Book Description
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist exposes the secret history of racial cleansing in America
"Leave now, or die!"
From the heart of the Midwest to the Deep South, from the mountains of North Carolina to the Texas frontier, words like these have echoed through more than a century of American history. The call heralded not a tornado or a hurricane, but a very unnatural disaster--a manmade wave of racial cleansing that purged black populations from counties across the nation.
We have long known about horrific episodes of lynching in the South, but the story of widespread racial cleansingabove and below the Mason-Dixon line--has remained almost entirely unknown. Time after time, in the period between Reconstruction and the 1920s, whites banded together to drive out the blacks in their midst. They burned and killed indiscriminately and drove thousands from their homes, sweeping entire counties clear of blacks to make them racially "pure." The expulsions were swift-in many cases, it took no more than twenty-four hours to eliminate an entire African-American population. Shockingly, these areas remain virtually all-white to this day.
Based on nearly a decade of painstaking research in archives and census records, Buried in the Bitter Waters provides irrefutable evidence that racial cleansing occurred again and again on American soil, and fundamentally reshaped the geography of race. In this groundbreaking book, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elliot Jaspin has rewritten American history as we know it.
Customer Reviews:
Goosebumps, Passing Darkness, Wish to See Light.......2007-06-27
I wish I could say that I cried over this book, but the truth is that I am so accustomed to America's legacy of genocide, social injustice, and external fraud, regime change, and invasion that I simply sighed and thought, "wow, about time this came to light."
This is a stunning book that should be read by every American of every race, creed, and class.
I previously reviewed a book today that discussed how white supremacy views were one of the causes of the downfall of democracy after the Civil War. I believe this. As a Marine, I learned there are only Marines, some dark green, some light green. That lesson has NOT been learned by all Americans, and that is one reason I favor a restoration of universal national service (including two years for any immigrant granted citizenship, at any age), with the option of armed, peace, or homeland service.
I am Latino by culture, white by race, intelligent by design (pun intended). I believe that America genocided the native Americans, genocided the people of color, and is now in the process of disenfranchising the Latinos while making commons cause with the Asians. None of this bodes well for a Republic that is supposed to offer Liberty & Justice for all as the foundation for collective intelligence and the sovereign We the People.
The Constitution has been trashed by Dick Cheney and his neo-conservative and Christo-fascist supporters, and it is high time someone stood up and said ENOUGH--we must make common cause with the people of color, embrace their leaders, both self-selected and elected, and MOVE ON beyond the corporate socialism and the corrupt political party environments that have broken the middle class and impoverished the working ppor--which the author of the book by that title points out, should be but is not an oxymoron.
This is an important book. I hope it shames some, causes dispair in others, and that overall, it rises to be a liberation manifesto, a starting point for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission within America, to reveal, curse, and forgive all that has been done to the people of color on the assumption, the grotesque assumption, of white supremacy.
I share Martin Luther King's dream, and I am committed to seeing it fulfilled.
Semper Fidelis,
Robert Steele
Bonhoeffer
Improper behavior
The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America (Galaxy Books)
Al On America
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America
The Color of Fascism: Lawrence Dennis, Racial Passing, and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism in the United States
Uncovering Hidden Treasures.......2007-04-10
Jaspin should be commended for telling the stories of these towns, even when the information concerning these incidents is scant. Buried in the Bitter Waters serves as a reminder to its readers that racial cleansing in America took place throughout the country, not just the Deep South. It also reminds us that much of the history of our country has yet to be told. Selma, Birmingham, Memphis, and Montgomery are familiar names in the history of race in America. Jaspin shines the light on towns like Corbin and Commanche, not to disparage them but to remind us that the racial clensing in America was widespread.
DEEPLY MOVING AND FACTUAL.......2007-03-06
Regrettably, there is a great deal in our country's history of which we are now ashamed. Surely the years between 1874 and the 1920s in America saw some of the most deplorable events. During that period of time racial cleansing took place over a wide geographical area. This was cruel, senseless and more to our disgrace these actions were condoned at the time and glossed over today.
Author Jaspin is twice a Pulitzer Prize winner, and is a reporter for Cox Newspapers. Years of prodigious research were poured into his book which presents clear evidence of what took place. Yet we hear of what was an apparent whitewash by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Editors ignored clear conflicts of interest while editing the racial cleansing series. Procedures designed to protect the integrity of the reporting process were dispensed with. And finally the head of the company's newspaper division overrode the judgment of editors in Austin and Washington and ordered that a different term be substituted for 'racial cleansings.' It is a cautionary tale about the lingering shame that trumps honest discussion of the full history of America's racial cleansings."
How sad that racial cleansing did occur - sadder yet that some will not acknowledge our misdeeds.
The apt title for Jaspin's book comes from the pen of Zora Neale Hurston: "Ah done died in grief and been buried in de bitter waters, and Ah done rose agin from de dead lak Lazarus. " For those who heard "Leave now, or die!" their lives were overturned in mere hours as they fled carrying what possessions they could. Those were the lucky ones - countless others were killed, their homes burned as blacks were driven from entire counties. Thus, even today some of these areas are still "lily-white."
According to the courts blacks were not considered citizens. Thus, it was quite literally leave or die. Jaspin bases his information on countless interviews, census records, and archives. It is a tragic story but a true one.
Actor Don Leslie offers an accomplished reading of Buried in the Bitter Waters, clearly stating facts and movingly relating the words of those interviewed.
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
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.}
Book Description
“There are beautiful and wild forces within us.” With these words the mystic, St. Francis, described what ancient traditions believed was the most powerful force in the universe—the power of prayer. For more than 20 years,
Gregg Braden, the best-selling author of The God Code, has searched for evidence of a forgotten form of prayer that was lost to the West following the Biblical edits of the early Christian Church. In the 1990s, he found and documented this form of prayer still being used in the remote monasteries of central Tibet. He also found it practiced in sacred rites throughout the high deserts of the American Southwest.
In Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer, Braden begins by describing this ancient form of prayer that has no words, or outward expressions. Then for the first time in print, he leads us on a journey exploring what our most intimate experiences tell us about our deepest beliefs. Through case histories and his personal sharing, Braden explores the wisdom of these timeless secrets, and the power that awaits each of us, just beyond our deepest hurt!
Customer Reviews:
Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer.......2007-07-03
This is a permanent addition to my library. Mr. Braden's writing is engaging, inclusive and uplifting. While I did not want the book to end, I am compelled to reread it over and again. And the physical qualities of the book itself are tactile and visual encouragements to pick it up and page through many passages. In a word, inspiring.
Great!.......2007-05-07
This book is very artfully done, makes an excellent gift. He describes the "lost" wisdom in a very sacred way, compared to the - you want to get rich approach - of The Secret.
Give this to your friends.......2007-03-12
This book thoroughly confirmed my belief that our thoughts and attitudes influence and even change our world. It is beautifully explained, and illustrated for me how our preconceived ideas often block us from real perceptions of people and things as they are. To someone on a soul-searching journey to find the eternal answers of who we are, and why we are here, this book may be an AHA!moment revelation. Like all of Gregg Braden's books, it is written in an elegant, simple style, and every word resonates with truth.
What a blessing!!.......2007-03-11
Like all of Greg Braden's books - a true blessing in my life. What I enjoy most about Greg's books is the practicality of his spirituality and how he makes us practical in what spirituality has to offer anyone who wants its benefits in their lives. An enlightening read. indeed.
He's On To Something.......2007-02-22
I finished this book today, and am left with the feeling that there well may be something profoundly powerful about what he is saying here. If anything, it may be dismissed because it is so seemingly simple! We humans tend to like to complicate things. So for me now, it's practise, practise... I can almost feel what this is already -- maybe I'm just a little afraid to try it. I was very intrigued by the idea of not just doing prayer at a proscribed time, but all the time, all day, is your prayer. That's a challenge for focus and transformation if ever there was one.
The book is certainly a beautiful thing visually as well, the images for me served to heighten my feeling of connection to humanity's spiritual journey through eons of our history. This leads to my one complaint, which is that Braden's prose did not equal the poetry of the images, so the book felt imbalanced in that sense. In all though, what he is saying is certainly worth contemplating, and trying.
Book Description
Based on a careful analysis of the earliest Christian documents and recent archaeological discoveries, The Jesus Dynasty offers a bold new interpretation of the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity. The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered.
In The Jesus Dynasty, biblical scholar James Tabor brings us closer than ever to the historical Jesus. Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time: John, as a priestly descendant of Aaron, and Jesus, as a royal descendant of David. Together they preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. Theirs was an apocalyptic movement that expected God to establish his kingdom on earth, as described by the Prophets. The Two Messiahs lived in a time of turmoil as the historical land of Israel was dominated by the powerful Roman Empire. Fierce Jewish rebellions against Rome occurred during Jesus' lifetime.
John and Jesus preached adherence to the Torah, or the Jewish Law. But their mission was changed dramatically when John was arrested and then killed. After a period of uncertainty, Jesus began preaching anew in Galilee and challenged the Roman authorities and their Jewish collaborators in Jerusalem. He appointed a Council of Twelve to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, and among the Twelve he included his four brothers. After Jesus was crucified by the Romans, his brother James -- the "Beloved Disciple" -- took over leadership of the Jesus dynasty.
James, like John and Jesus before him, saw himself as a faithful Jew. None of them believed that their movement was a new religion. It was Paul who transformed Jesus and his message through his ministry to the Gentiles. Breaking with James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, Paul preached a message based on his own revelations, which would become Christianity. Jesus became a figure whose humanity was obscured; John became merely a forerunner of Jesus; and James and the others were all but forgotten.
James Tabor has studied the earliest surviving documents of Christianity for more than thirty years and has participated in important archaeological excavations in Israel. Drawing on this background, Tabor reconstructs for us the movement that sought the spiritual, social, and political redemption of the Jews, a movement led by one family. The Jesus Dynasty offers an alternative version of Christian origins, one that takes us closer than ever to Jesus and his family and followers.
This is a book that will change our understanding of one of the most crucial moments in history.
Download Description
"Based on a careful analysis of the earliest Christian documents and recent archaeological discoveries, The Jesus Dynasty offers a bold new interpretation of the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity. The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered. In The Jesus Dynasty, biblical scholar James Tabor brings us closer than ever to the historical Jesus. Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time: John, as a priestly descendant of Aaron, and Jesus, as a royal descendant of David. Together they preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. Theirs was an apocalyptic movement that expected God to establish his kingdom on earth, as described by the Prophets. The Two Messiahs lived in a time of turmoil as the historical land of Israel was dominated by the powerful Roman Empire. Fierce Jewish rebellions against Rome occurred during Jesus' lifetime. John and Jesus preached adherence to the Torah, or the Jewish Law. But their mission was changed dramatically when John was arrested and then killed. After a period of uncertainty, Jesus began preaching anew in Galilee and challenged the Roman authorities and their Jewish collaborators in Jerusalem. He appointed a Council of Twelve to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, and among the Twelve he included his four brothers. After Jesus was crucified by the Romans, his brother James -- the "Beloved Disciple" -- took over leadership of the Jesus dynasty. James, like John and Jesus before him, saw himself as a faithful Jew. None of them believed that their movement was a new religion. It was Paul who transformed Jesus and his message through his ministry to the Gentiles. Breaking with James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, Paul preached a message based on his own revelations, which would become Christianity. Jesus became a figure whose humanity was obscured; John became merely a forerunner of Jesus; and James and the others were all but forgotten. James Tabor has studied the earliest surviving documents of Christianity for more than thirty years and has participated in important archaeological excavations in Israel. Drawing on this background, Tabor reconstructs for us the movement that sought the spiritual, social, and political redemption of the Jews, a movement led by one family. The Jesus Dynasty offers an alternative version of Christian origins, one that takes us closer than ever to Jesus and his family and followers. This is a book that will change our understanding of one of the most crucial moments in history. "
Customer Reviews:
Unconvincing..........2007-10-09
Being an agnostic does not mean that books like this one do not interest me, and it is not the first book I read on the subject of the historical Jesus. In fact, one does not need to be a believer to agree with Tabor that Jesus was definitely the most influential figure in the history of mankind; and if one does not subscribe to the dogmatic view of the Church on the Christ myth(the huge number of those who do would surely want to crucify the likes of me!), one at least wants to understand how Jesus the man lived and died. In this respect, this book offers some new insight on the subject, but Tabor goes sometimes too far in twisting facts to achieve what he is aiming to prove. In fact he goes so far as to lose his credibility as a historian.
I will just give a couple of examples:
- First, the genealogy of Jesus according to Luke, at page 46 : what is amazing here is that Tabor takes the exact position of the Catholic Church on this issue!When asked why there are two different genealogies of Jesus(supposedly both inspired by the Holy Spirit!!!)the priest who gave me religious instruction when I was a kid said exactly the same thing: Luke gives the genealogy of Mary, whereas Matthew's genealogy is that of Jesus! This hypothesis, brilliantly refuted by D.F.Strauss in his monumental "Life of Jesus"(Chapter 2, paragraph 21), does not stand any chance of being historically true. Furthermore, there is not one single version of the Bible which spells verse 3:23 of Luke as Tabor does:"...being as was supposed son of Joseph, of Heli..." All versions I know(King James, New Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Arabic versions...) read as follows:" being as was supposed a son of Joseph, son of Heli.." So what Luke is saying clearly is that Heli is the father of Joseph, not of Mary!Besides, the reduction of Eliakim to Heli is one of those twists that might convince the reader who has no idea about semitic languages: the H in Heli is in fact a "'ain", like the H in "Hebrew", and cannot possibly have become an "aleph", like in Eliakim!.And finally, a genealogy which pretends to go as far back as Adam can hardly have any credibility at all, and is only good for Christian Theology, not for historical research.
I will not dwell here on the following paradox, one of many that mar the Christian dogmatic view of Jesus: if, as we are told, Jesus is the son of God, why should the Gospel writers go to such extremes to prove that he is descended from David? The answer is simple: the "son of God" myth is a later addition to the original Christian dogma. As for the genealogies of Jesus, both of them cannot be taken seriously, as their authors were trying to prove that Jesus was the Messiah...And the whole of Tabor's "historical" construction of the Jesus Dynasty falls like a deck of cards!
- The second point concerns what Tabor says about Islam at page 187:"there is little about the view of Jesus presented in this book that conflicts with Islam's basic perception".No Dr Tabor! Arabic is my mother-tongue, so I have been able to read the Quran first hand, and Issa, the Arabic Jesus, is the most supernatural of all the prophets of Islam! In fact , Islam's basic perception of Jesus stems from apocryphal gospels rather than from the canonical ones, and we all know that the former have been discarded by the Church because they were judged too "fantastic"( but how they could be more "fantastic" than the canonical ones is for believers to explain!). In the Quran, Issa speaks to defend his mother while still in the cradle! He makes clay sparrows fly like real ones by just blowing on them, a story taken from the "Infancy Gospel" of James...In addition to the fact that the Quran clearly states that Jesus was conceived by Mary without human intercourse! And finally, Issa was not crucified(a reminiscence of the gnostic Basilides), but was "lifted" to Heaven before being caught, and it was poor Simon of Cyrene who was crucified in his stead("They did not kill him nor crucify him, but so it seemed to them..."). So he actually never died, which is contrary to Tabor's main thesis.As a matter of fact, any devout Muslim will consider Tabor's view of Jesus no less a blasphemy than any devout Christian...
Having said that, this book deserves to be read by all those who are interested in the search for the "historical Jesus", and they would have to draw their own conclusions...As for me, I am not convinced!
Excellent Work!!.......2007-09-07
Dr Tabor does due diligence in providing a verifiable historical perspective of what we know about the life of Jesus from the available archaeology and historical text. I found this book enriching my understanding of Jesus and my faith. Anyone wishing to understand Jesus within the context of his time in history will not be disappointed.
A great book that Christians need to read.......2007-09-02
Others have done a splendid job in pointing out both the positives and negatives in the book. The former greatly outweigh the latter in my opinion. But the overall idea that Paul, in a sense, 'invented' Christianity whilst pushing aside the remaining disciples is not a new one.
If more Christians investigated the true history of the birth of their religion I think they would be more than a little shocked. As this book makes clear, Paul developed a theology that differed markedly from what Jesus taught and did in his lifetime. The obvious question Paul supporters should ask is "who was best placed to carry on the Jesus revolution?" - the disciples who knew him intimately, or someone who never met him and claims he was given revelation by a vision? And why would Jesus change his ideas so soon after his death/resurrection and then give them to a total stranger anyway?
As this book reiterates, especially in last chapter ,the gradual destruction of what Jesus really preached by a mixture of Paul, the early church and the Romans is, in reality, a crime against humanity. As a direct result millions have died in the two thousand years since. And still are today.
Great Book!.......2007-08-04
This book was awesome. Anyone interested in history should read this. Lots of info here that many may have never thought about. Much better than Simcha's book.
Deists should love this work of fictional theories.......2007-07-28
Honestly, there were a number of things that I learned in this book:
1) Jesus's father was possibly a Roman soldier named "Pantera." The evidence comes from a late second century text, with no basis in its historicity before this time. Mary apparently was a slut who had a thing for boys planning to become Roman soldiers. Yet this theory goes against everything we read about Mary in the Bible! Dr. Tabor is such a naturalist when it comes to the paternity of Christ, as he holds to a presupposition that a human pregnancy cannot take place unless there is human sperm. Yet Pantera was a second century invention used to contradict the Matthew 1:18 account, as Christians then and today all hold to the miraculous conception of the Christ child. Should this late reference used to contradict the Virgin Birth be taken so seriously in a historical context?
2) Jesus was not really God in the flesh. Instead, he was merely a man. Thus, when he died--and Dr. Tabor agrees that crucifixion did kill Jesus--he was buried. Hence, there was no resurrection. He references a 16th century mystical rabbi to show how Jesus was buried in a town in Galilee. (Strange why the Jewish and Roman authorities didn't look further into the matter and follow this grave so they could produce the body of Christ, which would saved them a lot of hassle since it would have killed any "resurrection" theory. After all, neither the Jews nor the Romans desired the resurrection in the first place.) Just like Thomas Jefferson who cut the miracle stories out of his gospel accounts (ending his "Bible" with "And they laid him (Jesus) in a tomb"), Dr. Tabor is not a believer in miracles. Thus, he cannot accept a miraculous resurrection of a dead body. While he is an empirical evidentialist who cannot believe anything that runs contrary to the miraculous, isn't a presupposition really an act of belief/faith in its own right? Damn the historical evidence, he appears to say, and thus we need to come up with any theory that runs contrary to the supernatural ideas. Is this really fair from a historical perspective? I think not.
3) James and Paul contradict each other. So which of these men were right? Based on my careful reading of both James and Paul, though, I completely disagree and would say it is very clear they actually are in sync. Yes, Martin Luther called James an epistle of straw, but I think a careful reading of this with Paul shows no compromise. The two mean had different audiences and perspectives, which at first glance can be confusing, but when you study what they say, there is no contradiction between James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and Paul, who was the apostle to the Gentiles.
4) Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist. In fact, he says the gospels get it wrong, as apparently Jesus believed John was better than he. Among other implications, the Lord's Prayer is a reflection of the Baptist, not originally Jesus's words. The history used in support? It's called grasping at straws, as it's just not there, or at least objective historians without presuppositions would call this a theory floating in the wind. Anyone can make up what they want and turn it into historical "fact." The question is, what does the evidence support?
5) Jesus's family formed the "Dynasty" who were disciples and leaders of the church. While there is no early support for this theory as well as the fact that this view contradicts Acts and the earliest accounts we have, Dr. Tabor theorizes that James (the "Beloved" disciple written about in the gospel of John) and his brothers played a much more prominent role than the NT lets on. Of course, it is obviously true that James plays an important role in Acts, as he was the head of the church in Jerusalem. But James is never called an apostle, as one sent forth, and he did the vast majority of his ministry in Jerusalem. The evidence to show that Jesus intended a dynasty of his family is lacking.
All in all, the premise of the entire book comes down to these presuppositional nuggets: Don't trust the accounts of history found in the Bible; miracles can't occur; and, billions of people are believing in their Christ in relative ignorance. While I obviously am not a fan of this work, let me give some positive points. One, the creative writing style is quite imaginative, and the author forced me to consider things from an entirely different angle. I like the fact that he tries to utilize archeology in determining history, as this is something that not all historians utilize enough. And, finally, the book does contain beautiful pictures and illustrations, perhaps worth the price of admission.
Unfortunately, however, the work that I thought was meant to be historical comes away as reading fictional. So, if you're looking for another DaVinci Code, then I would recommend this book. But if you are looking for true history, this Jesus of Dynasty just doesn't make the cut.
Book Description
A powerful and groundbreaking revelation of the secret history of the 1.5 million women who surrendered children for adoption in the several decades before Roe v. Wade
In this deeply moving work, Ann Fessler brings to light the lives of hundreds of thousands of young single American women forced to give up their newborn children in the years following World War II and before Roe v. Wade. The Girls Who Went Away tells a story not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up for adoption. Based on Fessler's groundbreaking interviews, it brings to brilliant life these women's voices and the spirit of the time, allowing each to share her own experience in gripping and intimate detail. Today, when the future of the Roe decision and women's reproductive rights stand squarely at the front of a divisive national debate, Fessler brings to the fore a long-overlooked history of single women in the fifties, sixties, and early seventies.
In 2002, Fessler, an adoptee herself, traveled the country interviewing women willing to speak publicly about why they relinquished their children. Researching archival records and the political and social climate of the time, she uncovered a story of three decades of women who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced or outright forced to give their babies up for adoption. Fessler deftly describes the impossible position in which these women found themselves: as a sexual revolution heated up in the postwar years, birth control was tightly restricted, and abortion proved prohibitively expensive or life endangering. At the same time, a postwar economic boom brought millions of American families into the middle class, exerting its own pressures to conform to a model of family perfection. Caught in the middle, single pregnant women were shunned by family and friends, evicted from schools, sent away to maternity homes to have their children alone, and often treated with cold contempt by doctors, nurses, and clergy.
The majority of the women Fessler interviewed have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives. A searing and important look into a long-overlooked social history, The Girls Who Went Away is their story.
Customer Reviews:
The true story of "birthmothers".......2007-08-11
This book is a powerful explanation of the pain that so many women experienced after being convinced or coerced to place their out-of-wedlock children in adoptive homes. The case histories are told by the individual women and illuminate the shame and guilt that so many women experienced. It is important social history and will be very empowering reading for women who "went away" to have a baby.
Elizabeth Counts, Where Are You?.......2007-07-28
Between the end of World War II in 1945 and the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, many unwed girls and women were forced by society to "go away" during unplanned pregnancies -
< to "hide" the physical evidence of their perceived moral turpitude, while the fathers, blameless and shameless, were free to roam about their usual lives and wild oat sowing> - and surrender the baby to "good homes" (2 parent households.) Then, adding insult to past psychological injuries, the Men in power continue to refuse to allow adequate access to birth and adoption records such that the members of the "adoption triad" (birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptee) can't find each other. Thus is created a large segment of the "Baby Boom" generation without medical/genetic history.
Ann Fessler found her history and has written an excellent, empathetic, anecdotal and well -researched history of her mother and other mothers who "gave up" their babies and the confluence of forces in the age of Ozzie and Harriet, McCarthy, and beyond. As this reviewer has cautioned in other reviews, a lot of younger women take for granted the great strides made in the brief period between the 1960's and now. This book and In Our Time: Memoir of A Revolution will remind those of us who lived through this period of the progress we've made - and teach the younger generations that they must be eternally vigilant, lest those rights be taken away. Rosie the Riveter, paragon of "We Can Do It!" womanhood in the 1940s, was shuffled off to June Cleaver's kitchen in the 1950s. As Santayana said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Elizabeth Counts, your past is calling. Please contact me. Your daughter, my client, is looking for you. /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer
Riveting and heartbreaking. .......2007-07-23
I am an adult adoptee who has been reunited with my birth mother, birth grandparents and birth uncle. I found this book to be an eye opening look into the world my birth mother was living in at the time of her pregnancy and my birth. I've always been grateful to my birth mom for giving me my family, but this book shows that I didn't really understand what she was up against in 1967. I've spoken at high schools regarding my experience as an adoptee, and some people seem surprised that I'm 'normal'. Surprised that I have nothing but praise for my birth mother, the woman who 'gave' me away. As a mother myself, I cannot imagine a pain worse than giving your child away. I believe my birth mother did it as a selfless act, but reading this book has made me wonder exactly how much society influenced her decision. The stories in this book seem straight out of another world in terms of how pregnant girls were treated.
In response to another reviewer, this book really has nothing to do with abortion. I don't even recall it being mentioned more than a few times and even then it was just in a brief mention regarding society at the time or as part of a personal story. This book certainly does not condone abortion or suggest it as a better option than adoption. I'm sure that most, if not all, of the women in the book would say they are glad they had their children, whether reunited with them or not.
Heartbreaking .......2007-06-26
How sad to hear all these womens stories. I felt for all of them. They did what they had to do.
This book should be a 10!.......2007-06-01
This is a must read. If you are some how involved in the adoption triad, then you don't want to miss this. It was given to me as a gift. I will treasure this book until the day I die. Its amazing how well Ann Fessler put our lives in words for others to help understand.
Book Description
For decades, books about John or Robert Kennedy have woven either a shimmering tale of Camelot gallantry or a tawdry story of runaway ambition and reckless personal behavior. But the real story of the Kennedys in the 1960s has long been submerged -- until now. In Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot sheds a dramatic new light on the tumultuous inner life of the Kennedy presidency and its stunning aftermath. Talbot, the founder of Salon.com, has written a gripping political history that is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
Brothers begins on the shattering afternoon of November 22, 1963, as a grief-stricken Robert Kennedy urgently demands answers about the assassination of his brother. Bobby's suspicions immediately focus on the nest of CIA spies, gangsters, and Cuban exiles that had long been plotting a violent regime change in Cuba. The Kennedys had struggled to control this swamp of anti-Castro intrigue based in southern Florida, but with little success.
Brothers then shifts back in time, revealing the shadowy conflicts that tore apart the Kennedy administration, pitting the young president and his even younger brother against their own national security apparatus. The Kennedy brothers and a small circle of their most trusted advisors -- men like Theodore Sorensen, Robert McNamara, and Kenneth O'Donnell, who were so close the Kennedys regarded them as family -- repeatedly thwarted Washington's warrior caste. These hard-line generals and spymasters were hell-bent on a showdown with the Communist foe -- in Berlin, Laos, Vietnam, and especially Cuba. But the Kennedys continually frustrated their militaristic ambitions, pushing instead for a peaceful resolution to the Cold War. The tensions within the Kennedy administration were heading for an explosive climax, when a burst of gunfire in a sunny Dallas plaza terminated John F. Kennedy's presidency.
Based on interviews with more than one hundred fifty people -- including many of the Kennedys' aging "band of brothers," whose testimony here might be their final word on this epic political story -- as well as newly released government documents, Brothers reveals the compelling, untold story of the Kennedy years, including JFK's heroic efforts to keep the country out of a cataclysmic war and Bobby Kennedy's secret quest to solve his beloved brother's murder. Bobby's subterranean search was a dangerous one and led, in part, to his own quest for power in 1968, in a passion-filled campaign that ended with his own murder. As Talbot reveals here, RFK might have been the victim of the same plotters he suspected of killing his brother. This is historical storytelling at its riveting best -- meticulously researched and movingly told.
Brothers is a sprawling narrative about the clash of powerful men and the darker side of the Cold War -- a tale of tragic grandeur that is certain to change our understanding of the relentlessly fascinating Kennedy saga.
Customer Reviews:
Capital!.......2007-09-22
Along with Richard Mahoney's Sons And Brothers, you won't find a better rendering of the shadows playing around the Kennedy brothers than in this very well-researched and well-written study. One fact stands out: the JFK assassination will be debated from now until doomsday, pending conclusive proof of this theory or that. I say "theory" because for all the millions of words spoken and written it basically remains an unsolved crime. Media efforts, with all the subtlety of an exploding frangible bullet, to drive home the Lone-Nut theory into our collective consciousness will destructively collide with Mr Talbot's sane and bold
approach, leaving only a few dust-like fragments.
Thought Provoking Tale of the Kennedy Years.......2007-09-11
This book is an enjoyable read. It is heavily footnoted with the footnotes conveniently separated from the main text at the back of the book. Documentation is critical for credibility given the nature of arguing one way or another concerning a conspiracy to murder the president.
After reading this book, I felt well supplied with a good historical knowledge of the period: the Bay of Pigs, the October Missile Crises, the CIA, Cuban Exiles, the Mafia, Jimmy Hoffa, the McClellan Commission, the Warren Commission, Conspiracy Theories, Bobby's reaction to the assassination, the Church Committee, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
It's difficult to summarize what I think is the core of this book in a few lines but here goes: The CIA and Cuban exiles expected Kennedy to supply air cover for the Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy did not. The mission failed. This set the hostile relationship between the CIA/Cubans/Joint Chiefs toward Kennedy for the rest of the Kennedy Administration. The settlement of the Cuban Missile Crises shut the door to the CIA's and Cuban exile's expectation that the US Government would support an invasion to topple Castro. The mob was angry at Kennedy because of Bobby's active effort as Attorney General to bust the mafia - even though the mob helped JFK win a close election (the Chicago Machine). It appears the author believes the CIA, Cuban exiles, and the Mob conspired to put a hit out on the president; then Bobby's assassination ended any hope of the Kennedy circle to unravel the conspiracy once Bobby had the power to investigate the murder.
By reading this book, one cannot unequivocally conclude there was or was not a conspiracy; but it is fun to speculate. There are so many tantalizing facts, such as all the people who mysteriously died who could have shed light on the assassination, some of those named include: Dorothy Kilgallen, David Morales, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Sam Giancana, Johnny Roselli, and RFK (wins CA primary, thus odds higher to become president, so taken out?). Add to this the two failed plots in Miami and Chicago, both just before the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination, and both plots similar to the successful Oswald shooting; thus it is no surprise people still have questions concerning the official Warren Report.
A few notes: 1.The book points out that Curtis Le May urged Kennedy to go nuclear but it did not note that Fidel Castro urged Khrushchev to fire tactical nuclear missiles at the U.S. during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. 2. Kennedy and Khrushchev deserve our everlasting thanks for not going nuclear in 1962 despite great pressure to do so. 3. Should we believe the private or public RFK? When anyone holds at least two different versions of any subject, it is then obvious to question the truth of either. The author tells us that Robert Kennedy privately believed there was a powerful group of conspirators (i.e. the CIA in conjunction with the Mob and Cuban exiles) that plotted and carried out his brother's murder (this might be some of the "hidden history" in the subtitle) despite the fact that Bobby did publicly endorse the Warren Commission Report. 4. Abraham Zapruder (famous Zapruder film), David Powers and Kenneth O'Donnell (car behind JFK's) all say they heard shots fired from the grassy knoll but the Warren Commission only wanted to hear from David Powers when he changed his story and they didn't want to hear from Ken O'Donnell because he would not change his view that he heard shots from the grassy knoll. Instead the Warren Commission adopted Arlen Specter's "Magic Bullet Theory." The Warren Commission, Hoover, and much of the political establishment wanted to get over with the investigation as quickly as possible (and to have a simple explanation the country could easily understand) so that the country could move on. Also, Allen Dulles (who the book says had a disproportionate influence on the Warren Commission) may have been biased in search of the truth.
A very moving reminder of the Kennedys.......2007-09-05
David Talbot has written a very important book. It is very well researched and thoughtfully expresses the saga of the nation's inadequate search for truth around the killing of the Kennedy's. With so much at stake in national politics, it is a grim reminder that Americans, for all our patriotic bluster about standing for truth, liberty and freedom for all, cannot seem to look into the dark forces that often overrule our governments higher calling. And until we do, there is little hope that we can overcome those forces and avoid further debacles like Vietnam, Iraq and the killing of leaders that try to expose the deeper underpinnings of our country. The result being that we constantly lurch from one poorly thought out policy to another.
The young Kennedys, for all their faults and failings, were a powerful force for justice, and this nation has sorely missed their passion - and David Talbot has reminded us of what we lost and what little we did to find out why.
This book shows the extreme strain JFK and RFK had within their government.......2007-09-02
This book provides excellent facts and interviews with REAL people from the Kennedy days. These people were close to the Kennedy brothers and they provide a lot of insight on what happened behind closed doors. This is the best book about the Kennedys and this is also the best book to provide evidence for an overwhelming conspiracy involving our government. BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. YOU WILL NEVER THINK THE SAME!
A Great Book! Read it........2007-08-26
It took me a while to actually get into the book. It took about 40 or 50 pages.
I've read tons of material on JFK's murder and this book initially felt like just another rehash of all of the other evidence that other people have flogged to death. It is much more than that, however.
Most importantly, it provides the historical context for JFK's murder. Though it is not as thorough with the lead up to RFK's murder, he does provide a fair bit of context for RFK's murder in 1968. He does not, however, capture the mood, the near-panic of that spring/summer, as first MLK and then RFK was gunned down. Because I lived through those tumultous times, as a kid growing up in Detroit, I can safely say that it felt like the world was starting to spin off its axis. He does not quite capture that feeling or sense.
But he does a great job of providing that kind of feel for the time period leading up to Dallas in '63. I'd forgotten many of the details about the events from that time. Talbot pulls it all together with lots of detail and fact and illustrates how JFK's murder was almost an inevitable event. Considering everything that led up to it.
It always amuses me when one reads critical comments such as those offered by negative reviewers here, comments that in no way address the real factual issues and concerns that have remained unresolved for over 40 years. Critics simply lapse into ad hominem attacks and never, ever address the huge factual and logical holes in the Warren Commission approach to this crime.
As someone who tried criminal cases for a living, I believe that any case against Oswald as a lone nut killer is so full of holes, it probably could not have been charged, if he had lived. If they had attempted to try him as a lone killer, they would have been laughed out of the courtroom. Part of a conspiracy? Maybe. A lone killer shooting from the sixth floor? No way. Also, it amuses me that critics denigrate claims of conspiracy, as though only the unhinged would ever believe in such a ridiculous concept. Obviously these people have never spent much time in criminal courts, because prosecutors routinely charge people with conspiracies, day in and day out. If small and large conspiracies happen every day - according to the people who prosecute crimes in our country - why is it so unbelievable that a conspiracy to murder a very important person could happen?
And while the particular facts are too complex to discuss in this forum, Talbot does a very good job of laying out basic, uncontested facts that clearly support his central thesis: that JFK was murdered by a conspiracy and that RFK was not stupid enough to have simply accepted the tripe that was being offered by the government. The book is remarkably free of speculation. It is grounded in simple solid reporting.
It is a book that was difficult to put down. I'm very glad that I took the time to read it. I finally realized why my old grandfather proudly hung one of those tacky velour "portraits" of JFK, MLK and RFK on his wall. (Most black folks know exactly the "portrait" I am referring to. The one that shows MLK flanked by the two Kennedy brothers.) This book makes you understand why my grandfather and so many other black folks all over the country felt so strongly about the two brothers.
Book Description
Loyalty is by no means dead. In fact the principles of loyalty . . . are alive and well at the heart of every company with an enduring record of high productivity, solid profits, and steady expansion.
From The Loyalty Effect
The business world seems to have given up on loyalty: many major corporations now lose-and have to replace-half their customers in five years, half their employees in four, and half their investors in less than one. Fred Reichheld's national bestseller The Loyalty Effect shows why companies that ignore these skyrocketing defections face a dismal future of low growth, weak profits, and shortened life expectancy. Reichheld demonstrates the power of loyalty-based management as a highly profitable alternative to the economics of perpetual churn. He makes a powerful economic case for loyalty-and takes you through the numbers to prove it. His startling conclusion: Even a small improvement in customer retention can double profits in your company. The Loyalty Effect will change the way you think about loyalty, profits, and the nature of business.
Fred Reichheld is a Director Emeritus of Bain & Company and a Bain Fellow. He is also the author of Loyalty Rules!.
Download Description
Reichheld lays out a new "economics of loyalty" that provides a framework where the "soft" elements of business--loyalty and learning--can be effectively linked to the hard science of cash flows and cost/benefit analysis. Because of this connection, Reichheld argues, there is enormous potential for improving a company's performance by increasing customer, investor, and employee loyalty. Reichheld's research demonstrates that loyalty drives profits in direct and quantifiable ways through its impact on growth, learning, and productivity. In addition, loyalty generates a spiritual energy that powers the value creation process that is at the heart of sustained business success. In many industries, loyalty explains the differences in profitability among competitors more effectively than scale, market share, unit costs, or most other factors usually associated with competitive advantage.
Customer Reviews:
Holistic Approach to Management.......2007-07-30
I found this book very useful as I am working on a new start-up business and selecting and keeping personnel is key. In this book you find practical examples of how to do this and you see the enormous benefit it is to have loyal employees.
This is a must for anyone starting and/or working at turning a business around.
Great learning tool.......2007-01-27
This is full of great concepts that are easily put to practice with effective results.
The book that started it all!.......2007-01-14
This book above any other, rekindled my passion to fully understand the concept of 'loyalty'. Although it was written quite some time ago now, having its' genesis back in the 1980's, it remains an outstanding work on this topic.
Clearly, thinking has evolved over time and practical application of this approach has clarified and expanded our understanding of this topic, yet the book presents a strong argument for developing a deep appreciation of loyalty and it's impact on business performance.
The book is well researched. Well written. Easy to read, with a good flow. Full of interesting case studies and supporting data this publication is a must read for anyone interested in the topic.
Much attention is today being focused on Customer Loyalty yet the proposition that this book puts forward is that Customer Loyalty is only one third of the argument. Employee loyalty and shareholder loyalty both play a significant role in delivering benefits back to the corporation. Few books have expounded the proposition as thoroughly and completely as this one.
A way to earn consistently higher profits.......2006-09-02
The Loyalty Effect is an analysis of the effects of loyalty. The author, Frederick F. Reichheld, takes a rigorous looks at a variety of successful companies and finds that those "that earned superior levels of customer loyalty and retention also earned consistently higher profits" and sustainable levels of growth.
The examples and data shown in this book give a clear picture of how loyalty can be earned through strong value creation and why this leads to long-term profitability and growth. Beyond customer loyalty, the author also looks at how the right employees, the right investors and the right partnerships can add to the overall strength of a company. The evidence that Reichheld presents in support of loyalty-based management is thought provoking and compelling.
While the author himself doesn't proclaim this that style of management is a magic "cure all", Reichheld's argument is extremely convincing and the research supporting his claim is clear: loyalty makes good economic sense. People running businesses, big and small, can benefit from the ideas presented in The Loyalty Effect. I highly recommend this book.
Learn how to foster loyalty in customers and within your organization.......2006-02-21
These days it would be easy to believe that loyalty didn't matter anymore. Customers are going to shop around, employees are going to hunt for new jobs before they get downsized, and investors will be fickle about holding onto stock if its price moves even an inch. Loyalty, says a whole cadre of business gurus, is out of date and irrelevant. Not so, says author Frederick Reichheld, a director of Bain & Company. Companies like Leo Burnet and A.G. Edwards consistently pay the highest salaries, offer high value to customers at competitive prices, have the highest employee retention rates, and have the highest profitability rates. Loyal customers, employees and investors fuel a sustained cycle of growth at these companies. If you want to foster loyalty in your customers, employees and investors, Reichheld has the following advice:
· Make customer value, not profit, the goal.
· Loyal customers are more profitable than new customers. Break up the potential customer base into segments and find out which ones are more likely to be loyal. Target these customers.
· Find and keep the right employees. Getting the right customers will bring you a profit. Invest that profit in loyal employees who will continue to increase value to your customers. Companies with the highest employee loyalty consistently have the highest customer loyalty.
· Find investors with long-term perspective.
· Learn from defections. If customers or employees are leaving the company, find out why. Take actions to correct problems. Learn from mistakes.
Amazon.com
When quiltmaker Ozella McDaniels told Jacqueline Tobin of the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, it sparked Tobin to place the tale within the history of the Underground Railroad. Hidden in Plain View documents Tobin and Raymond Dobard's journey of discovery, linking Ozella's stories to other forms of hidden communication from history books, codes, and songs. Each quilt, which could be laid out to air without arousing suspicion, gave slaves directions for their escape. Ozella tells Tobin how quilt patterns like the wagon wheel, log cabin, and shoofly signaled slaves how and when to prepare for their journey. Stitching and knots created maps, showing slaves the way to safety.
The authors construct history around Ozella's story, finding evidence in cultural artifacts like slave narratives, folk songs, spirituals, documented slave codes, and children's' stories. Tobin and Dobard write that "from the time of slavery until today, secrecy was one way the black community could protect itself. If the white man didn't know what was going on, he couldn't seek reprisals." Hidden in Plain View is a multilayered and unique piece of scholarship, oral history, and cultural exploration that reveals slaves as deliberate agents in their own quest for freedom even as it shows that history can sometimes be found where you least expect it. --Amy Wan
Book Description
The fascinating story of a friendship, a lost tradition, and an incredible discovery, revealing how enslaved men and women made encoded quilts and then used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad.
"A groundbreaking work."--Emerge
In
Hidden in Plain View, historian Jacqueline Tobin and scholar Raymond Dobard offer the first proof that certain quilt patterns, including a prominent one called the Charleston Code, were, in fact, essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. In 1993, historian Jacqueline Tobin met African American quilter Ozella Williams amid piles of beautiful handmade quilts in the Old Market Building of Charleston, South Carolina. With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to describe how slaves made coded quilts and used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. But just as quickly as she started, Williams stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was "ready." During the three years it took for Williams's narrative to unfold--and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew--Tobin enlisted Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., an art history professor and well-known African American quilter, to help unravel the mystery.
Part adventure and part history,
Hidden in Plain View traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas, from the low-country island Gullah peoples to free blacks living in the cities of the North, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story.
Customer Reviews:
Myth, legend or history?.......2007-05-27
I have read pros and cons on the authenticity of this book and remain convinced it is a novel lacking authentic historical documentation. Some of the quilt patterns mentioned did not exist prior to 1900 and the story tellers are unavailable or deceased. Although several respected quilt historians believe the author's tales, I choose to accept Barbara Brackman's statement in her book "Facts and Fabrications...Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery." Ms. Brackman wrote on page 7 of her book "We have no historical evidence that quilts were used as signal, codes or maps. The tale of quilts and the Underground Railroad makes a good story, but not good quilt history." The book is a slow read and repetitive.
Not a shred of evidence!.......2007-03-22
Having personally had the privilege to study with three of the Underground Railroad's top historians: David Blight, James Horton, and Lois Horton; All three said that there is not a shred of evidence supporting the idea that quilts served as maps. Quilts were however sewn and sold as fundraisers for abolitionist groups.
Fakelore - absolutely no evidence to back up this story.......2007-03-12
Just do a search on the internet for underground railroad quilts and you will find many web sites that debunk the myths set forth in this book. Although the concept is appealing, there is absolutely no evidence other than one woman's story to back it up. Almost all underground railroad historians and quilt historians label this book as FICTION, not fact! There is so much factual material to learn about the Underground Railroad - it is an insult to the history of black Americans to perpetuate a myth.
Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad.......2007-02-19
Very interesting book, not quite what I had expected. The book traces the story line of a particular person, along with the different perspectives of educators and their arguments of the authenticity of the patterns and their meanings.
I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys quilting, along with an interest in American History and the importance of the Underground Railroad post Civil War.
Wonderful Reading ! Highly Recommended !.......2006-09-08
I learned about this book through the drama department at my church. We are putting on a play based on the story of the quilt code presented here. I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. I have visited this booth many times. As an African American and a descendent of survivors of slavery, I understand the concept of an unwritten oral history. So much of my family history that has been handed done orally by the elders in my family would probably be unbelievable also. But that does not mean that it did not occur. The Timeline, Glossary, and Bibliography are excellent tools. This book has helped the cast to start discussions and learn more about this era in United States history.
Book Description
No blacks allowed, especially after dark. This was the unwritten rule in a "sundown" town. In his trademark revelatory style, bestselling author James W. Loewen explores one of America's best-kept secrets as he unearths the making of sundown towns and discloses the fact that many white neighborhoods and suburbs are the result of years of racism and segregation. Anna, Illinois; Darien, Connecticut; and Cedar Key, Florida, are just a few examples of the thousands of all-white towns established between 1890 and 1968, many of which still exist today. White residents of these towns used any means possible -- including the law, harassment, race riots, and even murder -- to keep African Americans and other minority groups out.
Powerful and unprecedented, Sundown Towns tells the story of how these towns came into existence, what maintains them, and what to do about them. It also deepens our understanding of the role racism has played and continues to play in our society.
Customer Reviews:
I grew up in a "Sundown Town".......2007-09-20
I am African American and I grew up in one of the towns in the northeast mentioned in the book (I didn't read the book, my sister told me about it, she said it was very good so that's where my rating comes from.) This town was EXTREMELY RACIST. My siblings and I were the only African American kids in the local school and we went through hell. We were called "nigger" so many times that we lost count. I heard that this town "opened up" in the 1980's, but I still cannot bring myself to go back there.
Nevertheless, I don't hate white people or anyone else for that matter. I try to judge people as individuals, and have raised my children to do the same. In fact, I feel sorry for the people who were so hateful to us. What kind of person gets pleasure or satisfaction from inflicting pain on others?
I live in a large city that has its share of racial problems. However, I live in a very nice, integrated neighborhood. There are blacks, Asians, and Latinos. Many of the residents (including myself) are city workers. I have to admit that I would have not moved there if there were no other people of color there. At the risk of contradicting myself, I just would not feel comfortable being the only black person in an all-white neighborhood. Been there, done that, and it wasn't fun.
I just can't bring myself to read this book, though, because it would bring back too many painful memories.
Could have been so much better........2007-07-31
After the first one hundred pages, I was ready to give this five stars. I have lived or worked in most of the towns mentioned in Southern Illinois, and the book correctly presents a great deal of information. On the other hand, some of the oral histories were quite incorrect. Eldorado has not had a "sundown sign" since 1960 at least, if ever. But the author claims it had such a sign into the 1980's. The mayor of Benton, Illinois remarks were taken out of context and totally misrepresented her, and her comments. These errors and several similar ones could have easily been avoided, making the book much better. The tragedy is that his points are well made and accurate generally, but when errors creep in it allows those who are racist in their attitudes to mount a defense that the book is filled with inaccuracies. If this were the only problem, I would still give the book four and one half to five stars.
The greatest problem with this book is when the author allows his own political views to overshadow reality in assuming that race was the motivation for many southern whites to vote Republican for the past forty years. Saline County (Eldorado, IL), Franklin County (Benton, West Frankfort and Ziegler, IL) and Union County (Anna, IL) are some of the most racist communities in the United States. Yet, these communities rarely even have Republican candidates on the ballot for local elections. The Democrat Party reigns supreme in these communities. Party affiliation is not reflective of racist attitudes. This is the great blemish on what could have been a truly great book. It does shine light on a horrible problem. It is a common reality throughout the United States. Much of the analysis is excellent. But the author's personal biases tarnished the final product.
Get Over the Guilt!.......2007-05-26
More liberal hand-wringing about human nature. More guilt over the supposed special evil of white people.
First, if a group of white people wants to live by itself without seeing a black face after dark, why is that bad? Who does it hurt? Why would a black person WANT to be in that town,anyway? Second, I can name several "sundown towns" that exist today, where WHITE people are not allowed: Harlem, South Central Los Angeles, etc. And that's okay with me; that's their turf, and they deserve a white-free space and are welcome to it. Third, the idea that white people are especially racist, which this book promotes, is absurd in the extreme. India is 99% Indian. China is 99% Chinese. Mexico is 99% mestizo. Most sub-saharan African countries are 99% black. These appear to be "sundown countries." Very, very few European countries are today 99% white, or even 90% white, if that. Non-whites are flooding into Europe and America, a curious thing to do if whites there are so notoriously racist. Slavery is an ages-old institution which Europeans and Americans led the way in ending. We should be PROUD of our past, not ashamed of it. Books such as this try to exploit white guilt for various reasons, including envy for white success and and excuse for black failure; that's the agenda behind the "history." Ultimately this strategy will fail because it is contra human nature. My prediction is that in the future "sundown towns" will be back in America in a big way, and with no apologies.
Racism: Solving the Problem.......2007-05-21
Not only is this a book about the many subtle and not-so-subtle ways that minority groups (African-Americans, and to a lesser degree Asian- and Hispanic-Americans) have been kept segregated, it is a book about possible remedies that are practical in nature. There are many surprising facts, both to those who thought certain states were immune to the virus of racism that created segregated communities ("sundown rules in sundown towns") but also to those who felt some areas of the country had to be more frequently guilty of the practice of warning minorities to get out of town by sundown.
The author takes a sociologist's view of census reports about residential patterns. Some towns that might not appear to be "sundown towns" turn out in fact to be because the accidents of having a large minority population do not exempt a town from scrutiny (the presence of a prison system within city or county limits might skew the numbers, for example). This skewing effect might give one a false impression about the history and present practices of a particular community.
Reading this book is a real challenge to the assumption that housing and residential patterns in the U. S. are/were created through voluntary choices made by consenting adults. Some of the unlikeliest of places were sundown towns. Many readers may be surprised to find their own communities listed (I won't give away the real surprises). This is must reading for those who care about equality of treatment for all minorities.
A must-read for every American!!.......2007-02-13
This book is absolutely fascinating for anyone interested in our country's racial history, or race-relations today. After reading this book, I believe it should be required reading in high school government/politics/social classes. I cannot believe I was so ignorant of this entire dimension of our country's history, and many, many other people are, too. I am also amazed that it has never been comprehensively studied or written about before. Kudos to Loewen for bringing this to our attention!!
Book Description
Mathematicians solve equations, or try to. But sometimes the solutions are not as interesting as the beautiful symmetric patterns that lead to them. Written in a friendly style for a general audience, Fearless Symmetry is the first popular math book to discuss these elegant and mysterious patterns and the ingenious techniques mathematicians use to uncover them.
Hidden symmetries were first discovered nearly two hundred years ago by French mathematician Évariste Galois. They have been used extensively in the oldest and largest branch of mathematics--number theory--for such diverse applications as acoustics, radar, and codes and ciphers. They have also been employed in the study of Fibonacci numbers and to attack well-known problems such as Fermat's Last Theorem, Pythagorean Triples, and the ever-elusive Riemann Hypothesis. Mathematicians are still devising techniques for teasing out these mysterious patterns, and their uses are limited only by the imagination.
The first popular book to address representation theory and reciprocity laws, Fearless Symmetry focuses on how mathematicians solve equations and prove theorems. It discusses rules of math and why they are just as important as those in any games one might play. The book starts with basic properties of integers and permutations and reaches current research in number theory. Along the way, it takes delightful historical and philosophical digressions. Required reading for all math buffs, the book will appeal to anyone curious about popular mathematics and its myriad contributions to everyday life.
Customer Reviews:
Let me Inject Some Reality into Discussion.......2007-08-05
In spite of some of the comments posted already and in spite of what is on the book's back cover - this is a math book - this is a serious math book. I personally don't see that average person getting anything out of this if they hadn't had say Linear Algebra in particular. Calculus is not required but higher alegra is.
The reason I bought this book is that I read Ian Stewert's book on Symmetry and Beauty and found it lacking as it was not very mathematical.
I was not dissapointed in the level of math in this book. If anything, I got overwhelmed by the end.
I call this type of book "drill deep" but not wide. I like that idea.
The author's have a real ambitious goal. It's laid out on pages 11 and 12:
"in this book we explore ..representations...we consider sets, groups, matrices and functions between them. We show you in detail in one particular case that we develop throughout the book that sets us to our goal: mod p linear representations of Galois groups."
THIS IS THE GOAL OF THIS BOOK. They are not kidding this is what the book sets out to do and I belive accomplishes.
The authors are true to this goal in the "drill deep" mode. Example: Chapter 2 is Groups - not everything about Group Theory is presented but enough that is needed for the rest of the book. In a similar manner one chapter is on so called reciprocity laws. Chapter 4 is on Modular Arithmetic a crucial aspect to this book.
One prior reviewer indicated that each chapter is far more difficult than the last; this is sortof the general tenure of the book - but with exceptions if you know that material. Example, Chapter 5, Complex Numbers, for me was a relief sandwiched in between Modular Artimetic and Equations and Varieties. I can attest that for the subject "Complex numbers" - that they treated it at a relativley elementary level and focused on just those aspects needed later on. I am sure that for all subjects like "Quadratric reciprocity" that was the case. However, if you hadn't been exposed to quadratic reciprocity and Legendre symbols it is a tough slog.
For me the high point of the book was Chapter 8, I felt that I understood the difficult concept of the the Absolute group of the field of algebraic numbers by the end of the chapter. It is an infinite group that only elements can really be enumerated - Identity and complex conjugation. It fills in some (but not all) of the points in the number line between the group of rational numbers and the line with no gaps the field of real numbers.
Chapters 13 to 22 my ability to follow went way downhill and I just skimmed to get some highpoints.
I might return to this book in the future. I like the idea of not having to learn every aspect of something like alebraic ring theory , then every aspect of permutation theory etc. but just learning enough to accomplish some higher level of understanding like ultimatley how Fermat's Last Therom was solved.
I would recomend Stwert's book on Symmetry and Beauty first if you feel you want a more general understanding of this subject as opposed to a real math book which this is.
From the Earth to the stars.......2007-07-29
The book has a goal which is very difficult to reach: introducing people without every mathematical background to the contemporary research in Galois Theory, Number Theory and Diophantine Geometry. In such a situation it is always very hard to choose the best proofs to be written in the book, the best examples and the best way... Maybe, if was the author, I would have made more proofs in the second part of the book, and have chosen other examples for this part. However --- it is so light to criticize --- and the author achieved his goal in proportion of at least 80%, which is not less for an impossible goal!
outstanding.......2007-06-27
This is a very good introduction to arithmetic that everyone wanting to be initiated in this important branch of mathematics should read.
The authors achieved something remarkable: they were able to communicate with accuracy the deepest concepts of arithmetic without the boring style of many mathematics textbooks. The book is very engaging, with nice reflections about the nature of mathematical thought, as well as the motivations behind the concepts.
The authors managed to have a gradual build up of difficulty of topics all the way
to the proof of Fermat's last Theorem. Unlike other introductory texts that let you down
because in their effort to be more engaging, end up too elementary, this one is perfectly balanced. I will also recommend the "Calculus Gallery" as a second outstanding book introducing Analysis.
It would be great if other branches of mathematics like mathematical physics, algebra, mathematical informatics etc had the privilege of such well balanced and insightful introductions.
Well done!
Rare - a well written book about math .......2007-05-30
Unlike most math books, Fearless symmetry is well written. Key concepts from prior chapters are reemphasized in subsequent chapters so readers are less likely to get lost. This is the first book on groups and representation theory that made clear sense to me. I can see where galois therory is going and now have an understanding of the basic form of the proof of Fermat's last theorem.
Definition Dump from Freshman Abstract Algebra Course.......2007-05-16
The book is simply a compilation of definitions from a second rate textbook for Abstract Algebra 101 pasted together with high-five chit-chat from the mathematics-is-really-neat school of math edutainment. There are only a handful of illustrations in the book, none of which have anything to do with symmetry or patterns of numbers. The book Number Theory in Science and Communication: With Applications in Cryptography, Physics, Digital Information, Computing, and Self-Similarity by M.R.Schroeder is a much better choice for the subject.
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General
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| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans
There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945-1975 (Vintage)
When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America
