A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds

Average customer rating:

Great Book about Frauds

"...he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived." ..Machiavelli

Fun with skepticism

Excellent stories, but not as good as some of his other books

Fun, Very Light

A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds
Michael Farquhar
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors

The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy

The Greatest War Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from Military History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy (History Channel)

Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty

ASIN: 0143035444
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Book Description

We may say that honesty is the best policy, but history—to say nothing of business, politics, and the media—suggests otherwise. In this infinitely citable book, the author of two bestselling treasuries of scandal recounts some of the greatest deceptions of all time. With what forged document did the Vatican lay claim to much of Europe? Who wrote Hitler's diaries? Why do millions still believe the vague doggerel that Nostradamus passed off as prophecy? Organizing his material by theme (con artists, the press, military trickery, scientific fraud, imposters, great escapes, and more), Michael Farquhar takes in everything from the hoodwinking of Hitler to Vincent “the Chin” Gigante's thirty-year crazy act. A Treasury of Deception is a zestful, gossipy exposé—and celebration—of mendacity.

A Treasury of Deception also includes:
• Ten tricksters from scripture
• Ten great liars in literature
• Ten egregious examples of modern American doublespeak
• Ten classic deceptions from Greek mythology

Customer Reviews:

Great Book about Frauds.......2007-04-20

This is a very interesting book about different frauds from around the world. Some examples from the book:

1.Nostradamus' predictions
2.Piltdown man
3.various Nazi lies and hoaxes
4.Clifford Irving's whopper of a lie when he said that he was writing a biography about Howard Hughes
5.A lady in the 1600's giving birth to rabbits
6.Various royal hoaxes dealing with pretenders to thrones
7.Boys with plenty of school spirit who got the Lincoln Museum to look purple
8.plenty other stories to keep you amused for hours.

"...he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived." ..Machiavelli.......2007-01-17

Everything in this book is a pack of lies;and every story is true.What a collection of history's Lies,Misleaders,Hoodwinkers,Hoaxes,Fakes,Frauds,Scandals,Misbehaviors,Trickery,Imposters,Chincanery,Falsehoods,Ruses,Monkey Business,Practical Jokes,Deception,Duplicity,Con Men,and all of those things that have been done to snag the gullible down through the ages.It started with an apple in the Garden of Eden, and in one form or another, has continued ever since. There has never been any part of society that has been able to keep itself immune from these deceitful practitioners of this low level art.
Farquhar has given us the essence of 74 amazing instances of deceptions that have taken in people in unbelievable ways.

He has included 4 Appendices ;

I: Ten Tricksters from Scripture.

II: Ten great Liars in Literature.

III: Ten Classic Deceptions from Greek Mythology.

IV: Ten Egregious Examples of Modern Doublespeak.

Should you be so inclined to delve further into these precious dasterdly acts,he gives an extensive Bibliography which will give much more information for your reading pleasure or if so inclined,help you become an expert in this fine art.
It seems that when one sets out to deceive,it is easier to pull it off with many, rather than a few, people.While some of the great deceptions in history seemed to be a major success to the perpetrator,one should remember the words of Walter Scott;

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave,when first we practice to deceive."

While history is filled with deceptions;it is also filled with warnings about deceiving;

"Believe no tales from an enemy's tongue."

"Trust is the mother of deceit."

"He that once deceives,is ever suspected"

"To deceive a deceiver is no deceit."

"To deceive oneself is very easy."

"Deceive me once,shame on you. Deceive me twice,shame on me."

A wonderful collection of deceptions;and don't be surprised that after reading this book;that you will never again take anything for granted or at face value.

Fun with skepticism.......2006-02-03

The very first chapter, on the prophecies of Nostradamus, is worth the price of the book. Farquhar points out that Nostradamus built his prophetic reputation by making vague pronouncements so filled with symbolism that they could be interpreted to predict nearly anything. If more people read Farquhar, there'd be a lot fewer people wasting their time with other prophetic works that use the same approach, such as the book of Isaiah and the Revelation of St. John. This is something of a personal issue for me. My own father, an intelligent and talented man who could have done a lot of good in the world, spent years obsessing uselessly over these prophecies.

The rest of the book has plenty more great stories. Admittedly, Farquhar doesn't go into great detail with any of them, but so what? You can always go elsewhere to dig deeper if something interests you.

A few words to the wise. Farquhar makes skepticism fun, but don't forget that skepticism can go too far. Piltdown Man was a fraud, but the theory of evolution is not.

Excellent stories, but not as good as some of his other books.......2005-07-16

I just finished reading this book and I would have given it five stars had I not read his stories about royal scandals first. It was much more shocking than this one, although this book is worth a read. I only wish it had contained more stories, and a little more of the wit Farquhar exhibited in his other writings.

Fun, Very Light.......2005-06-15

Michael Farquhar has created another bathroom book for the history-loving set. This one, Treasury of Deception, is just what it's title implies and is broken down into categories and ranges from prison escapes to scientific frauds, from practical jokes to deadly hoaxes, such as the blood libel. It is a truly odd mixed bag and should be read over a long period in many small bites, although that may prove harder to do than anticipated and one may find oneself gobbling the whole thing down at once. The book is light at the right moments and more serious when required and, amazingly enough, never veers into the truly silly, which is a blessing.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful
Too densely written
AHHHHH...Intelligent writing, At Last!
A well-examined life
A 12-year-old pornographer brings the 18th century to life.

A Case of Curiosities
Allen Kurzweil
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156012898

Book Description

In France, on the eve of the Revolution, a young man named Claude Page sets out to become the most ingenious and daring inventor of his time. In the course of a career filled with violence and passion, Claude learns the arts of enameling and watchmaking from an irascible, defrocked abbé, apprentices himself to a pornographic bookseller, and applies his erotic erudition to the seduction of the wife of an impotent wigmaker. But it is Claude's greatest device-a talking mechanical head-that both crowns his career and leads to an execution as tragic as that of Marie Antoinette, and far more bizarre.

Hailed by critics for the shimmering brilliance of its inventions and its uncanny fidelity to the textures of the past, A Case of Curiosities places

Allen Kurzweil securely in the ranks of the finest literary artists of our time.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2005-12-09

A wonderful little gem of a story. Intelligent and fun to read. I recommend it for any historical fiction fan.

Too densely written.......2004-07-28

I don't understand how this book gets so much high overall praise. I must be too much the lowbrow bore to appreciate the literary heights which this book apparently achieves. I plowed through seemingly endless dense pages, full of arcane references without explanation. Nothing flowed. I tried skimming - I still couldn't find somewhere to start things better off. I had to give up.

AHHHHH...Intelligent writing, At Last!.......2002-07-17

I could probably write a treatise about this novel which is a cool stream of relief and high entertainment. Relief, as I had almost given up hope of finding a living author who can manipulate words as well as intellect. Well, here he is, ladies & gentlemen, Mr. Allen Kurzweil. Rejoice and be entertained. I'll admit, the plot has its weaker moments, but who doesn't. I am getting ready to purchase anything Kurzweil writes and recommend them to my friends who love a very good read.

A well-examined life.......2002-07-13

A unique adventure lurks in the pages of a Case of Curiosities: one mans life, dreams, aspirations, failures and adventures following a highly unusual vocation. Stimulated to curiosity after the purchase of a memory box, the author begins a very detailed journey through 18th century France, Paris in particular, following the adventures of Claude Page, an apprentice to the dark side of human nature.

Regardless of the era, Victorian, Puritanical, unconventional or morally restrictive, there is always a lucrative market for anything of sexual interest, particularly perversions of every variety. Young Claude, living in extreme poverty, is offered an opportunity to apprentice as a painter of ivory, a skill requiring considerable dexterity and artistry. His relative innocence is irrelevant, as long as Claude can wield a paintbrush. He is charged with depicting tiny scenes of sexual deviance on objects such as pocket watches, personal jewelry, wherever the surface allows the rendition of perverse portraits. The network of purveyors and collectors is well established and rife with connoisseurs of this unusual art. In spite of the opportunity, Claude soon becomes bored with his latest endeavors, until he stumbles upon a new interest: the intricate mechanics of movement. This new curiosity becomes his quest, eventually leading him to the streets and underbelly of Paris and a myriad of experiences with the many faces of humanity, as friend and foe.

Claude's dreams remain unfulfilled, and he is driven to discover the knowledge that will unlock the key of his mind's invention. Along the way, Claude has attracted an unusual and urbane assortment of friends, denizens of the streets, who recognize his incipient genius. Eventually, their support and innovative methods of procurement enable Claude to achieve his goal: a fully mechanized figure, an innovative engineering coup that finds its creator heaped with praise and recognition. From the beginning of this intricate novel to the end, a whole layer of Parisian society is uncovered, one that lives by wit alone, surviving the dangers on the streets of the demimonde. Against this fascinating canvas, Claude's life is meticulously wrought, year by year, as he struggles for self-definition and the satisfaction of pursuing his particular path.

A 12-year-old pornographer brings the 18th century to life........2002-05-08

Though this intriguing picaresque novel is full of esoteric pursuits in late 18th century France, the novel is remarkably accessible and great fun to read. Claude Page, a 12-year-old farm boy of huge imagination and intelligence, is "adopted" by the Count of Tournay, a defrocked priest who studies "everything from the grandeur of the heavens to the minutiae of the terrestrial world." In reality, he is training Claude to be an enameler of pornographic watches. As Claude pursues his interest as a "mechanician," the reader is introduced to many facets of society and the forces which animate them.

Kurzweil obviously delights in playing games with the reader, breaking down defenses and challenging expectations. In an early scene, for example, a surgeon's removal of "the devil's handiwork" from a child stimulates our sensibilities and anticipates our revulsion. Then Kurzweil jerks the chain and shows us who is in control. In serious or scholarly scenes, he lightens the mood with puns, word play, and jokes, some clever, some groaners--a nobleman's motto, "Born to Serve," refers to his tennis abilities; an expert in insanity is named Battie. Unique images provide constant surprises and vitalize his descriptions--"[The sound of] feet walking through snow was indistinguishable from the noise when the baker squeezed a sack of cornstarch"; "her costume was a taxidermist's dream."

Kurzweil's ability to bring this period to life in a context accessible to the reader is daunting. Gracefully incorporating such diverse subjects as the enameling process, watchmaking, contemporary 18th century science and philosophy, and love of pornography, Kurzweil makes these esoteric subjects come alive, not because they are so alluring to the reader, but because they are important to the characters, whose lives are intriguing and whose problems, despite the 18th century context, are nevertheless universal. This precursor to The Grand Complication does not have as tight a plot that that novel, but I thought it just as intelligent and just as much fun to read. Mary Whipple

Doomsday Prophecies: A Complete Guide to the End of the World

Average customer rating:

More Political Than Prophetic
A comprehensive, fascinating, informative survey and guide.

Doomsday Prophecies: A Complete Guide to the End of the World
James R. Lewis
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1573926906

Customer Reviews:

More Political Than Prophetic.......2003-09-18

While the subject matter seems thorough and well documented, this is more a study of cults than of prophecy. The title is somewhat deceptive. If you are looking for a compendium of end-of-the-world prophecies, especially from a believer's perspective, this book is going to be a disappointment.

A comprehensive, fascinating, informative survey and guide........2000-03-05

James R. Lewis' Doomsday Prophecies provides a 'complete guide to the end of the world': a collection of beliefs from tribal roots, prophets, and those who have predicted doom from the beginnings of mankind to modern times. This examination of underlying questions and issues is intriguing.

Strange But True: From the Files of FATE Magazine

Average customer rating:

Aimed at children
A Chilling Read!
Interesting
interesting, but are the stories true?
very creepy ... couldn't sleep after reading this

Strange But True: From the Files of FATE Magazine
Corrine Kenner
Manufacturer: Llewellyn Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1567182984

Book Description

From the files of Fate magazine comes this collection of amazing first-person accounts of paranormal people, miraculous healings, time travel, out-of-body experiences, ghost sightings, and other psychic phenomena that are all strange-but true!

Customer Reviews:

Aimed at children.......2006-06-15

I love this type of reading. However, within minutes of receiving my copy of this book, and seeing it was compiled from Fate magazine, the tabloid of the paranormal, I knew what I was in store for. The stories, editing and product design are aimed at children or young teens. The cover looks like a comic or like it is from a Nickelodean TV special. The stories are shallow urban legends you have all heard a thousand times. For example "I listened to Satanic music so much I use to see a devil sitting in the corner of my room every night before I went to bed"
Mostly the stories are simple one page essays seemingly written by young people. Recommended for a younger crowd, but adults might find yourself a bit embarrassed if someone saw you reading it.

A Chilling Read!.......2006-05-27

A fantastic book that's hard to put down. The tales within are chilling. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to those who like ghost stories or tales that are just plain weird.

Interesting.......2005-04-16

This book covers it all, from a "real people" prospective. Some of the stories seem extreamly far fetched and honestly they may have you thinking, ok this is just a collection from nuts. But to be honnest, I think these people had courage, to write down what most in modern social circles think as pure bull these folks felt COMPELLED to share the stories. They belive this and there is little doubt it happened. Its hard for people to share stories... in the old days this was acceptable but with the advent of Tv word of mouth, and old stories have fallen by the way side. People need a place to share the more odd of the world. And comming from a person who has seen the fair share and been questioned by otherwise rash adults- I say READ this. Esp if you are the one of many who shares rather behyond science exp.

interesting, but are the stories true?.......2004-12-31

Many stories are hearsays, or, maybe, made up. If you read this book, do it for fun, don't take it seriously. Interesting anyway.

very creepy ... couldn't sleep after reading this.......2004-08-04

This is a very well written collection of short stories. Some are haunting while others are inspiring. The stories are from all over the US and are quite varied in content: UFO sightings, premonitions of death, fortune tellers, ghosts, out of body experiences, etc.

I like to save money and rarely purchase books, but highly recommend buying this particular one. It's well worth the $9 and a creepy companion on those dark and stormy nights :)

Suburban Legends: True Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Minivans

Average customer rating:

Entertaining, but could have been a bit less credulous
A fun read
Couldn't put it down!
Holy, Haunted, Tales! Great gift for Halloween!
MissTery Reader from Midwest

Suburban Legends: True Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Minivans
Sam Stall
Manufacturer: Quirk Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594740518

Book Description

As David Lynch and Desperate Housewives have taught us, life in the 'burbs has a dark side and Suburban Legends offers a creepy guided tour. Here are 60 spooky-but-true tales of haunted housing developments, corpses buried in backyards, UFO sightings, vanishing persons, and more. Consider this series of unfortunate events:

The Soccer Mom's Secret: Meet Melinda Raisch of Columbus, Ohio. She's the wife of a dentist. A mother of three. And she has enough murderous secrets to fill a minivan.
The Haunted McDonald's: If you're buying your Big Mac at the McDonald's in Lewiston, New York, be careful your burger may arrive with a side order of frights.
The Kokomo Hum: More than 100 residents of Kokomo, Indiana, claim their small town is under attack by a persistent, low-pitched noise that erodes health and sanity. Too bad they're the only ones who can hear it.

Illustrated with creepy collages and chilling archival photographs, these spooky suburban legends will feel all too close to home!

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining, but could have been a bit less credulous.......2007-03-29

I wish that Stall had been less credulous when writing this very entertaining book. Several of the stories have been debunked and I would have liked to see a more balanced presentation of some (most, actually) of the paranormal stories. There was no noticable attempt to find a rational explanation for any of the 'spooky' stories.

Still, for what it is -- a light, fun read -- it is an entertaining book. I would have given it 4 stars for the reading experiece -- it is a fun book -- but the skeptic in me forced a reduction to 3 stars.

A fun read.......2007-01-11

There are so many stories in this book that I know are true. The stories are written to be entertaining and not scary. Buy the book to read or give as a gift. My book is still making the rounds of my family!

Couldn't put it down!.......2006-10-18

This hilarious book scares you in all the right places! I'll be purchasing several as stocking stuffers. Perfect for the paranormal enthusiast and the suburbia-phobe alike!

Holy, Haunted, Tales! Great gift for Halloween!.......2006-10-13

Sam Stall has done it again! Hilarious book, well written. Truly makes you think about the haunted happenings that could be going on in your own neighborhood. You will find yourself laughing at some of these stories while others will make you sleep with the lights on! Love the pictures. I've bought 4 of these books and will be giving them away for Halloween gifts AND prizes for a Halloween party! This is a must read. Perfect book for a cold fall evening. Thanks Mr. Stall, another wonderful book!

MissTery Reader from Midwest.......2006-10-13

Great book! It's written in the same witty and macabre tone as are the episodes of "Desperate Housewives." But what makes it so fascinating is that these stories of cul de sac mayhem are all real-life accounts. The book covers the gamut from strange and supernatural to super gorey. When I wasn't laughing, I was getting goosebumps. You'll never view your "quiet neighbor who never made any trouble" the same way again.

Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal

Average customer rating:

Worth a read
a disgrace, but on par for Nickell
Not skeptic at all, but total non believer
Your typical Nickell-book
This book is worth your time

Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal
Joe Nickell
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813122104

Customer Reviews:

Worth a read.......2006-07-01

I find it hard to believe that this book has gotten so many negative reviews, and thus such a low average. I really don't think it deserves it. I found this a competent, readable book that provided a lot of answers for things I may have always wondered about, or had never even known of before. I appreciated that each topic only had a few (anywhere from three to fifteen or so) pages on the subject, so that if it was something I wasn't particularly interested in, I knew soon enough I'd be past it and on to something new.

My only real complaints would be to say that, first, some of the topics do get a bit repetitive (although, as I said, they don't last for too many pages, so it's easy to get by them). Second, I found chapter 3 ("Magicians Among The Stars") almost unbearably boring due to all the 'facts' I found very uninteresting. Thus, it seemed to drag on, and I had to force myself through it, which is unfortunate since it's in the beginning of the book. However, once past that, I was typically quite content to continue reading to the end.

If you've ever wondered just how some of the most common 'paranormal' claims were/are likely pulled off, or just want to gain a bit of knowledge on some interesting topics in the area, this is a pretty nice book to add to your collection.

a disgrace, but on par for Nickell.......2006-05-26

It's fine to be a believer; it's fine to be a skeptic. However, it is not fine to settle so staunchly on your viewpoint that all your conclusions are foregone--while representing to your readers that you undertake to proffer a balanced treatment. Nickell's treatment is in no wise balanced. One can say accurately of him, but generally of his entire organization (Committee for the 'Scientific' Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) that they have no interest whatsoever in disclosing any facts that might tend to point to a less-than-mundane explanation for a mysterious phenomenon. Nickell claims to advocate the scientific method, yet, in his 'scientific' method, solid identification of a single piece of 'evidence' as a hoax is justification for immediately discarding however many thousands of pieces of evidence may be aligned with the hoaxed item. That is not the scientific method. Rather, in the scientific method, each collected fact or assertion must stand on its own merits, while the entire investigation--whether or not one is fond of the likely outcome--is to be steeped in balance, fairness, and open-mindedness, not in ridicule. "In science," wrote Dr. Mark Carlotto, "one viewpoint requires as much impeccable proof or disproof as another. Science does not tolerate taboos, ridicule, a priori judgments ..." Bravo, Dr. Carlotto, and boo, Mr. Nickell.

Not skeptic at all, but total non believer.......2005-12-16

Nickell trys to call himself a skeptic but he is not at all, in fact he is an all out non believer who even when he has no evidence that things are a hoax or natural he deems them so based on his past experiences. His writing often makes fun of others and he even uses his books to ridicule and degrade other writers in the field which I percieve to be jealousy on his part.

Your typical Nickell-book.......2005-11-30

Over the years, Joe Nickell of skeptic organization CSICOP has written or co-written a large amount of books, and several of them are a lot like Real X-Files: large anthologies where numerous paranormal and mysterious cases are described and investigated, cases that Nickell has investigated personally and in most cases, at least according to himself, has solved. (And several of these books have appeared on UFO-Sweden's review sections.)

One thins is for sure: Nickell's books are always very educational. He's definitely a skilled investigator with a lifetime's worth of experience, he knows people all over the world, and most important of all, he's extremely scientific in his methodology which he applies to ALL his investigations. Pseudo-science and spirituality don't get along very well with Nickell, but that's something he's the first to admit. What he tries to tell his audience - in book after book - is that in HIS world the scientific approach is the only approach worth while, and even the most bizarre of cases usually have both simple and/or natural explanations when the famous razor of Occam has been applied.

In other words, Joe Nickell is every Skeptic's household god and every Believers worst nightmare.

And therefore, some people will always hate him while others while always love him. However, no matter what your personal opinion about him may be, you still cannot ignore the fact that his books - at least the ones who resemble Real-Life X-Files - continually show the same weakness: they always contain cases and investigations that are either described very briefly or have no real conclusions, which makes them all seem redundant.

A few examples from Real-Life X-Files: the Roswell incident are dealt with on three (3!) pages, the story about the founders of "suicide cult" Heaven's Gate is described on only a few pages and has nothing very relevant to add to the whole picture, the different ideas about extraterrestrials representing different eras is interesting but extremely brief, alien abductions are almost ridiculed, no buildings have ever been haunted, there is no such thing as a sea monster, and so on. As usual Nickell makes sure to offer a large bibliography, but the stale and almost annoying belief that science is everything and the people behind the reports are nothing makes the book just as frustrating as any other similar works by Joe Nickell.

This book is worth your time.......2005-03-19

If you don't believe in anything, you'll like this book. I like this book, because I don't believe in anything (not unless I can taste, touch, smell, hear, or see it). I don't know why, but a lot of people like to believe strange things, whether it's Santa Claus, Jesus, Buddha, psychic powers, UFOs, or monsters.

That being said, nobody has ever successfuly read my thoughts, I've never seen or heard Jesus, I've never been abducted or seen a UFO, I've never seen Bigfoot or Nessie, and I've certainly never heard or seen Buddha. So why do people continue to believe and preach this stuff? Because they're too frightened to believe nothing! If you believe nothing, like myself, then that means no comforting little stories about dying and going to heaven. It also means nobody can read your mind, or communicate with dead loved ones. But this is too much for people to handle, they can't live without their crutches. They HAVE to believe, otherwise their whole pathetic world will crumble down around them.

People have to believe in Roswell, although the only first-hand evidence is the testimony of Mac Brazel, who said it was simply sticks and tinfoil. What you would expect from a weather balloon, obviously.

People have to believe in Loch Ness monsters or bigfoot. Despite the fact none have ever been captured in over 50 years of searching!

People have to believe in psychics, but did any psychic ever predict 911? Did Sylvia Browne predict 911? Of course not. They only tell you what you want to hear.

How come the Bible doesn't mention the invention of guns? Couldn't God have told how lead bullets would be propelled in the air? Is that too much to ask for evidence? How come the bible doesn't predict the automobile? You think God could've put some actual predictions in the bible, right?

If Noah was the last guy on earth, then how did we get all the different races of people? Of course, the Bible doesn't explain any of this, how convenient!

So, if you're one of those people living in La-La land, then of course you're gonna hate this book. Your brains simply aren't capable of rational thinking. You must find patters where there are none. Make connections where there are none. Twist the facts to fit your myopic worldview.

Average customer rating:

We all make mistakes

The Case of the Ancient Astronauts
I. J. Gallagher
Manufacturer: Steck-Vaughn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0811468542

Customer Reviews:

We all make mistakes.......2007-06-03

My mistake was when I ordered this book. I didn't do enough research so I didn't know that this book was targeting the 9-12 year old reader. Only 48 pages, a few photos, not very good ones. Avoid unless you're buying this for a ten year old.

The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files

Average customer rating:

Just what you would expect from these authors
more pseudoscience
Great book, I can't wait for more
Over three dozen mysteries in supernatural X-file style
Slecpticism without considering undiscovered

The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files
Joe Nickell , and James Randi
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813123186

Book Description

Foreword by James Randi.

Haunted houses, alien hybrids, psychic pets, and carnival oddities are just a few of the phenomena that inhabit the shadowy corners of the unexplained. After thirty years of paranormal investigation, acclaimed author and detective Joe Nickell opens his mystery files once again to reveal the truth behind supposedly inexplicable occurrences. Continuing what his popular Real Life X-Files started, Nickell's new casebook examines the Shroud of Turin, the Mothman enigma, crop circles, alien abductions, and numerous other perplexing mysteries.

Undaunted by fiery specters, headless saints, or weeping icons, Nickell has traveled extensively to investigate the world's greatest mysteries and con artists. He has gone undercover to illuminate the tricks of those who pretend to communicate with the dead, accompanied a Cajun guide into a Louisiana swamp in search of a fabled monster, and gained an audience with a voodoo queen.

Nickell incorporates his personal experiences with other investigators' findings to explore how these intriguing myths have developed. Addressing the theoretical debate behind each case, Nickell clarifies previous speculation and uses evidence to explain phenomena that have baffled the scientific community and the general public for decades.

While Nickell tackles the many theories surrounding these X-files, such as the Nazca Lines, the Amityville Horror, and the Winchester Mystery House, he does not automatically deny the possibility of the paranormal. As an investigator, Nickell employs a comprehensive approach sensitive to both the paranormalist and skeptic.

Nickell's investigative skills have won him both acclaim and controversy during his long career as one of the world's foremost paranormal investigators. Using a hands-on approach and the scientific method, he now examines more than three dozen intriguing mysteries in The Mystery Chronicles.

Customer Reviews:

Just what you would expect from these authors.......2006-10-14

Arch-skeptic Joe Nickell has returned with yet another collection of stories and eye-witness accounts about various alleged supernatural and paranormal phenomena. Alleged, because as far as Mr. Nickell is concerned, they're all just hoaxes, misunderstandings, or simply misinterpretations of natural phenomena. And it's a large collection, to say the least. Crop circles, Chupacabras, various mediums and psychics, alien abductions, the Guadalupe painting, Amityville, Voodoo, the Shroud of Turin, crying statues; nothing eludes Nickell and his relentless investigations, and he's just as exact as always. And as always he includes tons of footnotes.

However, as I just mentioned, the collection is quite large, with no less than a little more than forty chapters. Still, some of these chapters are only a few pages in length, which is much too short to prove his skeptical point. For instance, the Chupacabras are dealt with on three short pages. Crop circles too are given equally little space, and even though his reasoning and argumentation is both convincing and well-researched, the whole thing nonetheless comes out a little hasty. And since this occurs again and again throughout the book it's easy to get the feeling that he didn't put too much thought and passion into it and that many chapters were included only because the pages needed to be filled with something.

Not only that, some of the chapters really don't make much sense, especially the stories about contemporary pagan New Age groups in Russia that worship stones out in the countryside in ways similar to old pagan traditions dating back to the pre-Christian days. And from time to time I couldn't help but to feel disappointed when a chapter ends much too soon, only to leave me with a feeling of having read something uninteresting and not at all supernatural.

More than once does the same explanation appear multiple times in the text. Nickell is apparently fond of discussing sleep-related hallucinations, and by the time you've read the same explanation three times including definitions or once again is told about the history of American spiritualism, then it's easy to doubt if the book has been proof-read at all or if it's just a quick mishmash published in order to cash in on the allure of the supernatural.

No matter what, Joe Nickell remains Joe Nickell, and thus the book delivers those things that James Randi promises in its foreword. Skeptics will appreciate it, believers will not, and me, I sit here thinking I've real all these stories in Nickell's earlier books.

more pseudoscience.......2006-06-06

One again, Joe Nickell demonstrates his unflappable penchant for "debunking through ignorance." Case in point: his chapter on Our Lady of Guadalupe, an image of supposed miraculous origin hailing from 1531 Mexico. Although scientists have written for eons about how the painting shows no understructure, no outline, no paintlike materials, no fading of either artwork or underlying fabric, etc., Nickell casually dismisses the whole affair as "a sixteenth-century painting done with sixteenth-century techniques." He goes on to point to the supposed testimony of a priest and an Indian. What priest? What Indian? The Church, Nickell adds, reached startling conclusions in a report. Which report? Does it have a name? Where does it reside? How did he obtain permission to view it? D. Scott Rogo's analysis, by way of comparison, went so far as to give the precise names--middle names and all--of the bishop and allied officials, but Nickell seems most comfortable merely identifying "a priest." Despite the fact that the Church always conducts detailed--and I do mean _detailed_--investigations before casually slapping the term "miracle" on some piece of happenstance, Nickell was quite comfortable bandying about 'some document' and 'someone'. What poppycock and balderdash! Sir, can't you even try to provide a glimmer of solid footing for your ridiculous claims that masquerade as science? By failing to do so--when the opposition presents a deftly woven narrative chock-full of personal and documentary attribution--you only add strength to his case and detract it from yours. When are you going to learn to write a balanced analysis? Perhaps that's a silly question: I imagine you have to be _open_ to a balanced analysis in the first place before you can presume to pen one!

Great book, I can't wait for more.......2004-09-10

For anybody who likes reading Joe's "Investigative Files" column in Skeptical Inquirer magazine (the I only reason I read it), this book is a much better investment than a subscription. I can't wait for the next volume.

Contents of this book:

1) Mystery of the Nazca Lines
2) The Fiery Specter
3) The Exorcist: The Case Behind the Movie
4) The "Goatsucker" Attack
5) Undercover Among the Spirits: Investigating Camp Chesterfield
6) Alien Hybrid?
7) Image of Guadalupe: Myth-perception
8) Human Blowtorch
9) Remotely Viewed? The Charlie Jordan Case
10) Amityville: the Horror of it All
11) Sideshow! Investigating Carnival Oddities and Illusions
12) "Mothman" Solved! Investigating on Site
13) Relics of the Headless Saint
14) Circular Reasoning: Crop Circles and Their "Orbs" of Light
15) Zanzibar Demon
16) Winchester Mystery House
17) Voodoo in New Orleans
18) Secrets of the Voodoo Tomb
19) A Case of Spontaneous Human Combustion Demystified
20) Tracking the Swamp Monsters
21) John Edward: Talking to the Dead?
22) Scandals and Follies of the "Holy Shroud"
23) "Pyramid Power" in Russia
24) Diagnosing the "Medical Intuitives"
25) Alien Abductions as Sleep-Related Phenomena
26) "Visitations": After-Death Contacts
27) The Sacred Cloth of Oviedo
28) A Typical Aries?
29) The Case of the Psychic Shamus: Do Psychics Really Help Solve Crimes?
30) The Pagan Stone
31) Benny Hinn: Healer or Hypnotist?
32) Australia's Convict Ghosts
33) Psychic Pets and Pet Psychics
34) Cryptids "Down Under"
35) Joseph Smith: A Matter of Visions
36) In Search of Fisher's Ghost
37) Ghostly Portents in Moscow
38) Mystique of the Octagon Houses
39) Weeping Icons
40) Spiritualist's Grave
41) Incredible Stories: Charles Fort and His Followers

Other books by Joe that I recommend are Entities (which I also reviewed), Real-Life X-Files, Secrets of the Supernatural, and Mysterious Realms.

Over three dozen mysteries in supernatural X-file style.......2004-09-07

Self-taught paranormal investigator Joe Nickell's new book The Mystery Chronicles is sub-titled "More Real Life X-Files" with good reason: it includes over three dozen mysteries in supernatural X-file style, with powerful documentation of solutions and focus on some of Nickell's most significant cases, from crop circles to New Orleans voodoo. There are scientific explanations for seemingly paranormal happenings: Nickell's inquires expose these underlying truths, while his background as a scientific researcher exposing paranormal events lends credence and authority to a fine investigative study.

Slecpticism without considering undiscovered.......2004-08-29

Joe Nickell is a very interesting character and has, without doubt, a lot of experience in investigation and trickery. He is the perfect sceptic. He also has assumedly a lot a friends in science, who are able to disprove several of his mentioned "alleged supernatural occurrences". So some of the chapters are very interesting and and the solutions he provides are looking plausible (i.e. Nazca Lines). It is fun reading these chapters.

In other cases his attempts to explain the reader, that something is indeed not mysterious or supernatural, is only a listing of assumptions and possible explanations without any scientific evidence (i.e. Wynchester House). I agree to him, that most of the occurences are explainable without the need of some mysterious background. What, in my opinion is a pity, is, that he complains, that most of the cited people have a strong fantasy and are not going to look for scientific explanations, but he is doing the same from his perspective.

In the the whole book I did not find the consideration, that some things are not supernatural, but in our days still mysterious, because our scientifc knowledge lacks of some things not discovered so far or methods not developed, yet. He is only searching for a prove for his doubts and if he cannot find one, claiming that it is disproved with providing a lot of assumptions (fantasy) without any scientifc evidence (i.e. acupucture stated as an example of intuitive healing).

As a good investigator, he should be more open minded to all possibilites and not only focused on trying to disprove everything.

The Canadian UFO Report: The Best Cases Revealed

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The Canadian UFO Report: The Best Cases Revealed
Chris A. Rutkowski , and Geoff Dittman
Manufacturer: Dundurn Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1550026216

Book Description

The Canadian UFO Reports is a popular history of the UFO phenomenon in Canada, something that has captured the imaginations of young and old alike. Drawn from government documents and civilian case files - many previously unpublished - the book includes a chronological overview of the best Canadian UFO cases, from the very first sighting of "fiery serpents" over Montreal in 1662 to reports from the past year. There are chapters on the government's involvement with UFOs, UFO landing pads, media interest, and even UFO abductions.

What were the "ghost airplanes" seen over the Parliament Buildings in 1915, or the flying saucers seen by military officers over Goose Bay Air Force Base, Newfoundland, in the 1940s and 1950s? Was a prospector burned by a UFO in Manitoba in 1967? Did a UFO crash off the coast of Nova Scotia? Was Quebec invaded by UFOs in 1973? Find out here.

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It's accelerating!
SPOOKY,AND IT`S ABOUT KIDS.

Spooky Kids: Strange but True Tales
Bruce M. Nash , and Allan Zullo
Manufacturer: Watermill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

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ASIN: 081673447X

Customer Reviews:

It's accelerating!.......1998-04-25

spooky kids is spookier than R.L Stine's GOOSEBUMPS. It is sadly true; but scary! Siskel and Ebert gave it 1,000 thumbs up. It makes Goosebumps look like snail!!!!!

SPOOKY,AND IT`S ABOUT KIDS........1997-01-18

My teacher reads these to us all the time,and they`re great. What makes it even better is because it`s about kids. Totally creepy, and intereresting if nothing else.That is if your into that supernatural sort of thing like me

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