Editorial Review

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and--after his murder--three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life. ... Read more

Reviews

Masterfully researched and written biography of a great woman
Stacy Schiff took a great risk when she wrote "Cleopatra: A Life." Can a woman branded a "whore" by the Great Bard himself, ever really have a reputation as anything else? Directly challenging 2,000 year old assumptions that were enhanced by the likes of Dante, and director Joseph Mankiewicz, is a tall order for even the most accomplished writer. Ms. Schiff brilliantly rises to the task.

Ms. Schiff brings to vivid life a very different Cleopatra from the one depicted to us by playwrights and movie directors. Instead of a wanton seductress relying solely upon her looks, Cleopatra was one of the most authoritative rulers in the history of humanity, inheriting at the age of 18 one of the greatest kingdoms ever known, during a time in history when women had about the same social stature as farm animals.

Furthermore, Ms. Schiff is a wordsmith extraordinaire. In beautifully constructed prose that reminded me more of Nabokov than your typical biographer, Ms. Schiff paints a lovely, nuanced portrait of a great and vastly misunderstood woman. And what life the author brings to ancient Egypt too! The descriptions of the ancient world in which Cleopatra lived were so vivid that you would think the author was Cleopatra's contemporary, and not her 21st century biographer.

Ms. Schiff had a tough act to follow with herself; all her previous books have won, or been nominated for, just about every pretigious literary award you can think of.
I wouldn't be surprised if she at least gets on the short-list for the Pulitzer with "Cleopatra: A Life."

A fuller, deeper, much more interesting take on Cleopatra.
I'm an avid reader and certainly don't mind books by and/or about men, however, I've always wished there were more books about dynamic, interesting women. "Cleopatra: A Life" more than fulfilled this wish. What I knew about Cleopatra before I read this book came from long ago college classes, the movie with Elizabeth Taylor, and a viewing of the play about her and Antony at a Shakespeare festival. I had the vague impression that Cleopatra was first and foremost a woman who would cast an unbreakable sexual spell on any man who was convenient for her to control. I'm so glad and thankful that Stacy Schiff shows us that Cleopatra was so much more than a seductress; Cleopatra had wit, charm and superlative intelligence.

The fact that Cleopatra lived through her 20's is a tribute to her intelligence alone, as I simply could not believe just how commonplace murder was for those with power in the ancient world. Then, to maintain her position as Egypt's sovereign, Cleopatra's circumstances dictated that she had to ally herself with the Romans, the world's greatest power at the time. For a time, Cleopatra maintained the upper-hand in the power relations with two of the most powerful Romans, Julius Caesar and Marc Antony; with both men she had much written about sexual relationships. In the end, Rome became her enemy, and they also became her biographer. After reading "Cleopatra: A Life", I get the sense that the patriarchal Romans couldn't bring themselves to write a narrative showing that two of their greatest leaders were outwitted by a woman. Imagine what a biography of Monica Lewinsky would be like if it were written by ardent supporters of Bill Clinton.

Now, on a separate note, I've read all the reviews thus far for this book, and I've noticed a trend in some of the negative reviews. Although "Cleopatra" was written more for a general audience than Schiff's prior biographies, this is still a work of serious scholarship. I doubt this is a book that most people could easily read at the beach. So with this in mind, if you love the intriguing stories of antiquity, but a book that will demand your attention, then this book is for you. If you want a historical version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" then you probably won't like this book.

In closing, I loved this book. I hope Stacy Schiff's next book is about an overlooked, or misunderstood woman.

The elusive, evasive queen; Slandered for 2000 years

"It is indeed most fine, and befitting the descendant of so many kings."

Editorial Review

The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.” The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjee’s own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive—and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer. ... Read more

Reviews

OFF THE CHARTS
You remember the scene in the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"? From the top of the bluff looking into the distance at dusk, Butch sees the lights of the pursuing posse which doesn't stop tracking them even at night and says "How many are following us? They're beginning to get on my nerves. Who are those guys?" In the same threatening way cancers have been dogging human beings since the dawn of time, and although we now know quite a lot about cancer we still don't really know "who are those guys" or how to shake them. And they sure are "beginning to get on our nerves" as Butch said. Almost one out of four of us will eventually wrestle with cancer -- the defining illness of our generation -- and lose our lives in the process. Until it catches up with us most of us will try to ignore this fact, just as when we were very young children alone in our bedroom trying to go to sleep at night we tried to ignore the monster that we sometimes feared might be lurking in our bedroom closet.

Enter oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee who almost parentally takes us by the hand to give us the courage to open with him the door to that dark and foreboding closet in order to see what is really lurking inside. Since eventually most of us are going to have to wrestle with this monster anyway -- either as a victim or as a loved one of a victim -- looking intelligently and closely into that dark closet does diminish fear and enhance wise perspective. And on this incredible journey into the depths of that darkness, what an absolutely marvelous guide is this modern day Virgil called Siddharta Mukherjee as he leads us on this long and often harrowing journey through the swarth that cancer has cut through mankind throughout time.

Mukherjee is a veritable kaleidoscope. Turn his writing one way and you experience him as an exciting writer of page-turning detective stories or mystery stories; turn him another and he's a highly effective communicator of cellular biology; turn him a third and you get superb science writing; turn him a fourth and he has the grandeur and broad sweep of an excellent historian. It's hard to believe that this one book, combining all of these appealing characteristics, is the work of just one man. And underlying it all is his sterling medical training and credentials which have been enumerated often elsewhere.

The book itself is a tour de force. It is the first book of such extraordinary scope regarding cancer. Its architectural structure brings to mind Melville's Moby Dick and how effectively and artfully Melville braided together the three strands of his great classic: a grand adventure story, the technology of whaling, and a treatise of humanity and philosophy. Equally effectively does Mukherjee weave together all the various facets of this iconic disease throughout history, from describing cancer from the patient's perspective, to viewing the never ending battles of physicians and medical researchers with cancer over the centuries, to examining the mysteries of the cellular nature of cancer itself and what really goes on in there, to the pro and con impact of this never ending plague on the spirit of the individual human and on our race as a whole, to peering into a crystal ball for a glance of cancer's and our future together. While doing all of this the alchemy of Mukherjee's writing continually turns science into poetry and poetry into science.

Simply put, it is so good, and so incandescently clear and lucid, and so powerful, and so engrossing, and so easily consumed that you will not lay it down without someone or circumstances forcing you to.

Had I read this book in my teens I would have found my life's career. I can only imagine that while you are reading this book, somewhere there will be some very young teenage girl or boy who will also be reading it at the same time you are, and who will become totally hooked by this book just as you will be, and who will go on to make a career in cancer research, a career that might provide the breakthrough that humanity has been searching and hoping for all of these many centuries. Thus although you will never know it, you will have "been there" at the initial motivation of that person and thus indirectly present at the earliest genesis of the eventual great idea.

This book has THAT potential. It is THAT good.

Kenneth E. MacWilliams

The Burden, The Mass, Onkos
In the United States one in three women and one in two men will develop cancer in their lifetime. Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, a medical oncologist, has written a definitive history of cancer. It may be one of the best medical books I have read. Complex but simple in terms of understanding. A timeline of a disease and those who waged the wars. In 1600 BC the first case of probable breast cancer was documented. In the thousands of years since, the Greek word, 'onkos', meaning mass or burden, has become the disease of our time. Cancer. The title of the book, is "a quote from a 19Th century physician" Dr Mukherjee had found inscribed in a library book that "cancer is the emperor of all maladies, the king of our terrors".

As a health care professional and as a woman who is six years post breast cancer, Cancer has played a big part in my life. I used to walk by the Oncology clinic, and quicken my pace. I used to give chemotherapy to my patients, before it was discovered that the chemo was so toxic that it needed to be made under sterile conditions and given by professionals who specialized in Oncology. Dr Mukherjee, wisely discusses cancer in the context of patients, those of us who suffer. After all it is because of the patients, the people who have gone before us, who have contracted some form of cancer, they are the base of this science.

Dr Mukherjee started his immersion in cancer medicine at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He relates the beginning of the study of ALL, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, by Dr Sidney Farber in 1947. Dr Farber, a pathologist at the time decided to change his focus and start caring for patients. He was given a medication to trial for ALL, and though most of his patients died, some survived to remission. This opened his world and with the help of Mary Lasker, and Charles E Dana, philanthropists, they opened one of the first clinics that specialized in cancer care and research, The Dana Farber Cancer Center. Dr Mukherjee gives us the timeline of ALL and lymphomas and the medications that turned into chemotherapy. The development of specific care for blood cancers and the emergence of AIDS and patient activism. He discusses the surgery for breast cancer. It was thought that the more radical the surgery the better the outcomes. We now know that lumpectomies have an excellent outcome. But, women before me had a radical removal of breast, chest tissue, lymph nodes and sometimes ribs. The lesson learned is that breast cancer is very curable now and all those men and women, the patients who suffered, gave us the answers and cancer care has moved on.

The onslaught of chemotherapies changed the face of cancer, and the 1970's served us well. In 1986 the first outcomes of cancer care were measured. Tobacco emerged as an addiction and soon lung cancer was a leading cause of death. Presidential Commissions ensued, politics entered the world of cancer, the war against cancer and the war against smoking. The Pap smear was developed, and prevention came to the fore. The two sides of cancer, the researchers and the physicians at the bedside, who often thought never the twain shall meet, recognized the importance of research to bedside.

The story of the boy 'Jimmy' from New Sweden, Maine, became the face of childhood cancer. The Jimmy Fund, a Boston Red Sox charity in Boston, is still going strong today. 'Jimmy' opened the door to the public for the need for money and research, and care for those with cancer. We follow Dr Mukherjee with one of his first patients, Carla, from her diagnosis through her treatment. He has given a face to cancer. We all know someone with cancer, those who survived and those who did not. Cancer prevention is now the wave of the future.

"Cancer is and may always be part of the burden we carry with us," says Dr Mukherjee. He has now written a "biography of cancer" for us, those without special medical knowledge. However, he does go astray in some discussions such as genetics. I have an excellent medical background, and found I was floundering at times. As I discovered,and Dr. Mukherjee agrees, our patients are our heroes. They/we withstand the horrors of cancer, and the horrific, sometimes deadly treatments. The stories of his patients make us weep, and the complex decision making about their care make him the most caring of physicians.

The 'quest for the cure' is the basis of all science and research, and Dr Mukherjee has written a superb tome in language that we can all attempt to understand. The biography of Cancer. Cancer may always be with us,Dr Mukherjee hopes that we outwit this devil and survive.


Highly Recommended. prisrob 11-13-10

Jimmy Fund of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The (MA) (Images of America)

Early Detection: Women, Cancer, and Awareness Campaigns in the Twentieth-Century United States

The Everyman Book of Cancer
The brilliance of this book is the effortlessness with which the author draws the reader into the world of cancer and keeps him there as a tourist or witness. Dr. Mukherjee's engaging style, precision of prose and overwhelming compassion imbue this work with an energy that carries the reader along a ride like none other.

Whether the reader is a basic scientist or sociologist, a patient or healthcare provider, a philosopher or philanderer, this book will appeal, entertain and educate.

A remarkable achievement.

"Cancer was an all-consuming presence in our lives."
Siddhartha Mukherjee's monumental "The Emperor of All Maladies" meticulously outlines the trajectory of cancer (derived from the Greek word "karkinos," meaning crab) over thousands of years, starting in ancient Egypt. In 2010, seven million people around the world will die of cancer. Many have experienced the horrors of this disease through personal experience. The author provides us with a global view of this "shape-shifting entity [that is] imbued with such metaphorical and political potency that it is often described as the definitive plague of our generation."

In "The Emperor of All Maladies," we meet a variety of patients, doctors, scientists, and activists. We also hear the voices of such iconic figures as Susan Sontag, author of "Illness as Metaphor," and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose "Cancer Ward" is a desolate and isolating "medical gulag." Cancer is such a complex subject that it can only be understood by examining it in all of its facets: through myths, the anguish of its victims, and the untiring efforts of its adversaries, both past and present, some of whom were well-meaning but horribly misguided. Mukherjee says in his author's note that he has made an effort to be "simple but not simplistic." In this he has succeeded.

Ancient physicians thought that such invisible forces as "miasmas" and "bad humors" caused cancers. Many years of experimentation, studies of human anatomy, laboratory work, and clinical trials have shown cancer to be a "pathology of excess" that originates from the uncontrolled growth of a single cell. Cancer is "unleashed by mutations--changes in DNA that specifically affect genes that incite unlimited cell growth." What treatment to use--surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of these approaches--is rarely an easy decision. Equally significant are the efforts of public health officials, who seek to reduce cancer's mortality through early detection (mammography and colonoscopy, among others, are screening methods in use today). In addition, cancer may be prevented by encouraging people to avoid environmental carcinogens such as cigarette smoke.

This elegant and heartrending narrative is far more than a biography of a terrible malady. It is also a story of paternalism, arrogance, and false hope, as well as inventiveness, determination, and inspiration. We meet Sidney Farber, who pioneered a chemotherapeutic approach to leukemia in children during the 1940's and helped launch "the Jimmy Fund"; William Halstead who, in the nineteenth century, disfigured women with radical mastectomies that, in many cases, were not curative; Paul Ehrlich, who discovered a "magic bullet" to combat syphilis from a derivative of chemical dyes; Mary Lasker, a powerful businesswoman and socialite who zealously raised money and political awareness in what would become a national war on cancer; and George Papanicolaou, a Greek cytologist, whose Pap smear "changed the spectrum of cervical cancer." Mukherjee constantly moves back and forth in time, showing how the past and the present are closely interconnected.

Throughout the book, Dr. Mukherjee's keeps returning to one of his patients, thirty-six year old Carla Long. In 2004, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Carla would have a long road ahead of her, one filled with pain, fear, and uncertainty. We look to the future with cautious optimism that even greater progress will be made in our never-ending battle against a treacherous and multi-pronged enemy. Mukherjee is a brilliant oncologist, gifted writer, scrupulous researcher, and spellbinding storyteller. "The Emperor of All Maladies" is a riveting, thought-provoking, and enlightening work that deserves to become an instant classic.

All In favor say "Aye"
There seems little left to say so I'll take a different tack, look to another facet of this book and its author.

Today I heard Dr. Mukherjee interviewed on the Terry Gross show (Fresh Air - NPR), where the topic, the book, was biased in favor of the author ... and a wonderful treat it was. While I am interested in cancer and progress toward cure, the fascinating aspect of today's experience was the man himself. In all the interviews of all the interviewers I've listened in on - mostly literary in nature - I've never heard a more articulate responder than Mukherjee. He's a poet. His choice of words slice in toward meaning like the scalpel itself. He avoids vagueness and ambiguity, courts acuracy and precsion like no one I've heard. He is a treat just to listen to, never mind his insights into the disease, it's history and possible future.

I ordered this book today in order to get more of his artistry but I wouldn't discourage those seeking the phycician's prowess - that is there too. If I should be in that 25% that ends up with cancer, I would hope Dr. Mukherjee would be there to consult with me and console.

As magentic as a biography can be
As a work of scholarship, this book is just tremendous. Mukherjee traces the history of our understanding of cancer from 2500 BC to present-day. He writes of political battles for public attention, incredible wiles in the biology of the disease, and schisms among the researchers sent to conquer it. All major developments are present and sourced in sixty pages of footnotes. From this grand historical scope, Mukherjee has crafted a tight and coherent narrative that I found very difficult to put down. I'm aware of no lay-account of cancer with anything approaching the level of depth present here. This book is one-of-a-kind.

Like anything so vast, it isn't quite perfect. Certain structural changes would benefit fluency, though they've no impact on my unqualified recommendation.

* More humanizing characteristics and quotations. Smaller researchers, and occasionally even key players, are summed by little more than what they've accomplished. There are perhaps a hundred contributors that Mukherjee covers, but with exception to a handful that have had tens of pages devoted to them or some peculiar eccentricity, they're interchangeable and unmemorable.

* A more even balance between discovery and those stricken by cancer. Mukherjee is at his best when he's describing the struggles of his own patients. These stories are touching, personal, and an intensely interesting ground-level foil to the bird's eye view of much of the book. The retrospective of cancer discovery is so vast and detailed that these rare moments where the story reverts to the present can feel like an oasis.

Roughly half of The Emperor is comprised of five and ten-page vignettes where Mukherjee poses a question ("If XY, then could XYZ ... ?") and resolves it with the travails of a researcher ("Person Q, a scientist at H, noticed ..."). These accounts are often gripping, especially as advances accelerate in the mid-1980s, but sets of four or five in a series are enough to cause my attention to drift.

* A different ending. In the final chapters, Mukherjee suggests he'd originally intended to conclude with the death of a particular patient. By serendipity, that patient was still living in late 2009. Given the great strides in cancer survival and the sense he conveys that genetics may well provide the magic bullets that so occupied the fantasies of early researchers, concluding on a high note would have been within the spirit of the book. Instead, Mukherjee describes another patient that did in fact die. This person was not previously introduced. She was a better fit for the narrative, but including her account for that purpose didn't strike the right tone to me.

Structure aside, I'd like to have seen Mukherjee become more of a prognosticator in later chapters. I was reeling at the sheer mass of information on display by the last page, but I also felt as if I'd accumulated a great depth of trivia with little binding glue to the present. There probably aren't a hundred people alive in a better position than the author to comment on the state of cancer research, to predict, or to theorize in new directions. But these insights are spare.

These points aside, if you've even a tangential interest in cancer or biology, Mukherjee's opus remains a must-read.

Spectacular insight into the most feared of all diseases
This is a spectacular book. I read 100 books a year and this is definitely in the top 10. It is very, very well written and, in some ways, it is like a mystery. The way the book is written, we follow the stream of research and clinical medical treatment over 150 years. It's like feeling around in the dark for a bomb that we know will go off. It is simultaneously horrifying and compelling. I am a doctor and think I am compassionate towards my patients. This book increased my compassion 10X. What surprised me the most was the politics involved in attempting to cure a disease that potentially affects everyone. Surgeons want to cut and oncologists want to drug. They each have their turf and don't want to give it up. The fact that 50% of all men and 33% of all women will get some form of cancer before they die is a very sobering one. The section on the evilness of the tobacco industry was particularly illuminating. I can't put the book down and will truly be sad when it is finished.

Fantastic insight into the science behind medical research
Great book, I will read it again. I love learning and understanding the thought processes, errors and vast achievements of all aspects of scientific research, particularly medicine. This book does not disappoint. The author leans somewhat heavily on his thesaurus, be prepared to dig around in the dictionary. However, great history and insight into the scientific method. A fascinating peek into the mind of a scientist and a clinician. Must read.

The New Standard for Cancer Stories
It is difficult to even imagine the stacks of reports, articles, notes and interviews that Dr. Mukherjee processed to produce this fabulous book. Each page explains, in very readable prose, complex, arcane subjects. For anyone looking for reason to hope that their cancer is curable, this book is trove of stories of lives saved and changed by the work of cancer researchers.
This book will be referenced in other works for a long time. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This is the best-selling Original Authorized Edition regularly featured by Glenn Beck to Fox TV viewers as a Must Read!

The nation the Founders built is now in the throes of a political, economic, social, and spiritual crisis that has driven many to an almost frantic search for modern solutions. The truth is that the solutions have been available for a long time -- in the writings of our Founding Fathers -- carefully set forth in this timely book.

In The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World, Discover the 28 Principles of Freedom our Founding Fathers said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desire peace, prosperity, and freedom. Learn how adherence to these beliefs during the past 200 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5000 years. These 28 Principles include The Genius of Natural Law, Virtuous and Moral Leaders, Equal Rights--Not Equal Things, and Avoiding the Burden of Debt. Published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to restoring Constitutional principles in the tradition of America's Founding Fathers.

The National Center for Constitutional Studies...is doing a fine public service in educating Americans about the principles of the Constitution. -- Ronald Reagan, President of the United States

This is possibly the most comprehensive treatment of the genius of the American Founding Fathers which has ever been encompassed in a single volume. --Kenneth C. Chatwin, District Judge, Phoenix, Arizona

Reviews

A Must Read For All Americans, November 23, 2007
This is an incredible book that should be read by all Americans.

I first read this book back in the mid 1980s shortly after it was first published. It had such a profound effect on me that I can still recall where I was when I was reading it. That is rather amazing as I have I have probably read about 1600 books since then.

I was excited to see that it had recently been republished as my original copy is pretty ragged. It was great to reread it and brush up on the great ideas contained in it.

The premise of the book is that because of the free market system that took root after our Constitution was enacted, the United States literally made a 5000 year leap of progress in the time since then. The author, W. Cleon Skousen, discussed the changes from the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the early 1980s when the book was written. In discussing Jamestown, he said: "The most striking thing about the settlers of Jamestown was their startling similarity to the ancient pioneers who built settlements in other parts of the world 5,000 years earlier. The whole panorama of Jamestown demonstrated how shockingly little progress had been made by man during all of those fifty centuries."

He went on to say, "The settlers of Jamestown had come in a boat no larger and no more commodious than those of the ancient sea kings. Their tools still consisted of shovel, axe, hoe, and a stick plow which were only slightly improved over those of China, Egypt, Persia, and Greece. They harvested their grain and hay-grass with the same primitive scythes ..."

He then discussed the Constitution that was developed by the Founders. It took 180 years for them to put it all together from the beginning of Jamestown in 1607 to the enactment of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. He goes through the inspirations and sources for their thoughts in explaining how the U.S. Constitutional system came about.

Dr. Skousen contrasted the situation described in Jamestown above to the present day. He talks about the phenomenol results produced by the free enterprise system. Some of the incredible inventions and changes that he cites are as follows: the internal combustion engine, jet propulsion, exotic space travel, 'all the wonders of nuclear energy', massive changes in communications, the doubling of the life expectancy, central heating/air conditioning, surgical miracles, cures for numerous diseases, etc. Needless to say, the list could go on and on.

In showing how our system was designed, Skousen goes through 28 principles that the Founders developed from their study of sources such as Cicero, Locke, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and others. Skousen has done what most people don't have the time or inclination to do: Study the original source materials and bring it all together.

Obviously, it would be great if every American studied the sources listed above as well as The Federalist Papers, the writings of Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, and others. Since that is unlikely, this is a great way to gain a good general understanding of the roots of our nation.

One great thing about this book is that the author discusses some of the problems that we have faced in recent years due to failing to follow the Constitution and the principles of the Founders. Some of these are issues like the mounting national debt, excessive taxation, and judicial activism.

Dr. Skousen also does a great job of explaining the political spectrum and the absurdities of the left-right labeling so often used in discourse today. He explains in an easy-to-understand manner that the far left and far right as the terms are used today are really the same thing, ruler's law, and are totally out of step with the way the system was intended.

One could easily go on about this book for a long time, but I will spare the reader that. Suffice it to say, this is an amazing book that should be read by all.

I would also highly recommend, "The Making Of America" The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution by the same author. Anyone who reads those two books will know more about the way our system was designed and supposed to work than 99% of all Americans including 'constitutional lawyers'. Buy this book.

Contextual perspective of the Constitution from the Founders, January 17, 2009
Over the years I've read many books on the founding of America, the Constitution and our government. From the Federalist papers to present day books on specific politicians and policies. This book has put a perspective on how America came to be the 'Tip of the Sword' of planetary development in only 200 years after a human history that runs on for many centuries consisting of bare bones existence for the masses by illuminating not 'just' the beliefs of the Founders but what they were from the inside out... and what their intent for this nation really was.
Above all they were academicians in every aspect of the word... but also they actually felt individually responsible not only for what they were doing but for each and every word they uttered or wrote in regards to the archival evidence they understood they were creating for the new Government. Something you won't find in any politician today.
An easy read, very enjoyable and ultimately educational. Be careful, you may actually learn something you didn't know.

If one doesn't know what it means to be free in America, this book will teach you., October 12, 2009
I remember going through school and learning about American history and the writing of the Constitution, but I never felt like I had a feel for the language or the principles upon which that great document was written. W. Cleon Skousen's book, The 5000 Year Leap, does just that. This is a book that anyone of almost any age could pick up and understand just what it was the Founding Fathers were striving for. I think that every individual should pick up and read this book at least once, but preferrably multiple times.
This book lays out 28 principles with which the Founding Fathers tried to integrate into the Constitution. It seems that over 50% of the book is actually quotes by the Founding Fathers themselves, allowing it to do a great job of showing the reader what they actually meant and not just what the author thinks they meant. This book is a must-have for any American history fan or any individual who studies politics. I would recommend it to everyone, though.

Look no further, March 25, 2009
As a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society and someone who considers themselves well read and current on our nation's politics, this book, The 5000 Year Leap is the absolute best. If you wish to understand the founding of America. If you wish to learn how the founders wrestled with the issues. If you want to know whether or not America is really a unique and great nation, not merely in the world today, but throughout all of human history. If you are troubled by our current day's politics and wonder just how closely our leaders today, regardless of political stripe, remain true to our founding principles. If you have wondered about any of this, you need read only one book for your answer. READ THE 5000 YEAR LEAP!! I promise you will come away with a renewed sense of America and great hope for our continuing success as a nation.

Illuminating but breezy, January 7, 2008
The 5000 Year leap left me irritated, challenged, and wanting to read more.

I found the historical material the most interesting, but every time I read the views and conclusions, I felt the need to check the facts. Somehow it seemed that Dr. Skousen was bending the story. I may be off-base here, or I may not. It has inspired me to do more research.

I had two problems specifically. Skousen's concept of good government, which he says he shares with the Founders, is to seek a balance between anarchy, which he equivocates with chaos, and tyranny. To me that sounds like halfway to tyranny, and doesn't help differentiate between the activities where government arguably has a role, and those in which it doesn't.

He takes to heart the purpose of government as described in the Declaration of Independence, but I still felt an authoritarian streak running through the book.

I think the Founders model was to get as close as possible to liberty, and keep the federal government as small as possible, leaving all else to the people or the states. It may sound like a small semantic difference, but the idea of seeking a balance between pure liberty and pure tyranny is a lot different than staying as close to pure liberty as possible.

My other problem was his notion that the part of natural law that is political law is not discovered but revealed. I believe he is saying that the laws which are used to govern human behavior have been revealed by God, through scripture, and are not discovered through experiment as are the laws of physics. He quotes Blackstone on this. I am uncomfortable with this idea, and plan to read more of Blackstone's work to see for myself.

My understanding is that common law is the best origin of political law, and that it was discovered through centuries of case law arising from the resolution of disputes. Some forms of resolution work, others don't. The workable solutions last, the others fall away. This is a discovery process, a science of behavior, not a matter of applying scripture.

This book came out in 1980. In 1943 two books came out which I think better express the idea of the emergence of liberty: The God Of The Machine by Isabel Paterson, and The Discovery Of Freedom by Rose Wilder Lane.

A little disappointed, September 7, 2009
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great book, and I highly recommend it. With all the rave reviews, maybe my expectation was set too high. I enjoyed reading the book, and agree with all of it, but was still disappointed.

Here's the catch: This book is written by religious people, for religious people. The title should be changed to "How Religion played a role in the Founders writing of the Constitution".

I've been a conservative all of my life, and am a Libertarian, and even though I grew up in a church, and respect religious people, I no longer believe there is a God. However, I do believe in the morals taught by religion, and choose to associate with these good people.

This book covers many topics, but every single chapter has the same theme: How religion played a role when the founders wrote that part of the Constitution. It makes sense, is well written, and is a very positive book for religious people to read, but if you are not religious, it does eventually start to get old. I made it through about 85% of book, before I hit religion overload. I scanned the rest, reading the bullets and highlights, and agree with them too.

If you are an Atheist (I don't like that word, the incorrect stereotype assumes you are anti-God which is simply not true for many Atheists), I still recommend this book. You will learn a lot, and it makes sense. Just be warned, it reads at times like a church sermon.

For those of you wondering: Yes, I do agree with this books' premise that a government SHOULD have officials that adhere to MORALS found in religion. I may not pray to God myself, but I would rather our government officials do. I am just as offended by the "God hating" Atheists; they are the ones who seem hell bent on destroying America with their immorality. I usually vote for officials who fear God and love their neighbors. I love my country, and am proud to be an American.

It will change your views of America, June 3, 2008
The constitution, what does it mean anymore? This document changed the course of the world and this book will tell you why the United States of America changed the world in 200 years. Sadly, it is also pointing out why we are loosing what has made us so strong.

This book yes, should be required reading.

Do you want a book that will honestly change your whole way of thinking about American Government, are you willing to be challenged? Take the dare, you will not regret it.

If you are a liberal, Democrat or Republican, how about, just an American, this book is for you.

Are you new to the concepts of Natural Law? This is a good jumping off point.

The book is an easy read, easy to grasp for the beginner, yet I believe an advanced reader will still find it fascinating. It is a new perspective of our country, or rather just highlighting the original intent which seems to be new in this day and age.

Really Makes One Wonder...., March 24, 2009
This is one of those books that has the ability to change lives and, if not that, to at least get a person thinking. The Romans were an incredible people with astounding technology, as were the Greeks and other ancient civilizations. But what happened in the early 1800s when suddenly technology suddenly began changing the world faster than the world could handle it?

The United States was driving this technology to a great degree. Unfettered by the oppressive governments in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, it was as if someone suddenly turned on a light...literally. Electric lights, cars, trucks, tanks, telephones, machine guns, airplanes, radar, sonar, submarines, satellites, microscopes, electron microscopes, telescopes, astrophysics, astronomy, computers, cell phones, telecommunications, medical knowledge, atomic energy and a dizzying array of other advancements that made life not only easier, but in many ways much more dangerous.

The 5000 Year Leap brings this home and leaves one wondering...why?

The ride is far from over, and this book makes one wonder if we're not all trading our greatness for a mess of pottage. Very readable and highly recommended.

One Nation Under God, December 3, 2002
A great compilation of the inspired ideas that are shaping our nation; a must read for all patriots. In this post-September-11 world, this book reminds us of the need to return to the religious and moral foundation upon which our republic rests.

Although the book's thesis is based on Judeo-Christian principles, I had no problem (nor did our nation's founders) in extending its premises to all humanity and all humane belief systems. I especially liked the summary of Ben Franklin's fundamentals of all sound religion on p. 77.

For those of you who deny the need for a religious and moral component to our society, I can only side with an intellect greater than mine. Let us remember George Washington's warning from his farewell address excerpted on p. 76 of the book: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensable supports...And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion...Reason and experience forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle."

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, anyone who believes in an ordered universe will find much to ponder in this book.

The best way to understand our founding fathers ideas., July 6, 1998
This book is the most detailed collection I've ever seen discussing the constitution and the men who wrote it. I'm planning on making it one of my children's schoolbooks! If you are interested in finding out more about your country and why it was founded, you need to read this book. You'll look back on it often for reference, and you'll have a hard time not loaning it out to every person you know. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Like playing Sid Meier's Civilization, October 29, 2010
As can be seem by both the summary and and various book reviews, this is big history, encompassing the dawn of the first homonids (or ape-men as the author put it) to present day, with a chapter conjecturing about the future.

I was going to try and compare it to some of books in the same genre that I have read, but this book takes, disproves and/ or builds on their arguments - books such as Kennedy's Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Pommeranz's the Great Divergence, Landes' The Wealth and Poverty of Nations - and they are all cited in his book and Morris takes pains to show how they only focus on one small piece of the picture. Indeed the feeling of reading this must have been similar for those who read Marx's Das Kapital for the first time (although the language is much more accessible and the conclusion is open ended) in that it attempts to set out underlying laws of history.

In the words of the author - "History is not one damn thing after another, it is a single grand and relentless process of adaptations to the world that always generate new problems (in the form of disease, famine, climate change, migration and state failure) that call for further adaptations. And each breakthrough came not as a result of tinkering but as a result of desperate times, calling for desperate measures." There may be set backs and hard ceilings, with free will and culture being the wildcards that may hinder social development but eventually the conditions give rise to ideas that allow progress to be made.

Indeed the motor of progress is not some economic logic, but what he calls the Morris Theorem - (expanding an idea from the great SF writer Robert Heinlein) to explain the course of history - Change is caused by lazy, greedy frightened people (who rarely know what they are doing) looking for easier more profitable and safer ways to do things. And it is geography that is the key determining factor where something develops first - Maps, not Chaps.

Now all this sounds academic and boring and in the case of the Morris theorem a little oversimplistic, but the presentation definitely is not. As professor Jared Diamond states, it is like an exciting novel (told by a cool eccentric uncle) and he uses a wide range of popular media to support his case, at one point talking about the movies Back to the Future, 300, the Scorpion King or making references to novels such as the Bonesetters Daughter and Clan of the Cave bear to bring conditions to life. Indeed the emotional similarities (and sheer sense of fun!) to playing early versions of the Sid Meier's Civilization Computer Game are uncanny.

There is a wide range of material here to satisfy a range of interests - his summaries of the fossil record, and early middle eastern and Chinese history are succinct and clear. Especially on the Chinese side, I had to read 2 books - the Golden Age of Chinese Archaelogy and the Cambridge History of Ancient China to gain the same understanding of what he summarizes in about 7-8 pages. He discourses on the role of the Axial religions, on whether democracy was important to the rule of the west, the role of free will in history, and on provocative ideas like the Qin and Roman empires expemplifing what he calls the paradox of violence: when the rivers of blood dried, their imperialism left most people, in the west and the east better off. I could go on and on and, of course, there may be many experts who take issue with his interpretations (and his predictions) but it will definitely stimulate thinking.

If I had to make a criticism of the book - it is that, like Marx, it is fundamentally materialistic in its approach, ideas are like memes that facilitate social development and culture is something that can help or hinder development but has no value in itself. The great religious ideas are glossed over as a product of or reaction to their times. It has precious little to say about the spiritual life and spiritual discoveries such as ethics, meditation or psychology. It may be these discoveries and qualities that will be required to get us through the challenges - of climate change, overpopulation, resourse shortages and potential nuclear war.

It is worthwhile comparing the book to two writings that he cites as inspiration (1) Herbert Spencer - Progress its Law and Cause and (2) Isaac Azimov's Foundation series. In each case they try to identify the forces that drive humanity but Spencer just doesn't have the data in the 19th century and the historian Hari Seldon is joke amongst professional historians as the novels seem so implausibly optimistic about what history can do. I don't know if Ian Morris has succeeded in identifying the laws of history but this book could only have been written now, at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, drawing together the strains from archaeology, genetics, linguistics as well as sociology and economics to create something altogether new and wonderful and accessible to that elusive thing - the educated lay reader.

Sure to be an important book. A 'must read' foundation for critical thinking in the 21st century., October 16, 2010
"Why the West Rules" is sure to be an important book.

Why did Victorian gunboats shoot their way up the Yangtze instead of Ming ships shooting their way up the Thames 300 years before? Why do more people speak English rather than Mandarin? There are times when opposite outcomes might have logically emerged but did not. This is a book that delves into that story.

Ian Morris begins the narrative 50,000 or so years ago. Men began to understand the benefit of reaching beyond the immediate family unit and established tribes and groups where specialization could be allowed to develop. Having everyone hunting and gathering the day's meal was inefficient as technologies emerged. Technologies resulted in specialization. Specializations lead to groups relying on one another, etc. The story moves to the end of the last ice age where the evidence indicates that man had grown far more complex in his society, perhaps because of the Ice Age struggles. What we might recognize as civilizations formed and spread out from two regions. The evidences suggest for now that it began first in the west, in the region of Europe beyond the Ural Mountains and around Mesopatamia and the Mediterranean. And then, perhaps 2,000 years later it evolved in the east in the Yangtze and Yellow River region. By about 1000 BC both areas of influence and hybrid borderlands appear to be have accomplished a comparable level of civilization development.

The books premise is that that civilizations hit a "hard ceiling" and fall apart under the weight of the institutions that success creates but then become unable to adapt the past success formula forward due to opposing and uncontrollable social forces that were unleashed because of their own success. These cycles of rise and fall appear in successive waves of civilizations in both the East and the West (rise & fall of the Roman Empire, the Sui Dynasty unification of `China', Chinese naval power in the 15th century, western industrial revolution in the 18th century, etc). The story winds its way to the current time and our place in the cycles. We saw Western dominance of the 20th century but an unknown and debatable outcome coming from out of the period ... i.e. will the 21st century institutions of East (China centric) cycle ahead of the West? Will the West adapt quickly to continue `success'. Will some new hybrid emerge?

To answer these questions, the past is a good place to look. "Why the West Rules" provides considerable insight into the patterns of civilization that are mandatory consideration for any serious debate of the future. This is a foundational `must read book' for knowledgeable participants in the debate.

A true masterpiece, October 25, 2010
History is a fascinating subject, if it is told in the right way. To me, the right way means--instead of rotely reciting the facts or twisting them to fit into a narrow thesis--tapping into the big trend, showing the big picture, making connections between seemingly unrelated events and giving objective insights into the multifaceted dynamics of large groups of people interacting with one another. While there have been some great titles available to 21st century readers, none comes close to being as grand, broad, deep and innovative as this book.

The question of why the West rules the world for the past two centuries has always been an intriguing one, at least to people of Chinese descent. In recent years, it has taken on significantly greater urgency and relevance to mainstream Americans. But the various answers to date have been narrow, incomplete analysis like those given by the blind men who tried to describe an elephant. To reach a comprehensive understanding, Ian Morris has had to combine multiple disciplines, including physics, botany, economics, anthropology, paleontology, archaeology and history, and invent his own index of "Cultural Development". Just this metric is a great contribution to mankind's knowledge base, as it finally gives a concrete, quantitative measure to the general concepts of advanced versus backward and rise versus decline.

To convince the readers of his conclusion, the author retells the entire history of mankind, from ape-men to the year 2010. I am totally amazed by his ability to do so in 645 fun-filled pages and still to cover practically every relevant detail. Even more impressively, he often sheds new light on these familiar facts for me so that I finally can see the history in the right context. For example, who are the Hittites? What is their relevance? Well, not until I read this book did I understand that they represent the infusion into the core of western civilization (Mesopotamia/Egypt) a new weapon (chariot) driven by a new large domesticated mammal (horse) that is the only major natural resource missing in the blessed region militarily, agriculturally and economically since the dawn of history.

What is the author's conclusion after going through the entire human history with his new fine-tooth comb, the index of cultural development? He finds that, although individuals vary from one another greatly, large groups of people are often very much alike. He shows convincingly that this is definitely the case between the west (Europeans and Americans) and the east (Chinese, Japanese and Koreans). Differences exist in styles but not in substance. Whatever causes one to lead the other in cultural development is always exogenous, mainly climatic and geographical factors. He also illustrates clearly that each level of development brings about new challenges, which can be overcome only with the right organization using the right technology under the right circumstances. Those who fail at these challenges either stagnate or sink into dark ages, allowing the "advantage of backwardness" to be realized.

Extrapolating from recent trends, the author thinks that the east will most likely catch up with the west by the end of this century. This, in itself, is not too surprising, but the stories that leads to this conclusion are full of parallels and lessons for modern societies facing problems originating from their own development process. Anyone who cares about the fate of his nation and/or this earth will surely benefit from this book.

From ape-men to, perhaps, the Singularity, November 19, 2010
Ian Morris' Why the West Rules is certainly audacious. As the subtitle suggests, Morris ventures to explain all of human history and, apparently still unsatisfied, to see into the future as well. He appears to have read widely and deeply to match his scholarship to his ambition. His exposition is clear and often seasoned with a light touch.

This is not the sort of book many will be inclined to read fully in just a few long stretches, but on balance it is likely to engage and challenge persons with a serious interest in mega-history. While some specialists in particular domains (say the British industrial revolution, for example) may disagree with some of Mr. Morris' interpretations or find them insufficiently nuanced, that is to be expected for works of broad historical synthesis such as this one.

Morris starts with pre-human "ape-men" (he can turn a phrase) and traces comparative East-West "social development" to the present and beyond. He has devised his own method for measuring it, a quantitative index that takes into account (1) energy capture (calories used); (2) organization, as measured by urbanization; (3) information processing, represented by literacy rates; and (4) the capacity to make war. He graphically plots his estimates of the index scores of the East versus those of the West since 14,000 BCE. The main body of the text describes the historical forces and events underlying the graphical patterns.

There are many objections that might be raised against the quantitative index and Morris is aware of them. He has stated that he nevertheless chose to construct it to help make more explicit what he means when he describes social development in any given period or region. In my opinion, he could have well done without it: it leaves an overall impression of being artificially contrived and unnecessary, a sort of Rube Goldberg approach to assessment of historical development.

Moreover, the question of who was "ahead" in any given epoch, East or West, turns out to be rather secondary to the salient lessons Morris draws from the sweep of history. There is no "long-term lock-in," he concludes, no factor established long-ago that has subsequently determined comparative advantage in perpetuity. The "five horsemen of the apocalypse" -- climate change, disease, famine, migration, and state failure -- have at times radically disrupted development and could do so again. So too, ascendant regions face the "paradox of social development" -- adaptations create new problems that call for further adaptations, possibly undermining the very forces that contributed to past success. Prior backwardness can even become advantageous (for a contemporary example think of low wages as an attraction to capital investment in China, an "advantage" that is eroding as Chinese development progresses).

His rejection of long-term lock-in theories is creditable and well-supported, but Morris also contends that short-term accidents and human leadership do not matter much either in the longer term. We could substitute "bungling idiots" for great men or vice-versa, he says, and at most things may have moved at a different pace to the same destination. Nor, in his opinion, do ideas or culture ultimately help shape development; rather, it is the other way around. These views are contestable, at the very least, and are bound to elicit objections from many other historians.

For Morris the operative factors are biology and sociology, which explain global similarities, and geography, which explains regional differences. Geography has determined the probabilities of where development would rise fastest, but social development changes what geography means, he proposes. For instance, when social development reached the stage where trans-oceanic commercial voyages were feasible, Western societies positioned on the Atlantic gained geographic advantages that in turn spurred further development.

How is it, then, that the long history of comparative development might inform our current prognoses? Morris projects that his index will soar, but faster in the East than the West, with a crossover to Eastern leadership by 2103 at the latest (he is that precise). Yet, according to Morris, the East-West framework may or may not turn out to matter much. Perhaps there will be an all-out East-West war, where even winning would be catastrophic, or maybe arguments about "who rules" will become passďż˝ as we will see a need to cooperate further to address global problems.

Morris shifts gears and reframes the question. As he sees it, the world's future pretty much comes down to two possibilities: "Nightfall" or the "Singularity." If we can hold off the worst-case climate change outcomes and nuclear disaster (Nightfall) long enough, he suggests, we might morph into a post-human species (Ray Kurzweil's Singularity, where the full contents of our brains can be uploaded into computers), which he seems to regard as salvation.

I have to say I found this eventual conclusion to be a bit surprising, even peculiar, a big leap from where readers were left before reaching the final chapter. The chasm underscores a fundamental antinomy in Morris' message: we should study history to prepare for the future, but development will now accelerate so fast that history will leave us unprepared.

A first class read but cops out on key question, November 25, 2010
Ian Morris' "Why The West Rules--For Now" is a thrilling read. Morris is an accomplished stylist and his romp through the last fifteen-thousand years of human activity is fun, informative and--with one or two qualifications, explored below--convincing. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a tour d'horizon of world history and pre-history.

Morris, however, is after bigger game, seeking to bring up to date a debate on the roots of Western leadership. One theory is "long term lock-in", which would have it that the West was always destined to enjoy primacy and possibly always will. Different examples of this would be Jared Diamond (Guns Germs and Steel, 1997), who made much of geography, in particular the distribution of domesticable plants and animals; or David Landes (The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, 1998), who dwelt on ideas, in particular those arising out of the northwest European enlightenment which encouraged enterprise by rewarding it with lawful property. Alternatively there is the "short-term accident" view, which would have it that Western primacy is something of an aberration, shortly to be corrected, following Joseph Needham's classic study of Chinese technology, or such more recent works as Martin Jacques' 2009 "When China Rules the World".

Morris is an archaeologist, so much of what is exciting in the book has to do with recent findings from his discipline. These enable us to learn much, even when records are absent: examples include the incidence of shipwrecks and lead pollution as surrogates for economic activity. Archaeology helps Morris fill in the gaps between the accounts of Diamond, who looks particularly at the period shortly after the ice retreated, and Landes, who instead focussed on just the last few hundred years.

Morris presents his conclusions via some home-grown sums and a trio of beguiling aphorisms. The sums are his own index numbers of human development, which he uses to illustrate the grand sweep of history and prehistory, showing that the West has been consistently ahead except for an interval from c600CE to c1800CE. He attributes this largely to geography, following Diamond. His aphorisms, "change is caused by lazy, greedy frightened people looking for easier, more profitable and safer ways to do things"; "people (in large groups) are all much the same"; and "each age gets the thought it needs" combine to reinforce his determinism, in which ideas and free will count for little.

As for the future primacy of East versus West, Morris cops out. He makes no bones that he expects the East, that is China, to overtake the West, that is the US. But, he says, by then it won't matter. Failing catastrophe (nuclear war, climate change), we will all be so much better off that the problem will dissolve in a more or less unimaginable technological utopia.

By Morris' own account, this won't haul the freight. Even after China overtakes the US on his index numbers, Americans will still be far better off. Morris is not the first to envisage a utopian future but none has so far turned up. As to his determinism, he follows Landes to note that the Chinese state was strong enough to enforce a policy of isolation for the four hundred years after it abandoned intercontinental exploration in the fifteenth century, while the absence of a single European power led to competition and defensible economic and political rights, extending innovation and enterprise. Is it too much to draw conclusions about the rights and wrongs of large versus small states, institutions prizing stability versus competition, or economic and political concessions versus rights? China is still on the wrong side of history by all these measures.

To conclude with an analogy on primacy. Twenty years ago, we were bracing ourselves for Japanese primacy, with innumerable books, articles and even films on the subject. In the event, that gig got cancelled. If I had to, I would bet that so will this one: the prospect of Chinese primacy will founder on an over-strong state which will decline to permit competition or defensible property rights. Morris should know that.

Best read in a decade, November 2, 2010
This book is so near perfection as would be possible. The only criticism I can think of is the one Boon L. Kwan already mentioned: the maybe overly materialistic view. In the entire book, I noted only one (1) factual error (Rollo was not made king (but duke) of Normandy.)

This book is for readers who like things such as "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, "Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel P. Huntington, "Ascent of Money" (TV series by Niall Ferguson), "The Ascent of Man" (TV series by Jacob Bronowski), "Civilisation" (TV series by Kenneth Clark), and "In search of the Trojan war (TV series by Michael Wood).

Fascinating as a history book, failure in terms of its target, December 27, 2010
It is hard to decide how many stars to assign to this book. Ian Morris' book would deserve 5 stars if it were merely a world history book. It succeeds in creating a unified, comprehensible narrative of world history from the stone age to the present day in a way that no other book I am aware of has done. For this reason, it would deserve to be classified as a classic.

However, on the other hand, the aim of Ian Morris has not been to write a comprehensive history of the the major world civilizations from the stone age to the present. It has been to explain the Western predominance of the last centuries and to predict what the future will look like. His discussion of the future is quite admirable and thoughtful indeed. However, I have found his answer to the central question the book poses to fall below ordinary academic standards on two fronts: it trivializes the question, and lacks novelty.

1. It trivializes the question. The central question of the book is answered by an argument of geographic reductionism and determinism. In short, the Western "rule" of the last few centuries is attributed to the shorter breadth of the Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the Pacific. This shorter breadth made the Americas more easily accessible to Europeans than to Asians, hence the former created an Atlantic economy, therefore faced different challenges than the latter, responded to them by the scientific and industrial revolutions, and hence rule. I find this argument to be rather simplistic, and I do not think that there was a need to write such a long book if its sole purpose was to put this argument down (after all, it has been said before - see below). The problem with this argument is that it stops exactly where the truly important questions should be asked. A case in point is Columbus: the author makes fun of him, calling him the best candidate for a "bungling idiot", because he thought he had arrived to the (by then obsolete) "land of the Great Khan", while he had only reached Cuba. However, the author fails to notice that Columbus did not reach the Americas merely due to the short breadth of the Atlantic Ocean: he ventured in the open sea aiming to sail as long as it took him to reach the other end of Eurasia, knowing that he should end up there eventually. Even if he had to cross the Pacific instead of the Atlantic, there is a high chance he would make it. It is surprising that, while the author tackles so many "what if" scenaria to prove his thesis, he fails to consider this fundamental "what if" question for his main argument: Would Columbus fail to reach the Americas if he had had to cross the Pacific instead? Given that Magellan did cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific a few years later, the answer appears to be in the negative. This observation by itself appears sufficient to refute the author's trivial main argument. The same reasoning applies to several other arguments in the book. For example, the author tries to argue that Newton thought what he thought because of the Atlantic economy, and he has no room for any cultural factor in it; he maintains that "each age gets the thought it needs". In essence, he maintains that thought is geographically determined. I find this fancy argument hard to accept, as I have not seen any convincing evidence for it. Last, but not least, some of the claims in the book are factually wrong: he attributes the invention of the wheelbarrow to China and claims that it was brought to Europe in the Middle Ages; however, there is evidence of wheelbarrows in construction sites in Ancient Athens.

2. It lacks novelty. The central argument of geographic reductionism and determinism that Ian Morris espouses is not new. It has been made by Jared Diamond in "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and by J. M. Blaut in "Eight Eurocentric Historians" before. Surprisingly, the author fails to give proper credit to these authors for making similar arguments, although he does at least cite Diamond. Moreover, the so-called "advantage of backwardness" of Western Europe, which forms a secondary argument in the author's thesis, has also been made by Patricia Crone in "Pre-industrial Societies". At least Morris does a good job of bringing these arguments together in a coherent way, but does not go beyond them to deeper issues that need to be addressed (as discussed above).

An Intriguing Look At The Past, With Implications For The Future., November 8, 2010
Ian Morris combines the best aspects of Jared Diamond, Paul Kennedy, David Landes, and Thomas Friedman while contributing his own fascinating insights as an archaeologist in this insightful and fascinating book. Why The West Rules-For Now is solid world history, beginning with the first hominid developments and stretching to the early twenty first century CE. The primary question Morris asks throughout deals with which area, West or East, had the advantage and was more highly developed during each historical period.

But Why The West Rules is more than just history. Morris roams freely throughout the time periods, using economic data and statistical analysis to extrapolate alternative scenarios leading to very different outcomes. These counterfactuals are always fascinating, none more so than the one with which Morris begins his book, describing an abject Queen Victoria humbly performing the kowtow before a triumphant Chinese overlord.

Even more fascinating and important are the final chapters, in which Morris speculates on future developments and posits several possible scenarios for the next hundred years. These are also solidly grounded and are convincingly argued. They make Why The West Rules-For Now a book one hopes national and cultural leaders will read and discuss for many years to come.

Well written history, December 11, 2010
One of the best non-fiction books I have read in years. It is more history than archeology and contains so many interesting facts that his conclusions were secondary for me. I recommend it for an enjoyable trip through world history. Morris explains the importance of historical events like the influence of nomadic tribes of the steppes on the social development of both the east and west. His writing style is engaging and not overly technical and should have broad appeal among recreational readers.

Does World Leadership Rest in Maps and/or Chaps?, November 15, 2010
Ian Morris demonstrates with much conviction that neither the surmised superiority of Western thought ("long-term lock-in" theories) nor the temporary, largely accidental leadership of the West after 1800 CE ("short-term accident" theories) offers a satisfactory explanation of why the West currently rules (pp. 13-14; 17-18; 73; 166-167; 226; 260; 474; 521; 564; 572; 575; 619-620). As Mr. Morris points out correctly, the partisans of these theories largely ignore thousands of years during which the West did not move along a straight line to its eventual dominance of the world (pp. 169-170). Famine, disease, migration, state collapse, and climate change played at times a key role in shaping social development, which measures a community's ability to get things done (pp. 144; 560; 598).

Mr. Morris explores two key themes in the book under review:
1) Although biology and sociology explain the global similarities, geography explains the regional differences;
2) While geography decides where development rises or falls fastest, social development also determines what geography means (pp. 30; 592).

To make his case, Mr. Morris invites his readers to embark on an epic journey to explore what happened between 14000 BCE and today mainly in Eurasia (pp. 130; 166; 558; 640-641). The globe's most developed societies have always been ones that found their genesis in either the original Western or the original Eastern core (p. 32).

Mr. Morris finds out that the West has ruled the world for the last sixteen millennia with the exception of a major parenthesis between about 550 and 1775 CE when the Eastern regions of Eurasia took over from their Western counterparts (pp. 25; 129-133; 223; 332; 337; 395-396; 422; 429; 476; 564). The examination of this time range allows Mr. Morris to clearly demonstrate that "short-term accident" theories of why the West rules for now do not make sense at all. Geography has been the key to driving social development in the favor of the West for most of the last sixteen millennia. However, geography does not exist in a vacuum. Social development also defines what geography represents (pp. 30-31; 41; 82; 117-118; 144; 271; 427; 557; 561; 565; 572; 592; 619-620; 643). Mr. Morris observes that the higher social development rises, the faster it can continue rising. Each innovation builds on earlier ones and contributes to later ones (pp. 194-195). To come to these conclusions, Mr. Morris develops an original human development index to measure the evolution of social development during this period. Urbanism, energy capture, information processing, and capacity to make war are the key metrics that Mr. Morris uses to measure the ups and downs of social development over time (pp. 143-171; 623-640). The most that any great men and "bungling idiots" could do until 1945 CE was to speed up or slow down processes that were already under way (pp. 316; 416-417; 429; 449; 479; 565-568; 616).

Mr. Morris convincingly shows that the great transformations of social development, i.e., the origins of agriculture, the rise of cities and states, the creation of different kinds of empires, and the industrial revolution were each the result of desperate times calling for desperate measures (pp. 559-560). Human core societies have repeatedly seen their further social development blocked, what Mr. Morris calls their hard ceilings (pp. 34; 560; 563-565; 598; 607). Rising social development results into bigger populations, more elaborate lifestyles, and greater wealth and military power (pp. 225; 561). These changes unleash forces, i.e., famine, disease, migration, and state collapse, which undermine social development, especially if they occur at the time of climate change (p. 560). At the same time, bigger, more complex societies tend to have more sophisticated ways to respond to the bigger, more threatening disruptions that they generate (pp. 225; 404; 418-420; 533; 598). Mr. Morris calls this seemingly contradictory phenomenon the paradox of development (pp. 28; 34; 225; 329-330; 504; 530; 560-562; 601). This paradox is the main reason why "long-term lock-in" theories are unsatisfactory in explaining why the West rules for now (p. 195).

Mr. Morris forecasts that the East will catch up again with the West by exploiting the advantages of backwardness. The East is expected to bypass the West by the beginning of the twenty-second century if their respective human development indexes continue to increase at their current speed (pp. 582-583; 619). Furthermore, Mr. Morris predicts that in the twenty-first century, social development will go up so high that geography will become meaningless (p. 619).

However, Mr. Morris has reservations about his own predictions. The paradox of development mentioned above could wreak these predictions due to the currently perceived limits in the expected growth rates of urbanism, energy capture, information processing, and capacity to make war (pp. 590-598; 608-613). In addition, Mr. Morris reminds his audience that geography will remain unfair in the twenty-first century, which will eventually allow the West to keep its lead over the rest of the world (pp. 601-602). Finally, Mr. Morris reminds his audience that with the continuous rise in (nuclear) military capacity, great men and "bungling idiots" with access to these weapons have had the ability to change history since 1945 CE.

In summary, Mr. Morris hopes that humanity will learn not only from archeology and the media, but also from history to save itself from its unmatched capacity for auto-destruction (pp. 621-622).

... Read more

Editorial Review

Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods is a work of monumental importance--the first book to introduce the shocking theory that ancient Earth had been visited by aliens.This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eyes of the Sphinx. But here is where it all began--von Daniken's startling theories of our earliest encounters with alien worlds, based upon his lifelong studies of ancient ruins, lost cities, potential spaceports, and a myriad of hard scientific facts that point to extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all, however, is von Daniken's theory that we ourselves are the descendants of these galactic pioneers--and the archeological discoveries that prove it...* An alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid
* Thousand-year-old spaceflight navigation charts
* Computer astronomy from Incan and Egyptian ruins
* A map of the land beneath the ice cap of Antarctica
* A giant spaceport discovered in the Andes
Includes remarkable photos that document mankind's first contact with aliens at the dawn of civilization.
... Read more

Reviews

Entertaining, yet he jumps to conclusions too easily, July 24, 2002
I read Chariots of the Gods as well as several other Von Daniken works, and he never ceases to entertain me (with the exception of Miracles of the Gods - a horrid, poorly executed book). I find his "theories" thought-provoking, yet very weak at their base. Mr. Von Daniken has an irritating habit of jumping from subject to subject, stating his opinions quickly and with little supporting evidence, and then suddenly switching to another "mystery" to start the cycle over again. Even though he makes many compelling points, he never stays on the same subject long enough to fully support his beliefs.

If a golden amulet looks like a modern airplane, then it's an airplane. Period. If a stone carving looks like an astronaut, then it's an astronaut. Period. If a straight line drawn in the sand extends for the length of a modern runway, then it's a runway. Period. And this same style has gone on and on for years and through several books, with more on the way.

I take everything he says with a grain of salt. He is sooo quick to jump to (seemingly) reasonable conclusions that I can't help but be intrigued... but obviously I can't even call that he does "theorizing" since he never spends enough time on one piece of evidence to complete his arguments.

I look at his work as a starting point, rather than a finished product. If someone takes one of his ideas and runs with it, gathering collaborating evidence and building a more air-tight case for the "solution" presented in his works, then in my opinion Von Daniken has done his job. Unfortunately, I can't be sure Von Daniken shares this opinion. I think he raises important questions, yet his answers are too quick off the mark and ultimately unsatisfying to the discriminating reader.

I much prefer the approach taken by Graham Hancock, for example, who normally stays much more conservative. Hancock presents compelling arguments supported by many different pieces of evidence, and will not insult the reader by leaping to his conclusions based upon a single painting or pottery shard. Anyone interested in "alternative" (for lack of a better word) history would do well to pick up Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods" for a better-realized examination of ancient mysteries.

I still find Von Daniken immensely entertaining, though. Call it a guilty pleasure. I would never be able to defend his ideas during an in-depth discussion of them, and I honestly don't believe Von Daniken would be able to either. I give this book 5 stars for being a lot of FUN and a closet masterpiece.

An Interesting Read, April 20, 2009
I really enjoyed reading this book. So far it's one of my favorites. The author does not expect the reader to believe all his theories, he just wants people to open their minds a little and question things more. I don't really believe all his theories, but they are very fascinating. If you are a close-minded person then this book isn't for you.

There Can be LOTS of Other Explanations!, August 17, 2000
This is a worthwhile book to read. The author did some pretty good collecting, and his theories are tantalizing, to say the least. It is a shame that he had to repeatedly ruin some good information with the single phrase "There can be no other explanation."

He repeated this phrase throughout the book. Each time I saw it, I cringed. This phrase tries to cut off debate, stifles analysis, and generally hurts the credibility of the entire work.

When people are so convinced of their own position that they try to suppress any information to the contrary (even rhetorically), they are degenerating to the level of the "Thought Police" - or worse.

Sorry Herr von Daniken, you blew it.

A Real Gem and Fun to Watch!, April 11, 2007
A film that makes you go 'Hmmmm'.

I first saw Chariots of the Gods in a theater as a kid when it was re-released back in the mid Seventies. I remember having trouble going to sleep that night! Since then I have attained a degree in science, and still think that it has much merit.

Sadly, this is a film that few people seem to be able to see anymore, at least I haven't noticed it making the rounds on mainstream television or cable in the last twenty five years or so.

The transfer was excellent and made from a well-preserved print. I noticed few flaws in this thirty-five or so year old film. There is an extra of pictures, but there are only like eight pictures? Why bother? That part was like a carnival sideshow ripoff. Also, the bio on von Daniken is a short text of one page and was not informative at all. There are scene selections and true to their word a movie trailer.

The film is an interesting whirlwind of exotic location shots that if nothing else shows the viewer some very interesting sites. The musical score is hard to describe-in a sense it is eerie, but it also has an overall upbeat, 'hopeful' or optimistic tone. I get the impression that this film was not made originally in English? I do like the narrator's (male) voice and keeps your attention. There are also a few places where the narration is handled in an interesting manner. Also, the actual filming and editing was excellent and well thought out. It's as if there is a new surprise awaiting you around every corner.

The documentary also includes some support from a couple of other individuals, one of whom was a Soviet scientist and I found this to be rather interesting given the times. But I feel that von Daniken's arguments supported by the visual evidence were more than compelling on their own.

I can't help but to compare this film to a Nova episode that dealt specifically with von Daniken's book and thus many of the things in this film. A few things, at least in the book, were shown to be out and out fabrications. I seem to remember Nova trying to provide an alternative explanation for such things as (don't quote me...been many years) the 'Baghdad Batteries'. Since then I have seen these batteries presented as being exactly as what they appear to be by science-ancient batteries.

In fact, it seemed that the makers of the Nova film were in an Okham's Razor competition with von Daniken in trying to provide rational, simple explanations for rather exceptional ancient works of art, stories and artifacts. I think it was mostly a tie. 'We' still don't know how or why the Pyramids, nor Stonehenge, the Nazca Lines nor many many other things were built in ancient times. Shame on von Daniken for not giving our ancient ancestors very much credit for coming up with these technologies themselves, but the same can be said for mainstream science which seems to be more and more in the position that ancient peoples were more advanced than we thought and much earlier in time than previously thought.

However, traces of nicotine in Egyptian mummies and a bronze (brass?) computer from an ancient shipwreck does not jive with what mainstream social and natural scientists traditionally present as 'fact' (dangerous word there at any rate). My point is that mainstream science has had to (as science is supposed to) back down and rewrite its theories as new data and explanations come to light. So mainstream science does not have an absolute corner on the truth market and what was poo-pooed in the past as nonsense and fantasy has many times gained acceptance (the existence of ball lightning comes to mind).

It would have made a very interesting DVD package if they had included the Nova episode for a few bucks more as this episode is largely forgotten and is collecting dust somewhere.

von Daniken did not say that every single headdress or ceremonial garb were based on ancient astronaut space suits, but what he does present are artworks of things that still look like space suits and advanced controls no matter how much these things are relegated to the mystical fantasies of ancient artists by mainstream scientists. Interestingly, it is only in the context of modern technology and science as he points out that many of von Daniken's suppositions even begin to make sense! For instance, why does an ancient Mayan observatory look like a modern observatory? What is the purpose of that if they indeed had no telescopes?

All in all, I think von Daniken's explanations are at least as good as any offered by conservative science. A powerful, imaginative presentation that actually enriches one's view of our ancient ancestors and does not denigrate their capabilities at all. These hypotheses actually add a new dimension of wonder and excitement to our collective past.

I definitely plan to watch this over and over again. It is a superior documentary in that it is not inundated with talking head PhD s or self-styled experts and allows the viewer's mind/imagination to decide the validity of what he is seeing with only suggestions on the part of the writer.

It is refreshing to see a film that still makes you go 'hmmmm' even after all these years.

Fun, but horribly wrong, April 20, 2001
Von D�niken claims that the myths, arts, social organizations, etc., of ancient cultures were introduced by astronauts from another world. He questions not just the capacity for memory, but the capacity for culture and civilization itself, in ancient peoples. Prehistoric humans did not develop their own arts and technologies, but rather were taught art and science by visitors from outer space.

Where is the proof for von D�niken's claims? Some of it was fraudulent. For example, he produced photographs of pottery that he claimed had been found in an archaeological dig. The pottery depicts flying saucers and was said to have been dated from Biblical times. However, investigators from Nova (the fine public-television science program) found the potter who had made the allegedly ancient pots. They confronted von D�niken with evidence of his fraud. His reply was that his deception was justified because some people would only believe if they saw proof ("The Case of the Ancient Astronauts," first aired 3/8/78, done in conjunction with BBC's Horizon and Peter Spry-Leverton)!

However, most of von D�niken's evidence is in the form of specious and fallacious arguments. His data consists mainly of archaeological sites and ancient myths. He begins with the ancient astronaut assumption and then forces all data to fit the idea. For example, in Nazca, Peru, he explains giant animal drawings in the desert as an ancient alien airport. The fact that the lines of the drawing would be useless as a runway for any real aircraft because of their narrowness is conveniently ignored by von D�niken. The likelihood that these drawings related to the natives' science or mythology is not considered. He also frequently reverts to false dilemma reasoning of the following type: "Either this data is to be explained by assuming these primitive idiots did this themselves or we must accept the more plausible notion that they got help from extremely advanced peoples who must have come from other planets where such technologies as anti-gravity devices had been invented." His devotion to this theory has not dwindled, despite contrary evidence, as is evidenced by still another book on the subject, Arrival of the Gods : Revealing the Alien Landing Sites at Nazca (1998).

There have been many critics of von D�niken's notions, but Ronald Story stands out as the most thorough. Most critics of von D�niken's theory point out that prehistoric peoples were not the helpless, incompetent, forgetful savages he makes them out to be. (They must have at least been intelligent enough to understand the language and teachings of their celestial instructors--no small feat!) It is true that we still do not know how the ancients accomplished some of their more astounding physical and technological feats. We still wonder how the ancient Egyptians raised giant obelisks in the desert and how stone age men and women moved huge cut stones and placed them in position in dolmens and passage graves. We are amazed by the giant carved heads on Easter Island and wonder why they were done, who did them, and why they abandoned the place. We may someday have the answers to our questions, but they are most likely to come from scientific investigation not pseudoscientific speculation. For example, observing contemporary stone age peoples in Papua New Guinea, where huge stones are still found on top of tombs, has taught us how the ancients may have accomplished the same thing with little more than ropes of organic material, wooden levers and shovels, a little ingenuity and a good deal of human strength.

We have no reason to believe our ancient ancestors' memories were so much worse than our own that they could not remember these alien visitations well enough to preserve an accurate account of them. There is little evidence to support the notion that ancient myths and religious stories are the distorted and imperfect recollection of ancient astronauts recorded by ancient priests. The evidence to the contrary--that prehistoric or 'primitive' peoples were (and are) quite intelligent and resourceful--is overwhelming.

Of course, it is possible that visitors from outer space did land on earth a few thousand years ago and communicate with our ancestors. But it seems more likely that prehistoric peoples themselves were responsible for their own art, technology and culture. Why concoct such an explanation as von D�niken's? To do so may increase the mystery and romance of one's theory, but it also makes it less reasonable, especially when one's theory seems inconsistent with what we already know about the world. The ancient astronaut hypothesis is unnecessary. Occam's razor should be applied and the hypothesis rejected.

Re-read the book and watch the video, March 1, 2009
OK first off everyone that was 12 and read the book re-read the book or rent the video.
Erich von Daniken, simply shows proof that things are two perfect back 4,000 - 10,000 years ago. The Mexico ruins present a calendar that is nearly perfect to a calendar of today, 365 1/4 per year yet they had no telescopes. He goes on to simply show that drawings around the world from 1,000's of years ago resemble people with spacesuits and ships that fly. Shows that 20,000 ton rocks where moved over 100 miles from quarries, feats which today, aren't quiet possible. Most ancient text write about an instance of crafts that fly.

He simply just goes around to world sites and shows you things that today, are still consider VERY hard to do. The pyramid which resembles 3.14 when you divide it. The drawing from over 1,000 years ago that shows what NASA would provide from an above earth shot over Egypt and Antarctica.

And the fact that in our own milky way galaxy, there are 50,000,000 stars that have the potential of supporting life similar to earth. Then when you read on the hubble telescope web site that there are HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of galaxies, and a high estimate of around 500 BILLION galaxies, which could each contain millions of stars the chance that at least 1 other planet got an earlier start then earth is no so far fetched and more likely very probable...

So when reading his book or watching the video, he just shows you similarities around the world that are near impossiable to do today with out modern equipment and tons of money, yet alone 1,000 years ago.

In closing I thought the best part of the move was that during the world wars, the united states went to some 3rd world island in the pacfic, and built a runway for the jets, when they were finished they just left and teh villages, have since built a plane out of bamboo, and made a simlar runway and watch the sky waiting for the gods to return... just read the book with an open mind

Interesting, But Flawed, October 14, 2003
A UFO obsessed friend of mine recommended this title to me, and now having read it all the way through (twice!) I'm not really sure what all the fuss is actually about. Sure it is interesting, and yes it is a lot of fun to read this theory, however it appears that Von Daniken has thrown the idea of "proper research" out the window, and instead relied upon so the so many speculations, and falsities which seem to make up this fringe group of UFO obsessives.

Do I believe in extraterrestrial life? Absolutely. Do I believe they have made contact with the human race throughout history? Possibly. Do I believe that anything in this book is true? No.

What Von Daniken is trying to do with 'Chariots of the Gods?' is to make the claim that humanity, within all it's diversity, and intelligence is little more than a product of alien intelligence (what's that say for us?); that all of the great civilizations which have existed through time (the Maya, the Egyptian, the Sumerian, etc.) were all involved in some kind of "alien worship"; and that all of the beautiful relics of the past (the statues at Easter Island, the lid of Paleque, the Pyramids, etc.) were little more than "landing instruments" for these extraterrestrial "gods".

Not to be taken seriously, but would make an excellent storyline to an number of sci-fi films out there today.

A Review on the DVD release..., April 6, 2001
Hi Ho from Melbourne (Aust)...Just a short note, I decided to buy this program on DVD mainly because of the Sound Track since I couldn't find it on CD. Well what can I say, the picture quality is acceptable but "boy oh boy" what happened to the sound!, the naration is ok, but I like to pay attention to the sound track in most films but the music in this DVD release was terrible to say the least, the Wow and Flutter is so horrible that my 15 year old video recording off TV is awhole lot better!! If any more copys are to be made, please replace your master copy. And one other thing, if you want to be enlightend by Science and facts then do yourselves a favour and get Carl Sagan's "COSMOS" you wont be sorry....Clint (VK3CSJ)

Biscuit Barrel, November 26, 2004
This is a great classic documentary. Regardless of what you may think about the origins of the pyramids and monoliths, there are undeniably here, and the origins of these mysterious wonders of the world, and how they were built and transported great distances, since the weight of the stones were astronomical, are as of yet largely unexplained and mysterious. The scenery of the film is fantastic and thought provoking. I would have given it a five star rating if the music/sound track were a bit better. The movie gets far more interesting after the first ten minutes and there are amazing shots of areas such as Easter Island. I would recommend this movie to anyone who would enjoy seeing many wonders of the world in many areas. I am glad that I purchased this DVD and did enjoy watching it. Have a pleasant day, everyone.

Great Fun, June 30, 2003
This is one of the funniest "Science" books ever published. The rankor in against "scientists" is only matched by the author's incredible ignorance about Archeology. But what I found amazing was reading all the reviews by so many people who cry out about the virtues about having an "open" mind but who don't seem to know the first thing about any of what Von Daniken writes about. Well what about reading the copius work done about say Twianku in Bolivia, or Tula in Mexico or Cuzco in Peru?

When I was twelve I read "Chariots of the Gods" and was a believer for about a year. Then I read a few basic texts about the Maya, Incas, etc., and discovered that Von Daniken was in error so much that well it's a joke.

For example the traditional Andean accounts attribute the colossal stone construction at Cuzco and elsewhere in Peru to the Inca Emperors. And such monumental construction was continueing when the spanish came.

As for the Maya Von Daniken's explaination for the Mayan collapse has been exploded and so has his explaination for the Sarchophagus lid from the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, which we know know from being able to read the Mayan Hieroglyphs depicts thee Mayan King Pacal falling into the maw of death down the cosmic tree. Von Daniken's comment about a inscription about a hot wind describing the death of the man in the Sarcophagus is total invention.

Then his book is peppered with absurd comments like stating that a jade necklace found in a Mayan tomb is fantastic because we all know jade only comes from China!. Well thats not true as even the smallist amount of research would indicate.

As for Von Daniken's research by going to various sites; well if you go and are unwilling to listen to what the researchers who have devoted their time to unraveling these sites you will of course view them as "mysterious".

Von Daniken is a very funny joke and even funnier are those who don't see the joke. ... Read more

Editorial Review

As seen on the GLENN BECK SHOW, award winning radio and TV host begs you to read The 5000 Year Leap!

This Special Kindle Edition includes the 30 Year Anniversary Edition of The 5000 Year Leap with Foreword by Glenn Beck. It also includes the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, and The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

Easily navigate this library using Hypertext links. Use on your computer or mobile device. No other edition offers the revisions and updates of this remarkable book detailing how the Founding Fathers used 28 principles to create a 5000 year leap in freedom, prosperity, and progress; all based upon morality, faith, and ethics.

THIS BONUS EDITION INCLUDES: Two landmark addresses by author, Dr. W. Cleon Skousen never before offered in print, along with the full text of US Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

The Five Thousand Year Leap will take you by the hand as you discover the ideals of the Founding Fathers and their 28 principles for success. The values explored in detail by Dr. Skousen range from the Founder's prerequisite that the Constitution was designed for a moral people, to a government empowered by the people with checks and balances, along with an understanding of the critical nature of fiscal responsibility and family values. This book sums up the secrets to what James Madison called a miracle.

About The Author: W. Cleon Skousen was a world renowned teacher, lecturer and scholar for more than 60 years. Born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada on January 20, 1913, Dr. Skousen?s growing up years were spent in Canada, Mexico, and California.

He attended college at the San Bernardino Junior College where he was elected Student Body President. In 1934 he went to law school at George Washington University in Washington DC, where he earned his Juris Doctorate and was admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia. At this same time he was employed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Dr. Skousen married Jewel Pitcher of San Bernardino, California, in August 1936. During their 69 years of marriage, they raised eight children and became the grandparents of 50 grandchildren and more than 90 great-grandchildren.

In 1972 Dr. Skousen organized a non-profit educational foundation named "The Freemen Institute." Later changed to "The National Center for Constitutional Studies" (NCCS), Dr. Skousen and his staff became the nation's leading organization in teaching students and legislators seminars on the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. His books "The Making of America" and "The 5,000 Year Leap" have been used nation-wide to educate students on the original intent of the Founding Fathers.
His many books and recordings addressed diverse subjects ranging from the raising of boys, to the principles of good government, to prophetic history. Dr. Skousen accumulated a wealth of knowledge and optimism - information that he called the "diamond dust" of exciting history, natural law and eternal principles of hope. These principles he painstakingly distilled into the pages of over 40 books and pamphlets, to be shared in an exciting and inspirational manner. This is what made him so popular with audiences of millions around the world. ... Read more

Reviews

The 5,000 Year Leap, April 25, 2009
This book is the quintessential book on understanding the brilliance of our founding fathers. It also shows how the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence are timeless documents. It should be recommended reading in all high school social studies classes. I gained an understanding and appreciation of our freedom given to us via these documents and has woken me up to how our current government is seeking to take power and gradually take away the freedoms granted to the people of the United States. The main reason behind the US Constitution was to limit the oppressive power of government. There are so many things that today's federal government is doing that our forefathers fought to make sure wouldn't happen. I think everyone should read this book to get an idea of just how far over reaching the current federal government is. The amazing thing is that this book was originally written I believe 30 years ago and it's so appropriate to what's happening in the political landscape today. It's almost like Skousen saw our current situation coming.

Should be used in every government and history classroom., October 1, 2009
I hesitated to write this review as I stopped reviewing books on government and politics a couple years ago because of the nasty comments people would make about my conservative and Christian views. A dear friend gave this book to me as a gift and I find it outstanding. Were I still teaching government and history I would be using it in the classroom. Yes, I have checked facts given in this book and have found them 100% correct. I will be buying extra copies to give to friends who are still teaching. I also will not read any comments on my review of this book. I am pleased that the great majority of reviewers seem to feel as I do.

5000 Year Leap, April 15, 2009
Love him or hate him, I saw an interview with Richard Nixon not too long before he passed away. He said his greatest fear is that we are not telling our nation's story over and over, and our children are not being taught in our public schools. I am a retired educator who majored in history and taught American History for several years. I am still an avid student of our history. I can tell you the stuff our kids are being fed is nothing but a bunch of touchy-touchy, feel good, politically correct pile of garbage. For example little emphasis on our Founding Fathers is given in many states and universities. Why? THEY OWNED SLAVES. Yes, they did, but they put together the best system of government the world has ever seen. Revisionist historians want to go back to Jamestown and blame this country for every conceivable ill. Many of these historians such as Michael Bellesiles of Emory University wrote a complete book of lies about the Second Amendment, The Arming of America. He got a Pulitzer for the book. It was discovered that his research was so specious that the prize was withdrawn and he was fired. He was so anti Second Amendment that he was willing to put his career on the line and lie about it. I have an idea this is but the tip of the iceberg. Our students are being fed lies, yes lies, about our history. This is a book that would be required reading in my American History classroom. If there are those who get all chilled by the mention of the Christian faith, then don't read it if it offends you. I taught a month long unit on the US Constitution each year to my 8th graders. They practically had to memorize it. They were tested over and over again and were required to do additional research. That was several years ago, and my former students STILL REMEMBER those precepts. Again, this book needs to be read by every American citizen, liberal or conservative, elephant or donkey. We need a new American Revolution, a patriotic one. Too many people in our country (like leeches) draw from the blessings and benefits of living in this country and wouldn't raise a finger to support or defend her. I honestly believe if we were to face a crisis such as World War II, we would hear a giant sucking sound, the rush of our "citizens" running to Canada and Mexico.

Back to Basics, January 25, 2010
Being British, and involved in politics over here, I was very keen to read this book, to see the ingredients that the founding fathers mixed together to create such an incredible country.

As I have read the book, I have been in awe at the incredible restraint and foresight that these men had. I am sure they were truly inspired, as where the others who contributed - as the Constitution was by no means the work of one man.

I am saddened and worried by the drift from the founding ideal, to policies and politics that have been proven time and time again not to work.

As a friend of mine said, the problem you get with Democracy, is when people realise they can vote themselves money!

It is my hope that the people of America have a "second Revolution", a return to the basics, and the simplicity of the Constitution - because truly it is only this way that America can get itself out of the crippling debt and over regulation it is finding itself in.

This really should be compulsory reading in schools, and colleges - but of course the liberal left would have a heart attack if that was to happen, as the book mentions God!

If you can do it once, you can do it again! So go for it, and get back to the basics that made America Great!

THIS IS THE ONE WITH GLENN'S FOREWORD, March 18, 2009
This is the edition that has Glenn's foreword. This version is the book Glenn gave to all of his studio audience and held up during his "WE SURROUND THEM" event on Friday March 13th. Folks should feel free to buy either edition, but keep in mind if you want Glenn's foreword and the updates for 2009 then you will probably want this one. Its ironic that even though Glenn featured this edition, the old NCCS edition is the one that has shot to #1 on the Amazon best-seller list. Congratulations to NCCS we wish them the very best! Just make sure as a buyer you know which one you are ordering becuase there are two distinct editions (the 30th Anniversay updated edition and the 25-yr-old original) I say get which ever one suits your fancy.

Fantastic smart easy read history, April 28, 2009
Great, accurate, smart, factual, interesting, easy to read and understand history. One of the best I have ever read. I would recommend to any U.S. citizen and anyone wanting to understand how our Government was formed based on freedom, equality, justice and humanity.

Like Updated Version Better, March 24, 2009
I own both the original book and CD, and the updated 30th Anniversary edition available only from PowerThink. I like the additional commentary by Glenn Beck and it's nice to have the Declaration and the Constitution in one place. The artwork on the anniversary edition cover is excellent. I believe that The 5,000 Year Leap should be required reading in America's schools and colleges. Like all of the products I've purchased from PowerThink, this anniverary edition packs more bang for the buck than what you find with other publishers.

a must read for every American, May 2, 2010
This book is clearly written, very practical and informative, and I am now reading it with my 7th grade grandson. Reading this book will provide a clear understanding not only of the founding and the founders of our great nation, but also how unique America is in the entire history of the world. I have always been proud to be an American, but this book educated me, filled in gaps in my knowledge of history that I didn't know were even missing, and reaffirmed my conviction that I must be the best American that I can be; I must be a better patriot today than I was yesterday. It is imperative that my firm convictions be based in truth-- and that I have the courage to stand on those convictions. I must be an educated and faithful voter.... and then stay in touch with those who represent me in my government. I agree with Thomas Jefferson: When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. Amen and amen.

Finally know what it is to be an American, October 7, 2009
I did not learn this in Social Studies. Maybe it should be required reading.
Just getting into the book I am in love with it already. Reading a few pages, and glancing through the book, I find it an easy read. As Americans, we need to understand the Why--why does it work?
If you know the why, then we can not be easily led astray.

It belongs next to The American Patriots Almanac by William Bennett, Rediscovering God in America by Newt Gingrich, Common Sense by Glenn Beck
(I already put Arguing With Idiots on that shelf, there is a space for Becks "An Inconvenient Book" as well)

This book has: the Declaration of Independence, the U. S. Constitution, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, and 101 Constitutional Questions to Ask Candidates.
It states the task set before the Founders, and the 28 principles after that.

Yes, it is WORTH the extra pennies to have all the content. It is a book to be celebrated.

Best read in a long time., April 2, 2010
I remember when schools used to teach civics and US government and at least some history. This book reacquainted me with the founding principles of this country and of the incredible men who dreamed of an entirely new system of government. It also unfortunately pointed out how far we have strayed from those principles. I recommend this book for everyone regardless of political party or ideology. It will make you stop and think. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down — all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people’s lives as never before. The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for two hundred years.

Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization—which started more than 100,000 years ago—has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair.

This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Reviews

A History of Progress, May 22, 2010

Will our future be 2,000 more years of immanent apocalypse?, May 8, 2010

The Future is Rationally Bright, July 14, 2010
Differentiation of individual activity, specialization and trade are the activities that have enabled humankind to overcome obstacles in the past and advance at a rapid pace. The future should be no different.

According to Matt Ridley, trade was and is the essential element in human progress. He suggests that the first farmers were already traders and used their static location and accumulated inventory to meet hunter-gatherer demand. He also credits the farmer as the creator of property rights. Hunter-gatherer societies are egalitarian sharing the hunt and enforcing non-compliance. A farmer who plants a field expects to harvest it and store or trade the surplus. This, Ridley posits was the origin of private wealth.

Ridley maintains that progress is dependent on idea sharing. As population density increases, the availability of new ideas and differentiation of occupation allows those with extra time to make use of these ideas.

Twentieth century collectivist bias leads one to ask "who was in charge" looking for a central initiator of policy. Ridley suggests that the world is a complex adaptive system, where trade and progress emerged from the interaction of individuals. It was an evolutionary rather than a planned process.

He recounts historical examples of institutional and industrial stagnation from the Bronze Age to British Rail and the U.S. Postal Service. What Ridley says they have in common is an attitude that rewards caution and discourages experiment. A planned economy requires perfect knowledge. The possibility of new knowledge makes a steady state or economic equilibrium model invalid.

He says the Dark Ages were a massive back to the land hippie movement minus the trust funds, similarly the Maoist Cultural Revolution.

Ridley thinks that governments tend to be good initially, but increasingly bad the longer they last. `Government brings inefficiency and stagnation to most things it runs.' Governments `employ ambitious elites who capture an increasingly greater share of the society's income by interfering in peoples lives and creating rules to enforce until they kill the goose that lays the golden eggs'

African poverty, hunger, climate change, resource depletion, and disease are all challenges that an intellectually evolving human race will conquer.
Individual creativity within a bottom-up political structure and a free-market economy will increase our individual wealth, health, and longevity according to Matt Ridley.

A Landmark and happily subversive book, May 26, 2010
I can't do better that repeat Steven Pinker's endorsement from the dust jacket:
" A delightful and fascinating book, filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up."

It's also filled with historical insights into human psychological and social evolution from prehistory through the present day.

This book is in fact the latest in a long line of lonely books explaining why spontaneous order (unconscious and unplanned) works so amazingly well, and bravely speaking out against the dominant pessimism that always reigns. Ridley cites these authors liberally: Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Hayek, Julian Simon, Bjorn Lomberg. Since all these men are heroes of mine, I needed little convincing. I am already a committed optimist.

But a part of me is deeply pessimistic. That's because as always, the dominant view of the elites and the media everywhere is global pessimism. Political "leaders" everywhere believe the opposite of what this book teaches. And they mostly push for well intended but misguided policies that will guarantee that bad outcomes occur. John Holdren, Obama's chief science advisor, will not read this book, but he believes passionately the exact opposite of everything it explains.

Matt Ridley understands all this, and his frustration with counterproductive policies (like Biofuels) is clearly stated. But the question is "Why are humans so intent on pessimism?" As someone fairly expert in evolutionary psychology, I was hoping Ridley would shed some light on this. A related question is "Why do humans prefer top down hierarchies to spontaneous order."

My own hypothesis goes something like this:
For hundreds of thousands of years, (and before trading occurred) our prehistoric ancestors evolved in small tribal bands, in desperate scarcity, and in constant total war with other tribes, deadly animals, and a harsh environment. In such a situation, a tribal band must operate with the discipline of a combat army. Survival was completely dependent on rigid conformity, obedience to authority, and the assumption that everything that moves is a potential threat motivated by conscious intent.

Only in the last few hundred years have some civilizations allowed the spontaneous order of billions of individual decisions to generate far greater benefit than top down systems do. But our primitive past is so deeply imbedded in our mental genes, that most people still believe in gods, "great" leaders and/or socialism.

My only other quibble with Ridley concerns his bias for markets but against financial markets which he sees as corrupt or exploitative. He is correct to see a difference, but he needs to read more Hayek to understand why. The answer is that financial markets are built on anti market foundations: fiat money printed by governments to serve political ends and price fixing of interest rates by central banks which loan money to banks at favored rates not given to others. This leads to markets distortions, mispriced risk, malinvestment, fraud and periodic bubbles.

Optimism is better than pessimism, July 22, 2010
Wonderful to be regaled with positive things that humans have achieved and are capable of.
We hear and see too much doom and gloom and sometimes I wonder if humans are programmed to be negative or are just fascinated with disaster and failure and predictions of the 'bad'.
Good news does not seem to sell so I hope this wonderful book succeeds.
Certainly has given me some insights which were in hindsight, intuitive, but of course without foresight, are generally not.
it's a bit like saying, "yes we can"!
Highly recommended.

Adam Smith Meets Charles Darwin, May 24, 2010

Optimistic view on the global economy, not so optimistic about our future, July 6, 2010

Fun, fascinating, controversial, July 18, 2010

Rational Optimist, July 16, 2010
The world's innovation rate makes us all Luddites! Mat Ridley gives perspectives on understanding the current ferociously changing times. He is the recipe for overcomming vogueish Malthusian 'end of the world' 'expert' views (ie. static vs dynamic). A terrific read - especially comments regarding evolutionary links to free trade, Botswanna and global warming. Great historical examples of both wealth creation/destruction. I submit to his "Name a Phoenician emperor" taunt!

Good writing; Devastating Case for Things Looking Up, June 9, 2010
An extended argument that human intelligence and the well-being it allows is created, collected, maintained, distributed and extended by trade. Trade is "ideas having sex." Ridley builds his case with point after point then examines all the usual counterexamples and objections, taking them out one by one. It's a wonderful book. Of course it helped that he was preaching to the choir with me. What's most delightful is Ridley's goodhearted skewering of pessimists -- the technological and environmentalist Jeremiahs in particular -- with the most obvious of weaknesses is their flimsy cases. He's almost embarrassed for them. Ridley is a bit repetitive at times, but maintains a wry humor and lighthearted tone throughout, which makes his writing all the more effective. He's a good writer and he's right about everything. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With a new chapter. The phenomenal bestseller—over 1.5 million copies sold—is now a major PBS special.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the television series. 32 illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews

I guess some folks don't have the patience, July 13, 1999
I think some of the reviewers here didn't read the book closely enough to understand the context of some of Diamond's arguments. He never says that biogeographical effects are the ONLY causes history. His main purpose is the search for the ultimate, extremely general causes for the broadest of trends in human history and prehistory.

By the time the Mongols roared across Asia, or the Moguls invaded India, many cultures around the world already changed so much that bioregional factors, though seminal in the creation of these broadest trends, weren't nearly as important as the political, religious and economic ones. He is not ignoring religion and so on but, he states plainly several times that isn't his focus. He is looking for ultimate causes--before humans had extremely advanced mental concepts like religion.

He also wanted to point out the devastating influence of disease on history. It was surely the European germs that did most of the conquering of Native Americans. The guns and horses were almost incidental. Later on, once Europeans had established themselves, then we can focus on economic and political systems. But we can't ignore the effects of the diseases unleashed on the Americas. These plagues gave the Europeans a very lucky boost that catapulted them beyond the wealth and power of China, India or the Middle East--long before the Industrial Revolution made this gap obvious.

Another thing that some people seem to be having trouble with is his assertions about the native intelligence of tribal peoples around the world. (If you read the book, you notice that he is not just saying this about the New Guineans.)

He takes pains to point out what he means by this. He not talking about some mysterious genetic superiority of tribal peoples. It's all straight up culture. Tribal culture forces people to be better generalists than they'd have to be in literate civilizations. They can't rely on embedded support structures like books for memory or experts for obscure fields. They have to be pretty good at a lot things. Otherwise they die. They have to be better at memorizing things because they can't count on computers or books to remember things for them. Living in a dangerous, wild environment makes them cautious and aware of all that is going on around them. That was all he meant. The circumstance of tribal peoples force them, only in very broad ways and only on an individual basis, to be smarter and more curious than civilized people.

And in the end it does them no good. Because civilized societies are SMARTER than tribal societies. That is why tribal society has been steadily disappearing over the millenia. They just can't compete.

Finally, of course the book is repetitive. In fact he sums up his argument in the preface of the book. You needn't even read the rest if you don't want to. The rest of the book consists of him reiterating his points from different angles to point out the objections he has managed to answer and the many questions that still remain. He is just following scholarly practice and exposition--just to make things clear that he has thought about this.

He knows that his theory can't explain everything. In the epilog he points out that China, India and the Middle East are good counter examples to his idea. They each had an expansionist rise to great power--a time when they were unafraid to try new ideas and explore new ways of doing things. If the highly complex forces of economics, politics, religion had arrayed themselves differently. We might all be speaking Arabic now. Or Cantonese. Europe was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time for things to come together as they did.

Science in the service of History, October 4, 2000
In one compelling volume, the famous biologist Jared Diamond tackles the most important question of global history: Why did Europeans come to dominate the New World?

This question has been answered by others before; Diamond's idea that Europe's geography is the cause ("geographical determinism") has also been proposed before. Any student of history can drag up a case or two of this thesis. Baron Montaigne, for example, proposed that Europe's primacy stemmed from its superior government, which could be derived directly from the coolness of its climate.

The deep significance of this book is that Diamond's thesis is not simply idle speculation. He proves that the Eurasian land mass had by far the best biological resources with which to develop agricultural societies, and was thus more able to form large, coherent, and powerful social entities.

To support this idea, Diamond introduces thorough set of well-researched data on what kinds of plants and animals are necessary to support a farming society. He investigates the biological resources available to potential farmers in all parts of the world. The people of Eurasia had access to a suite of plants and animals that provided for their needs. Potential farmers in other parts of the world didn't-- and so their fertile soil went untilled.

After establishing this strong foundation, Diamond falls into repeating ideas about the formation of large-scale societies. These ideas, while unoriginal, are still compelling, and Diamond presents them in a very clear and well-written way.

His other major original contribution comes when he discusses the diseases that helped the Old World conquer the New. Building on his earlier chapters dealing with Old-World domesticated animals, he shows that these very animals were the sources of the major plagues (such as smallpox) which virtually annihilated New World populations. The fact that Old Worlders had immunities to these diseases was a direct result of their agricultural head-start.

Along with these monumental contributions to History, this book has its drawbacks. If you're looking for a narrative explaining Great People, Great Events, or Modern Ideas, you will be sadly disappointed. Diamond's thesis offhandedly assumes that it is difficult to believe Shakespeare's plays or Newton's laws could have been written by hunter-gatherers.

If you are looking for reasons why Europe came to dominate the world, rather than, say, China, Diamond presents mixed results. He mentions the 14th century self-isolation of China, but does not analyze it. He also brings up the odd theory about the relationship between the coastline lengths of Europe and China and trade potential; this idea is provably wrong.

If you are looking for a book that explains the world's history of the past 500 years, look elsewhere. Guns, Germs and Steel exhausts itself by effectively, coherently, fundamentally, definitively, and entertainingly explaining the preceeding 15,000.

I do not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone with an interest in world history. The scholarship is first-rate, and the thesis is incredibly significant. The technical details, while complete, are presented in a very easy to understand way, and Diamond's writing style is fun and engaging. It fully deserved the Pulitzer prize.

A strong theory convincingly argued, but marred by bias, January 24, 2001
According to Diamond, four factors are responsible for all historical developments: 1) availability of potential crops and domestic animals, 2) the orientation of continental axis to facilitate the spread of agriculture, 3) transfer of knowledge between continents, and 4) population size.

Diamond states that "those four sets of factors constitute big environmental differences that can be quantified objectively and that are not subject to dispute." Fair enough, but what *is* subject to dispute is that there might be some other factors at work. Thomas Sowell in Race and Culture does a good job of developing the thesis that the exchange of information among European cultures, facilitated by Europe's plentiful navigable rivers, was the key to Europe's technological and economic rise. David Landes in the Wealth and Poverty of Nations attributes China's conscious decision in the 1400's to isolate itself form other nations as the key event (decision) that caused it to lose it's technological advantage and fall behind Europe. (Diamond briefly touches on 15th Century China in the final chapter, but manages to boil this as well down to an accident of geography.)

This is unfortunate, because the book contains a wealth of excellent material which is excellently explained. Many of the core causes which Diamond explores ring very true, and his points are persuasively argued. The connection between the development of agriculture and the subsequent unequal rise of military capability worldwide is very convincing. But convincing though they may be, reading these theories one can't shake the sneaking suspicion that Diamond is selectively presenting evidence which he's has found to support his previously drawn conclusion, and neglecting evidence which runs counter.

Diamond plants these doubts through his sometimes-careless prose. Consider the following statement, which he includes in the introduction to his chapter on the rise of food production:

"My fellow farmhands were, for the most part, tough whites whose normal speech featured strings of curses, and who spent their weekdays working so that they could devote their weekends to squandering their weeks' wages in the local saloon. Among the farmhands, though, was a member of the Blackfoot Indian tribe named Levi, who behaved very differently from the coarse miners - being polite, gentle, responsible, sober, and well spoken"

I thought for a moment that I'd wandered into the script for "Dances With Wolves." Note that had this statement been turned on its head - had he, for example, recounted an unflattering anecdote about Native Americans or Hispanics -my instincts would immediately warn me that the author's biases might be influencing how he chooses to present the evidence. I myself am a Black American, I'm all too painfully aware that we've had to wade through some pretty grim stuff penned by authors clutching at straws to support their racist white supremacist views of the world. In this case Diamond does the reverse by aiming his negative bias towards Caucasians, but if I'm truly interested in unbiased science then my skepticism should remain the same.

That I lead with these criticisms is evidence of my disappointment in what could have been an excellent book, and indeed much of it *is* indeed excellent. This is a book that taught me much and has indeed changed my view of world history in many ways. I do recommend this book - the details are good and many of the theories ring true, but in the same breath I would warn against accepting Diamond's conclusions in their entirety without a bit of skepticism.

In summary, Guns, Germs, and Steel contains an important feature which David Landes's Wealth and Poverty of Nations so conspicuously lacks: a grand unifying theory which links the disparate growth rates of diverse societies worldwide. But Diamond's tidy conclusion that world history is simply a deterministic result of geography and nothing else is not entirely satisfying, especially in that it might cause us to be complacent about the future. I accept that accidents of geography have had a huge effect on mankind, and Diamond convincingly argues this. But culture and human decisions do matter. Diamond argues that human ingenuity is simply the result of the accident of having a larger population from which to draw innovations - but societies that internalize this philosophy do so at their considerable peril.

A new view of where the fertile ground is found..., October 3, 2001
GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL is a persuasive discourse of competitive plausibility regarding the challenging question why population groups on different continents experienced widely divergent paths of development. Contrary to the voluminous objections cited in the many of the reviews below, Professor Jared Diamond, clearly an enthusiastic proponent of environmental determinism, presents a set of premises consistent with evidence provided from a wide range of disciplines, but he does not attempt to answer the question of genetic diversity, including differentiated intelligence, among racial groups as many reviewers have inferred. If anything, implicitly, the author appears to support promulgations of differentiated intelligences; he sets out to demonstrate intelligence was not the root cause to Eurasian dominance.

On at least two occasions Diamond, without equivocation, stated he found on average the New Guinean to be more intelligent than the average European or American. He was prompted to undertake this investigation as a result of a question posed by a New Guinean friend - Why white people developed so much cargo (material goods) and brought it to New Guinea while the indigenous had so little. Diamond summarized his findings as follows: "History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples environments, not because of biological differences among people themselves."

Beginning 13,000 years ago, the author illuminated the conditions or circumstances that may have facilitated growth for some groups and inhibited the same for others. Diamond accepts the out of Africa theory for the dispersion of Homosapiens to the other continents (for purposes of his treatise Europe and Asia are indivisible), and like the old axiom of real estate, the importance of location, location, location becomes readily apparent. For Diamond, food production is the ultimate cause of variable rates of development for different peoples. He illustrates how the abundance of wild plants subject to domestication and availability of large mammals served as immediate factors to transition from hunter/gatherer bands and tribes to sedentary agriculturally based chiefdoms and states.

Diamond lists what he proposes as proximate causes to European dominance:

1) Germs - based on close proximity to domesticated animals, immunities were developed infectious strains Europeans would carry to other areas, resulting in the decimation of non-immunized populations. In turn, those groups had few autochthonous diseases that would affect the invaders.
2) Invention of writing- relatively sedentary lifestyles facilitated devotion of more time and effort to the creation of methodologies to control and coordinate commerce. These systems eased transfer of information among society members, and had further implications to the establishment of hierarchical political organization.
3) Axial orientation of the different continents - east/ west orientation was conducive to transmigration of people, products, and technologies. Plants best suited to specific climatic conditions were readily transferable; geographic encumbrances were less severe and population isolation was not as significant.
4) Establishment of hierarchical organizations - food production instigated the growth of artisan classes focused on technological improvement, leisure classes devoted to functions unrelated to subsistence, organization of massive armies comprised of professional soldiers, and religion, which allowed individual groupings to live together under codification without killing one another.
5) Continental Isolation - Landmasses that were separated by geographic or ecological boundaries were under less pressure to develop or adopt new ideas, products or technologies from competing civilizations.

Some of the author's theories were not defended as successfully as others. His explanation why Sub-Saharan Africans were unable to identify species (the water buffalo and Zebra are two prime examples) that may have been used in farming and commerce seemed rather weak. Capture, taming and subsequent selective breeding for temperament seems as viable here as he indicates was the case on the Eurasian plains for other species. Similarly, he does not offer a convincing argument regarding the American Indian's failure to domesticate the Bison, although the inference seems to be the lack of cultivatible plant life was certainly a factor.

Overall, Diamond provides a compelling theory of the differences in development rates among different peoples, linking a wide set of factors that are not generally considered in parallel in the historical record. For anyone with even peripheral interest in the evolution of different societies, this is an enthralling book.

Love it or hate it, you should read this book, September 24, 2002
As an avid reader with absolutely no previous contact with the field of anthropology, I found this book to be mesmerizing. Jared Diamond has achieved great success with "Guns, Germs and Steel" (national best-seller, Pulitzer Prize), but it has also made him the target of strident, often venomous criticism...

Diamond's general thesis is that the West conquered the world rather than vice versa because of a fluke of nature. In short, Eurasia was home to an important number of crops and animals that readily lent themselves to successful domestication. This domestication resulted in mass food production, which the author claims is the "ultimate" cause of Western dominance. Food production, in turn, led to a number of "proximate" causes related to the rise of the West: farms and animal herds led to stationary populations and excess food to support a specialized class of bureaucrats and soldiers; it also increased population density, which, along with close contact with animals, led to germs and the subsequent genetic resistance of Westerners to those diseases. Finally, Diamond concludes, the unique East-West axis of Eurasia and the absence of any impenetrable geographic barriers fostered the spread of new crops, technologies, etc., which gave rise to many competing communities, whose competition further increased the western lead over the rest of the world.

Diamond's arguments are persuasive on the surface, and even the biggest skeptic will have reason for pause after reading his book. However, the final chapter reveals that he can't really resolve a fundamental question: why did Europe, rather than the Middle East, India or China come to conquer the world? Almost the entire book is dedicated to explaining why the Eurasian landmass was blessed with the prerequisites for large civilizations rather than the Americas, Africa and Australia. His terse explanation for why Europe in particular dominated leaves much to be desired and explained.

In this reviewer's opinion, the recent book by classicist Victor Davis Hanson ("Carnage and Culture") provides a plausible epilogue for Diamond's piece. Hanson completely and explicitly rejects Diamond's geographic determinism, but I don't think the two theses are incompatible or in any way mutually exclusive. In fact, it seems to me that Diamond and Hanson support one another, as the latter's assertion that the war-making efficiency of liberal democracies beginning in the Hellenistic period explains Europe's ultimate triumph.

In closing, as an introduction to anthropology and a cogent depiction of one school of thought on the rise of the West this book is marvelous. Approach it with an open-mind, reflect on the thesis and the supporting evidence, and then draw your own conclusions. Love it or hate it, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

An overrated book, November 9, 2003
Jared Diamond is a thoroughgoing geographical determinist. His book highlights both the strengths and the weaknesses of this approach.

Diamond's major topic is the Neolithic Revolution. His intention is to demonstrate that environmental conditions were not equally suitable to the development of agriculture on different continents. Eurasia, he contends, was the most appropriate place. It had the largest number of domesticable plants and animals, an east-west axis favoring the diffusion of inventions, offered good possibilities for inter-continental communication, and was the largest and most populous continent. So the Eurasians were first in developing agriculture, gaining thus a headstart in history. Agriculture led to rising polulations and created a dynamic that prompted the evolution of states, writing and a sophisticated technology (guns and steel). These social and technological advantages, plus immunity to the most dangerous infectious diseases (germs), allowed Eurasians to easily subdue the natives of the Americas, Australia and Southeast Asia.

On the whole this argument, which takes up the first 410 pages of the book, is convincing. Diamond is also right to insist on adopting a long time-frame. As early as 8000 years ago Eurasians had a substantial edge over their rivals on other continents, making it unlikely for those peoples and civilizations to catch up.

Had Diamond stopped writing at this point, he would have published a good work.

However, he was not content to treat only the Neolithic Revolution, but wanted to cover all major turns in world history. Hence the last 15 (!) pages of the book are devoted to a completely different subject. Having explained the rise of Eurasia, Diamond now wants to explain the rise of the West. Quickly the question becomes: Why Europe, not China? Borrowing an idea from Eric Jones ('The European Miracle'; but beware: Jones' approach is much more sophisticated than Diamond's, avoiding any kind of monocausal determinism) Diamond provides a simple answer: Europe was geographically more diverse than China. Therefore it did not become politically unified. Political fragmentation led to openness and openness to progress - ideas and inventions that were rejected at one place could succeed at another.

This speculation is not plausible at all.

First, there is no geographical NECESSITY for European fragmentation and Chinese unity. Europe has many features favoring political unity. Its long coastline and a great number of navigable rivers allow for easy transportation by water, offering an important asset to any would-be imperial power. The Romans took advantage of this to the utmost, and if they were able to conquer a great part of the continent, there can surely have been no compelling GEOGRAPHICAL reason for later powers to fail. Diamond himself seems to realize this, when he admits that India had even more agricultural core areas than Europe. Yet India was ruled as a unified empire for most of its history.

Second, Diamond's explanation - even if assumed to be correct - accounts only for INNOVATION. It tells us why certain inventions made by Chinese craftsmen were never introduced into the production-process of China's economy. A more important question to ask would have been why many significant inventions were not made in China in the first place. A prime example coming to mind is modern natural science, which was never developed in the Middle Kingdom.

Third, it is easy to see that Diamond's argument is undermined by his own evidence. As he tells us, China was scientifically and technologically ahead of Europe (and the rest of the world) for more than 1000 years. If China could achieve this superiority despite its supposed geographical disadvantages, we cannot escape the conclusion that those disadvantages either did not exist or were of minor importance. Europe, on the other hand, remained a cultural backwater for most of its history despite its supposed geographical advantages. Again, we cannot but conclude that these advantages either did not exist or were of minor importance.

Thus Diamond's environmentalism is completely refuted by Chinese and European history before 1500 a.d. Moreover, no other version of geographical determinism is likely to fare better. Since China's geography did not change within the last 2000 years, every purely geographical interpretation of its history must be wrong. It will either fail to account for the period of Chinese superiority or for the period of Chinese backwardness.

Diamond's errors are grounded in his method. Geographical determinism can explain the Neolitic Revolution, because this transformation was brought about by small bands of hunter-gatherers extremely dependant on their environment. Even so, Diamond needs FOUR causal factors to account for its different outcome on each continent (1. The wild plant and animal species available; 2. Orientation of the major continental axis; 3. Possibilities for inter-continental communication, 4. Size of area and population of a given continent). When we look at the great Eurasian civilizations, we have to deal with a type of society vastly more complex and far less dependant on its environment than are bands of hunter-gatherers. Yet Diamond wants to explain the history of these civilizations with reference to just ONE causal factor (the impact of geography on political unity). Instead of becoming more sophisticated in accordance with its subject, Diamond's approach turns brutally simplistic just as it is applied to the most difficult problem of world history.

It is unlikely that the rise of the West can ever be explained geographically. Any serious attempt to write global history for periods after the Neolithic Revolution will have to be sensitive to the complex interplay between geography, economy, technology, politics and culture that shapes the development of large societies. The work of Max Weber and Fernand Braudel provides good examples of the kind of scholarship needed for this task. Jared Diamond's book not only fails to rise up to this standard, but is crude, superficial and disappointing even from a geographical point of view.

Clearly Diamond did not know when to put his pen down. His book would have been better if he had refrained from addressing topics unsuited to his method.

A Question for the Ages, February 12, 2000
Many years ago a New Guinea native asked Jared Diamond a simple question: "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?" Only slightly rephrased, Diamond devotes this book to answering the question why, from the depths of the primeval forests of Africa, mankind emerged at different rates, some achieving the heights of civilization and technology while others remained virtually in the Stone Age? And why did people on some continental landmasses prosper while people on others lagged behind, especially because some locations, like the California Coast, are mild and desirable while others, like Northern Europe are harsh and forbidding?

Diamond's thesis is that some populations got a head start over others in the development of civilization. But the head start resulted from favorable geography and natural resources, not from any innate superiority. Given the same location and advantages, any group of people over time would have reached the same result. The first beneficiary of geography happened to be the Fertile Crescent. The "cradle of civilization" not only had all five major large mammals (sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, and horses) available for domestication, but they also possessed the major wild seed groups that would become domesticated grain and cereals. Not all areas are so favorably endowed.

Once hunting and gathering gave way to food production, population density took hold, which in turn made possible civic development and technology. The head start then spread roughly along the same parallel east to Asia and west to Europe. Diamond contrasts Eurasia's wide girth and similar climates with America's and Africa's narrow waist and elongated longitude. Technology and culture can shuttle back and forth vast distances between east and west, but climatic zone differences as well as mountain ranges and deserts inhibit flows north and south.

I have two criticisms of the book. One, it has no footnotes so that one can source out the author's materials. For example, on page 108 Diamond asserts that early man, because of his ego, would rather hunt giraffes than gather nuts. Is that theory his, or someone else's? The very nature of a book such as "Guns, Germs, and Steel" requires that it pile theory upon theory to make a picture puzzle of a distant and hidden past. If key pieces don't fit, the picture may take a decidedly Cubist theme. A few footnotes would help the reader who wants to delve deeper into a topic.

The second criticism is the author's failure to address the role of human intelligence in the development of civilization. Considering the grief Charles Murray took into for writing "The Bell Curve," which held that certain populations have actually raised their intelligence level through centuries of using their brains to solve problems, one understands why Diamond steers clear of the topic - no academic can afford to be tinged with even a hint of racism or euro centrism. Plenty of professors on the leftist fringe stand ready to point the accusing finger any anybody who deviates from the acceptable norm. But surely scholars can deal with the role human intelligence in a non-racist way; after all, the physiology of the human brain is the same in all Homo sapiens. Diamond owes it to his readers to complete the mosaic he has created.

Diamond has an excellent hammer that he uses too often, January 3, 2003
As the saying goes, when you have a hammer, everything looks like nails. I found Diamond's basic hypothesis that the march to civilization is accelerated (if not determined) by availability of useful, domesticable plants and animals and a geography suited for the transmission of the plants and animals (and later ideas) over a large distance very compelling.

The two places he fails in what would otherwise be one of the best books I've read is he seems to be working toward a personal agenda, and he applies his theories to inappropriate situations. His personal agenda is not hidden, with his discussion of New Guinea's tribesmen fairly glowing. I guess it's better to have it out in the open than hidden, but it makes the work seem like a justification for his preconceptions rather than an unbiased research into the broad strokes of history.

His very compelling basic point is that when numerous small groups (tribes, etc) compete, the rate of adoption, modification, and usage of available resources will be fairly constant across any group of people. The rate is only modified by the quality of those resources and the number of people with access to them, because if one society fails to use its resources at the best rate of human invention, a competing society will force the adoption either through competition or conquest.

The problem is, and he acknowledges it in one sentence and ignores it in another, is that when societies (especially dictatorial ones) no longer feel competitive pressure, they can behave in largely unpredictable ways governed only by happenstance and psychology. He tries to explain the failures of the Aztecs and (especially) the Incas to use the wheel by describing them as "Island Cultures" since they did not have competing societies nearby. He later uses the same argument about China.

The problem is that there is a range between small tribes and enormous islands where his theory only partially applies, and where much of written history has occurred. His arguments to explain why Europe was not one big island (meaning politically unified) were not very compelling, but given the fact that Europe wasn't unified his theory does explain why the West outpaced China in the past 600 years. His troubling assertion that the fertile crescent couldn't compete with Europe in modern times merely due to resource depletion (since it had been civilized for so long) was only in passing and lacked much backing in statistics or research.

Unlike some other reviewers, I don't feel he was too hard on the West's modern conquest of the native peoples of the Pacific, the Americas, and Africa. He points out that disease made the lands empty, and that much of the pushing out of the natives was inadvertent due to the actions of people behaving just as our prehistoric ancestors did (and every other continent's ancestors did) for thousands of years. And when he chooses the words "exterminated" (in modern colonization) over "displaced" (in prehistoric colonization) he does it because he has the historical facts to back him up in one case, and only conjecture in the other, and he acknowledges the difference at least a few times.

I definitely recommend this book if you are unfamiliar with the geographical element of the prehistoric move to civilization. Just keep in mind this is a theory that by nature no longer applies, and stopped applying somewhere between 100-600 years ago as modern communication destroyed geographic separation.

interesting theory - difficult to read, February 28, 2002
In July 1972, Author Jared Diamond, was walking along
a beach on a tropic island of New Guinea, where as a
biologist he studied bird evolution. By chance, he
ran into a local politician, named Yali, who was
working to liberate what was then Papa New Guinea from
the Australia government. After hours of
conversation, Yali posed the question, "Why is it that
you white people developed so much cargo (technology)
and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had
little cargo of our own?" Why did wealth and power
become distributed as they are now, rather than in
some other way? Diamond was troubled that he did not
have an adequate response to Yali's Question. Fast
forward 25 years -- Diamond writes a 425 page answer.

The most common explanation to this question involves
implicit or explicit assumptions based on biological
inequalities. Usually these racial explanations are
cast in some sort of Darwinian argument where
causality is often left in question. Diamond thesis
attempts to refute these theories with an alternate
theory. Relying on a combination of history,
archeology, and microbiology, and genetics, Diamond
suggests that the most striking differences between
the long-term histories of different cultures have
been due not to innate differences in peoples
themselves but to differences in their environments.
These environmental factors include: continental
differences in the wild plant and animal species
available as starting materials for domestication;
environmental factors affecting rates of diffusion and
migration; and continental differences in area or
total population sizes. Diamond believes that these
geographical inequalities set different civilizations
on pre-determined trajectories to develop political
organization, technological advancements, and immunity
to disease that allowed them to encounter and conquer
other civilizations.
A cultural historian in a past life, I get all excited
about this sort of thing.

As one can imagine, trying to explain the history of
civilization in one volume is an arduous task.
Diamond chooses to explain his theory in broad strokes
then uses natural experiments at distinct points in
history to demonstrate how his ideas play out. This
is a general problem with all meta-histories.
Historical methods teach us that it is virtually
impossible to forge a bulletproof argument without
delving into the minutia. But when focusing on the

"big picture" issues, there is just too much
information to cover. Diamond does a very good job
managing this balance. He begins by outlining his
methods and follows through on his explanation with
dedication and accomplishment. He goes into just
about the right amount of detail on every subject and
infuses the traditional historical approach with a
healthy dose of scientific discovery. The chapters
concerning the domestication of plants and large
animals are a joy to read. While speaking on the
familiar new world conquest, Diamond is balanced in
the application of his detailed examples to forward
his theories. Notably, Diamond uses Australia and the
south pacific to demonstrate the dissemination of
technology and China to discuss the application of
unified language and political entities. In fact,
with my American History background, I was more
partial to the Euro centric examples.

So what's bad about the book? One of my pet peeves
involves arguing by anecdotal evidence and I cringed
every time Diamond brought up some story about a
bushman to illustrate his point. But this was a minor
annoyance. Another problem is Diamond's paucity of
footnotes. There were several portions of prose that
I felt should have been annotated with further
discussion and evidence. I should also warn you that
this book is a little dense. Be prepared for a 20
page discussion about the cross pollination of
language. It's a good idea to remember that I've got
a degree in this stuff. Back when I was younger,
smarter, and more exciting, I used to pour through
thousands of pages of this garbage every week. Beaten
into submission by a desk job and dearth of ...
pitchers of beer, I found the last 100 pages of Guns,
Germs, and Steel difficult to get through

So if you are up for the challenge, "Guns, Germs, and
Steel" is a insightful and rewarding book. For me, it
was probably a good substitute for chasing women and
the cultural/political theories almost kept me warm at
night. All joking aside, I guarantee that this book
will change the way you think about European conquest.

Captivating, Flawed Scientific Review of Human Prehistory, July 6, 2000
Once in a while a book comes along compelling enough to bring mind altering new perspectives, spark extended contemplation, and arouse fresh interest in overlooked fields of study. This is one of those books. In Guns, Germs, and Steel Diamond investigates human prehistory from a scientific perspective drawing on numerous disciplines to develop a hypothesis that the globally unbalanced rise of civilization and technology was primarily a function of advantageous environmental conditions and resources available to those societies where civilization arose. Though the present landscape may suggest that early societies were on a relatively equal environmental playing field, Diamond's scientific review of the evidence indicates convincingly otherwise. A particularly persuasive point in the book argues that environmental conditions amenable to agriculture (mild climate, indigenous protein-rich plants, and large indigenous domestication-ready animals) facilitated a food surplus and consequently denser populations with surplus time for some members of the society to take on trades, invent, engineer, lead, develop government, heal, build, paint, etc. Innovations then fuelled more surplus time perpetuating a tornado of advancement, sparked in large part by the proverbial flapping butterfly wings of agriculture.

Diamond's book challenged my fractured knowledge of human prehistory leaving worldview shattering ideas in its wake. His book also sparked my renewed interest in geography, anthropology, archaeology, weather, and geology among others. The book's fusion of the scientific method with the study of history was quite potent and refreshing, though at times overly reductionist. As such, less scientifically reducible elements like culture and religion are not considered within his hypothesis.

At times the book did seem to forgo scientific rigor for political correctness. For example, though Diamond relies on numerous examples of relatively recent non-human elements of natural selection and genetics to build his case, he is unwilling to discuss the potential role of human biological variation created by our settling contrasting environments. Considering modern humans resided and/or began migrating to new and varied lands over 100,000 years ago, there seems sufficient time for some physiological variations to develop that may be relevant to Diamond's case. Unfortunately for this reader, anticipating a compelling argument either way, Diamond just states that environment-induced genetic variations are irrelevant to societal development (and "loathsome" to even think about) as if it were a self-evident axiom. Curiously, he challenges this axiom himself by postulating that the people of New Guinea are likely smarter than the average human considering the mental acuity necessary to survive in their harsh environment.

Overall, besides some minor disappointments, this was a spectacular book and I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The complete 6-volume work, which covers from the reign of Marcus Aurelius to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The table of contents has links to each of the 71 chapters. On 10/26/2009 we improved the formatting of this book.If you bought a copy before, you should be able to download the new version at no extra charge.

According to Wikipedia: "Edward Gibbon (1737 - 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The History is known principally for the quality and irony of its prose..." ... Read more

Reviews

Great value for dollar, and TOC and line break problems appear to have been fixed, May 17, 2008
This is an enormous amount of content and value for just 99 cents. Regarding this Kindle edition: I have purchased a number of inexpensive books on the Kindle, and as I have posted elsewhere, I feel that getting great works at cheap prices is one of the great things the Kindle enables. This Kindle version of Gibbon is fine - the table of contents are active, the formatting looks good to me at all of the font sizes. In reading the comments to the prior review, it sounds like the publisher made these changes in response to comments.

Reading Gibbon, July 22, 2009
For those with as much interest in the English language as in Roman history, Gibbon is one of the greatest stylists who ever lived. Moreover, his dramatic sense is manifest not only in the events he describes,but also in the very sentences he uses to describe them.

I wonder what he would think of the language of the internet.

Bless the internet for making Gibbon available for everybody; and Gibbon for making great language available on the internet!

A fantastic text for students of history, February 4, 2009
This is a fantastic text for students of history. The author had a gift for explaining this turbulent period in world history. As for the quality of the layout of this book, i only have the most recent edition and it is fine.

This book is not a light read. If you are not ready for a very healthy and deep read then you may want to skip this selection. If you are up to it though this is a great book.

For my money, this was a must have.

A treasure, March 27, 2010
edited by Hans-Fredrich Mueller

I finally finished this massive treasure, which isn't even exhaustive. And I can't imagine the colossal task in both time and energy it took to write it. It took Gibbon twelve years, from 1776 to 1788. I find it more than a coincidence that he began writing in the year of our independence. Even in this abridged form (which is what you will more likely come across) it is still a huge undertaking; though Mueller, in his critical forward, tells us it is necessary for it to become readable. Mueller also says he prided himself in being meticulous and accurate while still being manageable. And very helpful is the addition of dates bracketed throughout the text. An index would have been useful. In Boorstin's introduction he cites the major impact this work had on him; he calls it intimate. I would have never thought of it in that way, but now after ingesting all six volumes I understand why he calls it intimate. Gibbon does not mince words either. His work will always be remembered and its impact can still be felt today. He is an artist, like no one I have read before. Keep a dictionary handy. I also recommend reading the forward and the introduction, especially after studying Gibbon's great work. They take into question Gibbon's devotion to Christianity and his offensiveness towards it. I see Gibbon as mixed in his beliefs, though he wrote as he saw it; and I find that he saw the truth when he found it. Did he believe infrastructure was valued over its people?

The role of emperor was not a secure job. "Such was the unhappy condition of the Roman emperors that, whatever might be their conduct, their fate was commonly the same." The polytheistic Roman Empire was very much a melting pot (half slaves) and within it were many schisms. I see parallels---such as the oppressive taxes, the corrupt politicians, the tyrannical government, the effemination, and the endless warfare---to our United States, and a warning for our future.

So what caused the fall? For Gibbon, the gradual decline began after Christ, until the eventual fall some fifteen hundred years later. Chapters are built upon the reigns of the emperors as they came to power, except where he periodically inserts chapters concerning the Christian influence, the Christian persecutions, the corrupt church, the persecution of the church toward others, the Crusades, the rise of Islam, the debilitating taxes and, towards the end, he concentrates on the impact by the surrounding nations. The Empire became a black hole and split to form an East and a West---the West to totally collapse. There were many causes: the slow introduction of Christianity over Paganism and the conversion to it, the collapse of the military, the always and increasing threat of outside peoples, alienating allies and provoking enemies, the corruption within (the people), and of course the self righteous emperors. Entropy would take over and finally lead to the collapse of the infrastructure.

Rome was both a curse and a blessing for Christianity. Many were converted, but the power of Catholicism and the Pope led to the eventual corruption and apostasy of the church. We have our many deists and polytheists just as the Romans. Do you not find a familiarity to us and the Romans?

LORD bless
Scott

TOC still broken, March 3, 2009
The TOC is still broken, or perhaps they fixed it for a while and then it broke again. In either case, I bought this book yesterday (March 2 2009) and the TOC is definitely disabled. Given the size of the book, a functional TOC would be very nice.

I emailed customer support, they verified the TOC was broken, and offered a refund.

Easy to follow information/historical caracters, June 26, 2010
This is a complex but quick review on the cast of caracters who made Rome, its history, and culture. Since I love this type of ancient history, I find this book almost like a reference. Not a novel for sure. One can quickly find the era and events.

Better, October 25, 2009
The price is right, but I found the text more or less unreadable. Am now trying the $9.99 version (in sample), will see if one gets what one pays for.

The above was written before the published juploaded a new version. The type face is MUCH better (or I am in a better mood). It still looks too much
like a ms., with lots of spaces between some words (problems of a fixed width font) and footnotes placed in the text. But the new version is clearly readable.

For my taste I will go with the $9.99 version (I am going to spend quite a while with Gibbon), but this version surely now is very good value.

Good, but probably better in paper, September 26, 2010
Great reading, that I could hardly lay down. My only qualms are with the improvable quality of the Kindle edition. There are frequent typos, some sentences are repeated and words missing. What I find most annoying, though, is that in a book where the footnotes are an integral part of the text they appear so far from the citing text. Usually I had to page forward two or three pages to find the text of a footnote, and given the number of them and the non-instantaneous refresh time of the screen in the Kindle, this quickly become tedious. This book, my first long reading in the Kindle, is probably the one I would prefer to have read in paper.

Many footnotes are in Latin. Clearly, Gibbon writes for learned people and assumes they all read Latin. Even though Spanish is my native tongue, I found it difficult to decipher most of the Latin footnotes, and I wonder if a learned kind soul would produce an edition with translations for people like me.

All in all, in spite of the shortcomings I mentioned, I am satisfied.

bad edition, November 4, 2010
This edition is unreadable. Multi-page long footnotes written by the editor interrupt the actual text and it is nearly impossible to tell where they end and Gibbon's text resumes. DO NOT buy this edition unless you are mostly interested in reading these footnotes and not Gibbon. ... Read more

Editorial Review

How do we get from the polis to the police? Or from Odysseus’ sirens to an ambulance’s? The legacy of ancient Greece and Rome has been imitated, resisted, misunderstood, and reworked by every culture that followed. In this volume, some five hundred articles by a wide range of scholars investigate the afterlife of this rich heritage in the fields of literature, philosophy, art, architecture, history, politics, religion, and science.

Arranged alphabetically from Academy to Zoology, the essays—designed and written to serve scholars, students, and the general reader alike—show how the Classical tradition has shaped human endeavors from art to government, mathematics to medicine, drama to urban planning, legal theory to popular culture.

At once authoritative and accessible, learned and entertaining, comprehensive and surprising, and accompanied by an extensive selection of illustrations, this guide illuminates the vitality of the Classical tradition that still surrounds us today.

Reviews

A Compilation of Lectures on The Relevancy of The Ancients, November 25, 2010
Did you ever wonder what college professors of Ancient Western Culture did to keep their Chairs at the universities when the students in the 70`s and subsequent generations exhibited their disdain for studying all things which had to do with western culture by boycotting their classes? Well, they adapted, willingly or not. As such, you may want to consider this book to be a compilation of all of the important lectures they subsequently presented in order to keep students attending their classes.

First of all, what this book is not. It is not a reference book on ancient western classical thought or history per se. It is a reference book on the derivative impact and relevancy of Ancient Classical Western (principally Greek and Roman) culture on subsequent (including current) world culture.

For example, You will find no account of the Peloponnesian War here. When you search in the index for it, you will be referred to (for some strange reason) "Achilles" where you will find in the discussion of the "idea" of Achilles the notion of a disillusionment with the concept of Achilles because of the "general decay of values during the Peloponnesian War." (p.4)

What about Athens? The information on Athens begins, "Various cities and regions of the ancient world became symbols of self actualization in the collective consciousness of modern Western civilization...In this sense Athens competes for prominence with Egypt, Jerusalem, and especially Rome." (p. 97) Further on it states that, "Athens has achieved a unique status in what is generally called culture,...as a singular term of value, in terms of high or low culture." And again, "Athens` role as an icon of the classical per se begins not in the Middle Ages or modernity but in antiquity."

What about Alexander The Great? Surely some accounting of his exploits would be included. However, under his name, believe it or not, in the second sentence there is a discussion of Oliver Stone's "epic film, "Alexander." It notes that the movie "may have bombed with the American critics and failed at domestic box offices, but it went on to recoup around the world even more than the staggering $155 million it had cost to produce." (p. 25)

By this inherent widely-focused design it is not systematically organized into neat chunks of information. I dare you to compile the following under a large section: pornography, meteorology, Jesuits, sexuality, suicide, tragedy, music, glass, Deus ex Machina, comedy and the comic, etc.

In essence it takes the form of a potpourri of knowledge compiled by classical scholars in a single, finely bound, and affordable volume of theirs and other contributors lectures on how the Classical tradition influenced subsequent human activity. The list of contributors takes up a whopping seven and a half pages, single space list. If you wish to broaden your understanding of the influence of classical history or classical thought, this may make for a very handy compilation of useful information.

Finally, it is not designed to be read from beginning to end. Weighing in at over five pounds, it is organized alphabetically and comes with a handy index in the back. Given its heft I doubt that it would be pragmatic as a bedside reader or for (heaven forbid) "john reading."

A big beautiful sumptuous book, November 1, 2010
Anyone interested in Western classical history would like this book. 1000 pages of entries from Aesthetics to Zeno's Paradoxes. No need to read from cover to cover, just open it up and be enlightened and entertained. It's no small thing these days to find a book beautiful presented, with a good binding and attractive pages. Something would be lost if it were an "e book". A nice gift for a history buff.

Most interesting, December 20, 2010
In a time, when Classics are loosing ground, this book is a most welcome reminder of the classical period's profound influence on Western Culture and Society.

Overwhelming Reference Book, December 23, 2010
This book covers the classical tradition of ideas that we know today. It is certainly no history book of Greece and Rome. It weighs a hefty 6 pounds and is rather large at 12 inches. It covers a vast number of subjects in some detail as an encyclopedia does. However, most all of the information appearing in the book could be gleaned from the internet from such web sites as Wikipedia and Britannica. Indeed these web sites remain more current (updated) than a published book. The politically correct (and somewhat controversial) dating system BCE/CE in place of BC/AD is used throughout the book. Our great thinkers in life continue to fix things that are not broken in order to be "modern". Note also that the font used in the book is somewhat smaller than most books.

In spite of the low price of $29.97 which included shipping, I still returned the book to Amazon.com. I must admit that Amazon.com has an excellent return policy. Two days after shipping, a notice of the initial charge reduced by $3.99 for return shipping was emailed to me and a day later the credit appeared on my credit card balance. It is no surprise that Amazon.com has done so well over the past years due to its excellent customer relations and integrity.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions.Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Kurlansky's kaleidoscopic history is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece. ... Read more

Reviews

Definitely worth his salt . . ., April 6, 2004
It's become a party cliche to comment on our need for the results of combining a poisonous gas [chlorine] and a volatile metal [sodium]. Kurlansky passes quickly over such levity to seriously relate the role of sodium chloride in human society. While at first glance his account may seem overdone, a bit of reflection reveals that something so common in our lives is easily overlooked. Salt is essential to our existence. Our need is so strong and enduring that we tend to take its availability for granted. As a global history, this book is an ambitious attempt to re-introduce us to something we think common and uninteresting. It's immensely successful through Kurlansky's multi-faceted approach. He combines economics, politics, culinary practices, tradition and myth in making his presentation. About the only aspect ignored is the detailed biological one explaining why this compound is so necessary to our existence.

Because our need for salt is so fundamental, its history encompasses that of humanity. Salt was basic to many economies, Kurlansky notes. It's acted as the basis of exchange between traders, was the target of empire builders and even paid out to soldiers as a form of "salary" - hence the term. Venice, a coastal city tucked away from the main tracks of Mediterranean trade, bloomed into prominence when it discovered it could garner more profit by trading in salt than by manufacturing it. The Venetian empire and later renaissance was founded on the salt trade.

Empires may be built on salt, but can be felled by misguided policies on its trade and consumption. One element leading to the downfall of the French monarchy was the hated "gabelle", or salt tax, which imposed a heavier burden on farming peasants than it did on the aristocracy. The reputation of tax evasion borne by the French relates to the resentment expressed over the salt tax. A British regulation on salt resulted in similar reaction leading to the breakup up their own Empire. It was a "march to the sea" led by Mahatma Ghandi to collect salt that galvanised resistance to British rule. Over a century after the French Revolution, the British were displaced from India for similar reasons - greed.

While acknowledging the importance of salt in our lives, Kurlansky notes that determining how much is "too little" or "too much" is elusive. Many people today claim to have "salt-free" diets while remaining ignorant of how much salt is contained in our foods, both naturally and through processing. Yet, as Kurlansky records, salt has appeal beyond just the body's needs. He records numerous commentators from ancient Egypt, China and Rome who express their admiration for salt's flavour-adding qualities. Sauces based on various ingredients mixed with salt permeate the book. He notes that the salt dispenser is a modern innovation, supplementing the use of salt in cooking processes.

Salt's decline in conserving food, which changed the amount of salt we consume directly, came about due to increased world trade, displacement of rural populations into cities, and, of course, war. "The first blow" displacing salt as a preservative came from a Parisian cook; a man so obscure that his given name remains disputed. Nicolas [Francois?] Appert worked out how to preserve meat by "canning". Adopted by Napoleon's armies, the technique spread rapidly. The technology of the Industrial Revolution led to effective refrigeration. Kurlansky gives an account of Clarence Birdseye's efforts to found what became a major industry.

Although the topic seems overspecialised, the universal application and long historical view of this book establishes its importance. Kurlansky has successfully met an immense challenge in presenting a wealth of information. That he graces what might have been a dry pedantic exercise with recipes, anecdotes, photographs and maps grants this book wide appeal. He's to be congratulated for his worldly view and comprehensive presentation. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Taking a love of Salt to its logical extreme, December 6, 2003
Salt is one of those things that turned up all over the place in my high school studies. It turned up in chemisty (sodium chloride), in biology (the amount of salt in our bodies and what we do with it), in history and English (check out the root of the word: "salary"). So sure, salt's important. But does it merit its own entire book about its history? Turns out the answer is both yes and no...

I like these small, focused histories (as you've probably guessed if you've read any of the other reviews I've written). I've read many of them, including another one by Mark Kurlansky, Cod (which I rather enjoyed). So when I ran across Salt, I was certain I wanted to read it. I liked Kurlansky's style, and I already knew that the subject matter would be interesting.

And it was. In Salt, Kurlansky walks through both the history of salt and the influence of salt on history, presenting a wide and varied picture of one of the [now] most common elements in our modern world. And he does this in the same engaging fashion that he used in Cod; although, with fewer recipes. So why not give it five stars? Well, it has a couple of noticable flaws that tended to detract a bit from the overall presentation.

The first flaw was in the sheer number of historical snippets that were included. While I'm certain that salt has been important in the broad span of human history, there are a number of these historical anecdotes where he was clearly reaching to demonstrate the influence of salt. Salt may have been involved in these incidents, but it was peripheral at best, and the overall tone sounds too much like cheerleading. Cutting a few of these out would have shortened the book without detracting from the presentation at all.

The second flaw was the meandering path that he takes through the history of salt. He generally starts early in history, and his discussion moves along roughly as history does as well; however, he has a tendency to wander a bit both forward and backward without effectively tying all of this together. I'd have preferred to either walk straight through history while skipping around the world (effectively comparing the use and influence of salt around the world) or to have taken more time to discuss why we were rewinding (effectively following one thread to its conclusion and then picking up another parallel one). To me it made the presentation a little too choppy.

There have been other criticisms as well; for example, the chemistry is incorrect in a number of places, but if you're using this as a chemical reference, then you've got serious issues with your ability to library research. Of course, that begs the question of what errors are in there that we didn't catch. And it does tend to be a bit repetitive in parts; although, this could have been used to good effect if historical threads had been followed a bit more completely.

While I had a few dings on the book, overall I liked it. The fact that I read it end-to-end and enjoyed the last chapter as much as the first is a testament to my general enjoyment of it. It wasn't the best book I read last year, but I'll certainly keep it on my bookshelf. So, back to my original question: does salt merit its own book? Yes, it does, but perhaps in a somewhat shorter form.

A book to read with a grain of salt, April 23, 2003
I was browsing the new releases section of my local library when I happened to see this book. It had an interesting premise, and looked to be unlike any book I'd read before. I've read histories of people and places, but never of ingredients. I checked it out skeptically, and was pleasantly surprised.
Kurlansky is a very talented writer, he manages to make salt suspenseful. The book's purpose is to examine how salt affected the history of the world. He succeeds in this. However, the history is not really coherent, it doesn't really flow. Salt is essentially a collection of vignettes. These vignettes are grouped in chronological order. The first part of the book deals with salt in China and Rome. Part 2 concerns salt's effect in the Middle Ages and the wars of independence. Part 3 concludes the history by examining salt in modern times.
The main failing of this extensively researched account is Kurlansky attempts to link salt to every major world event. According to him, dissatisfaction with the salt tax led to the American and French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution came to be because of salt, and salted foods allowed the world to be explored. Nonetheless, the history is accessible and a fun to read, even if some of the author's conclusions are a bit off base.

Kurlansky uses salt as a thread to link cultures and history, March 21, 2003
Salt" takes the reader through thousands of years of human cultural and scientific development, all-the-while making it interesting and accessible. The common character throughout is ordinary table salt, which up until 100 years ago, played a far more important role in human society and economics. Through the use of this everyday material, Kurlansky takes us on a tour that from ancient China and Rome, to Britain's rule of India, into the slave operated salt mines of Europe, down to Avery Island during the American Civil War (and the creation of Tabasco Sauce); all with a focus on the cuisines of those places and times. A long book that I was sorry to finish.

The history of civilization taken with a grain of salt, March 14, 2003
Mark Kurlansky has written a witty and erudite history of mankind's love affair with salt. From Lake Yuncheng 8,000 years ago in what is now modern-day China to the fine granular perfection of a box of Morton's, Kurlansky uses salt as a lens through which to view the development of technology and nations. He ends the book with the not un-ironic recognition of what took eighty centuries to achieve -- abundant, perfect white salt -- is now common, cheap and disdained.

This is an informal and amusing book, filled with what seems solid research and clear thinking. Half history and half food writing, Kurlansky visits Portugese cod-fishing fleets and Roman salt mines, ancient Asian saltworks and Edmund McIlhenny's salt island in New Iberia Parish, Louisiana. He uses the repeated cycles of history to visit certain recurring themes: a human's need for salt making them vulnerable to taxation, and thence rebellion, as well as the growth of technologies, particularly drilling technologies, spurred by the need for, and want of, salt.

Today, with blast freezers, refrigerated truck lines and jets that can move fresh seafood around the world, we have forgotten just how critical salt once was. Nowadays we can tinker with our salt intake and question its affect on health, but for men and women laboring under the sun in salt-poor regions, it was life itself. Kurlansky remninds us of these things, and how the humble white crystal has been part of our development as a civilization.

Wonderful, but too long., October 2, 2003
Salt added to the diet is necessary to humans in an agricultural economy. Before refrigeration, it was also necessary as a preservative. Consequently, it has been a primary trade good, either by itself, or in the form of salted foods and sauces. It is therefore quite possible to look at the sweep of history by concentrating on the salt trade, and improvements in technology for acquiring or transporting salt, and get a unique and fascinating view. Remember the 3 way trade between Africa, the Caribbean and the American colonies? Salt even figured importantly in that. Kurlansky often provides peripheral information of high interest, and for those interested in cooking, there are a bunch of recipes from throughout history. I wish that Kurlansky had provided a little more detail on the science of food preservation. More of a concern is that Kurlansky has written an amazingly complete book. For the casual reader it can get to be too much, and I sometime found a need to skim, which is never fun.

Salt of the Earth---Chemical Heritage magazine, March 12, 2003
Salt is a multidisciplinary historical look at salt, a material closely tied to civilization. As its title claims, it is a history of the world from the perspective of salt. The book is hard to put down with attention grabbing chapters such as Salts Salad Days, The Leaving of Liverpool, The Odium of Sodium, Big salt, Little Salt and The War Between the Salts. Since the author has received an award for excellence in food writing, it should come as no surprise that the text contains its share of historical recipes.
In the course of the book we are introduced to an astonishing range of cultures and visit many areas where salt has been found and harvested. From Egypt to China, Rome and the Celts, India, Africa and America, the story moves back and forth, skipping between time periods and cultures. The reader is assisted in the journey by well-drawn maps. I especially enjoyed learning about the many ways salt has been harvested, from the sea, evaporating brines or mining rock salt. I also was intrigued by the influence of salt on fields diverse as economics, taxes, politics and technology. For example, we learn about how Gandhi and Indian independence got its start in rebellion against oppressive salt taxes leveled on the Indians so that British salt makers would have a market for their surplus salt.
In the book we meet salt-connected people like Li Bing, governor of what is now Sichuan in 250 B.C.E. and a hydraulic engineering genius. Besides building the worlds first large scale dam for flood control and irrigation, and opening up central China for widespread agriculture, Li Bing was the first to drill for salt brine. The author shows how this naturally led to our geologic understanding of salt domes and eventually how to drill for oil in such domes. At this time the Chinese became the first to tax salt and attempt to fix its price, something hard to do with such a cheap and readily available material.
It is in his slant towards food that the author is most comfortable, talking about the many ways salt and food intersect. We and introduced to salt and food preservation, spices and flavorings, sour kraut and salted meat, fish and fishing, even the harvesting and production of caviar. There are two chapters on Avery Island in Louisiana, the first on salt mining by the Avery family which supplied much of the Confederacys salt, the second on Edmund McIlhenny combining two products of the island  hot chili peppers and salt  to make Tabasco sauce.
The book appears to randomly skip around between cultures and time periods, visiting China and America several times. It also ignores any time period later than mid twentieth century and does little with modern, nonfood uses of salt. The author gives no citations or footnotes for his many quotes or facts, relying instead on a fairly extensive bibliography including books and a few articles. While he talks about the science of salt in parts of a few chapters, I would have liked to learn more. He does fairly well with the changes in technology involved with salt. While I enjoyed reading the book it left me with many historical and scientific questions unanswered. Its real strength is in describing the historical relationship between salt and food. I found it pleasant to read.

Good Book, May 19, 2005
Reading the other reviews I see that almost everyone either loves it or hates it. I loved it. Salt was what Oil is today. I cut bait on a book if it's not interesting to me and I had no problem reading this cover to cover. I'm a non-fiction reader and a business person, not a literary type or a writer, so stylistic issues that other reviewers surfaced didn'd bother me. I also loved Giles Milton's "Nathaniel's Nutmeg."

A Terrible Disappointment, February 28, 2005
Having read and loved "Cod" by Mr. Kurlansky, I was looking forward to "Salt". Cod was interesting, readable and entertaining as well as being a comprehensive history of an interesting and little known topic. I thought Salt would be the same. Perhaps the best way to sum up the difference between the successful Cod and the tedious Salt is to note that Cod was 294 pages and Salt, 449.

Salt is tedious and redundant. There is no central theme. The author takes us all around the world, salt lick by brine spring to relate how every salt producer produced the salt and then distributed used or distributed it. There were plenty of trees, but Mr. Kurlansky never found the forest. Every chapter was merely a new stop on the tour. The tour was so disorganized that it did not proceed geographically nor by time.

A few hundred pages shorter and this would have been so much better. A few examples of salt production types and an overview would have improived it to be readable and interesting.

There are some pearls such as the Chinese were producing salt with the aid of natural gas while Europeans were virtually still in caves. The Egyptian mummification was also interesting. Unfortunately, these were in the first chapters.

Interestingly, Mr. Kurlansky's history virtually ignores the twentieth century. Very little is included about the 20th and 21st centuries except a few excerpts of salt producing areas that went under and the noting that Morton and Cargill are now the two largest producers. Virtually nothing was included about how they got that way or how salt use and production compares today with 100-200 years ago.

This is a very tough read. I would not recommend it after the first 80-100 pages. With those read, unfortunately, you've got the book.

A gem of a book, June 8, 2004
This is a gem of a book. It discusses and intertwines the history and importance of salt from prehistoric times until now in the context of the various types of salt, preserving and brining meat, fish and other foods, cooking, cheese making, health, geology, geography, place names, world trade, world history, warfare, art and investments, to name a few topics.

The descriptions of the role of salt in the American Civil War and the Caribbean islands were fascinating. Then there were the Romans, the Mayans, The Aztecs, the Chinese, the French, the Germans, the English, the Dutch, the Russians, the Scandinavians and others and their involvement with salt.

The recipes for cooking with salt are aptly chosen from about 4000 years of recorded history and are remarkably similar to those in use today. The colorful view and history of the San Francisco salt ponds from an airplane were always a bit of mystery to me, but no longer. The origin of towns and cities whose name ends in "wich" was enlightening, to say nothing of Salzburg and the many salt mines in the world.

In short, this book is a grand, well-written, informative and often amusing world panorama of salt filled with a host of pearls of learning. It is hard to put down and makes 449 pages pleasantly fly by, leaving you with a taste for more. If you have ever used salt, you really should read this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Features of this version of the KJV Bible that has the same text as your paper copy:

– Direct Verse Jump and Direct Verse Jump 2, two revolutionary new methods to open the exact verse you need in mere seconds (see below)
– two other ways to navigate between books and chapters: (i) using a hyperlinked table of contents; and (ii) pressing the joystick right or left to move between books and chapters of the Bible. Once you learn all four navigation methods, you will be able to open any verse in your Kindle Bible as fast as (or even faster than) in your paper copy
– The text of this electronic edition is painstakingly verified to be true to the KJV paper editions (no typos, no OCR errors)
– correctly formatted (i.e., true formatting of the original KJV – italics, small caps in LORD, etc.)
– includes original KJV translators’ notes
– original text, notes, book titles carefully preserved (for example, see the notes at the end of the Paul's epistles, which are found in the original KJV, look at Ps. 119)
– easy to determine where you are in the Bible
– Jesus’ words are in bold
– the text is broken into paragraphs for cohesion of the text (if you prefer the traditional verse-per-line format please purchase the KJV publication B002TG4P8Q from OSNOVA)
– as any Kindle book, the KJV Bible is searchable; however, when you first install the file please wait for the Kindle to index the whole Bible (most of the time about 10 minutes; however, sometimes up to 8-10 hours). The file is large and it takes a long time to index. For this reason, the DVJ navigation method will be available only after the book has been indexed

Direct Verse Jump: new navigation method using the search functionality:

In this version, all you need to do is type an abbreviated book name (see the table of contents for the complete list), then period, then chapter number, period again, and then verse number and finally press "find" twice (you need not wait for the Kindle to display the search results) and you will be looking at that particular verse in seconds. If you just need to open the first verse of any chapter then the verse number is not necessary. Do not forget periods and use only the abbreviations that are listed in the table of contents.

For example, if you wish to select chapter 3 of Genesis, you would:
1. type the standard abbreviation for Genesis (see the table of contents for a complete list), then period, and finally number "3" in other words: ge.3
2. click "find" (or just enter if you have Kindle 3) twice and you are there.

For John 3:16, you type "jn.3.16" and double click "find".

Note that you should put the chapter number even for books that have only one chapter. For example, the Epistle from Jude verse 5 would translate to "jud.1.5" and a double click.

Direct Verse Jump 2: alternative way to jump to any verse:

While reading your OSNOVA Bible, press "Menu", then select "Index" and type the same DVJ abbreviation as described above for the passage you want with the only difference that instead of periods use spaces (for example "jn 3 16").

NOTE: Many features of this publication will not work on Kindle 1, software Kindles such as Kindles for PC, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry or Android.This edition is not TTS(text-to-speech)-friendly due to the way TTS works on the Kindle. If you would like a TTS-friendly edition of the KJV, please purchase another KJV publication from OSNOVA ASIN B0032JSL84.

For other publications by OSNOVA, please visit http://osnova.com/

If you have any questions or concerns at all about this (or any other of my publications), please email me at osnova@gmail.com ... Read more

Reviews

Fast verse lookup capabilities, October 20, 2009
This edition incorporates the strengths of other KJV Kindle versions, such as chapter and verse navigation from the Table of Contents, but in addition, allows for going straight to the desired verse by simply typing in the abbreviated book, chapter, and verse and double-clicking "Find". This is an incredible time saver!

For example; if you want to go to Isaiah 7:14, simply type "isa.7.14" (minus the quotes), double-click "Find", and you're there.

This is a really wonderful edition. I highly recommend it.

King James Bible with Direct Verse Jump, January 20, 2010
I'm pleased overall with Osnova's work, and delighted to be reading the KJV on my Kindle. I agree with the other reviewers that this is the best e-version available, but there are yet a few improvements that I hope Osnova and Kindle will collaborate on. First, Kindle needs to make it possible to search for keywords within a single book of the bible, not make you have to scroll through pages and pages of hits on a single word you may have searched on, like "spirit" for instance. Second, the book, chapter and verse need to be listed in each hit on a keyword, not just Kindle's location number, which doesn't help the bible student at all. Third, the ability to make and save notes is great, but it would be so much more helpful if you could customize the way that you number, categorize and save your notes. Reviewing notes kept on a book as large as the bible is a bit overwhelming when they are consequtively numbered from the beginning of Genisis to the end of Revelations, and the default numbering system gives no clues as to which book they're in. Fourth, the book description claims that you can easily tell where you are in the bible, but this isn't strictly true: each verse does have the chapter and verse number in front of it, but nowhere on the page does it tell you you're in, say, the book of John, or the book of II Chronicles. If these improvements were incorporated on future Kindles and eBible publications, I could actually see myself putting my old paper bible on a shelf and letting the dust gather. Until then, it hasn't yet got an equal.

AWESOME KJV FOR KINDLE 2, February 5, 2010
I did a bit of research before deciding on a bible for my kindle, and am not disappointed that I chose this one. It's very easy to navigate, as other reviewers have pointed out, due to direct verse jump and I've found NO errors. It's so easy to follow my pastor all over the Word during his sermon, and to make notes, etc. right along with him. This is the best one out there. I will say that (as the intro points out) it does take about 10 minutes to load up all the way for use of Direct Verse Jump, so don't panic!

Wonderful Kindle Bible, November 1, 2009
I found this Bible to be very quick and easy to use for quickly navigating to different verses during a sermon -- the search method was much quicker than navigating the cursor around the links in a table of contents. I love that I can go directly to the verse I need, instead of just to the beginning of the chapter. I'm thrilled with this Kindle Bible! I would definitely recommend it.

Superb, December 19, 2009
I first bought another KJV publication from osnova B002TG4P8Q. They are basically the same, the only exception being that this one has paragraphed text and the other has one verse per line. So, I will just repeat what I've said about the other version.

This version is superb, the best KJV on the Kindle. I like osnova's navigation trick that helps me locate any verse in seconds. I even went ahead and purchased other publications from osnova.

If you want a KJV on your Kindle, this is it., October 20, 2009
I love this version of KJV. No typos or errors unlike another "popular" Kindle KJV.

In addition, this one has many ways to get to the passage that you are looking for. It is faster and easier than a paper Bible.

The best KJV for Kindle out there, October 30, 2009
My husband got this one for his Kindle and can't praise it enough. So easy to navigate and search for the verse you have in mind. Very masterfully done! Definitely recommend!

King James Bible (KJV) lacks page titles, March 1, 2010
This KING James Bible (KJV) has some good search features but lacks a very glaring requirement. It does not show book title/location on each page. So you can search and except for the very first page of a scripture book, you have no idea which book you are viewing.

GOOD WORK BY OSNOVA, April 13, 2010
I purchased a copy of the above yesterday for my Kindle DX and I have to confess it is a good work by Osnova. The search function which allows one to jump to particular verses is marvellous.

It makes for easy scrolling between passages of the bible. I am also impressed by the responsiveness of the developer in fixing the challenges identified by users who bought the earlier version.

Please keep it up.

The best bible!, January 15, 2010
I love this bible! It is faster to find my favorite scriptures than with a paper versions and I can make any keyword searchand it will give the the scriptures. I am amazed and really excited about it! Thank you so much! ... Read more

Editorial Review

High up in the Bolivian Andes-4,000 meters above sea level-lies Pumapunku, an ancient ruined city that simply could never have been constructed by its Stone Age inhabitants."Something here really stinks to high heaven," writes Erich von Daniken.

"In Twilight of the Gods," says von Daniken, "I document precisely what it was that left the first visitors breathless as they stood before the mighty stone blocks some 400 years ago. I will show you what archeologists discovered hundreds of years ago and demonstrate how much has been destroyed over the centuries. Intentionally.

"I will also prove that Pumapunku was not built by any Stone Age people.

"And in December 2012, the gods will return from their long journey and appear again here on Earth. At least that is what the Mayan calendar would have us believe.

"The so-called gods--the extraterrestrials--will come again. We're headed for a 'god shock' of major proportions.

"But doesn't anyone with half a brain know that interstellar travel is simply impossible because of the sheer distances involved? And that extraterrestrials would never look like us?

"Well, dear readers, I destroy these preconceptions. Systematically. One bit at a time."

In his own inimitable way, Erich von Daniken picks these preconceptions and prejudices apart with a clarity no other author could manage. ... Read more

Reviews

Concise and engrossing, August 3, 2010
Having read a lot of Erich von Daniken's work, I knew what to expect going in and I was not disappointed. I was honestly surprised at how quickly I finished this book and how much I learned from it. The subject matter was very engaging and inspired me to conduct additional research on the specific examples presented. This book is very hard to put down, it is very well paced and will leave you with some interesting mysteries.

Amazing reading of ancient cultures!!! A must read for all., August 29, 2010
In the past,I have read about ancient civilizations who made contact with alien forms but so far this book goes above and beyond. The author actually includes his own pictures of the sites he visited so the book has a lot of credibility for those who still are not convinced of these facts. There are too many coincidences of facts that make it impossible not to grasp the idea of aliens visiting the earth thousands of years ago. I'm looking forward to new material from Erich von Daniken. Great work.

Enthusiastic but disjointed, November 8, 2010
Erich von Daniken is most famous for his 1968 book Chariots of the Gods in which he put forth the theory that civilization was brought to earth by alien space travellers that taught some humans their ways and this is the source of the world's major religions and brought mankind from the caveman era to civilization in places such as Egypt. He believes that this truth is documented in the art and writings of the ancient civilizations. The 1970s documentary In Search of Ancient Astronauts was also inspired by this book. Just to be fair to those that read this review, I do not espouse von Daniken's beliefs, but I do find him to be interesting and I enjoy reading about the connections that he sees.

"In Twilight of the Gods: The Mayan Calender and the Return of the Extraterrestrials" von Daniken expounds upon his theory with a bit with more examples of items that should pique the interest of those that endorse von Danikens assertions. Although the title implies this is a exhaustive look at the Mayan Calender and the popular belief that it says the world will end on December 23, 2012, von Daniken does not even address the Mayans until he is two-thirds of the way through the book. Most of his book concerns a pre-Incan site in Bolivia called Puma Punku and the amazing buildings and stonework there.

I do have some argument with von Daniken's history of the Maya. He leads his readers to believe that the Maya were a very healthy civilization before the Spanish began to push into their territory after conquering the Aztecs in 1521. In reality, the classic Maya, the ones that von Daniken is referring to in his book, had collapsed more than 500 years earlier. The Maya that the Spanish conquered were a shell of the classic Maya with a lot of outside influence (if not outright occupation) by such groups as the Toltecs.

Von Daniken implies that the Maya were the earliest civilizations in the area and there is no way that they could have observed some of the older astrological phenomena that they record. He fails to note that the "source" culture for the region is believed to be the Olmec, who existed nearly 2000 years before the Classic Maya.

Interestingly, von Daniken is very derisive of evolution (not of changes in species but in the idea of all life coming from some sort of primordial goo). He uses terminology that reminds me very much of Ken Ham and his Answers in Genesis books. However, von Daniken espouses a theory (I think he does anyway, he throws around a lot of theories at the end of the book) called Panspermia that teaches that an umknown life form shot out its DNA all over the universe, much like one would scatter seeds out of an airplane. Most of it was unsuccessful, but in some places life took hold.

Von Daniken is interesting, as always. However, he is in serious need of an editor to keep him on the topic at hand. I have already mentioned the complete lack of mention of the Maya in the first half of the book, despite the title. Von Daniken discusses everything from Bolivia's archaeological community to Hitler to climate change in his most disciplined section of the book, the first half.

In the last half of the book he seems to toss out random thoughts about the Mayan predictions about the end of time and then moves on to comment on long distance space travel, alien visitors to Tibet, how ideas spread, SETI, warp drives, the astronomers of the Catholic Church and electrons, among other things, in a conclusion that is most unsatisfying.

Is the book entertaining?

Yes, but it could have been much better organized.

Is there food for thought here?

Sure, but to extend the metaphor, if von Daniken were a chef, this would be a very sloppy, half-considered meal indeed.

Erich von Daniken does it again!, September 23, 2010
Must read! My entire way of thinking was changed when I read Chariots of the Gods back in the 70's. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I'd never thought about. This book is very relavent to whats going on TODAY. I truly believe that most of the world is in for a "God shock" - soon!

good news for those who want to know the truth, October 9, 2010
The book is a very good read for those who seek the truth. If you feel short-changed by your religious upbringing about the history of human beings, then this book will give you the seed of wisdom.I can't describe properly why this book gave me wisdom, but it did. I have begun looking for more in what the gods aka ancient astronauts have taught the first successful experiment on human cloning. I am going to read all of Daniken's books. Read "chariots of the gods" or "Footprints in the sands of time" for a primer to the subject and these books will give you what you need to know about human beings. I would like to give the book a 5 rating but in this earthly dimension there is no perfect score, so I give this book a 4 rating.
GS-Malaysia.

Very good book, October 3, 2010
Very good book with new approaches about UFO's phenomena.
Congratulations to Mr. E. Von D�niken.

Simply the best!!!!!, November 21, 2010
Twilight of the Gods: The Mayan Calendar and the Return of the Extraterrestrials

I got this book on Kindle and now I am addicted to kindle. Will never wait a week for a mail man to deliver an Amazon book to my door again and if it is not on Kindle, then I simply will not by it.

This book is great. It is basically the book that is now a mini-TV series on the History Channel called "Ancient Aliens." It is very easy to read, flows with great material and is one of the most authoritative guides on Ancient Aliens and Alien Influence on the planet Earth that I have ever read. Of course, the author is fascinated with Latin American, so he really gets in debt with the alien life that dwelled in the ancient Americas, goes into the Bible and its alien influences plus he by the time you finish the first few chapters, you will know the entire study of Ancient Aliens by intellectuals, including Adolph Hitler, ins such ease that one will not even know that they have become a scholar and expert on the subject of Ancient Aliens and Civilizations.

I really love the book because, like other European Authors, who isn't constantly weighing the reader down with Greek and Roman mythology but is very generous with giving an honest and accurate history, even if it includes saying that white people were not intertwined with every great civilization on the planet, as other authors would like us to believe. He gives the evidence and the facts in a clear and readable manner but it is indeed some heavy material to absorb. I have never read a better book on this subject matter.

Fascinating, November 16, 2010
I found this book to be really fascinating. I have not read his other books but I am vaguely familiar with his work and that of Z. Sitchen. I enjoyed looking at the pictures too - there's a fair many both black and white and color photos. There were times I'd just catch myself looking at one of the pictures for 10-15 minutes!
I found I could read between 25-50 pages of this book at once and that was my limit, but not because it wasn't interesting, it was because I'd have to just 'think' about it.
It was a bit disjointed going between the cultures but that was my only complaint.
I enjoyed it so much I literally read it with a flashlight. It really sparks the imagination!

Mind opening, October 11, 2010
This was my first Erich Von Daniken's book I've read, and at least for me, it has been a very mind opening experience. The author provides very sound evidence for it's claims and theories, although it's up to the reader to decide whether to accept these theories or not.
I have recommended this book to many friends and relatives and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone else. ... Read more

Editorial Review

THE FASCINATING PEOPLE AND AMAZING EVENTS THAT HAVE SHAPED OUR WORLD.

For history lovers and trivia buffs alike, a day-by-day record of extraordinary happenings throughout the ages.

365 REMARKABLE PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS, AND FASCINATING FACTS

Reviews

HISTORY THEN AND NOW, November 9, 2010
I HAVE THIS CALENDAR AT MY PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT. AND THE CUSTOMERS LOVE IT. I WORK AT A CAR DEALERSHIP IN THE PARTS DEPT. I HAD ONE FOR THIS YEAR 2010 AND GOR ONE FOR THE 2011. LOVE IT. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Good lessons in visual storytelling, September 10, 2005
Having taught screenwriting for UCLA's Writing Program as well as being a working screenwriter for the past 20 years I've always been asked what separates a professional screenplay from the thousands of amateur screenplays out there. One of the things aspiring writers lack is what we call "getting your chops", a term borrowed from musicians. Meaning real, live experience that simply can't be taught. And usually, the only way to get it is by having your material produced. Jennifer Van Sijll's book CINEMATIC STORYTELLING, is the first book I've read to take an intensive look at what takes years and lots of produced credits to learn. By using written scenes from movies, coupled with actual film scenes printed alongside, Jennifer teaches visual storytelling in a way few books have done.

What I learned early on in this business is that there are several drafts after the one you sell. Many of us refer to them as the producer's draft, the director's draft, the actor's draft and the crew's draft. And you will make changes in all of those areas for reasons of character development, budget, schedule, location and ego.

Do writers really need to know about how films are shot and edited, even how sound can enhance a screenplay? The answer is yes and Jennifer's book, very appropriately titled provides invaluable information, something all writers whether aspiring ones or seasoned pros like myself need to consider. What she illustrates are the various parts of a movie and how they relate to the screenplay. The book is divided into chapters with topics like framing, locations, sound effects, transitions, camera motion and lenses, lighting, props and many more. Each chapter has many specific written scenes and still photo clips from well-known movies

Consider transitions, difficult for aspiring writers and even some pros. Learning to write good transitions between scenes rarely is taught in writing courses, and often left to the director, producer or editor. CINEMATIC STORYTELLING presents the reader written scenes from Citizen Kane, Fatal Attraction and many more movies, illustrating how sound and visual transitions are used in a finished film. A good writer can add smooth transitions into their screenplay and make their screenplay read more like a movie and more likely to be read. I've always been told my screenplays are easy reads, meaning that the reader is quickly engaged in the story, and this is directly due to my knowledge of visuals including transitions, close-ups, wide shots and sound cues. The secret here is writing it like it's part of the natural organic form of the screenplay rather than clumsy, noticeable descriptions. You don't have to write CLOSE UP, to indicate one.

Experience teaches the working writer and Jennifer's book is a solid attempt at dealing with this interconnected world of writing and making movies using many classic movies like Citizen Kane, Chinatown, The Searchers (my personal favorite), as well as contemporary movies like Pulp Fiction and lesser-known indie films including the cult favorite Harold and Maude to give a really good balance to her observations. She has focuses on framing, sound effects, transitions, camera motion, lighting, even camera lenses, which may not sound like anything a writer need know. However, a working knowledge of all those elements can and will contribute to a well-written screenplay.

I've always taught students that screenplays should be entertaining to read, in the same way movies should be entertaining, no matter how serious the subject. Breaking the rules is fine once you've sold your big feature, but don't forget the old saying, "you gotta learn the rules before you can break them". You have to write some thing that readers will want to read, to turn the page, to "see the movie". By knowing what directors, editors and even actors will need to interpret your screenplay, you can write a richer, clearer story. It's one of the best ways to protect the story you want to write, a lesson that took me years to learn. There are two things to remember when you're writing a screenplay, write a good story and write a good movie. Jennifer's book will help you make your screenplay more like a screenplay and will be useful time and time again.

Review for "Cinematic Storytelling" that appeared on Microfilmmaker.com, November 17, 2005
I recently reviewed a great debut film called 'Ascension' from a new microcinema director. The story and shooting style were fairly direct and straightforward; but--as this movie showed--just because the script didn't call for Michael Bay-style camera moves, it didn't mean that the shots had to be boring! A lot of beginning filmmakers (and even some that have more experience) can feel that they have to have lots of swooping crane or dramatic steadicam shots in order to have a great-looking movie. This isn't true. In reality, if you don't know how to effectively use the camera in the first place (visually speaking, not technically), you have no business putting it on a crane or steadicam; these devices cannot fix a visually uninteresting or inappropriate shot.

Enter Cinematic Storytelling. Using some of the most iconic and well-known films as examples, Jennifer Van Sijll explains how to use visual composition, lenses, editing, sound effects, transitions, camera position, and much more to give emphasis and convey information and emotion in your movie.

Comprehension
One of (the many) cool things about this book is that you don't have to have had any prior experience working with cameras to be able to understand the material. If you can read English and can look at the picture examples given (still photos from various films), then you can understand the concepts conveyed in the book.
Concepts and techniques (such as montages, intercutting, visual foreshadowing, etc.) are defined and clarified; even very subtle techniques that are almost unnoticeable in movies are pointed out and their effect explained. (For example, in describing the X-axis in screen direction, Van Sijll notes:

"As Westerners we read left-to-right. If you rented fifty studio-made movies, there's a good chance that the 'good guy' will enter screen left every time. When the 'good guy' moves left-to-right, our eyes move comfortably. Subconsciously, we begin to make positive inferences. Conversely, the antagonist usually enters from the right. Since our eyes aren't used to moving from right to left, the antagonist's entrance makes us uncomfortable. The screenwriter exploits this by transferring our learned discomfort to the characters" (4).
The author then goes on to show stills and a script excerpt from Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train to illustrate the effect of this principle.

Depth of Information
The book covers a tremendous amount of information, starting with the conventions of stationary camera techniques and progressing through editing, sound, lenses, camera movement and positioning, lighting, and finally, environment (location, wardrobe, props, etc.). However, each topic has still photos of at least one movie that exemplifies that certain technique, as well as an explanation of its dramatic value. This latter part is essential, because it's pointless to just talk about certain camera shots, effects, movements, etc. if you don't explain why they are important or what they are effective for. Additionally, the techniques are explained in the context of the movie photos, thus illustrating their effect.

[Quick side note: Jennifer Van Sijll draws from both old and new movies as examples. From Fritz Lang's 1927 milestone Metropolis, to Citizen Kane, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, The Piano, and Requiem for a Dream, all of the films she picks are excellent for viewing. You might want to add the "example movies" in this book to your Netflix or Blockbuster rental list. (Not like it's probably already long enough as it is!]

Interest Level
I found that it was very easy to maintain interest in this book. Truth be told, I was rather skeptical at first when I was informed that I'd be reviewing a book entitled Cinematic Storytelling; I was expecting a textbook-sized tome with simple drawings and technical words. Not so. The format is very easy-to-follow; each chapter has approximately between 4-10 sections, with each section usually covered in one full page. This makes for quick reading and easy comprehension. There are no big, technical-geeky words to wade through, and the explanations and summaries are brief, but detailed and thorough.

Reusability
This book is definitely a must-have investment for a filmmaker; whether you are just starting your first short or are working on your tenth full-length feature, this is a book you'll want to have within reach while planning your shot sheets and/or storyboards. And you'll probably find yourself coming back to it again and again with each new project you do.

Value vs. Cost
While the listed retail price this book being $25, it is worth far more for the information and ideas it provides. If you've never taken any kind of cinematic layout class (and even if you have!) this book is well worth the price. This book helps you to make the maximum impact with your main artistic tool: the camera itself. Just like writers understand the impact of their words, and painters understand how colors are used on their canvas, so must the filmmaker understand and know how to use the camera without relying solely on special effects and equipment.

Overall Comment
This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested or involved in filmmaking, storyboarding, camerawork, cinematography, producing, and/or directing. Too many filmmakers--both microcinema and "big Hollywood"--don't fully understand the purposes and implications of various shots; this book will help you make the best use of your time, equipment, story, planning, and ideas.


Understandability - 9
Depth of Information - 9.5
Interest Level - 9.0
Reusability - 10.0
Value vs. Cost - 10.0
Total Score - 8.3

Reviewed by Kari Ann Morgan
Microfilmmaker.com

Writers, look through someone else's eyes., October 2, 2006
What a fascinating book for a scriptwriter to read! At first, you think "This isn't meant for me--it has chapters on camera lenses and camera positions, and wardrobe and sound effects! That's stuff directors and cinematographers and other people work with." From understanding the medium you're working in, comes better work.



Jennifer Van Sijll's Cinematic Storytelling provides 100 film conventions (as mentioned in the full title) in concise, two-page examples. The pages are index card-like in their brevity, but are so well-done there is no need for extra words. First, she lists the filmmaking element, such as "Motion," and gives an explanation. Next, she gives a film example, such as E.T., and explains the scene pictured in stills and how the particular scene conveys the element. If needed, she lists a script note or two and then explains what the dramatic value is of the element. Lastly, she lists a few other films that can serve as examples. The page with movie stills also contains the scene's script passage to show how the element was written. A writer will find the pieces of script excellent examples from which to learn.

Van Sijll's layout and logical progression through the different elements of film, from frame composition to locations and lighting, are easy to follow and almost Zen-like in their simplicity. Despite that simplicity, they do make an impact and stay with you long after you've put the book down. You'll find that when you sit down to write, you'll try and put those elements into your script with just a few well-chosen words (so not to look as if you're trying to direct). There are no exercises or homework and there is no general format information or advice on what the latest trick is to get your script seen. This is straightforward instruction presented in an easy-to-follow way.

After each chapter, Van Sijll inserts a "Chapter Credits by Film Element" index where you'll find a segment on each film she's highlighted. Within the segment, you'll find its release date, writer, director, production company and distributor. It's an unconventional scriptwriting book, for sure, and definitely worth checking out. Van Sijll teaches at San Francisco State University, holds seminars, and also works as a script analyst for producers. I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

Don't Let Good Reviews Fool You, November 5, 2009
I read many reviews before I commit to getting a book. Because this book was so well reviewed, I thought it would be perfect.
I am a screenwriter and I recently directed my first commercial. I turned to this book to expand my visual vocabulary. I expected to see many visual conventions explained in graphic detail that I could adopt or at least be aware about.

Don't let the reviews fool you. This book is academic jargon. Deconstructionist dribble. Postmodern silliness. It is not -- I repeat, NOT -- practical cinematic storytelling devices put on paper by a working professional, but reads more like an undergraduate film student's take on Citizen Kane, Raging Bull, etc...

If you like film criticism, great. But this book claims to be a resource for screenwriters hoping to use a richer visual technique, or for directors who need to know the most common shots and visual conventions.

So you understand what I am saying, understand: the very first chapter/point is "The Horizontal Axis." Our young author -- with no real experience -- then goes on to relate how often times good characters move from left to right, and villains move from right to left. If you don't see how annoying and impractical and just plain theoretical this book can be, let me choose another example.

Chapter 14: Triangular Composition.
Using the film "Witness" as an example, our naive author goes on to show how the filmmakers used triangles to show a love triangle between three central characters. First of all, there isn't any use of triangles in any obvious way, even in the picture she chose. Second of all, because she overlays the screenplay, you can see how there is no notion as such in the screenplay as well. Worst of all, the author then claims that the other elements in the frame --a birdhouse, picket fence -- are themselves triangular and part of the thematic message.

This is the BS that they taught me in college English courses. This is what they call deconstructionism where the author's intent has nothing to do with a reader's ability to derive whatever meaning they want.

If you are looking for a good practical shot guide, or anything to expand your moviemaking technique, do not get this book. It is not written by a filmmaker. A PA would no more about film than this woman.

If you like post-modern crap, then get this book. I wish I could get rid of it.

EXCELLENT REMINDER FOR SCREENWRITERS, September 4, 2005
Years ago I placed two stickers on my computer monitor. One sticker said: "You are a storyteller." And the other sticker said: "Think Visually." The first sticker was to remind me that, in my simplest form, all I wanted to do was tell stories to move and entertain people. The second sticker was to remind me to not be so clinical in my writing and think visually as to how I want the scene to look; to look at other approaches, VISUAL approaches, so I don't become a static writer writing just the basic words to get the scene across.

Years later, those stickers are gone but the core ideas are not.

It is the most common thing I write on a script that I am editing: "How do you show?" The character is angry. "How do you show?" The character wears a t-shirt. "Does it say anything?" The character drives up in a car. "What kind of car is it?" And, more often than not, the writer looks at me with a blank look on their face to say: "You expect me to put that in?" "OF COURSE I EXPECT YOU TO PUT THAT IN! AREN'T YOU A WRITER?"

Then the argument comes back to me: "I've heard that Producers don't want lots of detail." "I've heard that Producers look at how much white space there is before they'll read the script." "I'm trying to keep it as basic as possible." Which tells me they want to keep it BORING! You are a WRITER. WRITE!

"Cinematic Storytelling" is a book that rubber stamps my continued arguments with writers. It breaks down, by explanation, script examples and photos, how a scene is put together visually - and all the different combinations there-in. The subtitle to the book is: "The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know"

Jennifer Van Sijll, using examples from the silent film "Metropolis" to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill 1" (and everything in between) explores those 100 Powerful Film Conventions in great detail.

The book is broken up in 17 chapters, each with an introduction and then within those chapters she breaks down each convention. For instance, Chapter 5 deals with "Time" while Chapter 9 deals with "Lenses." As you read through this book she provides you with an explanation to the convention, she will often provide the bit of the script that refers to that convention, and then photographs from the scene to reinforce the convention.

In the chapter on "Lighting" (Chapter 12) she breaks down "Motion Lighting" showing how the opening scenes of ET used lights in motion to heighten the suspense of ET running through the forest. First, with the truck head-lights and then, secondly, with the flashlights the pursuers use. She also re-prints the part of the script where this scene is described to show you, the writer, how it translated from the page to the screen. There are quite a number of "script segments" that are, of course, different from the draft or shooting script to what was actually shot, printed and shown. Did you know the opening to the film "Adaptation" was actually in the 2nd Act of that film?

Besides the above, she also includes details on each example she used at the end of each chapter: Title, date, writer(s), director, production company and distributor. I think this information would be very helpful if you're doing research on these persons or the process.

I found myself, as I read through this book, thinking about the films I had most recently seen trying to find examples of what she was referring to. I was questioning some of my favorite films confirming a lot of what she explains in the book. These conventions really do add to the whole story-telling process and they do help the page "come alive" on the screen.

There are two complaints I have with this book:

1. 90% of the script portions she uses come from films that were directed by the writer. Joel and Ethan Cohen ("Fargo" and "Barton Fink"), Orson Welles ("Citizen Kane"), Luc Besson ("The Professional), etc. Obviously their vision is going to be more "complete" because they are directing what they have written. What I feel would have been more beneficial, especially for amateur screenwriters, is to show how a "Spec" Script was modified from the written version to what the director envisioned. Did the sparse description turn into a riveting scene because of what the director did with the script? Or was there enough on the page for the director to work with? As an amateur writer there is a "less is more" approach to writing which, in my opinion, saps the writer from being creative and stamping their script with a particular vision. A few more examples of this would have been helpful.

2. The other complaint piggy-backs the first. Many of the script examples she provides came from screenplays that were obviously shooting scripts or scripts that had been through the Hollywood mill. Jennifer explains in the "Note on Credits and Script Sources" how she came to the scripts and what she had to work with. I think it's excellent to have the script portions in the book and extremely helpful to the reader - but it also may confuse new writers who suddenly feel they have to include scene numbers or every single camera angle. She DOES note when the script portion is a draft or a shooting script but I still think this could add to some confusion.

But how does this book help that writer who's afraid a Producer will balk when they see a camera movement or a highly detailed description? What I feel this book DOES do is confirm that writing a screenplay is more than just typing: "Joan walks into a bar." And turns it into: "Joan, mid-thirties and wearing a slinky red dress, slinks into a smoke-filled sports bar." If a Producer doesn't get more drawn in with example number two - then you probably would not want to work with that Producer.

Overall this is an excellent book which goes beyond the typical screenwriting books. There is no mention of proper formatting. No talk of three act structure. The book challenges you, the storyteller, to look at your script in a visual way. To push those visual clues and see how you can write a script and add those images that fit YOUR vision, too.

Screenwriters, whether amateur or not, need to be reminded that they are, indeed, storytellers and they must tell their stories visually. This book helps you explore those visual options.

"Cinematic Storytelling" reminded me of the basics of screenwriting: "Telling a story in a visual way." It's a lesson all screenwriters need to learn - it's a lesson all screenwriters need to remember.

MARIE JONES, ABSOLUTEWRITE.COM BOOK REVIEWER WRITES:, August 31, 2005


The language of cinema gets full exposure in this comprehensive reference guide that takes a look at 100 years of film history and technique, focusing on elements such as lighting, editing, sound and direction as key tools for powerful storytelling.

Most of us think of visual effects and dialog as the most obvious tools of communication when it comes to film, but a deeper examination of what makes a good film great reveals true artistry that goes beyond what is being said and done on the screen. Author Jennifer Van Sijll, a screenwriting teacher at San Francisco State with an MFA from USC's Dept. of Cinema-Television, has undertaken a huge task here, compiling dozens upon dozens of examples of how the use of sound, camera motion, angles and picture quality all serve to enhance the magic of cinema.

Chapters cover the gamut from screenwriting and directing technique to the use of space and dimension, frame composition, editing, using the expansion and contraction of time, sound effects, scene transitions (both audio and visual), lighting, use of color, props, camera motion, differing camera lenses, where to position the camera, wardrobe and locations and so much more. In fact, if it isn't included in this virtual encyclopedia of film technique and artistry, it must not exist.

Each chapter includes plenty of film grabs from the most memorable films in history, from "The Graduate" to ""Pulp Fiction" to "Citizen Kane," as well as photographs that compliment the description and give the reader a more visual sense of the technique's effect. There are also descriptions of the dramatic value achieved with each technique, as well as actual pages from the screenplays that drive the point home. Sijll also includes suggested reading and additional films to view that compliment the elements being discussed, so filmmakers can continue to explore the concepts and techniques outside of the content of this book.

Making films is all about telling a story and that is not just done with words on a page, or even pictures on a screen. There are so many elements involved in the creation of a film, and understanding how to use those elements can truly make the difference between a movie and a masterpiece. For anyone interested in a career in film, "Cinematic Storytelling" is a priceless guide to creating memories on screen that will last a lifetime and beyond.

Spectacular, August 28, 2007
To call me a newbie screenwriter would be to insult newbie screenwriters. I'm a fledgling, nascent, inchoate, and very bad screenwriter. And if you would read the mere one-page script I wrote yesterday, you'd call me some choice names but I daresay 'screenwriter' will not be one of the myriad.
That said, this is such a great book, the highest quality through and through, from the binding to the clear type and the clear picture examples of each shot type. I found myself reading this like I would an easy novel: it was literally a page-turner and filled with so much information, and information I could immediately start using.
With each example, I popped in the respective DVD and found the particular shots and marveled at how the author's description and subsequent interpretation of the scene was spot on, a real "Aha!" moment on each page. In my long and very arduous road to screenwriting mediocrity, I believe 'Cinematic Storytelling' will be a staunch ally, immovable from its perch as a resident of my reference bookshelf.

Flawed format. Wait for DVD!, October 6, 2007
I certainly agree with the existing reviews regarding content, and have nothing to add in this regard.
HOWEVER, there are two problems:
1. The book measures 7 1/2" tall and 11" wide. This makes it hard to hold and fits poorly on the reference bookshelf where it belongs.
2. The book mentions an upcoming DVD. This would a MUCH better format than book.
This book tries to illustrate various cinimatographic points with still shots from exemplary movies. Sometimes these still shots cannot illustrate the point adequately, while a video clip would be TREMENDOUS at illustrating the point. (For example: various transitions: How in the heck can you illustrate transitions with still photos?!)
WAIT FOR THE DVD. It should be TREMENDOUS,and well worth the purchase.

A Solid Shelf Reference, October 27, 2008
As a Line producer/Unit Production Manager (DGA) in the film industry, I wish more first time directors - and even seasoned ones - had books like this sitting on their shelves. They might learn a few more techniques about planning shots and informing the crew to make for a more efficient, cost-effective production. That time and money could always be used to make the film better in another aspect. Unfortunately, some directors believe that giving information to the Keys and the crew gives away their Directorial vision. They are 'organic' directors which means that they have the brains of a potato. Sharing the vision gets a better vision from the Keys and the crew. Worthwhile Reference.

Great take on film theory., May 9, 2007
The use of storyboards and stills from scenes in congunction with a theoretical breakdown make this a vey useful and thought provoking study on cinema. ... Read more

Editorial Review

In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastrophe—one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future. ... Read more

Reviews

The discipline of geography is back!, January 7, 2005
"Collapse" is a wonderful book! Prof. Diamond combines hard science, rigorous historical research, and his own personal knowledge of people from the Bitterroot Valley of Montana to the west coast of Greenland to Rwanda to the highlands of New Guineau. He pulls together clear and compelling explanations of how events unfolded (and are still unfolding) in various parts of the world.

His accounts of various human communities draw on real data from a wide variety of academic fields, including isotope analysis, pollen analysis, tree-ring analysis, seismology, agronomy, archaeology, sociology, and even the history of religion. His explanations of each of these disciplines are lucid without oversimplification. But, the strength of the book comes from the the way he combines results from all these fields to create straightforward narratives of what might have happened as various communities rose and fell.

If I were I high school "social studies" teacher I would be talking to my principal today, saying "I want to put together an honors-level geography course and I want to use this as the textbook."

I do have one criticism. The subject matter of the book is tremendously consequential to people alive today, and hopefully "policy wonks" in governments will study the book and take it seriously. But, the title is a bit inflammatory. What's more, Prof. Diamond makes sure to explain the significance for the United States of his accounts of the demise of various ancient communities. Some of these explanations extrapolate from ancient situations to modern in a way that isn't quite as solid as the rest of the book. Diamond's extrapolations are very cleary marked as such. However, I am still afraid that they, combined with the title, will provide an excuse for people to dismiss the book as a "pro-environment anti-business" ideological polemic. That would be unfortunate, because it is actually balanced and nuanced in its explanation of the human condition.

There is no somewhere else, January 13, 2005
About 15 years ago, I was shocked to read the results of an American aerial survey of roads in remote areas of the country, which concluded that there is (in 1990) no place in the continental United States that is more than about 20 miles, as the crow flies, from the nearest road. At Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies in NE New Mexico, to which many hundreds of Scouts travel each summer for an extended "wilderness" hike, the paths, directions and speeds of each of the flood of hiking parties is managed on a wall-size map in their war room, much like a flight control room of a modern airport. The conscious purpose of the war room is to present "the illusion of wilderness" to the hikers, by preventing them from seeing that there are crowds of other hikers nearby in every direction, only hidden by a bend, a ridge, a ravine.

In one of Jared Diamond's earlier books, Guns, Germs and Steel, he explored the role of man's natural environment in shaping the unique nature of the human societies that emerged in different regions of the world. It was backed by a prodigious body of research spanning anthropology, physiology, botany, archeology, animal behavior and climatology, to name only a few fields. Although his conclusions were satisfying and plausible, the subjects were too remote in time to garner more than a smile and a nod of the head. The paucity of detailed evidence regarding the biologic emergence of man, and man's development of agriculture, animal domestication and civilization, dooms Dr. Diamond's conclusions on those subjects to the realm of conjecture.

Now we are presented with the other side of the equation: the role of man's behavior in shaping the environments in which he lives. While Professor Diamond seems to go to great lengths to present us with a glimmer of optimism in the face of a substantial body of contrary information, the thrust of this new volume is that today, anybody's environmental problem is everybody's problem. His discussions of past failed (and successful) societies serve as a sequence of progressively more complex environmental scenarios highlighting the choices-both intentional and unintentional-that determined the ultimate outcome.

One wonders how intelligent people in those societies that ultimately failed seemed to have made decisions that, at least in retrospect, were patently damaging to their future survival. Diamond offers numerous examples of contemporary environmental challenges for which perfectly rational individuals and governments have made, and continue to make, decisions that are damaging to their future survival.

Over thirty years ago, JW Forrester, then at MIT, developed a computer simulation called World II, which modeled scores of human and environmental factors, in order to see what future the model would predict for the world. In brief, the simulation demonstrated catastrophic population collapse between 2040 and 2060, regardless of how the values of variables and their interactions were adjusted. The only stable simulations required that the world population be set to below its current (1970) value. Well, we can set aside their conclusions as peculiar to their particular set of assumptions, but in Jared Diamond's current book, he concludes that each of the individual, massive environmental issues covered in his various examples will reach catastrophic crisis by about 2050, if they are not addressed promptly and in a dramatic way. I find the correlation sobering.

From the standpoint purely of readable history, Collapse offers more credible conclusions about the decline of the societies it surveys than does the massive 12 volumes of Arnold Toynbee's A Study of History. Toynbee leaned heavily on Hegelian dialectic, Diamond on compelling archeological studies and on the physical sciences. Though a professor of geography, Diamond's formal training was in biology and physiology. Add to that his lifelong studies in ornithology, which have contributed to his wide-ranging travels in third world countries, and it should come as no surprise that the science presented here stands up fairly well to close scrutiny.

This is a book that will certainly appeal to historians, environmentalists and folks who want to know what the tree-hugging fuss is all about. For those who might be disinclined toward environmentalist assertions, this book can serve as a framework for the serious concerns that must be addressed in some fashion.

History, ecology, technology, politics, and a warning rolled into one..., January 16, 2006
A debate between two camps continues to rage. One side thinks that the modern world continues to careen toward a non-sustainable future and impending doom. The other group thinks that "environmentalists" exaggerate their claims about a coming ecological crash. As usual the sides remain somewhat unproductively polarized with neither giving an inch to the other. This book's title exposes where Jared Diamond's sympathies stand, but he also takes some surprisingly neutral views. For one, he claims that some contemporary businesses have in fact successfully taken environmental concerns into consideration, and that these concerns have made them money and boosted their respect globally. Diamond doesn't believe that big business and environmental groups necessarily remain indissoluble enemies. And he goes further by suggesting that environmentalists should unabashedly praise those companies that have suceeded in balancing economics with ecology. "Collapse", though admittedly more slanted towards the environmental side of the continuum, nonetheless tries to narrow the gap between the two aforementioned camps.

"Collapse" takes the reader on a dizzying historical and global tour. The chapters weave in and out of modern, ancient, and medieval worlds. Along the way Diamond extrapolates which behaviors have threatened (or arguably are currently threatening) a significant inexorable decline in a particular society's population. By juxtaposing past and present societies he hopes to reveal the simularities between societies that no longer exist and the trends of the world today. The book surreptitously asks whether our current world is threatened by a global collapse.

Diamond uses a "five-point framework" to analyze various societies. These comprise certain behaviors and characterstics, namely, environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners, and a society's responses to its environmental problems. With these tools in hand, Diamond travels to Montana, Easter Island, the Pitcairn and Henderson Islands, the ancient and medieval Anasazi cultures in North America, the Maya, Norse Greenland, New Guinea, Tikopia, Tokugawa-era Japan, Rwanda, Hispaniola, China, and Australia. Each of these societies, both past and present, receive analysis in terms of the five point framework. For example, the Greenland Norse collapsed, according to Diamond, due to all five factors. Whereas Easter Island collapsed only due to three. But Diamond also discusses past successes such as Tikopia and Tokugawa Japan. These two societies managed to control their resources and avoid the others' fate. And those fates included horrifying ends in wars, mass starvation, and sometimes cannabalism.

The discussion of Norse Greenland receives three full length chapters (which at times seems a little too lengthy). Why? In a talk that Diamond gave for the Long Now Foundation in 2005 (downloadable from the Foundation's website), he claimed that he wanted to show that collapse doesn't only happen to non-europeans. Some skeptics may claim that collapse only happens to so-called "primitives". But the Norse Greelanders were medieval Europeans who desperately tried to hold on to their European Christian roots in Greenland, but they all ended up dying sometime in the 15th century. The reasons why remain somewhat mysterious, though archeologists have found evidence of starvation and cannabalism at the long abandoned sites. By contrast, the Greenland Inuit long outlasted the Norse.

Diamond thinks that societies also need to re-evaluate their values to survive in different climates. In addition, when the elite begin isolating themselves that often spells trouble for a society. Diamond sees this happening in our world today (in "gated" communities and private funding for personal amenities) as well as evidence for all of the above listed five points. He argues that our current course appears unsustainable unless we take action. In the end, he does leave room for hope (as evidenced by the societies that "saved" themselves and peoples).

Diamond also addresses the refutations often leveled against the environmental side of the spectrum. One-liners such as "technology will save us" or "the environment must be balanced against the economy" receive their own refutations. Finally, he presents justifications for his comparative method of juxtaposing and extrapolating the problems of past societies onto our own.

Diamond never argues that the contemporary world will inevitably collapse. He does admit to seeing many danger signs. In the end, whether or not readers agree with Diamond's conclusions, the book does a good job of presenting collapse as at least one of the possible outcomes of a society's actions. Much of the modern world doesn't seem to accept or even to realize this possibility. At the very least governments and citizens need to be aware that irresponsible actions could lead to a collapse. Infinite progress and expansion isn't a given. Though this book could have included much more information (along with analyses of many more now extinct societies), it provides a good foundation for thinking and debate on this increasingly important subject. And though it has its flaws "Collapse" nonetheless represents a book that environmental skeptics will have to contend with.

A triumph of mass marketing, March 22, 2005
I'm an old fan of Diamond, but with each book I like him less. "Collapse" isn't really about science or ecology or the lessons of history, but how to sell books. Take a no-argument topic (People can destroy their environment,) add urgency (This is happening to us!)get some research assistants to dig up what interesting facts they can (even if they get them wrong,) and get a saleable author to provide some paragraph links and put his name to it, and everyone makes a buck (except the consumer.)

You can keep publishing costs down by eliminating editors and proofreaders, e.g.: "...for the benefit of the corpses of the souls" instead of "the souls of the corpses." (p.237)

There are plenty of astonishing facts too: We learn that the Norse ships took "a week or more" to cover the 2000-plus sailing miles from Norway to Greenland (Given the means of navigation and the weather in those latitutes, truth is, six weeks would have been a quick trip.) But then time ran backward in those days, because, according to Diamond, Erik the Red assumed that artifacts he found on his first visit to Greenland were left by the Vinland Skraelings. (Trouble is, the discovery of Vinland came 20 years after the discovery of Greenland, so at the time Erik knew nothing of either the land or the people his son Leif later came upon.)

Virtually all of the information on Norse settlements and culture is lifted from a single source, The Vikings, The North Atlantic Saga, by Fitzshugh and Ward eds., published by the Smithsonian in conjunction with its recent touring exhibition. There's no reason to believe Diamond actually read any of the other books in his bibliography, or he'd realize much of the scholarship, such as the work done by Jesse Byock, actually contradicts his conclusions.

Obviously Diamond knows better, but the book was obviously slapped together fast and marketed.

Read the book and enjoy it, but don't trust a single fact in it. Double check everything.

Society in decline isn't a done deal, January 10, 2005
Diamond uses a five point model to examine societies that have declined and collapsed and those that have thrived due to change. Examining the Mayan culture, the people of Easter Island and others, Diamond presents a thoughtful anaylsis as to how these very different cultures (one isolated with no enemies but a rich land and culture badly overtaxed the other a rich culture that that had many contacts and enemies to complicate their lives)to present models that we can use today to deal with these issues regarding the environment, social pressure and others that face our culture.

Diamond's approach argues that none of these cultures were inferior and that they face the same ecological, environmental and, ultimately, social stressors as we do in our world today. He also takes a look at modern societies (including China and Australia)and how they are faring with the 12 modern types of environmental problems. In another section he looks at the good and bad that big business have contributed to the ecology. It's pretty fair balanced overall.

Diamond suggests that societies ultimately choose to fail or succeed based on their problem solving skills, ability to be flexible and change prior to crisis mode. Essentially we can either be victims or lead the charge for change. I didn't feel that an examination of past cultures was a flaw like some reviewers; he examines them in more depth because we already know the outcome and can more clearly trace the evoltionary path that led to their undoing. That path shows up again when examining our modern world and the ways that we are both feeding choas and living with the resources we have as a nation and world. His point about how important it is to understand all of this in a globalized culture seems valid; there are too many interconnected countires now (unlike the Easter Island situation where they were, essentially, isolated and didn't have an impact on other cultures when they finally fell)and if one falls, ultimately, it will have a domino effect on other countries as well putting our world at peril and not just one or two countries.

A warning about Diamond's book seems appropriate. It can be read by the lay person but the dense material might be daunting for some people. Skimming the book may give you can idea of the content but it won't have the same profound impact on your view of the world as reading it from cover to cover. I agree with Diamond's viewpoint on a single important point--change and flexibility will help a society thrive and a society that remains static, denies what occurs around it will fail.

Overshoot and Collapse?, January 9, 2005
This is another great contribution to the public's understanding of crucial issues from the UCLA geographer Jared Diamond. COLLAPSE is an examination of several societies that have collapsed (including Easter Island, the Vikings in Greenland, and the Mayas), as well as a few that have solved their ecological problems and succeeded. As in GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL, his previous Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Diamond takes a big-picture view. The lesson is clear -- we must take action to avoid the collapse of our interdependent global society. "Our world society is presently on a non-sustainable course," observes Diamond (p. 498).

My only criticism of this fine book is that it devotes nearly 500 pages to examining various collapses of the past, and only a brief section at the end to examine our present crisis. In Chapter 16 Diamond presents a summary of the evidence that we are in a condition of overshoot, and in danger of collapse if we stay on our present course. He says we need 1) long-term planning, and 2) a reconsideration of core values, in order to avoid going the way of the Mayas.

I would recommend that everyone who reads COLLAPSE also read LIMITS TO GROWTH: The 30-Year Update (see my review), which presents a much more thorough summary of the evidence Diamond mentions in his concluding chapter, and THE UPSIDE OF DOWN: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization, by political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon. Once informed of our situation, a crucial book pointing toward the necessary answers is THE SOLAR ECONOMY by Hermann Scheer (see my review).

See my THE CLEAN/RENEWABLE ENERGY REVOLUTION list for more reading, including several books on the impending global Hubbert's Peak for oil.

Not the Best, Does Offer Some Contributions, February 18, 2005
Edit of 20 Dec 07 to add links.

The book does not live up to the title, and one wonders if the book was inspired by the edited work Catastrophe & Culture: The Anthropology of Disaster (School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series) whose basic point is that disasters turn into catastrophe when societies fail to plan and adjust.

On balance, I do not recommend the book to anyone that reads widely, and especially in the ecological economics literature from Herman Daly back through E.O. Wilson The Future of Life, Martin Rees OUR FINAL HOUR: A Scientist's warning : How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future in This Century--On Earth and Beyond, J. F. Rischard High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them, or the more obvious Club of Rome and that Brown guy. Indeed, for the general audience, J. F. Rischard remains the best overview and the best value.

Having said that, I do not discourage the purchase and absorption of this book. Much of it can be skipped through if you have read other books that do a better job on any individual item (to his credit, the author provides an excellent bibliographic review in his expanded notes section). It is largely a kludge of the ideas and investigations of many others, but does--and this is why it gets four stars from me--pull together in one place, in a very interesting manner, a broad variety of investigations and conclusions.

Here are the highlights that I found worthy of reflection:

1) Gives useful emphasis to the word "ecocide" while bringing forward excellent reviews of how "creeping normalcy" and "landscape amnesia" can undermine any perception of danger or urgency.

2) Summarizes, but not as elegantly as J. F. Rischard, 12 problems and a 5-point framework of contributing factors.

3) Focuses on big business as the core player that must reform, but also emphasizes that big business will not reform until the public lives up to its responsibility for changing the rules of the game and making green business profitable.

4) Provides an impressive, nuanced, and helpful view of China and non-traditional threats coming out of China, including invasive plant and animal species, and noxious gases leaving China with the winds.

5) Alarms regarding Australia, the English-speaking outpost in Asia, which appears much more fragile and vulnerable to collapse than generally appreciated.

6) Explores the destructive nature of religious values that cause deforestation or over-population or other ills that impact on the commons.

7) Bluntly relates environmental instability to political instability. Max Manwaring does it better in his edited work "Environmental Security," but for the general audience, these few pages are important.

8) Provides a concise and helpful thrashing of the 12 or so most common objections to being prudent about our environment.

Deep inside this book, and finally summarized by the author, is a focus on the failure of decision making at all levels of society. A failure to anticipate, a failure to perceive, a failure to attempt remediation, or even if attempted, a failure to achieve remediation, are all failures of each group and its leadership.

The author ends thoughtfully by noting that resolution of our imbalances will come one way or the other. The only choice we have is between peaceful planned sustainable changes, and catastrophic imposed "natural" corrections through war, famine, pestilence, and genocide.

I am very glad to have purchased this book, and would note that it did not make the cut via online browsing, but when examined in an airport bookstore, was found, once in hand and on direct inspection, to be worth the price of purchase and the time to absorb.

Edit of 20 Dec 07. In a larger s trategic context, what I do not see in this book is an emphasis on strategic culture or getting a grip on global reality. The USA has been living on the backs of everyone else, and only now is it starting to sink in that we are part of an The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People where everyone is is accutely conscious of The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World and our The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project).

The USA is today (20 Dec 07) a "failed state," and while it is not officially classified as one, it is relevant to note that in 2007 there are 177 failed states, up from 75 in 2005. Bush-Cheney have been terrible to America, and to the rest of the world. Absent a miraculous turning out of a true majority in 2008, America is headed for a depression.

Eco-Driven Genocide Powerfully Described in New Tome, January 8, 2005
This is a fascinating examination of how ecologically speaking, we may be doomed to repeat history's mistakes due to the lack of their immediacy to our consciousness. The prospect of self-preservation on a societal level can be a daunting one, but it is a profound question author Jared Diamond handles with skill and panache in his sweeping book. He primarily covers four extinct civilizations, showing how human-led environmental damage was at least partially responsible for their devastation and illustrating how the ramifications of such behavior persist today. As an evolutionary biologist trained in biochemistry and physiology, Diamond deftly uses comparative methods in his areas of expertise, such as archaeology and anthropology, to marshal evidence that sustaining societies over time depends primarily on the quality of human interaction with the environment. His arguments are compelling and act as a direct counterpoint to more common thinking where ideology, culture, politics and economics help shape the course of history. But the author is far more focused on what they bear on the far more important relationship society has with its climate, geography and natural resources.

The overriding theme of human history, the author feels, is that societies aren't murdered; they commit suicide. He uses the Viking settlements on the coast of Greenland as a prime example. While it did get colder in Greenland in the early 1400's, it didn't get so cold as to make it uninhabitable. The Inuit survived long after the Norse died out, and the Norse had all kinds of advantages, including a more diverse food supply, iron tools, and ready access to Europe. The problem was that the Norse simply couldn't adapt to the country's changing environmental conditions. Human accountability also shaped the fate of Easter Island where seafaring Polynesians settled over a thousand years ago. They cut the trees for canoes and firewood and used logs to help transport huge statues weighing as much as 80 tons. Eventually, they chopped down all the forests, and their society collapsed in an epidemic of cannibalism. By 1600, all of the trees and land birds on Easter Island were extinct. Diamond covers similarly fatalistic behavior in the native American Anasazi tribe in the southwestern U.S. and the Mayan civilization in Central America.

Diamond's perspective is not just historical, as he discusses in depth what is happening now in Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, China, and Australia, as well as in Montana, a state that once was among the wealthiest in the nation but now struggles with poverty, population decline, and environmental problems. The author remains hopeful by giving more uplifting examples of societies that have found ways to sustain themselves without overexploiting their environments. His conclusion is that what determines a society's fate is how well its leaders and citizens anticipate problems before they become crises and how decisively a society responds. But as we know, and as Diamond corroborates, many societies, including ours, suffer from short-sightedness and political selfishness, which prevent us from seeing the scope of the potential destruction. But it is hopeful, the author asserts, that the U.S. has reduced major air pollutants by a quarter over the past thirty years, as energy consumption and population have risen forty percent. The author's guarded optimism signals a need to take so-called green issues more seriously than we have in the past. Strongly recommended reading.

Not up to Guns, Germs and Steel, July 18, 2005
Diamond's _Guns, Germs and Steel_ and his earlier _Third Chimpanzee_ were both masterpieces of popular science writing: they brought home truths unfamiliar or not-fully-accepted even to people who followed science, and did so in a manner that was brisk and readable without seeming _too_ brisk.

_Collapse_ is not brisk. And it's message, while perhaps far more important that the message of the earlier books, is not news. There are interesting bits: the stuff about the struggles in Montana amongst miners, ranchers and newcomers is well-observed and surprisingly balanced.

But other parts of the story drag: for instance, do any general readers need to know this much about precisely how the Easter Island ecology was depleted? One begins to lose patience with the theme with only the second illustrative case of environmental collapse in the book!

The fascinating question for me is NOT whether environmental collapse is possible or precedented or whether we may be headed for it (I'll give my assent to all three propositions, and Diamond will win over few deniers regardless of how voluminously he writes on the subject).

The question I find fascinating is the one touched upon in the Montana story. Here we have a bunch of people, all of whom have understandable motives for what they are doing, who are collectively destroying their environment.

Diamond's thesis emphasizes the cultural factors that have led to collapse in the past. What I wonder is whether we aren't more or less doomed to destroy and over-exploit our surroundings if left to our own individualistic devices. In other words I wonder if the "invisible hand" of capitalism inevitably leads us to use up all we can lay our hands on. In the 18th century one of the first capitalistic thinkers (Mandeville) argued that individual vice providentially represented a collective benefit. In the 21st, that is no longer true. Perhaps the only solution to our long-term environmental problems is a solution imposed from above, autocratically.

One of the great advantages of technology is that I think this sort of solution would be do-able. Society could be compelled to do other than what individualistic economic sense drove them toward. Not a pleasant thought, but more pleasant than some of the options we see in Diamond's book.

_Collapse_ is thought provoking, but not as good a read as his earlier works, and not at all as challenging.

OPK

Epic look at a major theme in history and today's world, February 16, 2005
_Collapse_ by Jared Diamond is an absolutely epic look at why some past societies that faced grave environmental problems failed, why others succeeded, and what this "rich database" of past civilizations tells us about the current and future problems we face in our world. By the word collapse, Diamond meant a drastic decrease in population as well as in the economy and political and social complexity of a society, as opposed to a more gradual or milder form of decline. While he admitted that sometimes the distinction between a milder form of decline and a collapse is in some cases arbitrary (how drastic does the decline have to be before it is labeled as a collapse), Diamond analyzed a number of "full-fledged collapses" that few people would disagree with classifying as such.

The primary theme of this book is the nature of environmental problems that society face, which he listed in eight categories (habitat destruction and particularly deforestation, soil problems such as erosion and salinization, water supply and management problems, overhunting, overfishing, effects of alien species, human population growth, and increased per capita impact of people), and what they choose to do (or not do) about them.

Diamond made two additional points. The first is that it is na�ve to assume that societies have collapsed solely due to human-caused environmental damage. He provided a five-point framework of possible contributing factors, some of which were at work in the collapse of a given civilization, while others were not. Four of these factors - environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, and friendly trade partners (or the lack thereof) - may not prove significant to a particular society's fortunes, but the fifth factor (a civilization's responses to its environmental problems), always does. The second point is that Diamond is not an advocate of any philosophy of environmental determinism - that the environment in which a civilization exists in means that it will ultimately fail. While for instance the moai-erecting civilization of Easter Island collapsed, the society found on much smaller Tikopia Island (1.8 square miles) has existed for 3,000 years (and still exists) on an island with sustainable cultivation; the Greenland Norse ultimately failed while the Inuit on the same island still exist.

After an introduction of concepts - including a comparison with modern day Montana - Diamond analyzed in depth the collapse of several past societies, namely that of Easter Island, Pitcairn Island, Henderson Island (both islands are in the Pacific and formerly had Polynesian societies which died out), the Anasazi, the Classic Lowland Maya, and the Greenland Norse, the last of which he spent a great deal of time discussing and made for absolutely fascinating reading. More briefly he analyzed some past (and still existing) societies that overcame grave environmental crises (that of Iceland, Tikopia Island, the New Guinea highlands, and Japan of the Tokugawa era). To me these sections (around half the book) were the best part (I found lots of very interesting information in the Easter Island chapter).

Within the framework of these success stories he illustrated two contrasting approaches to environmental success, namely that of a bottom-up approach to a problem (one in which individuals in a society make choices and perform actions to correct environmental problems, as with Tikopia and the New Guinea highlands) and the top-down approach (found in large societies with a centralized political structure, such as Tokugawa Japan). Additionally, both bottom-up and top-down approaches may exist side by side.

Next, Diamond focused on several modern societies that face grave environmental problems today and in the future, specifically Rwanda, Haiti (which he contrasted vividly with the neighboring Dominican Republic), China, and Australia, going into a great deal of detail about their history, culture as it relates to the environment, current environmental problems, and what is being done (if anything) to correct these problems. I found the chapters on Haiti/Dominican Republic (another example he wrote that there is no such thing as environmental determinism) and Australia particularly interesting.

The fourth part of the book is a section he titled "practical lessons;" what analysis of collapses, success stories, and modern problems have taught us about what can be done. One thing he wrote is that he disliked single factor explanations for problems or single factor issues for activists to focus on. For instance, with the contrasting environmental realities of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, their differing developments were "overdetermined;" a number of separate factors coincided to produce the current reality. Another is that for a society to continue to exist at sustainable levels in a deteriorating environment (or for a Third World society to become a First World one), it must decide as a society which of its deeply held core values are compatible with its continued survival, which are not, and then give up those that are not. For instance the love for the farming lifestyle in Australia is a core value in Australia, but to continue having that as a core value may be incompatible with a healthy environment.

Diamond discussed in detail why societies fail to solve their environmental problems. Briefly, a civilization may fail to anticipate a problem before it arises, it may fail to perceive a problem after it does arrive, they may not even try to solve it, or they may try to solve it and fail. Regarding the second problem he made some interesting points about "creeping normalcy" (the difficulty in recognizing a gradual downward trend over years because what constitutes "normalcy" shifts "gradually and imperceptibly") and "landscape amnesia" (forgetting what a landscape looked like in the past because the downward change has been so gradual that residents in an area are less aware of it, comparing changes unconsciously to the last few years rather than say 50 years ago).

Diamond does close with saying he is cautiously optimistic that the world's environmental problems can be solved, providing examples of success stories and answering common "one-liner objections" to environmental policies. A truly excellent book, I highly recommend it.
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Editorial Review

Over the years, startling evidence has been uncovered, challenging established notions of the origins of life on Earth—evidence that suggests the existence of an advanced group of extraterrestrials who once inhabited our world.

The first book of the revolutionary Earth Chronicles series offers indisputable documentary evidence of the existence of the mysterious planet Nibiru and tells why its astronauts came to Earth eons ago to fashion mankind in their image.

The product of more than thirty years of meticulous research, The 12th Planet treats as fact, not myth, the tales of Creation, the Deluge, the Tower of Babel, and the Nefilim who married the daughters of man. By weaving together the biblical narrative with Sumerian and Babylonian clay-tablet texts, it challenges the established notions of the origins of Earth and mankind, and offers a compelling alternative history and prehistory of both.

Reviews

Ultra important book even if 50% of it is wrong..., May 23, 2002
Sitchin, if you didn't know it already, is one of the leading figures in alternative archaelogy and science in general.
These days, and especially the last 30-40 years, a "new wave" of scientists and non scientists alike has risen with the intention of re-examining what we as a species consider "knowledge", knowledge about what we are, and where we come from.
Sitchin, being one of the few people in the world who can actually read Sumerian, has spent his life examining our origins, and his conclusions have little to do with apes descending trees and miraculously evolving into humans.
In the "12th planet", his most famous of his alltogether 9 books, he suggests that we are actually the creation of an alien race which landed on earth more than 450 millenia ago, and who created us as slave labor for their purposes on this planet back then. From then on, and through a myriad interdevelopments and influences, we developed to what we are today.
Sure, this sounds controversial, and to most people content with swallowing mainstream teachings for "facts" this might seem as pure science fiction. You would have to read this book before you term it as such though.
It is an exhausting book too, as the author needs to use literally 100s of quotes on original translations he's made in order to make his argument and this isn't just any argument, you understand...
Exhausting as this book might then be at times, the reward is immense, to put it very mildly. Even if Sitchin happens to be wrong on half of his conclusions what he suggests is mind blowing and shatters to bits most of our current beliefs.
More importantly, Sitchin can serve you as a gateway to new paths of thinking. It is impossible -i would think- to read the "12th planet" and emerge the same person afterwards, providing of course that you read it with an open mind. All new knowledge recquires an open mind to begin with. This does not mean that you will necessarily agree with Sitchin if you do read it with an open mind, but the evidence he offers is important and solid enough to make you think in a way you've never thought before.
You ever wondered why we are the only species on this planet that definately does not fit in with its environment? Or why we have so many grey areas and disagreements about where we originate from and how? Or why the word "anthropos" (a greek word) means "the creature that always looks up"? Or even why the root word of the word "earth" comes from the ancient Sumerian (the word e.ri.du) and means "a home far away"?
The "12th planet" will provide you with some spectacular answers.

A hammer for the beginning, May 29, 2000
This is the first book of "The Earth chronicles" series in which Zecharia Sitchin tears the man's origins apart and puts them in a whole new perspective. Author is one of the top scholars in field of the ancient languages and offers his vision of extraterrestrial origins of Homo sapiens on Earth. His main point is that all ancient documents are written on the base of observations and facts and should not be taken symbolically. As we presume today, civilization has originated in Mesopotamia, but no one can really explain the fact that right from its start it was highly developed, that it blossomed virtually out of nothing and created incredible works, which we are not capable of performing even to date. Sitchin quotes many ancient documents, mostly Bible and Epic of Gilgamesh (which he read in Akkadian and Babylonian) and offers more sensful translation of these scripts. He also explains discrepancies of single/plural God in the Genesis and shows how the extraterrestrial wisdom has spread over other countries (Egypt, Greece, India...). Gods came from planet Nibiru (or Marduk in Babylonian), which has been created for special task: to bring order in our, at the time overcrowded solar system. After crushing Tiamat and forming Earth and Moon, planet Nibiru went on his comet-like journey, returning to the Sun in every 3,600 years. Life has formed and developed on it and some 450,000 years ago they noticed that our planet has some resources they desired. So they established settlements on Earth in range of Mesopotamia, because it is very rich with fuels, needed for space travelling. Man was created with genetic manipulation after their image (they mixed hominid's genes with their own in order to obtain higher IQ level) to do the mining work for them. In sitchin's light some very confusing and presumably highly imaginative texts suddenly seem very realistic. He explains why such monumental works like ziggurats, pyramids and other vast temples have been made and for what purposes they were used. The most monumental event in Earth's "modern" history was the Deluge, the Great Flood, found written and known everywhere around the world. Sitchin explains how Gods knew that it's going to happen and why Noah (or Ziusudra or Utnapishtim) was chosen to survive. After the waters flew away (the Deluge was coincided with the end of the Ice Age and the gravital pull of the passing Nibiru, therefore it lasted for a year), Gods gave many different technologies to people and they spread all over the Earth again. The book is very well written - if you don't accept the theory inside, it's still interesting piece of science fiction for you. I think Sitchin knows what he writes and the evidence written inside is sure enough for me. I already look forward what volume 2 will bring. And - if you disagree, maybe you know better?

An interesting but badly flawed premise, March 1, 2004
Okay, I can buy the idea that the Earth might have been visited by alien cultures in the distant past (in fact, considering what a fascinating species we obviously are, I'd be surprised if they hadn't.) I can also buy off on the idea that these ancient visitors might have been worked into the mythology of many cultures. I'm even open to the idea that life was `seeded' on this planet and that homo sapiens may be the result of some ancient genetic engineering. My problem is I can't buy off that all this occurred via a rogue planet that is in orbit around our own sun and that passes by every three-and-a-half millennias to `help us along' the evolutionary path.

I have great respect for Sitchin as a researcher and expert in ancient manuscripts, and I found much in this book to ponder. However, he makes the mistake most ufologists do in taking ancient texts as literal historical documents about real people and events rather than as fictionalized epics of antiquity. While he does at points recognize the metaphorical nature of some of their writings, he takes the ancient Sumerians far too literally, and strikes me as a man espousing a theory in search of evidence. His theory is simply too fantastic to be taken seriously and, while he makes a far more sophisticated attempt at demonstrating his thesis than Von Daniken, he makes many of the same mistakes Chariots of the Gods makes. For example, he has the residents of this twelfth planet (actually, the tenth, for he counts the moon and the sun as planets as well) fly to earth in spacecraft and have the means to genetically alter early primates, but then they travel about by means of paddle boats and utilize 19th century extraction techniques to pull gold from mines in Africa. He also stresses that the Mesopotamian region was chosen by the ancient astronauts-in part-because of its vast petroleum reserves (implying the ancients were using fossil fuels) yet there is no discussion of things like cars or trains or other types of technology these fuels might have been used for (unless we are to assume they were to be used somehow in propelling their spacecraft. Imagine, gasoline/oil powered rocket ships; what will they think of next?) He also pulls a `Von Daniken' by suggesting the ancients needed large expanses of flat ground to land their ships, giving one the impression of space shuttles and hyperjet transports, yet it would seem any technology sophisticated enough to maintain an interplanetary spacefaring capability should have figured out how to make space craft land and take off vertically (just as our own Apollo landers did on the moon.) In other words, their technology is inconsistent.

What's especially difficult to understand is why these beings don't seem to advance technologically themselves. Sitchin states they could only make the transit from their planet to our own when it swung into range every 3,600 years, but wouldn't any civilization have advanced considerably in such a vast amount of time? Consider how far we've come in just the last century; shouldn't these ancient peoples have developed an interstellar (or even intergalactic) capability over such a lengthy time? As such, there is much about these beings that appear inconsistent and inexplicable.

Finally, my biggest complaint with this book is the preposterous idea that a planet exists within our solar system that possesses such an elliptical orbit that it appears only once every 3,600 years and, more so, that this planet is teeming with beings similar enough to ourselves that they are capable of interbreeding with humans. First, if this is the case, why wasn't this planet reported during it's last pass through by ancient astrologers? Sitchin maintains this planet last made an appearance in 3,800 B.C. (just in time to get civilization kick started) yet if it has an orbit of 3,600 years, shouldn't it have shown up again around 200 B.C.? That's not all that long ago, historically speaking, and should have been quite a notable event (even if it's residents chose not to visit that time); one would assume someone-and astrology was a fairly well developed science back then-would have noted such a spectacular visitation from an unknown planet. Yet not a word exists in any ancient texts that even hint at such a remarkable event taking place. Curious.

The bigger problem, however, lies with the idea that such a planet could sustain human-like beings, despite being in complete darkness for 99% of the time. Even if it was massive enough to maintain it's own atmosphere and generated enough internal heat to prevent it from being a giant ball of ice in space, how does photosynthesis and, with it, the production of oxygen, take place? Clearly, for life to have evolved on such a planet conditions should be, at least to some degree, comparable to those on Earth. How anything more sophisticated than single cell organisms and fungus could exist on such a planet is scientifically inexplicable.

There are other problems with the book as well, but this should be enough to at least give the reader some idea of what they're getting into here. I appreciate Sitchin's scholarship and thoroughness (perhaps a little too thorough-the book is ponderous and a tedious read at times) but I can't say much for his science. An interesting book if you're into ancient civilizations and ufos and such (one might consider Sitchin the thinking man's Von Daniken) but nothing to be taken too seriously. In fact, it might have been better if Sitchin didn't take his own theory so deadly seriously; at least then he could have had some fun with it.

Optimistically Skeptical, June 8, 2000
I've read the Sitchin collection. It's a mind boggling experiance. It's also very scholarly. An expert in Sumerian language, culture, et al.., Mr. Sitchins findings, if remotely accurate, explains a lot of empty holes in our History. I have never bought the fact that ancient cultures could be THAT imaginative. I am a believer that imagination is based on some basis of experience, exposure to or passed on story. You've heard the expression, there are no original thoughts, just original ways of presenting old ideas. I can't imagine that these civilizations just made up all those elaborate stories without some sort of core truth. Was there another more advanced culture? I wouldn't doubt it--there is so much we don't know. Mr. Sitchin's assertions are worth the read if only to spark further inquiry intoour mysterious and ancient past. Also read the works of Graham Hancock. His assertions are the same but different. He looks at the world where Sitchin focuses on a region. Never the less, why is it so hard to believe that our past may have been manipulated, Why couldn't there be a prehistory that has yet to reveal itself to us in detail. It's fascinating and deserves a serious study. Those who mock these ideas now once believed the universe rode on the back of a great turtle, or thought the world was flat or mocked Copernicus. A small question can ignite an inferno of curiosity and lead those who are brave enough into a wonderful world of adventure.

A revolutionary theory - needs to be read with "caution", May 9, 2002
OK, let's get step by step to the point: This book (and the other 5 of the Earth Chronicles series, as well as the 3 companion books) presents a very exciting, revolutionary view to the ancient history, to the universe and to the sacred texts and myths. Sitchin's unique, "brave" interpretations, based on Sumerian/Akkadian clay tablets and cylinder seals and Egyptian papyri, suggest a very extraordinary alternative on the roots of our civilization which claims to replace the mainstream, orthodox understanding of history and universe. His main axis is a mysterious planet (belonging to our very own solar system, lurking in the depths of outer space but still "unknown" to us) which was somehow "hidden" in the mystical and "mythological" bulk of ancient sacred texts. Sitchin spots the "vague point" in myths, then clears the dust and mud carefully, finally points at this "surprising" planet which had been waiting to be discovered by us since millenia: This planet was called NI.BI.RU in ancient Sumerian (meaning "Planet Of Crossing"); had an orbital period of about 3600 years around the sun; and it was symbolized by the holy sign of "Winged Disk" in ancient cultures, as well as the cuneiform sign of "Shar" (meaning "3600" and "destruction".) He deciphers almost all the details about this huge planet and its "inhabitants" from a series of clay tablets, beginning with "Enuma Elish", the Babylonian Creation Epic, with a very careful attitude on ancient symbolism. This finding alone is enough to make his theory one of the most significant approachs on ancient history. But Sitchin goes further.

According to Sitchin, the "inhabitants" of planet Nibiru, "The Anunnaki" as they were called in Sumerian, had landed on Earth 450,000 years ago; had colonized our lonely planet for their mining purposes; had searched for gold and other valuable materials which had been needed in their own planet for the sake of their "atmosphere"; and at one time, when they had needed "extra labour" they had created the mankind "in their own look", by manipulating the genetic structure of the "ape man"; then they naturally had become the "powerful gods" of our ancestors. Seems very radical at first look, but also a very logical explanation, especially when considering the fact that even the "monotheistic" religions had made up their holy books (Old Testament, for example) by borrowing themes from much ancient resources and modifying them. (Thus, biblical Nephilim was nobody but the Anunnaki according to Sitchin.) A more intriguing point is about the two puzzles of modern science: "Planet X" theory (astronomers believe there should be another planet beyond Pluto since last century) and the "missing link" in evolutionist theory between the "humanoids" and "homo sapiens".

I do not want to spoil your reading fun, so I won't mention any other details on Sitchin's unique theory but I feel I'd like to state a "caution" about him: Though his theory of planet Nibiru with a 3600 years orbital period and his powerful explanations on "ancient gods" concept are very important to understand the roots of our civilization, there is something very "disturbing" with Sitchin's approach: His obsession to prove and verify the Old Testament as an actual historical resource. He puts the dawn of Sumerian civilization to 3800 BC (and puts the orbital passage of Nibiru at exactly the same date) just to make his theory to conform with the Jewish calendar, which begins on 3760 BC. He goes even further and suggests 3760 BC as the starting point of the Nippur calendar - which actually is thought to begin around 3100 BC. More disturbing than this, Sitchin takes biblical Abraham as a real personality and claims him as the real descendant of the Sumerians - a "wise" man from Nippur (thus, making the Hebrews literally "the chosen people of the god(s)" as the Old Testament states).

This religous and "nationalistic" approach not only ruins his exciting theory with his prejudice and religious obsessions, but also forces him to make dramatic mistakes on the dawn of civilization (and with the orbital periods of Nibiru) just to make everything "literally" conform to the Old Testament. And in the course of his "Earth Chronicles" series, he uses a method which can hardly be considered as scientific: He begins quoting a Sumerian myth (often without exact references) then inserts his commentary on the events; goes on with another quote from the same story (this time from an Akkadian source); again puts his commentary and then quotes a passage from the Old Testament he believes related to the same myth. This makes up a very eclectical version of the original story: A collage, just made everything to conform his view and of course, the Old Testament.

Strangely enough, Sitchin ignores Maya end-date of 2012 AD (which could contribute well to his theory on orbital periods of Nibiru); does not pay attention on Indus "kaliyuga" (starting of which coincide with Mayans "5th Sun"); and does not mention the Revelation of St John (which is very intriguing and without doubt was borrowed from much older sources.) Because none of them has any use for his efforts to verify the Old Testament. Do read Sitchin's books, they are very important works; but be warned and read with "caution".

THE MOST COMPLETE THEORY EVER PRESENTED, April 13, 2001
Zecharia Sitchin presents the most academically comprehensive, most scientifically believable, most bizzare theorum on our human evolution and intergalactic origins imaginable. The 12th Planet ranks as the best I have ever read on the subject.

Mr Sitchin's theory is that our human species was an evolutionary jumpstart advancing our expected progression by a million years. This jumpstart was the result of the crossing of ancestral primates with intergalactic travelers some 300,000 years ago. Rather than biblical mythology, Sitchin tells us that the Garden of Eden, the Flood, the extreme longevities of biblical heroes are all real events. Mr Sitchin provides the greatest level of comfort I have ever felt with Darwin's evolution -- which is to say Darwin had it almost correct until he tried to fit homo sapiens into the same mold of environmental and sexual selection as all other taxa.

Most fascinating is Sitchin's postulate that humanity has existed only for 300,000 years, as opposed to the conventional wisdom of either linear or punctuated progression from something that crawled out of the oceans millions of years ago. This postulate, based on his scholarly interprestations of the most ancient hieroglyphs he penned years before current biochemistry substantiated exactly the same timetable of between 220,000 and 270,000 years ago. His theory that we are a genetic cross between resident primates and interstellar "gods" predated our current and rapidly magnifying ability to clone within species, which is undoubtedly the precursor to our being able to genetically cross disparate species. And Mr Sitchin presents all of this truly out-of-the-box thinking with rheems of scholarly evidence.

ANYONE who has ever been interested in evolution must attempt this book with an open mind. (Darwin's original theorums are no longer taken seriously by any serious evolutionist, having been replaced with "punctuated equilibria" without any explanation as to what causes the punctuations.) Anyone who has a keen interest in the origins of biblical thought and other pre-diluvium stories, should likewise attempt this book with an open mind. If you can't approach Sitchin's ideas with an open mind because your are too wed to your beliefs, save your money -- buy something more traditional.

I would have given it 5 stars instead of 4, but my conservative self wants to hold back a little something, just in case.

A provocative new theory of man's history, January 27, 2002
This is the first book in Sitchin's monumental Earth Chronicles series. It is important to remember that fact because there is necessarily a lot of introductory material to be presented here in order to lay the foundation for what is to come. In other words, most of the really interesting stuff comes later in the series--Ancient Egypt, MesoAmerica, etc. Parts of this first book are somewhat dry and hard to get through. As one gets into the latter half, though, some pretty amazing arguments are made. If you read this book and no other, you may well have a hard time even sanctioning the kinds of ideas Sitchen presents, let alone believing them. When you read the rest of the series, though, the arguments are threshed out much more thoroughly and should at least lend an idea of possiblity to objective readers.

The idea that "ancient astronauts" (a term I dislike) had a hand in Man's creation and evolution is not new. Sitchin goes far beyond the normal arguments, however. He argues that there is an undiscovered planet in our own solar system upon which life developed and evolved millions of years before life on earth, a planet that seeded earth with its earliest life forms millions of years ago when this undiscovered planet entered our solar system and essentially crashed into a large planet between Mars and Jupiter--the planet in question was broken up into two parts, one eventually forming Earth and the other the asteroid belt. The 12th planet (counting the sun and moon as planets) he calls Nibiru; it is a planet with an eccentric orbit carrying it well past the other nine planets thousands of years at a time. Here life developed and advanced at a very early period. Needing resources, particularly gold, the planet sent forth emissaries to earth. In order to free themselves of the hard labor of mining, these aliens, the Nefilim, created Man by combining their genes with those of the ape men then on earth, a procedure made possible by the fact that the two races were in fact genetic cousins. Thus, the Nefilim became early man's gods, and their stories were told in the artifacts of the ancient Sumerians and of the kingdoms that came after them.

Sitchin makes a determined effort to tie Christianity and the Bible to the tale he unfolds. He effectively, and with good evidence, shows that the early stories in the Bible are based largely on older manuscripts from Sumeria. He explains many of the mysterious passages in the Bible by tying the stories to more complete Sumerian tales--the Elohim, the plural Deity mentioned in the Creation story, the great flood, the Tower of Babel, and others. In this endeavor, he is very successful. While one may not be convinced of his story of life on Earth, one cannot doubt the fact that the early books of the Bible are basically a condensed version of former manuscripts. He makes a convincing argument for his theories, but one will not be and should not be convinced based on this one book. Much supporting evidence is to be found in the later books in the series, where a far richer version of man's history is presented by the author. As unbelievable as many of his ideas sound, Sitchin actually does an effective job of answering many of the big questions that scientists and theologians have been unable to answer about life on earth, the most important of which is an explanation of why home sapiens developed so suddenly and miraculously 300,000 years ago. Right or wrong, his ideas answer a lot of questions and deserve serious study. Sitchin's knowledge of ancient civilizations is immense, and his judgments cannot be dismissed without serious attention paid to them.

Is God an Alien?, December 16, 2005
Sitchen readers are of two types: either they love him and believe him, or they relegate him to the fringe.
There are a few authors who influenced the direction of my work and my life, and Sitchen is definately one of them. I travelled the Old Silk Road in search of ancient manuscripts, never knowing where the search would lead.
From ancient documents in Tibetan monastaries, to Hindu concepts of the Garden of Eden and Shangri-La, there was much in Asia that corroborated Sitchen's translations and interpretations in the Middle East and Suneria. In India there are even directions for building and fueling personal vimanas (flying machines)written down five thousand years ago.

This gives Sitchen's theories and conclusions a lot of corroboration even he didn't expect. He doesn't have to one hundred percent right on everything, but it's obvious he isn't one hundred percent wrong either. This is already a classic and one you should read.

Finally, a theory that makes sense!, April 30, 1999
Mr. Sitchin does more than point out an intelligent alternative to the impossible teachings that have been thrust upon us since childhood. His information explains and corroborates ideas expressed in ancient and religious texts throughout our world in terms and interpretations that at first seem possible, then plausible, but finally, probable.

Yes, it's a bit hard to swallow the 'spaceman' theories, but give his evidence a chance. It is certainly no more incredible than many of the traditional ideas we've been taught over the years. If you feel a strong literal belief in some of those well-established dogmas, or are offended when people contradict the typical interpretations of today's largely Judeo-Christian society, you may feel that Sitchin's material shows anti-religious leanings or even approaches blasphemy. To the open minded individual, though, this book will expose an entirely possible origin of life on this planet (both all life and later, human life), more intellectually explained than the bible stories we've been asked to believe, but in fact in complete agreement with them!

If nothing else, Sitchin shows us a concise view of the evolution of myths, religions and 'sacred' teachings on this planet, and shows direct evidence that they mostly boil back to the same events. Even if you don't buy the whole Ancient Astronaut bit, the historical perspective is fascinating. And if you DO buy it (I did within the first 20 pages), it opens up a whole new interpretation of old and current events.

I'd also recommend another book, William Bramley's The Gods of Eden (personal rating: 3.5 stars). It begins with the basic Ancient Astronauts premise, but opines about the motives of the supposed extraterrestrial race. In The 12th Planet, though Sitchin tries to stay objective regarding the intent of the Annunaki, he does show evidence of mixed feelings among the community of "Gods" about the welfare of humanity. He even states that Man was, in fact, created by the Annunaki specifically to be a slave race, literally owned by the ETs. Mr. Bramley shows some impressive research of his own in The Gods of Eden, but suggests an even darker, more conspiratorial extraterrestrial race that he believes could be the cause of most or all human warfare, famine and discontent on this planet. Bramley's book also puts a very interesting slant on many current events, and suggests the possible methods these ETs use to direct and control human activity even today.

A bit sinister, but in the spirit of lively discussion, and for another phenomenal historical perspective, read The Gods of Eden (but only AFTER you read The 12th Planet)! Chew on these suppositions long and well before swallowing, but a little enlightenment goes a long way toward satisfaction!

If man were meant to fly, God would have given him wings., May 27, 1998
Mr. Sitchin is one of the few people on the planet who can read ancient Sumerian Cunieform tablets. I have always tended to admire those who rebel at the status quo when asking why, how and not liking the answers, "That's the way it's always been," or, "It is written." The 12th Planet and all the others of Zecharia Sitchin's books are quite controversial, but this does not mean without merit. If true, they would provide us with the means and understanding needed to make sure that we "adams'" are not re-enslaved by our "creators" the Annunaki. The information supplied with these books tells a more sobering story of a man who has come to be used to being disbelieved. His work represents over 40 years of study over such diverse areas as archeology, biology, medicine, space flight, astronomy, myth, legend and history. In all these areas, there rings the peal of logical truth. Mr. Sitchin's hard effort tells an incredible yet apparently logically tight and factually correct story of how humanity can tie together evolutionary thought with religious tenets. Many view this work as fictional or delusional, but to those who can read with an open mind, the implications are truly Earth Shattering. If true, and I believe it to be so, then we, as a race, need to rethink our near future plans to ensure that, as a race, we remain free from slavery and free to claim our place in the heavens. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A stirring account of the most influential battle in history
 
For millennia, Carthage’s triumph over Rome at Cannae in 216 B.C. has inspired reverence and awe. It was the battle that countless armies tried to imitate, most notably in World Wars I and II, the battle that obsessed legendary military minds. Yet no general ever matched Hannibal’s most unexpected, innovative, and brutal military victory—the costliest day of combat for any army in history. Robert L. O’Connell, one of the most admired names in military history, now tells the whole story of Cannae for the first time, giving us a stirring account of this apocalyptic battle of the Second Punic War, and its causes and consequences.

O’Connell shows how a restive Rome amassed a giant army to punish Carthage’s masterful commander, who had dealt them deadly blows at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, and how Hannibal outwitted enemies that outnumbered him. O’Connell describes Hannibal’s strategy of blinding his opponents with sun and dust, enveloping them in a deadly embrace and sealing their escape, before launching a massive knife fight that would kill 48,000 men in close contact. The Ghosts of Cannae then brilliantly conveys how this disastrous pivot point in Rome’s history ultimately led to the republic’s resurgence and the creation of its empire.

Piecing together decayed shreds of ancient reportage, the author paints powerful portraits of the leading players: Hannibal, resolutely sane and uncannily strategic; Varro, Rome’s co-consul who was so scapegoated for the loss; and Scipio Africanus, the surviving (and self-promoting) Roman military tribune who would one day pay back Hannibal at Zama in North Africa. Finally, O’Connell reveals how Cannae’s legend has inspired and haunted military leaders ever since, and the lessons it teaches for our own wars.

Superbly researched and written with wit and erudition, The Ghosts of Cannae is the definitive account of a battle whose history continues to resonate. ... Read more

Reviews

It makes you go "Hmmm...", May 3, 2010

First rate, May 16, 2010

Hannibal was pretty cool!, May 25, 2010

Interesting Thesis Marred by Lackluster Writing, July 2, 2010

"The first world war in the history of humankind"..., May 3, 2010

Panzer Pachyderms Versus the Short Sword, June 24, 2010

Carthago delenda est, April 29, 2010

Riveting History of the Punic Wars and the Battle that Sealed the Fate of Carthage, July 22, 2010

Good look at Cannae & consequences, July 16, 2010

The Antiwar War Historian, December 1, 2010

Editorial Review

Erich von Daniken again shows his flair for revealing the truths that his contemporaries have missed. After closely analyzing hundreds of ancient and apparently unrelated texts, he is now ready to proclaim that human history is nothing like the world religions claim and he has the proof!

In History Is Wrong, Erich von Daniken takes a closer look at the fascinating Voynich manuscript, which has defied all attempts at decryption since its discovery, and makes some intriguing revelations about the equally incredible Book of Enoch.

Von Daniken also unearths the astounding story of a lost subterranean labyrinth in Ecuador that is said to be home to an extensive library of thousands of gold panels. He supplies evidence that the metal library has links not only to the Book of Enoch but also to the Mormons, who have spent decades searching for it, believing it to contain the history of their forefathers.

And what about the mysterious lines in the desert of Nazca that resemble landing strips when viewed from the air? Archeologists claim they are ancient procession routes. Think again! cries von Daniken, as he reveals the data that the archeologists never even thought to check.


History Is Wrong will challenge your intellect...and maybe a few long-held beliefs. This is Erich von Daniken's best book in years! ... Read more

Reviews

Must read, August 28, 2009
I have been a long time fan of Erich von Daniken's work and have never been disappointed by what I have read. History is Wrong is no exception. From the moment I started the book, I was swept away to a place of amazement and wonder. I was so caught up in the information being presented, I began wishing I had the resources to plan my own expedition to Ecuador to explore the caves discussed.

For many people, von Daniken's work represents fanciful outlandish theories of ancient astronauts interacting with human beings millennia ago. In this book in particular, it's those exact perceptions that von Daniken challenges, by asking scientifically motivated questions that the mainstream scientific community have failed to ask. It's through these questions that the accepted, though extremely hard to believe, explanations are subjected to scrutiny.

If you have any interest in the mysteries of past civilizations, regardless of possible extraterrestrial influences, this book is a must read. It's also a given for those of us who accept von Daniken's theories.

Really good but not what I expected., January 1, 2010
I've been reading Erich von Daniken's books since I was a child so I'm predisposed to like his work. I really think that the title of the book is misleading, and I understand that it might have been chosen by the publisher rather than the author.

There are two subjects of this book, both interesting and frustrating. The larger part of the book was about how Daniken has been maligned by the press. As a media critic, he raises some important points about the lack of research that often goes into news articles and how, in the age of the Internet, mistakes and falsehoods get archived for later use and embellishment by reporters or critics too lazy to find the truth of the story for themselves. It must be very frustrating to be attacked for things you never did or said, or to have things you did do or say twisted into something completely different.

He also points out the limitations of the kind of specialization common in science and academia. What might seem unremarkable to an archaeologist with no imagination can become quite remarkable if you start looking at magnetic readings and soil content. It also might not be a good idea to leave the study of ancient texts in the province of theologians when other sciences are more relevant to the contents.

The main theory he advances is interesting, and he makes it seem cohesive, though it is quite a stretch from the Book of Enoch to the Book of Mormon. I neither agree nor disagree, but would love to see the possibility explored by the right people. Most importantly, if the metal "books" in Ecuador exist, I don't understand why they aren't brought out for all to see and study.

I'm glad I read the book, but it leaves me frustrated - I don't understand why technologically modern humans are not more aggressive in making these "mysteries" more accessible and encouraging more study. That we have sources of untapped information in this day and age is pathetic.

Maybe on the Right tTack, February 19, 2010
It has taken me a while to read this book, not because it is too long or poorly written, but because I wanted to think about what he said. Here is a brief description of the book:

World famous for his bestseller Chariots of the Gods, Erich von D�niken is again rocking the worlds of archeology, astronomy and history with a new book, History is Wrong. Here he presents his research and new evidence about the "library" of thousands of gold panels at Cueva de los Tayos, the notorious Voynich manuscript, the Book of Enoch, the Nazca lines and more revelations about extraterrestrial activity.

Von D�niken makes some startling revelations about the manuscript and the equally incredible Book of Enoch. He unearths the astounding story of a lost subterranean labyrinth in Ecuador that is said to be home to an extensive library of thousands of gold panels, and he provides evidence that the metal library has links not only to the Book of Enoch but also to the Mormons, who have spent decades searching for it, believing it to contain the history of their forefathers. And what of the mysterious Nazca lines that resemble landing strips that archeologists claim are ancient procession routes? Among other hairraising revelations in History Is Wrong, von

D�niken reveals fascinating data about the Nazca lines that the archeologists have missed.

I read this with the perspective of our WAKING GOD TRILOGY. In the Waking God Books I and II we say that a 'god seed' has been implanted in humanity that will one day be activated, with the physical birth of Adam, and transform humanity. History is Wrong says that the 'gods' were actually extraterrestrials that may, indeed, altered the human genome-perhaps a genome that was not even really human at the time. Evidence is provided, via many ancient texts that have been found in almost all ancient cultures, that advanced beings in their flying machines may have been the founders of the ancient wonders. It is postulated that these beings, seen as godly by primitive man, brought us an infusion of technology that has yet to be explained-and admitted to-by leading scientists and archeologists. Just read about the recent discoveries of the ancient Greek computer, marvel at the Mayan calendar, and examine ancient engineering feats that, by all accounts, could not have been accomplished by ancient man. Religions always gloss over or ignore the parts of sacred texts where flying machines and people of amazing power are mentioned. They paint these events as struggles between angels and demons rather than exploring other possibilities-which, of course, would be self-defeating. And, of course, the images in the Nazca desert which only come to life from the air, certainly would indicate that something happened there that common wisdom cannot explain.


The only real problem that I have with the book is that too much attention is given toward answering critics and defending his findings. For me, this was a distraction and would have been better left to a blog.

Consider these facts: Repeated sequences that do not code for proteins ("junk DNA") make up at least 50% of the human genome.

Repetitive sequences are thought to have no direct functions, but they shed light on chromosome structure and dynamics. Over time, these repeats reshape the genome by rearranging it, creating entirely new genes, and modifying and reshuffling existing genes.

Also consider that the Mitochondria, the power house of cells, has its own unique DNA and no one really knows how or why it got into our cells. Is it not possible that the unused DNA is waiting-waiting to activate when it gets the right signal? Is it possible that new streams of energy rushing through our galaxy-this is scientific fact-will cause this activation? Is it possible that 2012 is the time that the Mayans saw when humanity as we know it might end and spontaneously evolve into a new being? If von Daniken's assertions are correct, it is conceivable that aliens that founded the modern human race planted a seed into humanity that will soon come to fruition. In WAKING GOD BOOK III, THE SECOND COMING OF HUMANITY, you might find some of the answers to these questions-oh, it is still being written-and perhaps von Daniken's theories might make more sense.

All-in-all, HISTORY IS WRONG is definitely a worthwhile read.
Waking God: Book One The Journey BeginsThe Sacred Rota: Waking God Book Two

Mr. von Daniken is at it again!, October 4, 2009
Mr. von Daniken is at it again. He's gonna make the un-hip traditional scientists squirm with his theories of extraterrestrial influence on the development of our ancient ancestors. This time Mr. von Daniken examines mysterious books, like the Voynich manuscript, and their possible connection to the ancient "Gods."

I like von Daniken's theories. Sure, they're wacky but they force us to think beyond the norm, to imagine possibilities outside the realm of what the science establishment tells us to think.

Lacking, January 17, 2010
I like von Daniken and thouroughly enjoyed his earliest books but this one just doesn't cut it. He rambles on and never gives the reader enough information about anything that he is talking about. I don't really get some of the connections that he is making this time. He avows that he doesn't believe, or never did state, that the Nazca lines are not a landing strip but he really never goes into any detailed theory that he might have, except that maybe they point to the location of the metal book. He seems too intent on denying certain accusations but doesn't elaborate on his thoughts. Most of it is not new. I am certain he could have done much better and it makes me wonder why he wrote this book in the first place. It could have been so good!

Poorly edited, nothing really new, September 16, 2009
Von Daniken draws a loose and hypothetical connection between the Voynich manuscript and the Book of Enoch. Unfortunately, the author seems too weary to follow through on the beginnings of an interesting theory and instead switches gears to other subjects. This happens frequently throughout the book. Much of its volume is a whiny rant about how von Daniken has been wronged by the press and that how his ideas don't receive the scientific praise that he believes they are due. Ironically, he takes the same position as his religiously-minded opponents in providing little actual evidence of his theories and instead implicitly asks the user to take what he's saying more or less on "faith."

There's no doubt that something interesting and unusual is going on in Nazca. The Voynich Manuscript also provides interesting food for thought. However, this book fails to provide enough evidence or fresh analysis to do anything but frustrate readers that are truly interested in learning more about alternative explanations for the origins of mankind.

This book is full of typographical and grammatical errors. The editor did a sloppy job and the book is poorly titled, as von Daniken hardly comes close to making the point it declares.

Excellent reading., October 26, 2009
This book is excellent reading for people with an open mine.
My wife and I have read almost all of Erich VonDaniken's books but we do so with great perceptive and an open mine.
History is not always as one person sees it.

interesting, incomplete and poorly edited, December 23, 2009
Herr von D�niken certainly has a way to get one's attention - for a while. Then he diverts from his fascinating findings to personal squabbles, which - in my opinion - should have been left out and that space filled with more 'facts' to strengthen some of his statements.

I can align with many of the points von D�niken makes about visits from extraterrestrials, especially since I have not much faith in the run-of-the-mill religions most people believe in, a psychosis really. Also, I cannot agree with the assumption, that everything is based on or remedied by technology. There may be other layers of existence , which may be much more powerful or essential than technology is given credit for. That such other layers exist, but are not readily recognized, is alluded to in places like "The Secret Life of Plants" and he Findhorn Gardens in Scotland.

Having spent much time in Switzerland myself, I couldn't help but to perceive, that Herr von D�niken must have translated the text himself or insisted that some of his expressions be translated word for word, including the odd sense of humor, which is typical to the Swiss, yet makes little sense in the American language and which feels rather clumsy. Another historical book "A World Lit Only by Fire" is a much more fluid read. Von D�niken or his translator could learn from it. Or from Deepak Chopra, who enjoys a pleasant command of english, matched by few Americans. The "D�rfligeist" mentality in some places just didn't enhance this basically interesting book. Still, in a way I wish that much of the "facts" will turn-out to be real. I wonder if we will ever find out if that is so.

History is Wrong, October 15, 2009
The book has some new contents and some of it is from previous books by Mr. Von Daniken. I think it does not go deep enough in terms of scientific analysis. Instead Mr. Von Daniken chooses to take it personal on past criticism on his preious books.

Great Book, July 23, 2010
Great book if you enjoy mysteries and questioning the standard. Erich von Daniken does it again. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The crowning work of the best-selling Earth Chronicles series

• Reveals the existence of physical evidence of alien presence on Earth in the distant past

• Identifies and describes the demigods, such as Gilgamesh, descended from these visitors

• Outlines the tests of this physical evidence of alien presence that could unlock the secrets of health, longevity, life, and death

In whose genetic image were we made? From his first book The 12th Planet on, Zecharia Sitchin has asserted that the Bible’s Elohim who said “Let us fashion The Adam in our image and after our likeness” were the gods of Sumer and Babylon--the Anunnaki who had come to Earth from their planet Nibiru. The Adam, he wrote, was genetically engineered by adding Anunnaki genes to those of an existing hominid, some 300,000 years ago. Then, according to the Bible, intermarriage took place: “There were giants upon the Earth” who took Adam’s female offspring as wives, giving birth to “heroes of renown.” With meticulous detail, Sitchin shows that these were the demigods of Sumerian and Babylonian lore, such as the famed Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh as well as the hero of the Deluge, the Babylonian Utnapishtim.

Are we then, all of us, descendants of demigods? In this crowning oeuvre, Zecharia Sitchin proceeds step-by-step through a mass of ancient writings and artifacts, leading the reader to the stunning Royal Tombs of Ur. He reveals a DNA source that could prove the biblical and Sumerian tales true, providing conclusive physical evidence for past alien presence on Earth and an unprecedented scientific opportunity to track down the “Missing Link” in humankind’s evolution, unlocking the secrets of longevity and even the ultimate mystery of life and death.

Reviews

Myth or Reality? The Scholarship of Zecharia Sitchin, by Kenneth Pollinger, Ph.D., May 24, 2010
Having read 13 prior books by Zecharia Sitchin I can attest to his superb scholarship. There Were Giants Upon the Earth, his latest, is probably his most important since he states that there are SKELETAL remains in theNatural History Museum in London which could possibly finally end the debate about whether his works are of "myth" or historical FACT.
His main approach here is built around Pre-Diluvial and post-Diluval "gods, demigods and Pharaoh lists" (the List of Kings of Manethro; and also, those of
Berossus), as well as the genealogical line of the Hebrew Bible. He accumulates
much information about all these beings thus presented and weaves a fascinating history of their interrelationships and how they are related to: a) the beginning of creation, b) the beginning of evolution, c) the creation of Mankind, d) the Deluge, e) longevity, NOT immortality, f) and finally, how there are skeletal remains of a "Queen Puabi" and a "Prince Meskalaindug" (who are, respectively, a "goddess" and a "demi-god"), which, if their DNA and mtDNA are tested, could provide the MISSING LINK (that small but crucial group of "alien' genes--223 of them?)that genetically upgraded a Homo Erectus or Homo Ergaster to Homo Sapiens, some 300,000 years ago.
I can't help but wonder how many people have read the Book of Genesis in-depth and have bought the mainstream interpretation, whether Jewish or Christian. This book, along with his others, could possibly overturn everything they have learned in their religions. BUT, of course, the crucial point is whether we have "mythology" or prehistorical/historical facts. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to have the skeletal remains tested asap.
I urge you to read this book with an open mind and see if you can accept Sitchin's outstanding scholarship. Certainly we need to learn more about rhe earliest civilizations: the Babylonian, the Assyrian, the Egyptian, and ESPECIALLY the earliest, the SUMERIAN, which were not part of our "history" courses in school.
Lastly, if you read the book and think that Sitchin may have a tentative solution to the Missing Link, please email: Dr. Margaret Clegg at [...] and encouage her and the Museum to do the needed tests on the remains of Queen Shubad and King Mes-Kalam-dug.
And, hopefully, ANOTHER book by Zecharia Sitchin will explain the results!

Slightly let down, May 26, 2010
While I am a true fan of Zecharia Sitchen and a die-hard supporter of the alien intervention theory, I am somewhat disappointed in this, his latest work. Like too many of his other books, this one is 90% a re-hash of previously published information. While presented very well, it is frustrating to have to read the same basic summary of his previous works before getting to the "meat" of the matter, his newest research. I fully understand the need for each book in the series to be able to stand on its own. However, for many of us who have been waiting eagerly for this release it is a bit frustrating to once again see the same old format for the umpteenth time. Having said all that, I still highly recommend this book for anyone seriously interested in the AIT. The new material is fascinating and it would indeed be exciting to pursue Professor Sitchen's theories through to doing a DNA analysis of the specimens singled out.

Proof of Our Alien DNA Within Reach, August 23, 2010
Reading this book is a bit like eating your way through an enormous banquet, lured on by the promise of a delectable dessert - but when you get to the end, they've run out! At least the feast itself is lavish and tasty. The central thesis of the book is that the ancient creation myths of Gods, giants and heroes were not myths at all but actual history, and that the proof is lying in the British Museum crying out for DNA testing.

Recapping some of the best parts of his earlier books, Zecharia Sitchin presents an overview of the cosmology of our planet in which he makes the case for alien genetic manipulation as the cause for the hitherto unexplained leap from homo erectus to homo sapiens and the rapid flowering of early civilizations.

While the various archeological records may use different names for the same gods and reflect different national perspectives on the stories, by and large they reinforce each others story lines. The detective work Sitchin used to piece together a coherent chronology is breathtaking. Weaving together ancient texts, including the bible, the En�ma Elish and the Gilgamesh epic with archaeological finds and artifacts from Mesopotamia to Egypt, the 90-year-old author of The 12th Planet presents the gods (conflated in the bible to one God) in a very "human" light. Indeed, it is somewhat depressing to realize that these advanced beings, who became the lawgivers and models for our societies, had the same appetites, ambitions, jealousies and taste for sex, war and conflict that we see in ourselves. Since, according to Sitchin, aliens introduced their own DNA into that of the native hominids, I guess one could say that we come by it honestly.

The translation of ancient languages is often based on best guesses and there are disagreements and rivalries amongst the archaeologists - they are human after all. While many of them ignore evidence that doesn't fit into the conventional worldview, Sitchin fearlessly revels in inconvenient truths such as pictures of rocket ships and anachronistic artifacts like exquisite inlayed gold ornaments and musical instruments dated to the Bronze Age - before such technologies should have existed. Given Sitchin's lifelong dedication to Mesopotamian archaeology, his interpretations are as plausible as any of them, and a lot more fun to read than most.

So that brings us to the uneaten dessert. In 1922 Leonard Wooley, a British archaeologist dug up a royal cemetery in what was identified as the ancient city of Ur of the Chaldees. One of the undisturbed tombs contained the skeleton of a woman on a bier covered in a jeweled cape and surrounded by a fortune in gold ornaments, ceremonial ojects and the remains of almost a hundred attendants. The skull was exceptionally large and elongated, and Sitchin traced the inscriptions on the seals in the tomb to an Anunnaki goddess, whose genealogy goes back to the first gods to land on Earth from the seed planet, Nibiru.

The find could finally prove Sitchen's claim of our alien ancestry, and for the past eight years he has been petitioning the curators of the British Museum repeatedly to conduct DNA tests on the bone, but they have refused. A comparison with Neanderthal and modern human DNA would answer these questions once and for all. Let's hope enough pressure is brought to bear by the community to get the tests done. That would be a fitting dessert for us and for Zacharia Sitchin. In the meantime, enjoy the feast!

Buy this before you read "The Twelfth Planet.", July 1, 2010
I am a huge Zecharia Sitchin fan and have read 5-6 of his books. This one is an easy to read recap of a diminuitive amount of the information gleaned in "The Twelfth Planet." I loved that book and thought I would get to enjoy new info with "There were Giants Upon Earth." I was mistaken & disappointed. If you have not read "The Twelfth Planet," and you do not have the patience for great detail and scholarly work...you will get something from Giants.

Sitchin should win an award, July 27, 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've read almost all of Mr. Sitchin's previous books and I am convinced that he has single-handedly solved the mystery of how and why we humans came to exist on this planet. As some other reviewers have noted, much of this book is a rehashing of the theories & evidence presented in his earlier books. I personally do not see this as a drawback because I welcomed having a nice concise summary of his theories of humanity's origin. And the climax of this book is amazing. Mr. Sitchin has done some great detective work and I only hope someone with the means & opportunity will perform the DNA testing he suggests. This book is a wonderful culmination of this great man's life-long work, and I applaud him for it.

Do we want to learn the truth?, June 10, 2010
Do we, humanity want to learn the truth about our origin and history? If you have the courage and the curiousity to look at humanity and it's history in a very different way from what we learned at school or in bible studies, then this book is for you! Meticulously researched and presented it is a delight to read. I read it in one and a half days and I was sad when I finished it.

Another recap with some new stuff thrown in., November 25, 2010
This unfortunatly will be the last work of Sitchin as he passed away this October. This was a terrible loss to all alternate history buffs. You will be missed!! As far as There were giants upon the earth, It is basically a rehash of information from his other books. With his new theory of a possible Goddess Anunakki's body being discovered in ancient Sumer. The book keeps you into it even if like me you have read all of Sitchin's work. He starts with Alexander the Great's trek to find his own immortality. Then into the orgins of the Gods,Demigods and Humans. The book really has a nice easy flow to it. It is a joy to read and it is not over done with some of the mathmatics that where in earlier books. All in all a enjoyable read even if only 25% of the book is new information at most. I wonder who will now take up the torch now that we lost Zacharia Sitchin?

the true origins of mankind, September 10, 2010
Why did Alexander the Great interrupt his campaign to make a detour for Egypt? How come so many varied ancient texts tell the same creation story as the Bible? Who was Noah? Did a giant ice shelf break off of Antarctica and cause the great flood of the Bible? Are the progenitors of mankind in fact extraterrestrials? Zecharia Sitchin has been exploring these and other mysteries for decades. Now 90 years old, his newest book, is a summation of a lifetime of work.

//There Were Giants Upon The Earth// seeks to unravel the true meaning behind ancient tablets, the Bible, architectural remnants of legendary cities such as Babylon, stories of Gods in myth, and more. It is a dense read, to be sure, and not always easy to follow. But, if you stay with it the reader will learn many things that are omitted from 'official,' sanctioned history. In the final analysis, Sitchin believes that advanced civilizations once existed on Earth and they were started by beings from another planet.

I believe he has made a compelling case for this thesis. Open your mind to other possibilities.

Reviewed by Bruce Marshall

Any Sitchin Book - Excellent Read, August 23, 2010
Sitchin has done it again...great book of the times even if you've not read any of his previous works on earth's distant past, humanity's [unorthodox yet plausible] origin and clues about our [possible] future encounter with entities tied to the dawn of modern man. As with earlier works, this rendition provides excerpts of Sitchin's previous enlightenment and/or references to them (handy any time one's interest is peaked and want to 'dig up' additional details).

stunning!, July 27, 2010
I absolutely loved this book. Just as Sitchin's theories and conclusions are endlessly criticized and controversial, his books are truly fascinating. The short informational articles at the end of each chapter,the wonderful illustrations, and his stunning proposal for evidence of alien DNA that's been sitting in the basement of a British museum add to his main argument. I'll read this one again after finishing the Earth Chronicles series. I'm also glad I bought the hardbound version. ... Read more