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.

Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War

Average customer rating:

Way Down Yonder...
A story that deserved to be told, though it drags a little in repetitive places
How free black and white folk lived together for decades

Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War
Melvin Patrick Ely
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Israel | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0679447385
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Book Description

Thomas Jefferson condemned slavery but denied that whites and liberated blacks could live together in harmony. Jefferson’s young cousin Richard Randolph and ninety African Americans set out to prove the sage of Monticello wrong. When Randolph died in 1796, he left land for his formidable bondman Hercules White and for dozens of other slaves. Freed, they could build new lives there alongside white neighbors and other blacks who had gained their liberty earlier.
Fittingly, the Randolph freedpeople called their promised land Israel Hill. These black Israelites and other free African Americans established farms, plied skilled trades, and navigated the Appomattox River in freight-carrying “batteaux.” Hercules White’s son Sam and other free blacks bought and sold boats, land, and buildings, and they won the respect of whites.

Melvin Patrick Ely captures a series of remarkable personal and public dramas: free black and white people do business with one another, sue each other, work side by side for equal wages, join forces to found a Baptist congregation, move West together, and occasionally settle down as man and wife. Even still-enslaved blacks who face charges of raping or killing whites sometimes find ardent white defenders.

Yet slavery’s long shadow darkens this landscape in unpredictable ways. After Nat Turner’s slave revolt, county officials confiscate and auction off free blacks’ weapons–and then vote to give the proceeds to the blacks themselves. One black Israelite marries an enslaved woman and watches, powerless, as a white master carries three of their children off to Missouri; a free black miller has to bid for his own wife at a public auction. Proslavery hawks falsely depict Israel Hill to the nation as a degenerate place whose supposed failure proves blacks are unfit for freedom. The Confederate Army compels free black men to build fortifications far from home, until Lee finally surrenders to Grant a few miles from Israel Hill.

Ely tells a moving story of hope and hardship, of black pride and achievement. He shows us an Old South we hardly know, where ties of culture, faith, affection, and economic interest crossed racial barriers–a society in which, ironically, many whites felt secure enough to deal fairly and even cordially with free African Americans partly because slavery still held most blacks firmly in its grip.

Customer Reviews:

Way Down Yonder..........2007-02-07

Ely's revelations about Free African Americans in Virginia living, working, interacting, and marrying with white rural Virginians is a fascinating, detailed, and insightful revelation. Not so much that it happened, but that it was kept such a secret from the public, and in fact the subject of much dishonest, negative propaganda by the press and the politicians of the era. A week or so after starting to read this fascinating book, a relative was talking about what a great guy his new Cardiologist in Richmond, Va was. And he related that the good Doctor was from Charlotte Court House, between Naruna, Va where I grew up and, the location of New Isreal in Buckingham County. And his name was Randolph...,the family name taken by many of the slaves freed by the Mr. Randolph in the 1700's. This week the legislature of Virginia passed an official statement of regret for the effects of slavery. An institution the the Randolph family escaped a hundred years before most of their peers. Hopefully it wont take another hundred years before an African American Cardiologist from small town Virginia, is not a anomaly.

A story that deserved to be told, though it drags a little in repetitive places.......2005-12-22

The subject of this history is Israel Hill in the early 19th century, a settlement in Virginia of free African Americans, former slaves who had been emancipated in their former owners' will. The book explores various aspects of lives in this community: land ownership, chosen occupations, relations with the law and with their neighbors.

It is a good and worthy history; I'm glad I read it, as I learned much. It is also a story very much worth telling. The discussion of how many of these men were drawn to the profession of piloting river shipments was particularly interesting.

The modern reader will doubtless be struck by how frequently these individuals were able to assert their rights. The law was certainly not colorblind, and they were discriminated against in many fundamental and structural ways. But the book also shows many instances wherein the freed men and women were able to bring suits and win them, or to be acquitted from unjust charges. Although discrimination was embedded in many aspects of the law, it was nevertheless the case that many a judge and jury would believe the word of a black man with a reputation for honesty over a white man with a reputation for venality.

Would-be readers should be aware, however, that the book is quite detailed. Numerous cases like those referenced above are described, and it can take a fair amount of reading to go through the examples that serve the author's point.

If I have one small criticism of the book, it's in the number of times the author feels compelled to point out that things back on Israel Hill weren't always the way that we modern audiences tend to assume from Pre-Civil War Virginia. He's certainly correct, but we have no way of knowing what future generations will assume about that time. His book would have more staying power if he didn't expect certain presumptions on the part of the reader; his work speaks for itself without them.

But that's a minor quibble; it's an inspiring story, and worth reading. Most general readers will find their understanding of this earlier society much deepened.

How free black and white folk lived together for decades.......2005-03-12

A Southern experiment in black freedom from the 1790s through Civil War times? President Thomas Jefferson condemned slavery but didn't believe whites and liberated blacks could live together in harmony: His cousin Richard Randolph and ninety blacks set out to prove him wrong, and built a bastion of freedom in his heritage to bondsman Hercules White and dozens of other slaves. The lives of the newly freed people on the land Israel Hill is revealed in Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War, an in-depth survey of how free black and white folk lived together for decades. Chapters provide both a social history of slavery and a set of political insights detailing hardship, black pride, and an impossible dream come to life.

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 (The Royal Diaries)

Average customer rating:

The Royal Diaries: Nzingha
Sooooooo SHORT!!!!!
Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba
Phenomenal
An excellent new addition to the Royal Diaries!

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 (The Royal Diaries)
Patricia McKissack
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Royalty | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0439112109

Amazon.com

In 1595, Nzingha is the strong, intelligent daughter of the Ngola (leader) of the Mbundu people of Ndongo (in modern-day Angola), loyal to her people and willing to fight for them. Unfortunately, because she is a girl, her brother is the favored child, in training to become the next Ngola, even though he is whiny, stupid, and slow (according to Nzingha). But Ajala, a respected seer, believes that Nzingha is destined to be the leader of Ndongo, and begins preparing her for this future. Nzingha's father fights to keep the Portuguese from taking over their homeland, yet it is Nzingha, ultimately, who acts as the go-between for her people and the Portuguese, negotiating acceptable relations in order to keep peace and power for the Mbundu.

Based on true historical events, places, people, and customs, this novel portrays the fascinating details of a remarkable young woman's strength and courage in defending her world against subterfuge, spies, and the onslaught of the Portuguese. Historical notes, photos, illustrations, maps, the Ngola family tree, and a glossary and pronunciation guide are included for a comprehensive understanding of a complex era. Patricia McKissack is the well-respected and award-winning author of over 100 children's books and historical novels, including the Newbery Honor book The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural and Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love (from the Dear America series). (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Customer Reviews:

The Royal Diaries: Nzingha.......2007-08-13

For both young and more mature readers, this is the story of 12-year-old Nzingha. The year is 1595, and Nzingha is the independent and intelligent daughter of the ngola of the Mbundu people. She hunts with her sisters, prepares for her coming of age ceremony, struggles for her father to notice her, and faces conflict throughout the book. This book is a great read. Fantastic for all ages. I suggest it to anyone who likes historical fiction, for it is an interesting spin on royal life, and appropriate and easy enough for the young reader, but has enough drama for the adult crowd. I wish it was longer, however, at 90 pages this is a quick read!!! Two thumbs up!!!

Sooooooo SHORT!!!!!.......2006-12-03

i read this book a few days ago and i thought i would be good after reading the first few pages. But after reading for a while, after about 90 pages, the STORY ended and went to Epilouge. The Epilouge is just talk talk talk. Very boring, and the rest of the book is all like pictures.

I might have made the book sound very bad but i would recommend it for people who want to read a liite short story. There are also some very funny lines in the book that made me laugh! haha

Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba.......2006-05-17

Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba
By Patricia C. McKissack

"I wondered what it must be like to be on a ship flying over the water to Brazil. The horror of it was beyond my understanding. Suddenly, there was noise at my door. The Pombeiros and several guards entered. 'Come with us.' Then speaking to several guards, one said, 'Hold her tight. She is a young leopard.'" (McKissack, 79)

The old saying "never judge a book by it's cover" is one truth I have never had a problem with, until I came across this one book in particular. When I first saw the Royal Diaries book "Nzignha, Warrior Queen of Matamba," I thought for sure I would have not liked it. With the front cover depicted of an African girl holding a bow and arrows, and the background that of a barren desert, I presumed the layout of the book would be anything but royal and fancy. However, little did I know, stories can sometimes be very different from one's assumption.

One out of nineteen books in the Royal Diaries series, "Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba" by Patricia C. McKissack, sets in Angola, Africa, in the year of 1595. Nzingha is an adventurous, bold thirteen-year-old girl, and second heir to the throne of Ndongo. Throughout the book, which is written in diary format, Nzingha talks about the war with Angola's bitter enemy, the Portuguese, as well as what she would do to improve the land of the Mbundu if she were Queen, though does not discuss anything too exciting in which to capture your interest. At 136 pages, the plot of "Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba" is somewhat dry and tedious, and tends to quickly move on to other subjects without a thorough explanation. I must admit however, it pleases me that the authors of the Royal Diaries series are starting to represent girls in royal families, but with cultures and backgrounds much different from that of, say, Elizabeth I or Marie Antoinette.

As an avid reader of the Royal Diaries, I am not sorry I read the book, but am rather disappointed with the complete layout of the story. Mrs. McKissack could have done a better job adding clarification and activity to the real life character of Nzingha, one of the greatest women monarchs of African history. Unless you are new to the Royal Diaries series, and are anxious to learn about the lives of various queens in history, I would not recommend reading "Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba."

Overall grade: C + (or 3)

Phenomenal.......2005-09-19

This book is my introduction to the Royal Diaries series, it has propelled me to seek out more from this line. I loved the story of a strong, independent, and determined young girl growing to become a woman in a male-dominated time. I feel this book was very informative and am truly disappointed by some of the reviews for this book. I do wish it was longer, as I found the story quite intriguing. Young Nzingha learns that not all your enemies are your enemies, with friends among the foe. I love the insight into the Mbundu people. I feel it was meant to give you a view into the people, not of the land of Angola. I will definitely be adding this one to the shelf for my daughter.

An excellent new addition to the Royal Diaries!.......2005-08-14

The year is 1595, and princess Nzingha is living a life of luxury in Angola, Africa. Her father is the respected ngola of Ndongo and many predict that he will be suceeded by his first son, Mtambi. Nzingha writes about her life in Africa as an important royal in the African Royal family. Nzingha lives an active life as she goes hunting with her friends and learns about the evil Portugese. She earns her say in court and is pretty much happy with her life, until she learns that her people are being enslaved by fiendish Portugese slave-traders. Eager to gain the leadership of Ngola and respect of all, Nzingha sets out on an important mission to save her people from the realm of the Portugese Slave-traders.

Average customer rating:

Rich and rewarding
Many Personalities, One Voice
Original, but snobbishly intellectual
Murdoch's Black Prince
And Funny, Too.

The Black Prince (Penguin Classics)
Iris Murdoch
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0142180114
Release Date: 2003-03-25

Book Description

Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.

"Fertile invention is put to the service of an expansive sense of character; and since the book also has Miss Murdoch's usual narrative energy and intellectual weight, it is the best novel she has written in years." (The New York Times Book Review)

Customer Reviews:

Rich and rewarding.......2007-09-22

One of the best books by one of the best novelists of the 20th century. The story of the heinously bitter and unreliable Bradley Pearson is rich with complexity of character and situation. Between the bitterness and the self-justification, answers to the questions about "what really happened" become almost unknowable- the only "truth" in the book is emotional truth, which rings from every sentence. I want to reread the book now because once I understood what the main text really "was" I felt like I needed to go back and look at it all again in a completely different light

Many Personalities, One Voice.......2007-01-01

Try this hypothesis: the Black Prince's several authors -- Bradley Pearson plus the others who offer commentaries at the end of his work -- are all Bradley, writing as separate personalities of a full-blown psychotic.

Under this hypothesis, the back-story of the novel would be that Bradley's personality was too fragile to sustain even the relatively mundane life he had built for himself. That life falls apart before the action of the novel starts: his well-adjusted wife leaves him, he retires from an orderly job at a relatively young age, he feels blocked in his attempts at writing, and he is traumatized over the approaching end of his sex life by a disappointment with a much younger woman. Under the impact of these blows, Bradley's personality cracks, and his new, multiple personality sets about doing what Bradley couldn't: writing.

The novel itself -- the book that you and I read -- is what the psychotic Bradley writes. As a psychotic, he obviously can't interpret the back-story that led to his insanity: he can tell us that he lost his job and wife, etc., but he can't tell us why.

Nonetheless, in his novel he starts sketching his friends and family. With his psyche out of control, however, these personages rapidly fall out of character and start acting out Bradley's conscious and unconscious wishes, sometimes to the embarrassment of this still reserved man.

Nonetheless, Bradley is happier and more in control in his new world -- a world of which he is, after all, the author. So, he ultimately kills off his old self by writing about the murder of his alter ego, Arnold Baffin, a real writer who Bradley envies. (Although the narrative initially portrays Bradley as only having discovered Arnold's body, Bradley subsequently accepts responsibility for the murder when prosecutors show that he is the only logical perpetrator. Perhaps in the back-story to the novel, Bradley actually did kill Arnold as his first act of full schizophrenia.)

Having killed himself off, Bradley then takes up full-time residence in the fictionalized personalities that his writer-self has adapted from real life, and he starts writing commentaries from their points of view on what he has just finished writing as Bradley. He ends his days in the prison of his own mind, and possibly in the real prison he writes about.

The clues that lead to this hypothesis are both external and internal. Externally, there are the absurd, self-incriminating commentaries that end the novel and that provide the Fowles-like multiple perspectives on the narrative facts.

Internally, I couldn't help feeling that all the characters speak with Bradley's voice. His skill as a writer differentiates the characters' external traits, but somehow they all become philosophers using Bradley's own erudite language to unravel the central puzzles of Bradley's own life. Too much revolves around him.

Supposing that something like the above hypothesis is right, then Murdoch's task was, in a way, easy: she just had to put herself in the place of a mad ventriloquist -- Bradley. This should be no great trick for an experienced novelist! Easy or not, she pulled it off, or something much like it.

Original, but snobbishly intellectual.......2005-12-21

The Black Prince is a curious piece of work. It is completely fiction, but it uses this device in that the "publisher" is a friend of the "narrator" who has written most of the book. There are epilogues by other characters in the story and by the publisher himself at the end.

Now about 90% of the book is "written" by the narrator, who obviously is a flawed man. He is immature, pompous, selfish, and probably a little mad. And on top of it, he is a flawed writer as well. He has longwinded asides about everything under the sun, and rationalizes and over-explains all his behaviour to the nth degree. Now come to think of it, I'm sure Iris Murdoch intended this to be so, ie. she intends the reader to figure out that the narrator is a flawed and pompous man and writer. But my question is, does that make a good book? It brings to mind the old one-liner: if a book that teaches failure does badly, is it a success?

If the author makes the narrator a bad person, well and good, but when he is made a bad writer as well, one must howl something is amiss. This is really why the book did not work for me: I thought Murdoch's device, although very original, was snobbish and intellectual. At some point I had to stop putting up with it and say "narrator = writer => Murdoch = pompous + flawed".

Now I felt Murdoch does have mastery over language and characters, so perhaps another book of hers might be really good (this was my first Murdoch). "The Black Prince" though, I thought was all very good in maybe a creative writing classroom, but not out of it.

Murdoch's Black Prince.......2005-05-25

This is a thoughtful, difficult novel that explores the ambiguities of human character and the complex relationship between art and passion. Dame Iris Murdoch (1919 --1999) was both a philosopher and a prolific novelist. She wrote "The Black Prince" in 1973. A subsequent novel, "The Sea, The Sea" received the Booker Prize.

The book revolves around several complex characters. The hero is an author, and retired tax inspector, Bradley Pearson, age 58 at the time most of the action of the book takes place. He has published only sparingly but prides himself as a serious author. Most of the story is told by Bradley.

Bradley has long been divorced, but his ex-wife Christian is a major character in the book, as she reenters Bradley's life after the death of her second husband. Christian's brother, Francis Marloe, is a failed physician who offers advice and assistance, of a mixed quality, to Bradley during the story. Bradley is a long-term friend of the Baffin family, which includes Arnold, a highly successful writer of fiction, his wife Rachael, and their 20-year old daughter Julian. The story revolves around the 58-year old Bradley's love and passion for the 20-year old Julian. As the story unfolds Bradley's sister, Pricilla, is leaving her husband and comes to Bradley for emotional support and assistance. Bradley is put to the test about how he will respond to his sister.

The other major character in Murdoch's novel is an editor, "P.A. Loxias', who becomes Bradley's friend and the editor of Bradley's manuscript that Bradley wrote recounting his love affair with young Julian. The manuscript forms the body of the book. Bradley wrote the book after the fact, while in prison for a crime he did not commit. Loxias both introduces and closes the book, while Christian, Rachael, and Julian get brief opportunities to write for themselves and to comment upon Bradley's manuscript. This "Penguin Classics" reprint of the book also includes an introduction by the noted philosopher Martha Nussbaum which is unusually detailed and, perhaps, could be read as yet another editorial comment on Bradley's story that might well have been part of Murdoch's text.

The story is full of ambiguity, vacillation in its characters, and violence and thus is almost a retelling of Hamlet -- Shakespeare's play that figures prominently in this book. Another main influence on the book is Plato, particularly his great dialogue "Phaedrus" which explores the relationship between art, erotic love, and rhetoric, as this novel does as well. It is always good to be reminded of and to think about Plato. A third, less obvious influence, I think is Buddhism. The influence of Buddhist thought on Murdoch is explicit in her novel "The Sea, The Sea" but it is here as well. The book can almost be read as an illustration of the three basic traits of existence as developed in Buddhist thought: suffering (dukka), change, and egolessness. Bradley and the other characters struggle to see the world and other people clearly but are prevented from doing so by their own passions and self-concepts.
Bradley achieves a Buddhist-like detachment near the end as he reflects upon his experiences.

In reading the book, I found it helpful to distinguish clearly between the body of the story that Bradley recounts and the time that he wrote it, some years afterwards, while left alone with himself to reflect. Bradley was swept with passion for a relationship that could not have lasted, that he did not fully understand, and that lead to tragedy for many people. Yet this passion helped him, in the final analysis, attain a degree of peace and understanding. He was able to tell the truth in writing his story and to present himself, terrible warts and all. Love lead to great human sorrow for Bradly, but it also lead to his ability to present his experience in the form of art and to reflect upon it dispassionately.

Portions of this book are rather wordy and inner directed. It needs to be read carefully. But I found it an inspiring treatment of the nature of human erotic passion and its force for life. The book will appeal to readers willing to reflect and to explore themselves.

And Funny, Too........2005-02-08

Just adding to the plethora of reviews and putting in my two or three cents. Dame Iris is said to have possessed a prodigious and heavy intellect. And one can see, in reading her works, that this is very true. She is able to see into all the various emotional responses of myriad characters, and to do so faultlessly. Yes, we say, this is true! This is the way he would think and act (or the way I would think and act.) She is mercilessly honest in her descriptions, whether they be of thoughts or actions. And I found the book very humorous. Our hero, Bradley, is himself a humorous character, so serious and caught up in himself. He is a buffoon who constantly makes the wrong choices, yet intellectualizes everything and rationalizes everything to suit himself. I think this is quite an amazing book. As one reviewer who didn't like the book remarked, it is a farce. And yes, it is a farce. But there are nonetheless deep truths running around in here. Dame Iris had this incredible ability to see through people, to put herself in their places and understand just what they would do in any given circumstance. Her characters are so impeccably drawn that we know them utterly.
To be able to weave a good story is one thing, that makes a good story-teller. To be able to create characters which live and breathe is yet another thing, and many writers base their works on this alone. But to be able to write impeccably precise prose , create living characters, tell a great story, and have a moral imperative is what makes great literature.
The Black Prince is worth a read. This is great literature, and a whole lot easier than all those Russian guys.

Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine: A Biography of the Black Prince

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Excellent material, if a bit dry

Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine: A Biography of the Black Prince
Richard Barber
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 085115686X

Book Description

Edward, prince of Wales and Aquitaine, known as the Black Prince, is one of the legendary figures of English history, victor of three great battles and a model of chivalry and courtesy. Behind this image, which many of his contemporaries accepted and eagerly believed in, it is difficult to get at the realities of his character and of the life that he led. Most of his biographers have based their work on the splendid vision of chivalry conjured up by Froissart, but the present book deliberately shuns this approach, to see what can be found in official records, particularly from the prince's household and those who campaigned with the prince. Special attention has been paid not only to the confusing and confused accounts of the great battles, but also to the prince's early years, his close companions who contributed so greatly to his successes, and to his government of Aquitaine, an obscure but very important part of his career. A number of minor but persistent errors in early histories, deriving from Froissart, are corrected. A concluding chapter examines how the legend of the Black Prince (and his curious nickname) came into being. By separating the image and the reality, a clearer picture of the prince emerges. Dr RICHARD BARBER is the author of The Arthurian Legends, King Arthur: Hero and Legend, Tournaments, a biography of Henry II, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe, and the recently revised seminal study of The Knight and Chivalry.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent material, if a bit dry.......2007-03-19

If you're looking for an upbeat, easy-to-read history of Prince Edward, look elsewhere. This is definitely NOT the book for you.

If you are looking for a book that details the life of a great leader, and digs deeply into the machinations behind the events of his times, this is definitely the book to get.

So, point of the review: Armchair historians beware! This is a deep, quite dry history of the Black Prince.

The History of Mary Prince (Penguin Classics)

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An important document of the slave experience
A Woman's Voice and the Experience of Slavery

The History of Mary Prince (Penguin Classics)
Mary Prince
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140437495
Release Date: 2001-01-30

Book Description

After enduring years of cruelty and abuse at the hands of several families who successively owned her in Bermuda and the West Indies, Mary Prince traveled to London in 1828, in the service of the Woods family. There she was granted her freedom in accordance with English law. But England's anti-slavery ruling did not extend to Antigua, and, in order to remain free, Prince had to abandon hopes of rejoining her husband, who had been left behind. Seeking help from Britain's Anti-Slavery Society, she was offered domestic employment and met her employer's friend, Susanna Strickland, to whom she dictated this gripping story of her life.

When it was published in 1831, Prince's History provoked a libel action and counter-suit and required three editions to keep up with public demand. A moving, painstakingly detailed record of the experiences of the author and of her fellow slaves, it became a powerful instrument in the Anti-Slavery Society's campaign against the slave trade. Sara Salih's introduction and notes place the narrative within the context of black history, and examine, as well, Victorian constraints, which required the narrative to be made palatable for contemporary audiences. This edition also includes a chronology and supplementary material on slavery and the case of Mary Prince.

Customer Reviews:

An important document of the slave experience.......2001-01-06

Born in Bermuda in the late 18th century, Mary Prince was a Black woman who survived enslavement in the colonial world of the Caribbean. She orally told her story to a third party, who transcribed it. First published in England in 1831, "The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave" is one of the most important narratives of the slave experience in the Americas.

This book describes in detail the reality of the slave experience: the dehumanization of Black people, the moral degradation of their masters, and the ever-present violence. Prince's story is also an important early defense of the humanity of people of African descent. She notes that slave masters "think that black people are like cattle, without natural affection. But my heart tells me it is far otherwise."

Prince tells of her labor in the salt ponds of Turk's Island, her conflict with a hired mulatto woman, her spiritual life in the Moravian Church, and many other topics. Ultimately, she celebrates the desire and hope for freedom: "All slaves want to be free."

"The History of Mary Prince" does not quite attain the level of literary craftsmanship and psychological complexity as do some other classic slave narratives (I am thinking in particular of those of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs). But it is still a powerful, authoritative, and important human testament. Mary Prince declares, "I have been a slave--I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave knows." We of later centuries need to hear her words.

A Woman's Voice and the Experience of Slavery.......2000-09-25

First published in 1831, "The History of Mary Prince" is an extraordinary cultural document. It is the first published account of a female British ex-slave. Mary Prince, a slave in the West Indies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, tells the story of her life in an effort to awaken sympathy for the abolitionist movement in England.

Mary particularly emphasizes instances of the arbitrary punishments meted out by her various masters. She repeatedly questions how the British, a civilized nation, could permit its colonists to treat its colonial work force like brute beasts. Mary elicits our attention and respect in the ways she manages to resist the brutality of her masters, both physically and vocally. She often shows herself speaking out against cruelty regardless of social taboos, accepted colonial norms of unquestioning obedience, and the image of the "benevolent" slave owner.

Mary's narrative is also remarkable for her characterization as the "self-made heroine." Mary tells us extensively about her attempts to save enough money to purchase her freedom, and to engage, convert, and marry the man of her choice. As the editor of this edition points out, as Mary begins to learn the value of her labor, she more easily manipulates her owners into realizing their own powerlessness over her. A sort of Wollstonecraftian feminist hero, Mary Prince bases her self-definition on her ability to be financially, as well as physically independent, and to improve herself through education and religion.

One limitation of "The History of Mary Prince" is the fact that it was only dictated by Prince. It was transcribed and published by British abolitionists, who may have suggested the emphasis on brutality and deemphasis on specifically sexual violence. It is impossible to know the extent of the editing process, which was out of Prince's hands. Nonetheless, this edition, edited by Moira Ferguson, contains many relevant historical documents which provide a rich context for Prince's narrative.

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One of the best primary sources of the Hundred Years War

A True Historical Account

Rock On

The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince: from contemporary letters, diaries and chronicles, including Chandos Herald's Life of the Black Prince
Richard Barber
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine

Poitiers 1356: The Capture Of A King (Campaign)

Crécy 1346: Triumph of the longbow (Campaign)

Chronicles (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 0851154697

Book Description

Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, known as the Black Prince, is one of those heroes of history books so impressive as to seem slightly unreal. At sixteen he played a leading part in the fighting at Crécy; at twenty-six he captured the king of France at Poitiers; and eleven years later he restored Pedro of Castile to histhrone at the battle of Najera. His exploits were chronicled by Jean Froissart, but Froissart was writing three or four decades after the events he describes. There are other sources much closer to events, and it is on these that the present volume draws. Most immediate are the reports sent home by the prince's companions-in-arms and his own letters, which graphically convey the hardships and difficulties of campaigning, its dangers and sheer fatigue. These are followed by campaign diaries and the story of Crécy and other exploits of the prince's from Geoffrey le Baker's chronicle (c.1358-60), itself drawing on similar letters and diaries. Finally there is the chronicle of Chandos Herald, which shows the prince as he appeared to an English writer in the 1380s. Each of the sources is discussed in detail in the introductions to the extracts. RICHARD BARBER's books on the age of chivalry include 'The Knight and Chivalry, Edward Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, King Arthur: Hero and Legend' and 'Arthurian Legends'. He has also written the 'Companion Guide to Gascony and the Dordogne', the background to so many of the Black Prince's exploits, and the 'Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe'.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best primary sources of the Hundred Years War.......2007-04-29

Read this for graduate history course in medieval history.
Richard Barber's edited works of "The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince," is one of the best primary sources of the fourteenth-century. Unlike many historians' accounts, Edward's prose make for an engaging read. Edward's writings may be short on the type of battlefield details that modern historians yearn for; however, they are rich in explaining some of the tactical decision-making made by Edward III before and during the Crécy campaign.

The Black Prince noted that Edward III's purpose for the invasion of France, which started the military action in the Hundred Years War, was to conduct a chevauchée, which was essentially a procession of the army through the countryside that pillaged as it traveled. Edward III then intended to use his superior mobility to make his escape up the coast to Flanders without having to fight a major battle with the numerically superior French forces. However, Crécy was the sight of the first major battle of The Hundred Years' War and was a rousing success for the invading English army of Edward III. The battle, which took place on just two days in August of 1346, was emblematic of the tactical successes that the British enjoyed at the battles of Poitiers and Agincourt.

The book accounts the skill and courage that the Black Prince and his men fought with as they fended off several waves of French attacks on that day and the next day as well. The book has an excellent account about the sixteen-year-old Black Prince's baptism by fire in battle. "There he learnt that knightly skill which he later put to excellent use at the battle of Poitiers, where he captured the French king." Although heavily outnumbered, Edward III's longbow men were the force multiplier that garnered a stunning victory for the British over the French. Most estimates of the longbow tactics used in the battle state the over one-half million arrows fired by the English easily cut down the French cavalry. Thus, the longbow, and the brilliant way in which it was employed, was responsible for the lopsided casualty figures of the battle. Although casualty figures are somewhat unreliable, most sources put the French losses at one-third of the French nobility-about 12,000 men in all, against the English losses of 150 to 1,000 total. Froissart sums up the mastery of the longbow men and the tactics they employed turning them into a weapon of mass destruction and a force multiplier. "They were some of the finest, most highly trained and militarily efficient troops that any nation ever put into the field of battle." The battle of Crécy taught all the armies of Europe that the longbow would reign as the supreme weapon in battle for the next 100 years.

Ten years later in 1356, and a few years after the ravages of the Black Death, the Black Prince conducted and won the most valuable battle of the Hundred Year's War, at Poitiers. The Black Prince won a stunning victory over King John II of France, culminating with the king being captured and killing and capturing of thousands of other French noblemen. Clearly, this action far surpassed the victory won at Crécy. France's military was decimated. The country was pushed to the brink of political collapse, and was left with a tremendous debt in both money and territory to pay for the king's ransom.

Recommended reading for those interested in medieval history.

A True Historical Account.......2003-05-20

I gave this book five stars for its originality. I loved that the author (who has a number of great works) pretty much steps back and allows the people of the 14th century to do most of the talking. After all, who better then them to tell their own story?
It was also interesting to read how the Black Prince's contemporaries viewed him. Which was not at all like the tyrant recent historians have made him to be. But this book was more then just about the Black Prince, it gave an insight into medieval warfare and what these soldiers truly lived.

Rock On.......2002-10-23

LONG LIVE THE PRINCE OF WALES.

THE BLACK PRINCE ALWAYS TRIUMPHS.

Book Description

In the spring of 1703, a young African boy stepped off a slave ship in Constantinople, the gateway between East and West. Huddling in chains, with other frightened captives, the seven-year-old claimed to be a prince of Abyssinia, a "noble Moor" kidnapped and stolen out of Africa. His tragedy was shared by millions of black people caught up in the Islamic slave trade, but his destiny was unique: rescued by Peter the Great, the young African became Abram Petrovich Gannibal.

Russia's westernizing tsar adopted the child and, in a bizarre nature-and-nurture experiment, lavished on him the best education available in the new "European" capital of Saint Petersburg. Gannibal, the "Negro of Peter the Great," soared to dizzying heights as a soldier, diplomat, mathematician and spy. He was fêted in glittering salons, from the Winter Palace to the Louvre, and came to know Voltaire and Montesquieu, who praised him as the "dark star of Russia's enlightenment." At the same time, his military exploits, from northern Spain to the icy wastes of Siberia -- to say nothing of his marital problems -- sealed Gannibal's reputation as the Russian Othello.

African prince or not, the ex-slave founded a dynasty of his own in Russia, where he came to embody the strengths and weaknesses of the country itself -- volatile, courageous, handsome, gifted and always astonishing. His descendants included not only Alexander Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet, but also, in England, several Mountbattens and others close to the royal family.

Customer Reviews:

A captivating half detective, half biographical novel.......2007-07-30

An African man in Russia? Sounds far fetched but it's true Abram Petrovich Gannibal was one such man who came from slavery to preeminence in 17th century Russia. This novel attempts to find exactly where this enigmatic man came from and how he became a favorite of Tsar Peter the Great. Using clues from Gannibals letters, which reveal him to have an elusive personality, and accounts from poet Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, which are a more fiction than fact, the author attempts to track Gannibals journey from his African homeland, through the Ottoman Empire and finally to Russia. Along the way a cast of other colorful charactes reveal themselves and some are most beneficial to Gannibal. After gainig Peter the Great's favor Gannibal is educated in Paris and becomes an accomplished mathmetician, draftsman, and even pyrotechnic engineer. Yet as time passes and new rulers come to the throne Gannibal soons finds himself out of favor. Nonetheless his heritage should not be forgotten and is dully laid out in this novel. And it is still not forgotten interestingly enough in the Mountbatten family of Great Britain who have a line of descent from Gannibal.

Surprising story of a Black Ex-Slave.......2006-10-01

In this book we are treated to a fascinating story of the court of Peter the Great. The story of how diplomats were acting in the Russian court at the time, the internal politics, the manipulations of the whole system is quite fascinating.

At the same time, what I found puzzling was how this one lad, captured as a slave from (presumably) Chad, he was made a page in the sultan's harem, and from there to the Russian court. Not stopping there, proceeded to become, as the subtitle says, 'Europe's First Black Intellectual.'

Accomplished in mathematics and military theory, he was a designer of fortifications, friend (or at least acquaintenance) of the powerful of the time across all of Europe. These were astounding achievements for any man, but even more surprising for a black ex-slave.

A blend of history, travelogue and memoir which surveys the life and times of a young African slave .......2006-08-19

THE STOLEN PRINCE: GANNIBAL, ADOPTED SON OF PETER THE GREAT, GREAT-GRANDFATHER OF ALEXANDER PUSHKIN, AND EUROPE'S FIRST BLACK INTELLECTUAL is perhaps most startling for the final five words in its subtitle: a black intellectual in early Europe? Lost documents have been revealed to provide depth and understanding to this reconstruction of the life of Gannibal, creating a blend of history, travelogue and memoir which surveys the life and times of a young African slave in Constantinople in 1703 who claimed to be a prince stolen from Africa. Russia's tzar adopted the child and gave him the best education available, and thus Gannibal became a early soldier, diplomat and spy whose reputation and achievements would earn him a name through history.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The Black Prince and the Sea Devils: The Story of Prince Valerio Borghese and the Elite Units of the Ecima Mas

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The story of Prince Valerio Borghese
Before There Were SEALS, SAS, or Special Forces.

The Black Prince and the Sea Devils: The Story of Prince Valerio Borghese and the Elite Units of the Ecima Mas
Jack Greene , and Alessandro Massignani
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0306813114
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Book Description

The only biography of Prince Valerio Borghese--the legendary Italian World War II naval commando whose covert activities shocked the Allies and became a model for today's "special forces."

At the beginning of World War II, Prince Junio Valerio Borghese, dashing Italian nobleman, assembled the famous Decima MAS naval unit-the first modern naval commando squad. Borghese's "frogmen" were trained to fight undercover and underwater with small submarines and assault boats armed with a variety of destructive torpedoes. The covert tactics he and the Decima MAS developed, including the use of midget submarines, secret nighttime operations, and small teams armed with explosives, have become a standard for special forces around the world to this very day.

After the Italian capitulation in 1943, Borghese determinedly fought on as a Fascist commando leader. After the war, he became a man of mystery, variously said to be involved with several right-wing conspiracies, abortive coups, and clandestine activity. The Prince's death in 1974 was every bit as mysterious as his life.

Greene and Massignani have drawn upon official archives as well as information from Allied and Axis veterans in an unprecedented attempt to separate fact from fantasy in this detailed examination of Borghese, the Decima MAS, and the Italian naval special forces.

Customer Reviews:

The story of Prince Valerio Borghese .......2004-09-08

Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani's The Black Prince And The Sea Devils is the story of Prince Valerio Borghese and his infamous World War II Italian naval commando unit will intrigue any with a special interest in World War II history beyond the generalist topics and scope. Green has authored four previous military titles and Massignani brings with him a special focus on Italian naval history: the two draw upon official archival sources and veteran accounts on both sides to separate fact from fantasy.

Before There Were SEALS, SAS, or Special Forces........2004-07-02

Every major military in the world has it's special elite units. The British have their SAS. The Americans the SEALS, Rangers, and Special Forces. Strangely enough, this trend began with the Italian Navy. Their Decima MAS unit pioneered the concept of small, specially trained units that did damage to their enemies far beyond their size. Movie buffs will recognize their exploits as shown in the 1958 movie 'The Silent Enemy' where frogmen attack the HMS Valiant and the HMS Queen Elizabeth using specially modified torpedoes that they ride into the harbour.

It is nice to see that the Italian military is portrayed here as something other than the bumbling fools so often shown in American films and books. This book treats the unit as they would any other unit, telling how it got started, their training, their failures and their successes. This book is also the basis for a new movie called 'The Sea Devils' although I understand that the project is now on hold.

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