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.

Patagonia: Wild Land at the End of the Earth

Average customer rating:

Beautiful photographs of a far away place
Patagonia a beautiful read!
Enhanced with an informative text

Patagonia: Wild Land at the End of the Earth
Tim Hauf , and Conger, Jr. Beasley
Manufacturer: Tim Hauf Photography
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0972074325

Book Description

Patagonia is a wild and windswept land located near the tip of South America that includes portions of Chile and Argentina. It features spectacular granite towers, some of the biggest glaciers in the southern hemisphere, and grassy steppes where colorful gauchos herd cattle and sheep across limitless prairies. It's a place that has always appealed to a special kind of traveler, lured by lofty summits and stupendous scenery. It's the kind of land where you can wander at will and find yourself lost in the most interesting ways.

Patagonia exudes a magnetic emptiness that calls forth a commensurate feeling for a newer, fresher, more hopeful world. Photographer Tim Hauf captures the spirit of this remarkable place in over 130 photographs that run the gamut from stunning vistas to intimate details. Conger Beasley provides an illuminating text that describes the fascinating history of this remote world, as well as its remarkable flora and fauna.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful photographs of a far away place.......2006-07-25

I bought this book because we are planning a trip to Patagonia. This book with its magnificent photographs has been a huge help in planning the trip. Not because it gives any travel tips, but the photographs speak for themselves. This is not a travel advice book. There is no information regarding where to stay or eat. However, the photographs tell me what not-to-miss sites to include in my tour. The photographs are so gorgeous that I cannot hardly wait to get there. This book plus a good South American travel agent have allowed me to establish a travel plan to the most scenic locations. The photographer must have spent a long time traveling the area. His views of glaciers, lakes, dramatic clouds and wildlife show his talent. Many outstanding panoramas are included. These must have been taken with a high quality panorama camera. This is a very nice photo book, to be looked at over and over again.

Patagonia a beautiful read!.......2004-07-21

I recommend this book highly. Tim Hauf?s remarkable photography captures the many regions of Patagonia - the diversity of landscapes, the various moods and raw beauty, a stark grandeur. The uncivilized immensity of mountains and water, sometimes filled with icebergs other times with whitecaps, some misty above the power of falls, leaves the viewer in awe. We are surprised and delighted by the variety of images, from the smallest of flowering bushes to the romping of guanacos, but overall we are speechless before the vastness of empty space. Fortunately, Conger Beasley?s text brings the photography into a semblance of understandable. By introducing us to the history of the region alongside tales of the personal journey that he shared with Hauf, Beasley brings the reader into the wild and foreign land as a fellow traveller. We are less intimidated by the endless wild.

Enhanced with an informative text.......2004-05-03

Tim Hauf is one of those photographers who raises to the level of visual art with his spectacular, full-color photography. Patagonia: Wild Land At The End Of The Earth continues to document his ability to capture truly memorable and impressive imagery -- this time to that wild and desolate region near the bottom-most tip of South American known as Patagonia. This latest showcase of Tim Hauf's photography is enhanced with an informative text by Conger Beasley as we tour through the history of this obscure but fascinating country which is sparsely populated, yet offers visions of granite towers, glaciers, wildlife, farmlands, and breathtaking landscapes of incredible beauty. Patagonia: Wild Land At The End Of The Earth is a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, and academic landscape photography collections.

To the Ends of the Earth: Adventures of an Expedition Photographer

Average customer rating:

The pairing of vivid text adventure and color drama is not to be missed.
A lifetime's experience
Superb Images.

To the Ends of the Earth: Adventures of an Expedition Photographer
Gordon Wiltsie
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393060284

Book Description

Unforgettable stories and images from America's preeminent adventure photographer on his most challenging, exhilarating expeditions.

Renowned as one of the world's foremost expedition photographers, Gordon Wiltsie has climbed Himalayan mountains, mushed dogs on the frozen Arctic Ocean, skied in Antarctica, and hacked through the Amazon jungle to photograph the most remote reaches of the planet. For the last three decades he has accompanied many of the great modern explorers—Alex Lowe, Conrad Anker, Will Steger, Jon Krakauer, David Breashears, Norman Vaughan—on incredibly challenging climbs and epic adventures. Despite carrying his own share of the weight—along with cameras, film, and lenses—he has matched these companions pitch for pitch and mile for mile, photographing them every inch of the way.

In this journey through ten unique expeditions, Wiltsie illustrates the daily life of an explorer—from the thrill of summiting a virgin peak to the fear of surviving a storm, to the humorous and unexpected everyday moments of life on the edge. 175 color illustrations, 9 maps.

Customer Reviews:

The pairing of vivid text adventure and color drama is not to be missed........2007-04-12

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: ADVENTURES OF AN EXPEDITION PHOTOGRAPHER tells of the author's passion for adventure and his life photographing some hundred expeditions to the wildest places on the planet. Here are ten of his greatest adventures, paired with stunning color photos, in a collection highly recommended not only for the general interest public library, but for college-level art photography holdings. The pairing of vivid text adventure and color drama is not to be missed.

A lifetime's experience.......2006-12-30

Gordon Wiltsie takes us to the ends of the earth and gives us a glimpse of the reality of expedition life; unlike other "adventure travel" books this one makes it clear that there is a huge amount of arduous labor, and often not much glory, involved. It's also apparent that he, if not his companions, truly enjoyed the inevitable unexpected challenges, and even the hardship and discomfort, of such trips.
Wiltsie's photographs are spectacular. While reading the book I continually wondered how he made some of these images ("how-the-hell-did-he-do-that?"). Which raises a minor complaint, I would have loved to have read more about the technical details of the author's workday in the field, as well as some technical detail about the photos.
Wiltsie's writing is clear, expressive, and warm; his self-effacing tone belies his athletic, technical, and artistic proficiency. I have to agree with a previous reviewer, more pictures and text are called for.

Superb Images........2006-10-24

This collection of images and stories is as compelling as any I've seen. Many will know Wiltsie's photographs from his mountaineering expeditions, and his photos here of the late Alex Lowe, Conrad Anker, and many others in dramatic action offer plenty on that count. But Wiltsie is one of the best "travel" photographers going, catching ordinary people from the far reaches of the planet in traditional dress and situations. Each is a fascinating study in itself. Wiltsie is a better photographer than writer, and almost all of the narratives--candid and spicy as they are--could be fuller and more detailed, for certainly the stories give the images their vital context. My greatest desideratum for this book was only that it include more: more words, more of those amazing photographs.

Average customer rating:

A taste.....
Irritatingly wonderful
Hauntingly Seductive
The Globetrotting Non-Tourist
Best of the Best in Travel Writing

To the Ends of the Earth
Paul Theroux
Manufacturer: Ivy Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0804111227
Release Date: 1994-04-02

Book Description

"Travel writing at its best."
THE HOUSTON POST
Author and travel writer Paul Theroux does what no one else can: he travels to the isolated, unusual, and fascinating spots of the world, and creates an elegy to them that makes readers feel they are traveling with him. Evocative, breathtaking, intriguing, here is the armchair traveler's guide to the sites of the world he makes us feel we know.

Customer Reviews:

A taste............2006-04-27

An unfair introduction to Theroux travels. It whets the appetite for those who have read just one or two of his books. For someone who has not read any of his books - well, unfortunately this book would not encourage them to buy the full texts. I don't think it does justice to his writing or his travels. Too short - each story.

The books in their entirety draw you in and make you live the experiences with him. I adore his books and his writing style. I love his full texts. By the time you're half drawn into one of these segments, they are over already. Too bad.

Irritatingly wonderful.......2005-12-28

I write that as my intro because this is a collection of selected works from several of the author's travels. Just as he is pulling you into one adventure the book moves on to another. You definitely will want to read the full books if you have any interest whatsoever in travel.

This author takes you on a round the world trip. You get to visit "guesthouses" with frozen feces and vomit in the stairway. You will meet possibly the worst driver ever. You wil have the chance to see if he exchanges a radio for sex with a woman before her husband gets home. Even though one vhinese woman says "don't get your hopes up", along with a lot of other English phrases, you definitely can have high hopes with this one.

Hauntingly Seductive.......2003-10-18

This romantic comedy by Paul Theroux was absoloutely superb. The character of baby Alexandra was my favourite as she was a talking baby with a strange disability, having the misfortune of wheels instead of legs. There were other interesting characters such as Bessy the poisonious mark, which could talk and fly.

Even though this book was fantastic it was great.

The Globetrotting Non-Tourist.......2003-05-18

This book is a collection of episodes, usually not connected, from six previous Theroux books published in the 70's and 80's. His travels in five different continents are highlighted here with varying degrees of detail. Since his other books describe distinct journeys from beginning to end, Theroux explains in the intro here that this book is meant more as a celebration of the art of traveling itself. He also has some snide insights into the art of travel writing, especially annoying authors who give only a tourist's eye view of the destination but don't bother to say how they got there. Getting there is Theroux's passion and the fragments in this volume usually show him encountering all kinds of intriguing characters and situations around the world, all while on his way somewhere else. That includes the good, the bad, and the ugly - and describing all of these with equal insight is Theroux's greatest strength as a globetrotting non-tourist.

Best of the Best in Travel Writing.......1998-04-03

In his Introduction Paul Theroux writes, "When something human is recorded, good travel writing happens." Theroux always records the human aspects of countries and people he meets along the way. He records the scene outside the train window or porthole like no one else. Close to poetic in some sections.

I have read almost all of Theroux's books and when I picked up this one I was afraid it would just be excerpts from his travels and might be less than satisfying, the tales taken out of conntext. I was wrong. These stories are gems in their own right, timeless, and may inspire you to read more of his books, fiction and nonfiction.

Average customer rating:

Sign me up!

Disappointed

Fantastic for Book Clubbers

Couldn't finish it

Him and his children on a journey around the world

Monkey Dancing: A Father, Two Kids, and a Journey to the Ends of the Earth
Daniel Glick
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone

ASIN: 1586482378
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Book Description

"An inspiring globe-trotting road trip with a personal and environmental agenda...definitely an armchair trip worth taking." Seattle Post-Intelligencer

After losing his brother to cancer and a painful divorce that left him the sole charge d'affaires of two decidedly spirited children, environmental reporter Daniel Glick knew he and his little family desperately needed some karmic rejuvenation. He opted for an epic adventure.

In the summer of 2001, Dan, Zoe, and Kolya packed up and set off on a six-month tour to see the world's most exotic and endangered habitats. Monkey Dancing takes readers along for this incredible journey. From the python-infested rivers of Borneo to the highest summits of Bali, from Nepal's Gangeatic Plains to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Glick recounts the adventures they met with, the challenges they confronted, and how they learned to cope with grief, loss, and one another. Along the way, he offers intimate reflection on life, fatherhood, change, and the fragile health of our troubled planet. Acclaimed by reviewers, a Booksense Parenting bestseller, Monkey Dancing is a "poignant, affirming, ultimately courageous book" --Audubon Magazine.

Customer Reviews:

Sign me up!.......2006-03-09

A great read for any traveller, but especially a parent who wants to expose their kids to the world but thinks it's a crazy fantasy. Lots of fun - hope I can take my kids on a similar journey soon!

Disappointed.......2005-04-28

I was looking forward to reading an account of a father travelling with his children and sharing their experiences. Instead, I found this book a diatribe about environmental issues and lacking in humour and interest. I couldn't identify with this man.

Fantastic for Book Clubbers.......2004-11-20

I recently chose this book as a selection for a book club that I am a member of. I bought the book on the basis of the editorial reviews found here at amazon, and based on the fact that it was a top book from 2003. Daniel Glick is a writer of such ease, grace, and intimacy. I felt that i was on this journey with Glick and his young children. The book sparked great discussion in my goup, such topics as loss, tolerance, accountability, conservationism, and parenting. Daniel Glick should be very proud of this work of art and of his most important two works of art, his children!

Couldn't finish it.......2004-11-06

I should have loved this book. I love travel writing, I'm a mom and I would love to do a trip like this with my own son someday. I just could not finish it. I'm amazed that it made Amazon's top 50.

I didn't find Glick or his kids very appealing. As I was reading I would think -- this part is supposed to be amusing, but it's not; this part is supposed to be touching, but it's not.

Him and his children on a journey around the world .......2004-08-07

What is a father to do when his brother dies of cancer, his marriage ends, and his life falls apart? Newsweek correspondent Daniel Glick decided his course of action would take him and his children on a journey around the world to see some of the planet's vanishing life forms, and Monkey Dancing is his account of that trip, taken in the summer of 2001. From the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to elephants in Nepal, Glick and his three children embarked on an unforgettable adventure and Monkey Dancing tinges their experiences with insights on loss, fatherhood, and world changes.

Average customer rating:

Interesting travelogue and account of the human and natural history of Tierra del Fuego
A recommended pick
Hands-on, Poetic Tour of Patagonia and Environs

Where the Earth Ends
Tristan Hughes , and John Harrison
Manufacturer: Parthian
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1902638689

Customer Reviews:

Interesting travelogue and account of the human and natural history of Tierra del Fuego .......2007-03-05

_Where the Earth Ends_ by John Harrison is an informative and entertaining travelogue and history of southernmost South America, mostly about the lands of Tierra del Fuego but also other areas of Chile as well as the author's travels to Antarctica and Juan Fernandez Island.

Harrison from an early age had wanted to visit this region of the world. His great-grandfather had sailed past the Horn in the great square-riggers, his grandfather sailed the Horn in steam and diesel, and the author himself had grown up reading accounts of the region, always wanting to "sail the waters of Coleridge's albatross and enter the watercolors' blue horizons and sit on Crusoe's imaginary shore."

The indigenous inhabitants of the region were of great interest to the author as he provided accounts of their long lost ways of life, stories of first contact with Europeans, and sale tales of his seeking out the last full-blooded members of various tribes or information on extinct groups. The reader will learn something about the Tehuelche Indians (the name literally meaning "people of the South"), a people who once lived in toldos (guanaco skin tents) and hunted not with bows or arrows but with bolas. They later became such excellent horseman that several brought home the top lassoing and riding prizes from the 1904 St Louis World Fair, beating American cowboys and South American gauchos. Another Indian group was the Yamana, who once lived in shelters made of branches and beech leaves along the shores of the straits. They ate great quantities of mussels, throwing the shells outside the door, moving the door around as the wind changed; eventually, circular middens of trash grew up and were colonized by various plants fond of the calcium-rich waste. These circles are common in the area.

Most Indian tribes seemed to have perished from disease and/or assimilation, but some were actively destroyed. The nomadic Selk'nam for instanced didn't build canoes or fish, but hunted guanaco. When the settlers came, drove off the guanaco, and brought in sheep, the Selk'nam hunted the sheep, and in turn the settlers hunted them. Bounties were placed on them, made on production of an Indian's ears.

Much of the history of the region revolved around shipwrecks and mutinies. At Puerto San Julian, Ferdinand Magellan had to contend with a mutiny in April of 1520, when three of his five ships came under the control of rebel officers. Fifty-eight years later, Francis Drake in the very same spot (some of Drake's men made souvenirs out of parts of Magellan's ship that were found) had to contend with his own mutiny. In between that time, twenty-one other ships had been unable to repeat Magellan's trip, either wrecking or being forced to return home, and many other ships wrecked in the centuries since then, several vividly described by the author.

Some ships were wrecked deliberately. Harrison visited the sunken hulk of a once great clipper ship. Once the _County of Peebles_ which under clouds of canvas could reach 14 knots even in light winds rounding the Horn, it was now a partially sunken ship and part of a pier. Square-rigged sailing ships remained in service long after steamships had replaced them throughout most of the world because it could take months to unload two or three thousand tons of cargo (chiefly copper ore at first but later nitrates, much of it the product of vast seabird colonies). As steamers could not afford to be idle so long, what finally put the sailing ships out of business was not it seems replacement by steam ships but rather the invention of methods to synthesize nitrates at home in Europe.

Not all disasters and sad tales involved ships. One story Harrison related was that of Captain Allen F. Gardiner, one of the first missionaries to attempt to work in the region and a "walking evangelical catastrophe...of a masochistic brand of religion." His 1850 mission plagued by hostile natives, lost supplies, storms, scurvy, and starvation, everyone on it died, leaving behind diary entries.

The author visited many of the cities and towns of the region. He spent a good deal of time in Ushuaia, Argentina which is billed as the southernmost city in the world, a city originally founded by missionaries. Another Feugian town he visited was that of Puerto Williams, the most southerly town in the world, founded in 1953 to help consolidate Chile's claims to Antarctic territory.

Interestingly, for many years the Chilean and Argentinean governments believed that the only way to settle the south was for convicts to build the town's infrastructure and for settlers to follow; Punta Arenas in 1842 was the first, which began with 600 convicts and prison guards. In 1851, there were 248 prisoners and families, 144 soldiers, and 44 free civilians. The next year new arrivals found ashes and skeletons, not a single survivor.

Harrison saw a great deal of wildlife on his trip. He visited a Chilean colony of Magellanic penguins, 130,000 strong, and interviewed a researcher who had been working with them for twelve years. On his way to Antarctica the author viewed wandering and black-browed albatrosses, various petrels (which he said were named after St. Peter because sailors saw them pattering on the water), Minke whales, and dolphins. While in Antarctica he saw Adelie and gentoo penguins, snowy sheathbills, and leopard and elephant seals among others.

The author spent some time considering the albatross that was shot in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem of the _Ancient Mariner_ and the one shot by a man by the name of Simon Hatley in 1726 (described in a book on the voyages of George Shelvocke around the world and a source of inspiration for Coleridge).

Another detective story the author related was the search for Elizabeth Island, a place discovered by Drake in 1578. For many years regarded as a lie or an erroneous report, later researchers determined that the island had been volcanic and had sunk beneath the waves.

A recommended pick.......2006-09-24

In 1996 a former town planner took his first trip to Patagonia, an experience which would change his life and which was inspired by the earlier travels of a sailor great-grandfather. His exploration of the island where the real Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked and his discovery of native tribes, exploitation of native peoples and harsh environment comes to life in a 'you are there' adventure travel guide, a recommended pick for any who would visit the region from the comfort of an armchair.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Hands-on, Poetic Tour of Patagonia and Environs.......2005-04-30

A thoughtful, informed and sometimes wry travel book, a welcome addition/update to Chatwin's "In Patagonia" and Wheeler's "Travels In a Thin Country."

Average customer rating:

A very gratifying book.

The Ends of the Earth: Essays
W. S. Merwin
Manufacturer: Shoemaker & Hoard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 159376068X

Book Description

Pulitzer Prize winner W. S. Merwin is widely acknowledged as one of the finest living poets. Less well known is the passion and range of his work in prose. For The Ends of the Earth—the Merwin's first new prose collection in more than ten years—he has gathered eight essays that show the breadth of his imagination and sympathy. A memoir of George Kirstein, publisher of "The Nation," stands alongside one of Sydney Parkinson, explorer, naturalist and artist on Captain James Cook's Endeavour. A wonderful portrait of the French explorer of Hawai'i Jean-Francois Galaup de La Perouse is followed by a visit to the Neanderthal skeleton of Boffia Bonneval. There are treks through the Hawaiian forests, to the Holy Mountain of Athos, and with the butterflies in Mexico. For this magical and wondrous journey we have as our guide the excited and concise poet-naturalist, writing at the top of his form.

Customer Reviews:

A very gratifying book........2007-04-11

The book consists of a series of essays by the poet W.S. Merwyn.

Some of the journeys herein are rambles, and you're not quite sure where Mr. Merwyn is headed. The last paragraph of each, however, ties it all together, and sends your mind a-reeling.

A most worthwhile read by a master!

It's Not the End of the Earth, but You Can See It from Here

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A Fan and A Nebraskan
Mark Twain meets Garrison Keillor
Great
CUDOS from a once Small Town Boy
Vintage Rog!!!

It's Not the End of the Earth, but You Can See It from Here
Roger Welsch
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Midwest | Regional U.S. | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Essays | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Rural Life | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Satire, General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0803298080

Book Description

Roger Welsch did what many Americans only dream of doing. While still in his professional prime, the folklorist and humorist quit a tenured professorship and headed toward the hinterland. Resettled in the open heart of Nebraska with his wife, Welsch proceeded to learn how to live. It’s Not the End of the Earth, but You Can See It from Here is, in his own words, "a celebration" of his "rural education."

These twenty-eight tales of the Great Plains convey in familiar Welschian style "the importance, charm, beauty, and value of the typical." They describe the wisdom that Welsch’s new-found teachers share with him. From everyday country people, he learns the fine arts of relaxing, using his noggin, trusting his instincts, and laughing a lot more, while Omaha Indian friends teach him the most profound lessons of all.

Customer Reviews:

A Fan and A Nebraskan.......2007-07-06

A classic, especially if you grew up in a little town in the Midwest. I keep re-ordering this book because I have to keep replacing it because I keep giving it away to everyone I meet that I know will love it. Unless you grew up in the big city, you know the people Roger Welsch writes about in this book, only you never realized how funny - or how endearing - they were. Or maybe you did, but you just didn't know how to tell other people about it. Roger does.

Mark Twain meets Garrison Keillor.......2003-04-30

Writing from a narrative center somewhere between Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor, author Roger Welsch memorializes the town and inhabitants of Centralia (aka Dannebrog, pop. 356), Nebraska, in what he calls "Bleaker County." Centralia itself is either the center of this windswept prairie state or the center of the universe, depending on who you ask in this small town. It's located not far north of the Platte River and its farmlands, and not far south of the Sandhills, with its population of cattle and cowboys. Life in Centralia gravitates toward the Town Tavern, where many of these story-essays take place, and we meet Welsch's fictionalized friends and neighbors: Lunchbox, Goose, Slick, Woodrow, and Cece -- the regulars. There are also his wife Lily, daughter Jenny, an Indian friend Cal, a kind-hearted bachelor uncle named Grover Bass, a film crew from public television in Lincoln, a mean cuss named Royal Cupp, a rip-tearing adventurer, Luke Bigelow, and many others.

Welsch has an appreciation for the quirky, cock-eyed, and audacious. Like an endlessly curious anthropologist, he's equally fascinated by the everyday and the out-of-the-ordinary. He's a humanist, romanticizing his characters even while he's treating them with tongue-in-cheek irony. He's also willing to show that they can stoop to the unforgivable, or that they do not share his appreciation for people from other ethnic backgrounds. There is a range of tones and sentiments in the book, from comic farce to tenderness and awe. My favorite essay, "Racing Horses at the Centralia Fourth of July," ranges across all three, as his young teenage daughter teams up with a burly cowboy to take second place in a relay race. I laughed and had tears in my eyes by the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and happily recommend it to anyone with an interest in small town life on the Plains. As a companion volume, I'd suggest the short stories of life in a rural Minnesota community in Kent Meyers' "Light in the Crossing."

Great.......2002-12-03

This is life and this is fun! Beautiful pictures of Great Plain - Small Village life written -so well!- by an expert.

CUDOS from a once Small Town Boy.......1999-08-31

In "It's Not the End of the Earth,..", Roger Welsch does an excellent job bringing out the humor of small town life by simply telling stories about his friends in Centralia, NE. He has a witty way of giving value to each of the members of this rural community bringing to light the peculiar habits and expressions that make them all unique, interesting, and memorable. I applaud Prof. Welsch's folkloric expose' of the kinds of everyday things that I used to laugh about with my dad - some of my favorite things.

Vintage Rog!!!

.......1998-11-05

If you come from a farm or a small town, you will find yourself wondering how Ol' Rog got to know all of your neighbors so well. I sure was.

This book is a collection of short stories and anecdotes about the characters and events in and around Centralia, Nebraska. Some of them are true, some just *slightly* embellished, and some of them are almost beyond belief, but they sure are funny.

Rog spins his yarns with a style that's all his own; witty, down to earth, and never pretentious. His descriptions and accounts made me feel like I'd known these folks all of my life, and left me with a smile on my face. Good stuff!

Average customer rating:

A wonderful book!

A fun compilation of the sights, sounds, smells, and one-of-a-kind experiences present all around the world

The best travel book you've never heard of

Makes me want to travel more.......

Trips down Memory Lane

Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth
Catherine Watson
Manufacturer: Syren Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | African | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Adventure | Specialty Travel | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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Home on the Road: Further Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth

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ASIN: 0929636457

Product Description

This collection of Catherine Watson's popular travel essays, often requested by her readers and reprinted by permission from the Star Tribune, spans thirty years and seven continents. Vivid, lyrical, sometimes humorous, always sensitive, her writing leads readers beyond exotic geography and into the rich terrain of the human heart.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful book!.......2006-04-29

Nominated for a prestigious Minnesota Book Award, 2006

"A tourist goes away but a travel writer comes back and tells others about the trip."

For 30 years (1978 to 2004) as travel writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune (where these columns first appeared), Catherine Watson takes us traveling. If traveling to you is only things you see, then you will find this book "too soft." Watson takes us to visit the people and each area's oddities (that's a good thing) or uniqueness.

The chapters are each a column titled and dated so you get a historical reference as well. This is the perfect book if you have only small bursts of reading time.

The cover is of the magnificent Taj Mahal in India. The building is captured in her wonderful descriptions of sites and sounds there. Now I know the history: Taj was the beloved and adored wife of the Shah, and at her untimely death, he had the Taj Mahal built across the river from the palace so he could look at it every day.

With Watson we travel the world to these places and dozens more:

-- Visiting Vietnam and its people in 1996, 20 years after the "American war," as they call it, ended there. She saw abandoned American military trucks now fully engaged in their commerce.

-- Getting a cleansing/cure/healing in Sonora, Mexico.

-- Renting a villa in Acapulco.

-- Crossing into East Germany in 1995 where the second language for most adults is Russian (not the English of West Germans). Here she writes about the spectacular glass-blown Christmas ornaments and the families who've made them for generations.

-- Polar bears in Churchill, Canada, where she gets up close and personal with nature.

In 1996 she even wrote about Minnesota, her and my home state. She was the tour guide for a visiting journalist from Holland to whom Minnesota was America as she had not visited any other city.

Watson has seen and done things I've always wanted to--and things I'd never be brave enough to attempt--and everything in between.

Armchair Interviews says: Travelers (those who go and those who dream of going) will love Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches From the Ends of the Earth. The book is really more about the people who happen to live in destinations admired by tourists.

A fun compilation of the sights, sounds, smells, and one-of-a-kind experiences present all around the world.......2006-01-12

Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth is a collection of travel essays by Catherine Watson, the chief travel columnist and photographer of the Minneapolis "Star Tribune" newspaper from 1978 to 2004. Divided into segments that devote a short and sweet 4-10 pages or so to each destination, Roads Less Travels recount highlights of the author's journeys to Spain, India, Mexico City, Vietnam, Australia, Bhutan, Antarctica, Kilimanjaro, and many more exciting and far-off places. A truly eclectic and fun compilation of the sights, sounds, smells, and one-of-a-kind experiences present all around the world.

The best travel book you've never heard of.......2005-10-21

I love Catherine Watson's stories because she strikes a perfect balance between lyricism and accessibility, and between the personal and universal. There's room for the reader in her sometimes tender, sometimes brave stories of world (and backyard) travel. The pieces, which originally ran the Star Tribune Travel section, are short in length, but long on beauty and insight. If you haven't read Watson's work, try it. It's a satisfying antidote to the overhyped, PR-driven world of travel writing.

Makes me want to travel more..............2005-10-12

Catherine has the unique ability to transport you with her words.....you feel the story coming alive....and you want nothing more than to go to these places and experience them yourself.

Trips down Memory Lane.......2005-09-28

Upon opening the package I had received, my breath was taken away when I discovered the magnificent cover of the Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth. The glorious Taj Mahal awaited me-but this time with a perspective off the beaten path.
This book offers various in-depth tales from far-off lands around the globe that many of us do not have the chances to visit much less feel a part of. With the Roads Less Traveled, the reader is offered the opportunity to globetrot without a passport-to feel the cold Antarctic winds, the heat of Honduras and to experience an Andean Trek. For those domestic tales, readers may reminisce about stories of their own, but have a new twist on past experiences.
Many kudos to Ms. Watson on this book!!
Hopefully there are future excerpts and essays to come!

AT THE END OF THE EARTH Essays on the History of the Jews in England and Portugal

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AT THE END OF THE EARTH Essays on the History of the Jews in England and Portugal

Manufacturer: Jewish Historical Society of England
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0902528378

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