Oh! where are Bloody Mary's earrings?: A mystery story at the Court of Queen Victoria

Oh! where are Bloody Mary's earrings?: A mystery story at the Court of Queen Victoria
Average customer rating:
Oh! where are Bloody Mary's earrings?: A mystery story at the Court of Queen Victoria
Robert Player
Manufacturer: Gollancz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0575014296

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome
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Cicero's Rise to Power

Excellent, and very different from McCullough

Cicero Rising

a good read

An plausible politician

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome
Robert Harris
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Political | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 074326603X

Book Description

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATHERLAND AND POMPEII COMES THE MOST PROVOCATIVE AND BRILLIANT NOVEL OF ANTIQUITY SINCE I, CLAUDIUS --

IMPERIUM

A CAUTIONARY TALE OF CICERO, THE GREATEST ORATOR OF ALL TIME, AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY STRUGGLE FOR POWER IN ROME.

When Tiro, the confidential secretary (and slave) of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events that will eventually propel his master into one of the most suspenseful courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian, a victim of the island's corrupt Roman governor, Verres. The senator is Marcus Cicero -- an ambitious young lawyer and spellbinding orator, who at the age of twenty-seven is determined to attain imperium -- supreme power in the state.

Of all the great figures of the Roman world, none was more fascinating or charismatic than Cicero. And Tiro -- the inventor of shorthand and author of numerous books, including a celebrated biography of his master (which was lost in the Dark Ages) -- was always by his side.

Compellingly written in Tiro's voice, Imperium is the re-creation of his vanished masterpiece, recounting in vivid detail the story of Cicero's quest for glory, competing with some of the most powerful and intimidating figures of his -- or any other -- age: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and the many other powerful Romans who changed history.

Robert Harris, the world's master of innovative historical fiction, lures us into a violent, treacherous world of Roman politics at once exotically different from and yet startlingly similar to our own -- a world of Senate intrigue and electoral corruption, special prosecutors and political adventurism -- to describe how one clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable man fought to reach the top.

Customer Reviews:

Cicero's Rise to Power.......2007-10-09

I am in awe of the fictional writers of the Roman Empire, Graves, McCullough, Saylor, Harris and many others. Each of their novels that I have read has brought me more in touch with some element of the complex culture of the time.

Here, through a speculative treatment on how Cicero became a "new man". We can get an idea of how elections took place and how corruption, for which this society was known, infected them. Harris also deals with issues of class and the entrenched attitudes about status and how this affected politics after Sula and the Civil War.

We also get a plausible portrait of Cicero, how he thought and what motivated him.

I highly recommend this for anyone who has interest in this historical period.

Excellent, and very different from McCullough.......2007-10-08

I love Colleen McCullough's sprawling Roman series, which is an extraordinary panorama of one of the most turbulent, fascinating and influential eras of western history, the six-decade-long Fall of the Roman Republic. She's not as polished a writer as Robert Harris, though...her books are wonderfully prolix, almost too much so, and she has certain repetitive mannerisms which can annoy. But the series certainly is a monumental achievement.

While McCullough focuses around the towering life and impact of Julius Caesar, Harris's choice of Cicero is perhaps even more revealing of the true nature of Late Republican politics. Cicero was a major player for most of this period, whose complex relationships with the various factions had immense influence on the course of events, and yet -- unlike Caesar, born to the highest aristocracy -- he was also an outsider who depended entirely on his wits to struggle and survive. Harris deftly depicts his qualities of pragmatism, idealism and political cunning as he negotiates the viper's nest of public service in ancient Rome.

Cicero hasn't aged well in most modern historical recreations. I believe most of our contemporaries accept the greatness and inevitability of Caesar, or someone very like him. Because Cicero opposed Caesar and his faction, and eventually lost his life for it, he comes across most often as a stuffy, self-serving, conniving, all-too-outspoken conservative out of step with the times. The fabulous if inaccurate TV series Rome is just the most recent example.

In fact, Cicero may have been the only sincere defender of the Roman Republic remaining by the time he was killed...and for all its flaws, it was certainly a nobler form of government than its imperial successor.

This excellent book helps to redress the character of Cicero. I can't wait for the sequel.

Cicero Rising.......2007-09-15

Although Robert Harris writes historical fiction, he is not particularly attached to any one time or place. His first novel was actually an alternate history - a what-if-the-Nazis-won-WWII tale called Fatherland. He has, in his last two novels, however, gone back to ancient Rome, first with Pompeii (which I have not read) and now with Imperium, a fictional biography of Cicero.

Narrated by Cicero's slave Tiro (who serves more as an observer than a true character), Imperium tells of the rise of Cicero to the highest position in the Roman Republic, the consulship. The first half is actually more of a courtroom thriller, with Cicero prosecuting a corrupt Sicilian governor. Actually, most of the legal system is open to bribery, making Cicero's job all the harder. At stake is Cicero's whole career: if he can somehow pull off a victory, he can start his climb in power; if he fails, he will never be more than a lowly senator. Of course, since Cicero is well-known in history and the governor, Verres, is almost forgotten, most readers know who will win, but Harris is still able to make the prosecution suspenseful.

The second half of the book deals with Cicero's political rise and the intrigues that both help him and make him enemies. His principal ally - although not always reliable - is Pompey, the great general who is at the peak of his power. On the other side is the plutocrat Crassus, whose hatred of Pompey will create an enmity with Pompey. There is the vicious Catalina who has Crassus's backing and intends on opposing Cicero for the consulship. Finally, there is the ambitious up-and-comer, Julius Caesar.

Harris has written a good novel, but there are imperfections. For all his attempts at being historically accurate, he also has anachronisms, such as referring to the months of July and August (which would not be named until decades later after Julius and Augustus Caesar had risen to the peaks of their power). The story also ends rather abruptly, leading me to think that Harris has a sequel intended. Harris does succeed at the heart of the book, however, bringing Cicero - often thought of as the greatest orator ever - to life. Fans of historical novels - particularly Roman historical novels - should enjoy Imperium.

a good read.......2007-09-14

Imperium is the first of two volumes of a fictional biography of the Roman orator, lawyer, statesman, new man, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Mr. Harris uses the often successful formula of relating the life story of a historical figure through the eyes of a confidante, in this case the secretary Tiro, and he does not disappoint us. Tiro does his best to show his master warts and all, while still maintaining his loyalty to him, thus creating a fairly complex character of Cicero, a reasonably approximation of the real man himself as we know him from his extensive writings, especially the letters.

That does not mean that Mr. Harris does not create his very own universe of the era and the man, with emphasis on Cicero's real or perceived adversaries, the aristocrats who disdain the New Man, and the favorite villains for most novelists writing about the late Roman republic, Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. The latter trio does not fare as well in way of characters, they are frequently drawn as carricature. Tiro himself is depicted as somewhat priggish and bland.

Characters more sympathetic in the narrator's - and presumably the author's - eyes, such as wife Terentia, brother Quintus, and the idealistic cousin Lucius, fare better, as does the potential villain Caelius.

That said , the novel is a good read, bringing Rome and the late republic vividly to life. The uncovering of Verres' horrendous excesses in Sicily is masterful. The reader gets a good introduction to Roman politics, and Cicero's work habits and his love/hate relationship with Terentia indeed do not strain one's imagination. Tiro's well known invention and use of stenography is being put to good use and on occasion does make for a nice suspense. As in the only other book by the author which I have read so far, Pompeii, the prose is excellent.

There are some anachronisms, indicative maybe of the lack of a good reader, but not to the point where they could become annoying.

I give the book three stars and look forward to the sequel. However, I cannot agree with Allan Massie, who wrote that, "Reluctantly, I must admit that Imperium is better than [my six novels]." He is much too modest!

An plausible politician.......2007-09-13

Even through fiction I think Harris has captured the essence of politicians that existed then and still do today. It seems to me a very likely scenario, not necessarily kind to any of the characters. I have often thought that there is not a single species of humans but two: homo sapiens and homo politicians. And Harris' Cicero is no better than any of the others. Cicero could claim the high moral ground in his mind, but in truth he laid the groundwork for the dissoluation of the Republic by his own desires to become Consul. Harris points out all the rules Cicero abused to achieve his goal, all the twisted morals, soul selling and double dealing he engaged in, while claiming to be the honest common man. Between bribery with money or favors and manipulations the result still remains the same except Cicero in all his blindness could not see his manipulations would have far more reaching reprisals. Nor would he admit it or perhaps realize or care what he had done because he was the consumate politcian. Yet Cicero's greatness still comes out in the story. Harris I think took fact and made it one of the most compeling and accurate stories of the period. Engaging story, excellent detail and somewhat depressing because nothing has changed for over 2000 years. I hope he does a follow up to this story.

Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?

Average customer rating:

"The Forensic Search for Amelia Earhart"
Welcome back, TIGHARs
HOW you solve the mystery is just as important
Fantastic, not at all dry!
I Couldn't Put This Book Down!

Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?
King Thomas F.
Manufacturer: AltaMira Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance
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Amelia Earhart

ASIN: 0759101310

Book Description

Can modern science tell us what happened to Amelia Earhart? The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) has spent fifteen years searching for the famous lost pilot using everything from archival research and archaeological survey to side-scan sonar and the analysis of radio wave propagation. In this spellbinding book, four of TIGHAR's scholars offer tantalizing evidence that the First Lady of the Air and her navigator Fred Noonan landed on an uninhabited tropical island but perished before they could be rescued. Do they have Amelia's shoe? Parts of her airplane? Are her bones tucked away in a hospital in Fiji? Come join their fascinating expedition and examine the evidence for yourself! The new paperback edition brings the search up to the present, including tantalizing evidence of campfires and charred bones found on remote Nikumaroro.

Customer Reviews:

"The Forensic Search for Amelia Earhart".......2007-09-04

"Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?", Udated 2004 Ed., Thomas F. King, et al., AltaMira Press, NY 2001, ISBN: 0-7591-0131-0, PB 374 pgs., plus 23 pg. Notes, 9 pg. Biblio., 20 pg. Index, & 104 B & W photos, illus. or maps., 6" x 9".

This is an academic work by a contingent of skilled scientific experts whose writings & basic investigative work was coordinated, in part & on behalf of TIGHAR (Int. Group of Historical Aircraft Recovery) & updated 2004. The 27 chapters describe a forensic approach to solve the mystery of aviatrix AE's disappearance enroute 2,223 miles to Howland Isle from Lae, New Guinea, July 2, 1937.

The book's format & length makes for difficult reading: -- it is based on best available scientific evidences & hypotheses of multiple disciplines of archeology, geophysics, aeronautics, anthropology, and review of both private & governmental archival information in addition to tabulating their search findings on tiny remote South Pacific Phoenix Isle "Gardner", but renamed Nikumaroro, or "Niku". Author was a principle TIGHAR investigator taking part in expeditions to Niku, & he writes with authority, -- having "been there, done that!"

Inclusion of more than 100 photos, illustrations, maps, etc., makes the reading more easily understood & tolerable: -- for it is not a book one picks up and being enchanted 'reads from cover to cover' without pause. For readers who want an up-to-date analysis of AE's disappearance this book is best read after the reader is thoroughly familiar with AE's character, avocations, skills, life experiences's and accolades by the press, politicians & the powerful, -- for Amelia was a complex person living in exciting, changing times on the cutting edge of new technologies.

Many of the chapters begin with stanzas of word parodies to be sung to certain melodies, attributable to TIGHAR but not author King. The parodies I found to be highly irregular, unsettling & not in best taste, so downgraded book from 5* to 4*.

Welcome back, TIGHARs.......2006-10-27

Those persistent TIGHARs are back with more suggestive but inconclusive research about what happened to Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 -- somewhere.
Every so often, somebody shows up in Hawaii with a kooky theory about Earhart, ranging from shot by the Japanese as a spy to still alive and keeping house in New Jersey.
The International Group for Historical Aircraft Recovery is far from kooky.
For one thing, they appear to have managed the trick of being zealous without becoming zealots. As lead author Thomas King puts it, "Most people have more pressing things to do" than hunt for a lost airplane that, given the odds, would more likely than not be under three miles of water.
The TIGHARs work, for free, in their spare time, on the assumption that, despite the geographical odds, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan didn't just run out of gas and sink under the ocean. They think Earhart missed her target but may have crash landed on an intermittently inhabited (but in 1937 empty) island named Nikumaroro, where Earhart and Noonan might have either survived for a while or been eaten by crabs.
It's "a mystery that can't be put down," King says.
But hard to pin down.
Since the publication of "Amelia Earhart's Shoes" in 2001, the TIGHARs have run down more physical evidence, including things that look a lot like panels from a Lockheed Electra, but nothing definitive yet. The revised, 2005 edition is preferred over the first edition.
The story of the hunt also reveals a great deal of fascinating information about the South Pacific, which is big, mostly empty and weird.

HOW you solve the mystery is just as important.......2006-09-26

Who says historical research and science have to be boring? In Amelia Earhart's Shoes, Dr. Tom King and others take us on a winding (sometimes loopy, even!) journey that tries to answer the question: What happened to famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart and renowned navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 after they vanished during her around-the-world flight attempt?

Amelia Earhart's Shoes does not pretend to solve the mystery - it does show that by applying the scientific method to a popular event, you can strip away all the myths and fables and assumptions and come up with relatively simple explanations that can be tested to see if they are true or false. That the scientific method may upset a few of those legendary apple carts along the way is proof that it works - something is either true or not true, provable or not provable. In Earhart's case, the truth may turn out to be much more mundane than some of the more colorful "solutions" to her disappearance would have us believe.

There is a lot of information in Shoes, but it is presented in an easy to read, almost chatty style (think ghost stories around the campfire while making s'mores) that keeps you turning the pages to see what the heck is going to happen next. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) has now been to the South Pacific eight times to try and prove or disprove their hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan missed their destination, tiny Howland Island, and landed on another deserted island, only to die (or perhaps be completely missed) before the frantic searchers could get to them.

Amelia Earhart's Shoes is a great read that should be on the bookshelf of everyone interested in what really did happen out there in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean almost 70 years ago.

Fantastic, not at all dry!.......2006-05-02

I saw one of the people involved in this project speak at EAA's big national air show in Oshkosh, WI last summer. It was the most popular lecture session I attended while I was there. Interested, I picked up this book expecting a thorough but dry, academic read.

Was I ever wrong! This book is not only fascinating, it's funny! It's written with some dry humor that made me want to keep reading more. And the authors lay out a strong argument, to boot. It does make one wonder...

I Couldn't Put This Book Down!.......2002-05-03

I picked up this book at my library on a lark. I've always been interested in what really happened to Amelia Earhart, but always just assumed that her plane crashed into the ocean. This book, however, completely opened my eyes to a new hypothosis: that Amelia and her navigator managed to land on an island and send out radio signals for help. The information presented in this book isn't just wild guesses and conspiracy theories - the authors make a point of backing up their thoughts with cold, hard evidence. I was hooked from the first page and got so engrossed that I ended up not doing my work at my job just so that I could finish a few more chapters. The book also has a wicked sense of humor and debunks the myth that scientists are just stodgy old guys. I'd reccomend this book to anyone with even an ounce of curosity. I'm holding my breath until Dr. Tom King and the other authors put out another book on Amelia. I can't wait to see what they find!

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe

Average customer rating:

All Over The Map
Better Items Available
Enjoyable overview of the Middle Ages & how they formed us
An Engaging Writer but Superficial and Wrongheaded History
Haven't finished reading it yet...too soon...

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe
Thomas Cahill
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books

Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0385495552
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Book Description

After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today.

By placing the image of the Virgin Mary at the center of their churches and their lives, medieval people exalted womanhood to a level unknown in any previous society. For the first time, men began to treat women with dignity and women took up professions that had always been closed to them.

The communion bread, believed to be the body of Jesus, encouraged the formulation of new questions in philosophy: Could reality be so fluid that one substance could be transformed into another? Could ordinary bread become a holy reality? Could mud become gold, as the alchemists believed? These new questions pushed the minds of medieval thinkers toward what would become modern science.

Artists began to ask themselves similar questions. How can we depict human anatomy so that it looks real to the viewer? How can we depict motion in a composition that never moves? How can two dimensions appear to be three? Medieval artists (and writers, too) invented the Western tradition of realism.

On visits to the great cities of Europe—monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable Florence of Dante and Giotto—Cahill brilliantly captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world. Bursting with stunning four-color art, MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES is the ultimate Christmas gift book.

Customer Reviews:

All Over The Map.......2007-09-16

Maybe Cahill's a frustrated stand-up comic. Imagine the author as a stand-up inviting the audience to suggest topics for improvised comedic departure. Someone shouts out, "The Middle Ages!" and Cahill thinks, "Yeah. I can go with that." So we're off on tangent after tangent about Frank Zappa or Osama Bin Laden. Spare us the "cute" writing. Please.

Better Items Available.......2007-09-03

I agree with most of the negative reviewers of this product. The author is condescending and irritating. While he has a fine grasp of the English language, many of his conjectures are not only incorrect they are idiotic. His personal views, which he feels a need to share, detract from the story he is trying to tell in an unavoidable and irritating way. Stay away from this one.

Enjoyable overview of the Middle Ages & how they formed us.......2007-08-12

This is the fourth book in Cahill's "Hinges of History" series, and it is excellent. As others have pointed out it is not in-depth, not scholarly but rather written for people who don't usually read history. He makes it completly enjoyable, ties together main points, major movements, the pivotable people in a sort of quilt of moving shapes and colors that for a moment bring it all alive again. In this book famous and less famous people each are used to illustrate points about an era, and the changes that began in that era, and in fact that person may have been the one of powerhouses of the change, like Abelard, or Eleanor of Aquitaine, or simply a recorder or interpreter of it as Giotto was. Each fingernail sketch of a life in its unique era is memorable. Hildegarde of Bingen, at age 8, was given to the Church by her noble parents, to be interred as an anchorite, a life of complete sequestration, forever. Yet as she grew to adulthood the depth and breadth of her learning, taught to her in her little walled-in cell by a monk, grew to the point that her writings and correspondence was noted throughout Europe and even the Popes knew of her. She was perhaps the best known and best educated woman in Europe in her day and the most influential in the Roman Catholic Church. Made an abbess and allowed to preach and write openly she lived on to age 81, renowned and venerated. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the richest heiress in Europe at age 15, ruler of Aquitaine and other parts of France larger than the remaining lands of France itself was married first to the French king and went on Crusade with him, the first Noble woman known to do so; divorced him to marry her lover the much younger king of England; was the mother of several sons by him including Richard the Lion Hearted, her favorite...from her, most of the royalty of Europe descends. She was a strong, powerful,and free woman for most of her long life. The story of Heloise and Abelard, the great and tragic lovers is retold really well. Dante's story,his long exile due to the great wars of his native Florence and the feuding families at the root of it all reminds one of the Romeo and Juliet story: the "two houses"...But not to miss the point that each life discussed is tied in to a specific time and concept of an age different from us but leading toward us and our time. In fact, as the author points out, the events, the gradual change in thought-- never predetermined-- were how our era as it is now was formed; our way of seeing the world, our political, relgious, cultural and scientific, views were formed from theirs, our immediate cultural forebears.

An Engaging Writer but Superficial and Wrongheaded History.......2007-07-15

Though an engaging writer, Cahill is an appallingly bad historian. He compares the medieval nun Hildegard of Bingen to blues singer Bessie Smith (Hildegard's lyrics display a spiritualized eroticism) and the woman in bondage in The Story of O and refers to Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City in the same passage. ("This was one loose sister," is his characterization of Hildegard.) He compares Dante to James Joyce on the grounds that both were exiles infatuated with their mother cities. He characterizes WWI's Gallipoli as a "confrontation between ... Islam and the West," an appallingly bad summary of a complex military campaign which had little to do with religion and a great deal to do with military matters. Throughout the book, Cahill tramples history into a muddled paste of great figures and exalting moments, ignoring nuance or exception. He concludes with a five-page diatribe against sycophancy and buggery in today's Church. The footnotes don't inform much; the bibliography omits essential scholarship (e.g., R. W. Southern on medieval humanism, Roberto Lopez and Lauro Martines on Renaissance humanism). It is difficult to conceive of an audience that would benefit from reading this silly and superficial book.

Haven't finished reading it yet...too soon..........2007-07-05

but from the first page I have felt as though this is the easiest and most interesting way to experience history.

I don't believe anyone else can make reading & studying history such a pleasure. My method is to jot down notes on a small paper pad with the page number noted, so I can go back & make sure I have absorbed the links that have led to the future. There is such a stupendous wealth of detail.

I have all of Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History books so far and have never been disappointed yet.

Mary H.

The Mosaic of Shadows (A Byzantine Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Very fun story that will actually take you to Byzantium
Conspiracy, Spies, Betrayel, Epic Battles - Medieval Times
A Fascinating Read
A fine first
Enjoyable story by young author

The Mosaic of Shadows (A Byzantine Mystery)
Tom Harper
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0312338678
Release Date: 2005-05-12

Book Description

Byzantium, 1096. A mysterious assassin releases an arrow aimed at the emperor---but he has more than just a man in his sights. A keystone of a crumbling empire, the emperor is the solitary figure holding all the enemies in check. And if he falls, the mightiest power in Christendom will be torn apart.
Demetrios Askiates, unveiler of mysteries, is hired to catch the would-be-killer. But he is entering an unknown world; a babbling cauldron of princes, slaves, mercenaries, pimps, and eunuchs. Not all enemies are within the city walls, however, and with the Turks running rampant across Asia, the emperor has sent to the west for mercenaries to reinforce his position. When a great army, tens of thousands strong, appears before the city gates---the emperor gets more than he bargained for. From the depths of the slums to the golden towers of the city palace; from the sands of the hippodrome to the soaring domes of Ayia Sophia; Demetrios must edge his way through a glittering maze of treachery and deceit before time runs out.
Intent on making their fortunes in war, and with no allegiance to this empire, the first crusaders have arrived with eyes full of jealousy and suspicion. As the armies of the east and west confront each other, and with the assassin creeping ever closer to his prey, Demetrios must untangle this golden web of intrigue that surrounds the emperor---before the city, and the empire, are drowned in blood.

“His portrayal of the Byzantine city and the intrigues that threaten its destruction is vivid and convincing.”
---The Sunday Times (UK)

“It’s a world that Harper brings exuberantly to life, clearly revelling in its teeming, tumultuous extravagance. But he also has a sharp eye for an intriguing mystery.”
---Yorkshire Post (UK)

“Tom Harper writes with strident clarity in this epic tale of murder and betrayal, bloodshed and romance. Gripping from the first page, the reader is swept up.... Well researched and cinematic in its imagery, this is a fast-paced and exciting debut.”
---INK (UK)

“A gripping tale...I look forward to Demetrios’s further adventures.”
---Elizabeth Hawksley, Historical Novels Review

“A lively adventure.... The imperial palace, with all its splendor and intrigue, is brought vividly to life.”
---Good Book Review (UK)

“An engaging romp---Byzantine not only in time and location but the ins and outs of the plot.”
---The Advertiser (Australia)

Customer Reviews:

Very fun story that will actually take you to Byzantium.......2007-07-30

No spoilers.

I'll have to agree with another reviewer here who noted that the immediate flaw in this novel is that there is little introduction or background given about the protagonist, Demetrios, until about a quarter of the way into the book. Having said that (and overlooking it because you eventually find out about him), this is definitely a book I recommend.

Although I began to suspect who the Emperor's true enemy was before it was revealed, even that, which is something that I usually hate when reading a mystery, didn't take away from the quality of the story. Harper, with ease, immerses the reader into eleventh century Byzantine society to the point where you almost believe you are reading these events unfold in the present, right outside your window.

I fully recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and who wants to be transported into their story.

Conspiracy, Spies, Betrayel, Epic Battles - Medieval Times.......2007-01-23

Medieval Times. What a...mysterious time in our (human) past. After the fall of Rome, the world dived into a 1000 years of turmoil, wars, Crusades, and so much more. How much fun!

Set during the time of Emperor Alexios, we have a great, huge story which brings the reader right into the story from the first page, to the very end. Our hero is Demetrios. Former mercenary, turned "investigator" there is a plot to assassinate the emperor, and take over the empire.

We are weaved through a fine tale, based on much fact, of betrayel, loyalties, and much more. Who tried to kill the Emperor, and why? With a barbarian army from France marching towards the city, the turks lurking just a few hundred miles away, we are setup for a final scene unlike more others. Will Demetrios find out who and why tried to Assassinate the Emperor?

The book is extremely well written. Great characters, again, many based on actual events and people. Tom Harper shows his knowledge of the times, with a very convincing story.

Whether you are a fan of the times or not, this book will entertain you. Not for a minute was I counting the pages left.

A Fascinating Read.......2007-01-06

Tom Harper is a pseudonym of Edwin Thomas who grew up in West Germany, Belgium and America before returning to England to study history at Oxford university. The mosaic of Shadows is about a period of history that I enjoy reading about very much, but even if I am slightly biased I believe that the book is a really good read for anyone interested in historical murder mysteries.

The book takes place in Byzantium, the year is 1096, 30 years after the bastard Norman, Duke William had captured the throne of England from the grasp of Harold at Hastings.

When an attempt is made on the life of the emperor by a mysterious assassin, whoever sent the killer to try to murder the emperor knows that it was not just a man who would have been killed by the assassin's arrow but an empire in decline. If the emperor should fall then the mightiest force in Christendom will be torn apart. Only too aware of his precarious position the emperor hire the unveiled of mysteries, Demetrios Askiates to catch the would-be-killer. But even for one such as Demetrios the task of finding the killer is all but impossible. An unknown world of prince's and paupers, slaves mercenaries, harems and eunuchs. From the slums to the golden palace, enemies are lurking in the shadows, but not all are within the wall of the city.

The first crusaders have arrived and are intent on making their fortunes. They hold no allegiance to an enemy they eye with suspicion. As they armies of the east and the west confront each other across a barren landscape, the assassin prepares to make another attempt upon the life of the emperor. Can Demetrios untangle the web of deceit and intrigue that surrounds the emperor and his city before it is too late and one of the greatest empires of all time crumbles into the dust . . .

A fine first.......2007-01-01

Mr. Harper certainly knows his Byzantine and Crusader history and culture, and has stuck close to the reality of the times. He can also spin a detective tale. There may be scenes the reader will doubt, but it's all true. Mr. Harper does not invent the mechanical lions that bristled and roared next to the Emperor's throne to frighten barbarians.

A nice mix of personal/family issues and detective work, as well as great historical events. The mix of the first two might remind one of Lindsey Davis's Falco, but unlike either Davis or John Maddox Roberts in their top-notch Roman detective series, Harper is not also a humorist. The book is a straightforward historical mystery, but unlike Rosemary Rowe's Libertus series, it isn't just a non-stop series of clue-unraveling. Harper is never dull reading.

Enjoyable story by young author.......2005-12-03

After the disaster at Manzikert, the great Byzantine Empire calls for help from the 'barbarian' west. Emperor Alexios Komnenos appeals for mercenaries to help him re-capture his Asian province (modern-day Turkey). Instead, the west responds with the First Crusade. The Crusaders are anxious to confront the Turks who occupy Jerusalem, but they have no interest in helping Alexios regain his lost province. When Alexios demands their oath that any conquests within his former territory be returned to him, they refuse. Political hardball? Perhaps. But when an assassin's bolt nearly kills the Emperor, the Emperor's eunuch hires ex-mercenary and now detective Demetrios Askiates to uncover the truth.

Pieces of the truth are easy enough to discover. The bolt could only have been fired from a western crossbow, the kind the Franks outside the city carry. And a monk who seems to follow the western rites is clearly responsible. But the eunuch knows that a foreign monk cannot be the center of the plot. Some 'Roman' must be involved--one with enough power that he would be in a position to have himself proclaimed Emperor if the current Emperor falls.

Author Tom Harper does a fine job describing the city of Constantinople under siege, the Greek intrigues that so frustrated the western Crusaders, and the various groups of mercenaries who defended the Empire while the mob often controlled its fate. Demetrios Askiates makes an intriguing sleuth, with his concern for his daughters and his ambivalent feelings toward the beautiful doctor, Anna. We can, perhaps, forgive 26-year-old author Harper for believing that a man in his mid-thirties is over the hill and unable to carry weapons effectively.

Fans of historical mystery will want to pick up MOSAIC OF SHADOWS--and hope that we soon see more by Tom Harper.

Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Another Enjoyable Falco Case
Saturnalia
Elegant, Incisive and So Roman
one of her best
Lindsey Davis's Best Falco Novel Yet

Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries)
Lindsey Davis
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312361297
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Book Description

It's 76 A.D. during the reign of Vespasian and the Roman holiday of Saturnalia has begun. The days are short; the nights are for wild parties. But not for Marcus Didius Falco. Falco is an informer by trade - his job is to uncover unwelcome truths and deal with sensitive situations, frequently at the behest of the imperial government. And just such a case has arisen. A general has captured a famous enemy of Rome, and brings her home to adorn his eventual Triumph as a ritual sacrifice. But everything goes wrong from there - first she acquires a mysterious illness, then a young man is horrendously murdered and she escapes from house arrest.
Marcus Didius Falco, hired to find her and return her to custody before Saturnalia is over, is pitted against his old rival, the Chief Spy Anacrites. The two of them are in a race against time to find the fugitive before the public learns of the situation, making the government look stupid. Falco, however, has other priorities. Helena’s brother Justinus has also vanished, perhaps fatally involved once more with the great lost love of his youth.
Against the riotous backdrop of the season of misrule, the search seems impossible and only Falco seems to notice that some dark agency is bringing death to the city streets…

Customer Reviews:

Another Enjoyable Falco Case.......2007-09-13

I have read every book in the series, and while there are a few that don't quite measure up, this one is right on target. It contains the history and atmosphere that make the stories unique, along with the family and political scheming that give us all something to which we can relate. I consider this one less of a mystery and more of true private eye novel, but no matter how you see it, Ms. Davis has created some terrific characters, and I look forward to meeting up with them again each time a new book comes out.

Saturnalia.......2007-07-04

This is the best in the series!
The mystery is fairly intriguing, but the book gets its vibrancy from the glimpses we get of Falco's extended family during Saturnalia. I can't wait for the next installment!

Elegant, Incisive and So Roman.......2007-06-26

Marcus Didius Falco, somewhat incongruously, makes all the nuttiness work in Ancient Rome, with the help of his Charming Wife.

Who Knew!?

one of her best.......2007-06-14

Lindsey Davis's Falco books are among my favorites. I love the way she characterizes his crazy and amusing family and friends, and in this one she features them throughout, so it was a special treat. The Vigiles' Saturnalia party is hilarious. I also prefer when her stories take place in the city of Rome, as this one does, rather than around the empire.

Lindsey Davis's Best Falco Novel Yet.......2007-06-08

Saturnalia is Lindsey Davis's single best Falco novel yet written. In this work, in A.D. 76, Roman Emperor Vespasian orders Marcus Didius Falco to investigate a nobleman's murder. The emperor is worried that this murder was really an act of terrorism related to a Germanic tribal leader's struggle against Rome.

Specifically, a barbarian woman named Veleda is the lead suspect. However, both Falco and his wife Helena have their doubts about this. Everything seems a little bit too convenient about the idea that a barbarian was responsible for the murder.

Saturnalia is a thrilling historical detective novel that will hold your interest from page one. It is most heartily recommended.

Average customer rating:

A good read
The more exciting bits from the reformation
First-rate novel of Tudor England
Great mystery with religious background
The Larger Dissolution

Dissolution
C. J. Sansom
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sovereign: A Matthew Shardlake Mystery (Matthew Shardlake Mysteries)
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The Moving Toyshop

ASIN: 0670032034
Release Date: 2003-04-28

Book Description

It is the winter of 1537 and England is divided into those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the King and the newly established Church of England. Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's feared vicar-general, crusades against the old Church with savage new laws, rigged trials, and a vast network of informers. Queen Anne Boleyn has been beheaded and monasteries are being dissolved-their treasures pillaged and their lands eyed greedily by courtiers and country gentry. But having put down one people's rebellion, Cromwell fears another might topple the realm. So, when one of his commissioners is murdered in the monastery at Scarnsea on the south coast of England, he enlists his fellow reformer, Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer renowned as "the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England," to head the inquiry.

When Shardlake and his young clerk and protégé, Mark Poer, arrive at Scarnsea, the two are greeted with thinly veiled hostility and suspicion as their investigation quickly uncovers evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason. While the community of brothers is revealed to be far less pious than they would seem, Shardlake himself is shocked to discover truths about Cromwell that undermine his own beliefs and threaten to cost him his faith, and even his life. But when a novice is poisoned and a year-old corpse dredged up from a nearby pond, Shardlake must act quickly to prevent the killer from murdering again

Exciting and elegant, Dissolution is a riveting historical novel and a brilliant debut by a writer who is sure to attract fans of Iain Pears, Ellis Peters, and Umberto Eco.

Customer Reviews:

A good read.......2007-09-07

This is an excellent first book - it's not up to the standard of Pérez-Reverte - but it's a thoroughly good read.

The more exciting bits from the reformation.......2007-08-01

Sansom's Shardlake series should be used as a teaching aide for history students studying Henry V111. When I was at school I found this part of British history to be no more interesting than any other. If I had had the chance to read this book then it would have cast a new light on the subject.

What Sansom does is write a thriller which even taken on its own would be a welcome addition to the mystery/thriller genre, but he peppers it with facts about this most turbulent period in history that really bring to life what it must have been like to have actually lived through the period. The fear the characters live with is so palpable you can draw parrallels with the world today where religious differences are at the forefront of our minds. This was published in 2003 so it's entirely possible that the dissolution of the monasteries and the distrust of all things Catholic serves as a metaphor for the current distrust of Islam. The xenophobia that Brother Guy experiences (being of dark skin, very rarely seen in England at this time) also reminds us that even 450 years later some of society's shameful facets have not even yet been entirely eradicated - we haven't progressed as far as we think we have!

I would have awarded this book 5 stars but, when you read the sequel, Dark Fire, you will be glad as I am that I kept the extra star in reserve for such a cracking good read! Start with this as an introduction to Matthew Shardlake and you won't regret it. I received the third in the series, Sovereign, today in the mail and I cannot wait to start it.

First-rate novel of Tudor England.......2007-07-06

I bought this book based on the reviews posted here and if, in turn, my lowly opinion inspires someone else to indulge, then I'll be more than happy. What a fantastic read this was. The characters were so spot on believable. Not one came across as anything but three dimensional with complex dispositions and attitudes and perfectly flawed. The character of Matthew Shardlake is an inspired creation; a hunchback solicitor at the service of his Majesty King Henry VIII and Vicar General, Thomas Cromwell. Shardlake, along with his assistance Matthew Poer, at the behest of Cromwell is dispatched to an isolated monastery in the village of Scarnsea in the south of England to investigate the brutal murder of Commissioner Singleton sent to review the house's finances prior to the dissolution of the monasteries during the English reformation. Upon their arrival they are met with suspicion, apprehension and feigned cooperation by not only the Abbot and Prior but by all those in position in that insular world and for good reason: The monastery is nothing short of a seething pit of corruption, thievery, lies, sexual misconduct and, of course now, murder. However, it's only the beginning. Shortly upon their arrival at Scarnsea, a novice monk is murdered and the tale of a missing orphaned girl surfaces further complicating matters and casting suspicion upon almost everyone. Soon another murder slowly starts bringing down this fragile house of cards. This is first rate storytelling, with historical figures and facts and fictional characters and settings, expertly melded, creating a wholly believable premise that neither lags nor incites boredom. Sansom expertly brings the novel to a wonderful conclusion, never rushing to unmask the culprit but rather allowing the denouement to unfold with stunning ease and confidence. I certainly look forward to reading more of Sansom's novels featuring the intrepid hunchback. If you love historical fiction in general or Tudor England in particular you will find much to enjoy in this wonderful debut novel.

Great mystery with religious background.......2007-07-03

What a great book! Not only is the main character interesting and the mystery solid, the time and place are well portrayed.

England under Henry VII and Cromwell was transitioning from Catholic to Protestant -- with the king as the head of the church as well as the country. This book treats all points of view fairly, but also without any rose colored glasses. It's as interesting to read for its portrayal of rich and poor, papist and reformer as it is for its plot.

If you liked "the Name of the Rose" (which I found tedious) then this book should make you leap for joy.

The Larger Dissolution.......2007-06-27

Until I read this intriguing mystery, I just assumed that Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries was a pure power grab by an insensitive, greedy monarch. While that perception remains somewhat true, the novel allows us to see all of the paradoxes present, and to experience much of the ambiguity of those times. Matthew Shardlake is an altogether likable and convincing sleuth and person of principal. The late 1530s in England came alive with such color and immediacy that I then went on to read the next two equally well presented mysteries in this series by C. J. Sansom.

Average customer rating:

I'm being generous.
Good beginnings, but then....
so overrated
modest mystery and plot, interesting threads
Alright?

Case Histories: A Novel
Kate Atkinson
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316010707

Book Description

A major event: a new novel by the Whitbread winner, her first novel since Emotionally Weird, and probably her most commercial book yet.

The scene is set in Cambridge, with three case histories from the past: A young child who mysteriously disappeared from a tent in her back garden; An unidentified man in a yellow jumper who marched into an office and slashed a young girl through the throat; and a young woman found by the police sitting in her kitchen next to the body of her husband, an axe buried in his head.

Jackson Brodie, a private investigator and former police detective, is quietly contemplating life as a divorced father when he is flung into the midst of these resurrected old crimes. Julia and Amelia Land enlist Jackson’s help to find out the truth about their younger sister. They embroil him in the complexities of their own jealousies, obsessions and lust.

Another woman named Shirley needs Jackson to help find her lost niece. Jackson meets solicitor Theo Wyre whose daughter, Laura, was murdered in his office and is desperate for Jackson to help him lay Laura's ghost to rest.

As he starts his investigations Jackson has the sinister feeling that someone is following him. In digging into the past Jackson seems to have unwittingly threatened his own future. This wonderfully crafted, intricately plotted novel is heartbreaking, uplifting, full of suspense and often very funny.

Customer Reviews:

I'm being generous........2007-10-08

How this book is getting five stars is beyond me. I mean, it's not an AWFUL book as it does have some redeeming language and a somewhat coherent plotline, but it so just so boring. Getting into this book took forever, and once I did become even remotely interested, the focus would switch and I would forget what I had already read. The characters are uninteresting and there are far too many names to keep track of. I just simply didn't care about them. I'm not sure that enough time was given to each "case", and that resulted in the lack of depth of the characters. I don't know, I just wasn't convinced... they didn't seem real to me. This book could have been an interesting read, but it was just too sloppy and underdeveloped.

Though I wouldn't give this one star, three might be pushing it. Like I said, some of the language used in this book was very beautiful and I'm a sucker for a good quote, but more often than not the dialogue (both internal and external) was just bland. Not to mention Atkinson's ridiculously excessive sexual language. I didn't notice it so much at first, but by the second half of the book EVERYTHING centered around sex. Everything. Maybe that was intentional, maybe a major theme was sexual depravity and the pains brought by it, but to me it was just unnecessary. It's not the sexual language itself that bothered me; if it had fit or enhanced the writing in any way I would support it. But alas, Atkinson failed to deliver on that one. She could have developed some really great characters by giving them ANY other redeemable quality, but she didn't, and thus they fall flat.

My last great qualm that I have to voice, and forgive me for being nit-picky, is the author's excessive use of parenthesis. I found them extremely distracting. If you have to voice a character's "true thoughts" in parenthesis, then you haven't developed him well enough! I should be able to KNOW what Jackson is thinking without having the simple things spelled out for me. Come on, give your readers some credit.

Not the worst book you could read, but far from the top of my list.

Good beginnings, but then...........2007-10-07

The story begins at once, and it is exciting. The reader is presented with three different case-files of un-solved mysteries: the case of the little girl Olivia, the case about Michelle and her daughter Tanya and the case about Laura. All cases are years old, and after the presentation, we move forward to the present day, where the ex-cop and ex-soldier Jackson Brodie enters the stage as some kind of a private eye, hired to solve the three old cases. Jackson is a philosofical dreamer, and he is chronically worrited about his 8 year old daughter. In his quest of finding answers, not just to the old cases but to life in general, he manages to crack open the three old cases again and get small glimpses of what happened back then.

Unfortunately, what promises to be a great story, a great mystery, fade out pretty fast. Jackson seems too philosofical and yet cynic, the disappeared Olivia's three, now grown, sisters seem too cartoon-ish and it is hard to find the rhythm in the story. We also find out the Jackson's cynisims has grounds in his own childhood and upbringing and recent divorce, and it makes the story all the more annoying in this reader's opinion.

The story is set in Cambridge in England, and I would have liked a little more atmosphere of the town. The story is not very tight, and what could have been a great book and a great mystery seems lost. All in all, this was a 2* plus book, and I ahve decided to give it 3* here.

so overrated.......2007-10-01

Please do not believe the hype with this book. (I should preface this by saying that I finished reading a Cormac McCarthy novel last week, so perhaps my palette is scarred.) The characters wallow about with too much lame dialogue and expected idiosyncrasies. The plot starts out at 80 mph, only to sputter to a geriatric standstill by the 5th chapter. I kept turning pages hoping it would get better, be written better, and seem like less of a Lifetime channel movie you watch on sick days. Sadly, dear potential reader, it never did. When I finished the last page I immediately walked outside and left it on the curb, saddened that it ever occupied a place on my bookshelf. If you want to read it, you can find it outside on the sidewalk and save yourself the shipping charges.

modest mystery and plot, interesting threads.......2007-09-28

The resolution of the murder mysteries takes a distant back seat to the odd collection of characters, some interesting and some not so much. There's hardly a normal person to be seen, with perhaps the most normal person the detective who integrates the threads, or maybe the victims. Ms. Atkinson has delivered an entertaining story somewhat light on action, when compared to the detective novel genre, but it's clear she was aiming for something else. The characters are the real focus, and she tells about them in a casual, conversational style that goes down easily.

Alright?.......2007-09-09

I enjoyed this intricate, character-centered narrative (although the deus-ex-machina fantasy endings mar it, unless their very unreality is the point. And why, in so many current novels, are the characters with same-sex desires also often the most unappealing?)

But my main comment is a nit-picky pedantic one. When did it become all right to spell "all right" as "alright"? I hate this trend. I can adapt to inevitable linguistic change (hey, I no longer rant about "impact" as a verb [I even see now that it makes logical sense], and half the time, I can even hear "proactive" without shuddering), but "alright" seems sloppy and unnecessarily imprecise. And while I'm at it, I'll point out another problem: a character is said "not to waiver" after making a decision. What, to change your mind nowadays, you have to submit a waiver? (joke -- that's a joke.) Get better editors. All right?

Michigan Hard-to-Believe (But True!) History, Mystery, Trivia,

Average customer rating:

Michigan Hard-to-Believe (But True!) History, Mystery, Trivia,
Carole Marsh
Manufacturer: Gallopade International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

In this book you'll discover unusual facts, some historic, some as recent as today's headlines, that you'll find hard to believe, but they will be true! A compilation of the strange people and strange happenings that always seem to get left out of the history books. Serves both to reinforce knowledge about Michigan and introduce new ideas. Bite-sized bits of information are interspersed with longer pieces; why not read aloud one of these hard-to-believes to your class each day?! Also makes a very popular check-out book for the library. Free teacher's guide gives specific suggestions and instructions on how to get max educational value from this book. As you can see, Carole Marsh finds quality education under many guises!

Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids

Average customer rating:

It makes you think
Informative
All roads lead back to Sumer
Rule by Secrecy
Mythic religious fiction

Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids
Jim Marrs
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Controversial Knowledge | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Freemasonry | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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The Unseen Hand

ASIN: 0060931841
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Book Description

What secrets connect Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Freemasons, and the Council on Foreign Relations? In this astonishing book, celebrated journalist Jim Marrs examines the world's most closely guarded secrets, tracing the history of clandestine societies and the power they have wielded – from the ancient mysteries to modern–day conspiracy theories.

Searching for truth, he uncovers disturbing evidence that the real movers and shakers of the world collude covertly to start and stop wars, manipulate stock markets, maintain class distinctions, and even censor the news. Provocative and utterly compelling, Rule by Secrecy offers a singular worldview that may explain who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.

Customer Reviews:

It makes you think.......2007-07-04

I do not know if everything what Jim Marrs put in this book is as he says. I think there is a wide percentage of speculation and it would have been better if every author quoted could be referred to a specific book. That kind of information is not included.

Nevertheless, it is a book that gives us a hint of what could be happening around us everyday, of what we are not aware or we didn't even notice.

Summing up, it is a very different view of the world that couldn't be put aside, because maybe, it is the vision of the real world where we live.

Informative.......2007-06-20

Okay, the alien stuff is paranoid and silly. The stuff on bankers and the UN, CFR, Trilateral commision is pretty much documented and anyone can look up. Fascinating read. And about 85% is documented and provable.

All roads lead back to Sumer.......2007-06-06

After I decided to learn the truth about who really runs the world and what not, I picked up this book since it seemed to tie together all the things I was wondering about, going back to the ancient mysteries. Jim Marrs really does an amazing job of compiling all this information and tracing it back through history to the Sumerian texts about the Anunnaki. If you are at all interested in shattering the false view of reality our society is conditioned to accept, then take the red pill, and read this book.

Rule by Secrecy.......2007-05-31

Marrs gets through a little over half of this book doing a great job of exposing the new world order, reminding me of a newer up to date version of None Dare Call it Conspiracy by Gary Allen. He exposes the CFR, Trilateral Commision, Bilderbergers, the Federal Reserve, and that all roads lead to oligarchal business and banking families like the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. Marrs also shows the role that was played by these people in fomenting, funding and profiting from both sides of almost all major wars going back to the days of Napoleon. He does drop the ball when he briefly discusses "Nazi Occultism" and uses idiots like Trevor Ravenscroft and Peter Lavenda as sources.

From there he shows the role played by Masonic secret socieities in the French revolution, what is known about the Bavarian Illuminati and a few other secret societies. After that he goes into Knights Templar/Merovingian Bloodline/Priory of Scion territory, which while that stuff is interesting and should be studied, its all just conjecture. Actually those topics have became a whole genre onto themselves in recent years. Besides that I've always thought that Priory of Scion lists that the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail got ahold of were either an out and out hoax perpetrated by the authors of Holy Blood Holy Grail, or put out as intentional disinformation by somebody trying to mislead them and the public.

After the Merovingian stuff Marrs gets way out there by going into Sitchen/Von Daniken territory. Here is where Marrs really loses me. Maybe I missed something but is he claiming that this is the hidden knowledge that the secret societies of the world elites hold? That the true origins of the human race are that we are hybridized creations of aliens from another planet?! Hey I'm not an atheist and I believe in a lot of stuff that the average person would consider pretty far out but this is just a bit much even for me. I'm familar with Marrs work and he's a very well researched, down to earth guy normally so it really surprised me that he included this in Rule by Secrecy. Especially considering I've heard him on radio shows several times making fun of David Ickes wacky reptilian theories.

But that aside I'd still recomend reading this book, if not buying it if you can get it for cheap because whats good in this is great. Just take a few things, especially the last chapter, with a few thousand grains of salt.

Mythic religious fiction.......2007-05-31

"Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids" is a clumsy yet informative and entertaining collection of cross-cited references concerning Masonic history, Rosicrucianism, and Egyptology with geo-politics, & lastly aristocratic geneologies. The majority of citations stem from David Icke, a controversial and notable conspiracy theorist whom correlates geo-politics with ambiguous research and disreputable claims against Freemasonry. I myself find it fascinating how such authors fail to give credit to the propensity of the human species to greatness. All cultural and religious achievements {a frequent target of this behaviour are the Sphinx and Great Pyramids} are viewed by conspiracy theorists as centres of diabolic plots to enslave the lesser classes.

Inheritors of a Dying World have within our dominion the creative execution of the revolutionary Laws of Imperial Liberty to overcome our dire desolation and ruin in this emerging historical paradigm. Initiated Oracles journeying on the Path of Forgotten Knowledge know a Great Ordeal of purification and consecration overshadows history; and that the profane masses would become slavishly appalled by this Initiation of the World. Out of the fires of purification and consecration, a New Order would then arise, promulgating the revolutionary precepts of the Libertine, the privileged, the patriciate.

The Patriciate, the secret few, the sanctity of Elitism heralds a New World Order of self-government, self-legislation, and s-elf-discipline. Inscribe this into your Undying and Secret Souls with the sacramental blood split upon the holy lands, O' kindred of the earth: patriciate is the progeny of a republic. Democracy is a vice to Imperial Liberty - the Grace of Destiny is of the elect. Dominance and submission hearken a new dichotomy in human society; there is a master, there is a slave.

This is what the author, and many conspiracy theorists fail to understand. The geo-political and cultural status quo simply cannot be maintained in the global age. Paradigms of elitism and imperial Liberty were modified by the religious institutions of the native countries to whom they were introduced. Applications of Law to every Woman and Man according to condition are fundamental. "...A democracy is impracticable beyond the Limits of municipality." {Thomas Jefferson to Isaac H. Tiffany, 1816}. Independence of the Will of a democratic society is a solecism in the privileged Patriciate. It is the elite and elect right of a society to change political principles and constitutions at Will to serve the greater good. The goal of the Elite, of the Patriciate is to convoke theoretical politics and government to the forefront of society, be it against the Will of the low men or not. Governments and religious institutions, it is true, have failed to mark the subtle evolution and dire tribulation of the initiation of the world, which is taking place under their vigilant eyes.

Similar to the bestseller Da Vinci Code, which this title predates, the book tries to incite paranoia and sensationalism by merging fiction with religion and mysticism. There is history and there is conjecture. Moreover, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and Egyptology, do not feature prominently in this book. The predictable conclusion outlines a vast history-shattering conspiracy that reveals extraterrestrial involvement and their human breeding, with Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and the Illuminati Heritage.

Secret societies have existed since Mankind first began to record its myths and religions. For thousands of years societies have existed safeguarding secret religious teachings transmitted through the generations. Monuments, Apocrypha, ordained occult knowledge, catacombs, forgotten ciphers, and secret sacrifices all have been kept guarded by the heritage of the Illuminati.

The book does provide stimulation for further research in the style of others in its genre {"Holy Blood, Holy Grail"; "Temple and the Lodge"; "Codex Magica"; and of course the "Da Vinci Code"} but falls short of any serious research into the Illuminati Heritage

~ Joshua Seraphim,
author of Babylon: Secret Rituals of Illuminati

"The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from it's profits or so dependant on it's favors, that there will be no opposition from that class."
-Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1863)

"The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment, let it never appear, in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation."
-Father Adam Weishaupt
{1748-1811 A.D.}

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