed by Paul Kennedy in the 80s in his book "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers." But, the two books advance almost symmetrically opposed theories. Paul Kennedy suggested that great powers eventually decline because they can't withstand the fiscal burden of maintaining a nonproductive military effort to govern their empire (the Imperial Overstretch concept). Macdonald instead advances that a public bond market is a nation?s best tool in raising funds for emergencies such as warfare. In Kennedy's book debt is bad. In Macdonald it is good.

Macdonald's argument starts with the fiscal stress associated with having to raise huge amount of funds in preparation for warfare. In such situation, raising taxes is impractical. Often tax rates would have had to double or treble to raise adequate funds to finance wars throughout history. A government can?t do that without causing a revolution. Often what states and government did before the advent of well developed public bond markets was to mine their grounds (or grounds of conquered territories) for mineral riches (gold and silver). The states would then hoard these gold reserves as funds available for a rainy day (war). But, as Macdonald points out this treasure hoarding was most inefficient from an economic standpoint.

Public debt markets became a much preferred alternative to treasure hoarding for financing wars. This was true for several reasons. Treasure hoarding represented a huge amount of wasted capital not reinvested in the economy where it could have generated rapidly rising living standards for society at large. Bond financing (public debt) was so much more flexible a tool for war financing than an ongoing tasking treasure hoarding mechanism.

Comparing two countries, one being a bond borrower, the other a treasure hoarder, one could readily observe that the bond borrower economy would grow much faster, and that it would have an easier time to finance wars when and as needed. Typically, you run out of gold reserve faster than you run out of a state's borrowing capacity.

But, for a public debt market to thrive you need democratic institutions. In democracies, the motivation of the government and its citizen are aligned. This facilitates a trust between the creditors (citizens) and the borrower (the government). As a result, democratic governments can borrow more and at a lower interest costs then other governments. In other words, the creditors of a democratic government assess a lower credit and counterparty risk to a democratic government, and therefore demand a lower risk premium (lower interest rates). This is Macdonald's main argument. Therefore, he concludes that the pressure to create public credit markets to finance wars was an impetus to create public debt markets and in turn to develop democratic institutions.

Customer Reviews:

Exiled in the Land of the Free.......2001-05-14

Exiled in the Land of the Free provides an excellent and in depth coverage of issues extremely important to the American Indian nations within the United States. Some of the issues addressed are sovereingty, trust resposibility, and a critical look at the involvement of American Indians in the development of the USA's political system. The essays are extremely well written and quote many primary sources. It would be a very helpful tool for anyone who works in policy making decisions regarding American Indian nations.

It's a Free Country: Personal Freedom in America After September 11 (Nation Books)

Average customer rating:

The fear factor
Some dare to speak... yeah, team!
Good collection of thoughtful essays...
Liberty, Freedom and Justice for All.......
More exploitation of 9/11, this time from the left

It's a Free Country: Personal Freedom in America After September 11 (Nation Books)

Manufacturer: Nation Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

September 11 | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The War on Our Freedoms: Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism

ASIN: 1560255226

Book Description

Six weeks after 9/11, the USA Patriot Act was rushed through Congress. This 300-page bill gave sweeping new powers to the FBI, CIA, and Immigration and Naturalization Service, permitting them to wiretap telephone conversations, read E-mails, and arrest, detain, and deport suspicious individuals. It's a Free Country examines the frightening consequences of the Patriot Act. Voices from across the political spectrum are represented, from civil libertarians of the left-Ira Glasser, Howard Zinn, Tom Hayden, and Michael Moore-to conservative critics of overreaching government, including former U.S. Representative Bob Barr of Georgia and Republican activist Paul Weyrich. Also included are original works by Steve Earle, Ani DiFranco, and Matt Groening. As Cornel West writes in his foreword: "The best way to pay homage to those innocent fellow human beings who were viciously killed on September 11, 2001 ... is to insure that their loved ones-as well as ourselves-live in an American democracy forever vigilant in its quest for freedom, and forever vigorous in its efforts to secure our precious liberties alongside our safety." A thoughtful and timely anthology, this edition has been completely updated.

Customer Reviews:

The fear factor.......2004-02-16

Every dictator recognises the power of fear. It's the chief rationale for controlling dissent. Justice for minorities can be shelved. The most blatant acts of government can be excused in the name of "security". This collection of essays by a wide spectrum of lawyers, writers, observers demonstrates how the Bush regime is using fear to consolidate power and undermine the democratic traditions of the United States. It has happened in the past, several of the writers note - the Alien and Sedition Acts of John Adams' administration, the Palmer Raids of World War I and the Japanese herded into concentration camps under the Roosevelt administration. While these events set a precedent, none reached the intensity nor had the far-reaching social impact the current regime has instituted since 2001-09-11.

The various authors examine the historical roots of stifling dissent in the USA. They explain what prompted governmental repressive acts and how these were implemented. Public reaction was usually swift and expressive, if not originally successful. Ultimately, protest and legal action led to disavowal or rejection of the acts or policies. With the Bush regime having declared the "war on terror" to be long-term, if not indefinite, note several authors, the new repression will endure and likely intensify. This presents the public with a new challenge. Even the normal, traditional mechanisms of countering repression have been curtailed, almost without the public noticing. This book, incorporating a variety of political orientations, points up the fact that democracy is more fundamental than party. Rights, the authors stress, are an issue of law, not campaigns. In particular, these essayists note, restricting freedoms to improve security is a false idea.

It is clear from this book that the barrage of unconstitutional declarations by the regime are not instrumental in defeating or preventing "terrorist" activities in North America. These directives and policy statements are designed to impose a reactionary, even dictatorial, social and political structure in the United States. The collection is a warning signal both to residents and citizens of that nation and elsewhere to scrunitise carefully any pronouncements deemed to "increase security". Reference to the "porous Northern border" of the United States in the Introduction is a clarion call to Canadians to read this book and follow events here and in the US closely. With the Bush regime applying pressure on various countries to conform to its methods and accept his dictums, we must maintain a wary eye on our neighbour's intrusions.

While the attempt to gain the widest political and social spectrum of writers and commentators to expose the legal terrorism by Bush and Rumsfeld is laudable, the message here is blurred by repetition. We all agree the WTC attacks were "horrific" but the editors might have applied a thesaurus to reduce the number of times the word is used. The incarcerated men and children at Camp X in Guantanamo have no civil rights, and their legal rights have been curtailed by illegal declarations by the Bush regime. One solidly researched and well-written essay on that topic would have sufficed, even if multiple-authored. The same standard might have been applied to some of the other topics. While it's essential to the survival of democracy to be aware of how Bush, Rumsfeld and the rest are shredding the American Constitution, this collection stumbles slightly in the effort. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Some dare to speak... yeah, team!.......2003-11-05

Three more copies en route because we vote with our money.
Applauding those who dare to speak when Newspeak
(and goldbergism via scarboroughbot) prevails and reagan
movies are censored by rove-rush-religious-reich-robots
is the least we can do in these times before the pendulum
swings back toward equilibrium of some sort..;>

May the public's awakening, evidenced by book sales
and righteous reactions to lying war-makers, occur in
our lifetimes. May more notice who is on first, who

benefits and where the money comes from and goes to
make media fear its own shadow. These contributors are
a brave lot. Castigated and cartooned by minions of
the rush-on-drugs-daily, they act and speak as if our
beloved country is not already lost. They restore hope.

Good collection of thoughtful essays..........2002-11-28

A wide variety of contributors make this book a useful counter to the rush towards war abroad and away from civil liberties in this country. Some are funny, some tragic, but all the pieces are thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Liberty, Freedom and Justice for All..............2002-11-10

...... is what this country is supposed to stand for. This book clearly shows how these ideals as well as the democracy which made this country great have all been swept under the carpet in the name of 'safety". This book contains numerous articles written by liberals AND conservatives alike, many which review what terrors have resulted in the name of 'tyranny over democracy' throughout history, in this country and in other countries. Terror is a fitting word because there we can see a more subtle yet ultimately just as dangerous form of 'terrorism'. Not only does it effect the thousands of people who have their lives destroyed by injustice, it also jeopardizes all our lives, since we have relinquished our power as Americans to one individual. America IS Americans (remember "by the people, for the people"?), and this book beautifully encompasses this theme. It isn't a question of left-wing or right-wing. Over three thousand people of all political persuasions, all religions, and all ethnic backgrounds died together in the terrible incident on 9/11. Most but not all were Americans. This book enables us to see the myriad ways in which the terror of 9/11 is still continuing. If the America of 'liberty freedom and justice for all' is destroyed, then Bin Laden and his followers have won. What we stand for means nothing if we sweep it under the carpet when it is most needed.

More exploitation of 9/11, this time from the left.......2002-09-30

Apparently windbags on the left are as eager to exploit the September 11 tragedy as are their noxiously gaseous counterparts on the right, which, as a progressive, I find distressing. Actually, this book is offensive on several fronts. First off, it is sloppily thrown together, with slipshod, clearly tossed-off contributions from many left-of-center journalists, some of whom (like Michael Moore) tend to speak before they think, thus hurting their cause, however worthy it might be. On top of that, the book becomes redundant, with contributors echoing each other over and over and over again. Better and much less indulgent editing would have helped here. The book's design, too, leaves a lot to be desired (it's downright ugly). The worst offense, though, has been committed by the book's publisher, which crassly released this volume just in time for 9/11's first anniversary, thus proving itself as rapacious as any fly-by-night right-wing press. But then, as I'm sure the authors of this tome would agree, that's capitalism.

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