Artifacts Books

I enjoyed the book (see other reviews for synopsis). It was a "fun" read with a little bit of thoughtful material (e.g., what it would be like to be confined to life as a ship). It was one of those books that frequently made me smile, but it was not a page turner.

I'd been looking for a bit of intelligent escapism, and certainly found it in this collaborative effort by Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey. The Ship Who Searched is the second in the Brainship collection (though the books needn't be read in order) - where each book in the series is a team effort between McCaffrey and various eminent authors in the genre.

The Brainship world of the series is a version of our own future, where humankind has long since left our solar system. The characters are still very much informed by the Earth history we know, however, and though the novels take place amongst other worlds and are occasionally populated by other nonhuman species, the story feels very real for that reason.

Hypatia Cade (Tia) is a precocious and brilliant child, and as the daughter of xeno-archaeologists has spent her young life traveling from one planet to another on exploratory digs. Her parents are investigating the puzzling disappearance of a world-hopping alien civilization that vanished without a trace long ago.

While playing at her own "pretend" dig, Tia uncovers what seems to have been a waste repository for the aliens. She somehow contracts a virus that results in the gradual loss of feeling and control in her extremities and by the time she tells her parents (not wanting to interrupt their work with what the ship's AI tells her are "growing pains"), it is too late. Hypatia is transferred to a medical facility, where it is determined that she will never regain control of her body below the neck.

In this future world, children born with debilitating congenital defects are often entered into the Brain/Brawn program, where their non-functioning bodies are sealed up into ships (or occasionally spaceports or other facilities) and their minds become the "brains" of the craft. These "shellpersons" are essentially one with the ships they inhabit; their brains have been enhanced and modified to monitor every aspect of the electronic and mechanical workings, and they "feel" the hull as though it were their own skin. Brainships are paired with a Brawn, a living (and mobile) component to the ship's operations. These pairings are typically very close, given their intimate proximity and the partners' frequent long-term isolation in space travel during their assignments.

The Ship Who Searched has a lot of heart for a sci-fi novel. Hypatia is a compelling and likeable character; her only hope is to convince the Brain/Brawn directors that she's not too old to be included in the program, so that she can fulfill her dreams of becoming a pilot with the Archaeological division. So, too, must she solve the riddle of the vanished alien race, whose disappearance may be linked to the disease that devastated her body - plague is a common threat to the archaeologists of the future. And, as both a Brainship and a developing young woman, she must navigate her growing feelings for her newly assigned Brawn, Alex.

The Ship Who Searched is a fast-paced, emotionally satisfying, and thoroughly entertaining read. The application of archaeology to a science fiction setting was compelling and well conceived, and the Brain/Brawn program feels surprisingly believable. I found it refreshing to read a novel where several main characters are physicaly disabled, and found the book's treatment of the subect to be very balanced sympathetic without being pandering. While the ending felt a bit too quick, it was natural and fulfilling. I had quite a bit of fun with this one, and will definitely be investigating others in the series.

-Jacquelyn Gill

Hypatia (Tia) Cade is an astonishingly bright and surprisingly well adjusted daughter of two distinguished archeologists. Although her parents were totally engrossed in excatvating long dead civilizations on remote planets they were also quite devoted to their daughter, refusing to send her away to be raised by strangers or enrolled in a boarding school. During the day while they were outside working at the site Tia kept busy working at the teaching terminal supervised by the resident A(rtifical) I(ntelligence) and occasionally chatting with Moira, the brainship that serviced their site. It was a happy life for Tia, one that she intended to continue so that she could join her parents as a colleague once she completed school. Unfortunately tragedy struck in the form of an exotic virus that left Tia completely paralyzed, her only option for any sort of independent life lay in becoming a shell person, a living brain encased in a shell and controlling a space station, a city, or a ship.

Once Tia completed her training and selected her 'brawn' Alexander the pair found themselves tracking down tomb raiders and stopping plagues from sweeping through the galaxy, jobs they were uniquely suited for. Along they way they made a few other discoveries that would have even more far reaching consequences than they ever could have foreseen.

This 1992 book is a continuation of the 'Ship' series begun by McCaffrey years before with THE SHIP WHO SANG. The basic premise of the series is that severely handicapped infants are placed into 'shells' where their devasted bodies are no longer a prison for them. There are references to earlier books in the series, as well as a few inside jokes concerning other future collaborators to the series but this work can definitely stand on its own and be enjoyed without any knowledge of earlier works.

This book was a book club choice. It is written by two of my favorite fantasy Authors. The thought of them doing science fiction together intrigued me. The book turned out really well. I enjoyed the story from cover to cover. I found that I could not put this one down. I have gone on to slowly read the rest of the Brainship series. Each one is a piece that can be read by itself as well as a series. This one if facinating because tia is not put into the brainship program at birth but at 7 years old.

The Ship Who Searched (1992) is the third SF novel in the Brainships series, following PartnerShip. In the previous volume, Nancia was closely involved in the investigation and arrest of the Nyota Five. After the trial and disposition, Forister praised her for her judgment in the recorded statements she made for the trial.

In this novel, Hypatia Cade is the daughter of an archaeological team. Doctors Pota Andropolous-Cade and Braddon Maartens-Cade are conducting an Evaluation dig at a Salomon-Kildare site. The three of them are alone on the planet except during the supply ship visits.

Tia is alone in the camp during the day, except at mealtimes. She spends most of the day doing homework, watching holos and monitoring communications. Shortly after her seventh birthday, Moira -- TM-370 -- is an unexpected visitor. Moira has diverted a routine run to bring their supplies and a birthday present for Tia.

Moira and her Brawn Tomas are very welcome visitors. Tia has known Moira for some time and they get along very well. And then there is the birthday present, a blue teddy bear. Tia is extremely pleased with the gift.

Tia is not particularly lonely on the remote site. After all, she spends more time with her parents than most children. She even gets to help at the main dig when her parents aren't doing very sensitive activities. Since the planet has little atmosphere, she has to wear a vacuum suit at the site.

On days when her parents are too busy for her to visit, her parents let Tia don her vacuum suit and go play in her own dig. She carefully excavates pretend artifacts from the trenches. Then she digs up something that is a very real artifact.

She carefully seals it in a plastic container and brings it into the habitat to show her parents. Unfortunately, the container leaks and she gets a face full of dust. However, her parents are excited over the find and spend the next couple of weeks excavating the alien waste dump.

Tia catches some kind of disease from her first find and feels tingling in her feet and hands. Eventually, she loses sensation in all her extremities and is paralyzed from the neck down. Even her face is partially paralyzed.

In this story, Tia becomes a shellperson. She is the oldest person ever admitted into the program. She does very well and eventually is installed in her brainship.

Hypatia -- XH-1033 -- is now working for the Institute, delivering supplies to various archaeological sites. First she has to select a Brawn. None of the first six are suitable and the second six are not much better. Her supervisor is perturbed and wants her off the tarmac as soon as possible.

Alexander Joli-Chanteu is one of the last set. Tia spends more time with him than the others, but finally decides that he is not quite the right person to be her Brawn. But then he comes back after dark and has a more candid conversation with Tia. Although she still sees some flaws in his character, Alex does have the right sort of attitude and an interest in archaeology. Tia decides to choose him as her Brawn.

Tia and Alex become specialists in dealing with plagues and other sorts of diseases. While they are not doctors, they have run into more than their share of ailments and have learned to counter their effects until the medical personnel arrive. So MedCen preempts their services to hunt for smugglers who are bringing diseases into the Central Worlds.

This tale has Tia searching for the source of her paralytic disease. Since it came from the middens of a Salomon-Kildare camp, she reckons that the source of the disease was the homeworld of those aliens. She carefully follows the archaeological papers on the search for the eskay origins.

The story concerns a very precocious girl with a horrible disease. Yet she is so courageous that she impresses everyone who meets her. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for McCaffrey & Lackey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of archaeological explorations, undercover investigations, and a very exceptional woman.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This book is so refreshing. Some of the recent MTG books I've read have been rather dissappointing (Mirrodin cycle and Kamigawa cycle) compared to the beginning of the entire series (Brother's War, the Thran, the Ice Age cycle). This book is one of the best of the series... I think I enjoyed it more than the Brother's War.

It gives the a good glimpse into Urza's mind and world post-"insanity." His research is interesting, his artifacts are very cool, and his "relationships" with his students is ever awkward (but then again, how in the world can Urza Planeswalker carry on with mere humans). The metal golem, Karn, also plays a very powerfuly role in the book, exploring his purpose in the world and his role in Urza's plans. He is trying to discover, dare I say, his "humanity."

The whole time manipulation plays a very interesting role in the book, and as always the phyrexians are punks to the very core. I thought it was so facinating how the phyrexians were in a different time speed than Urza's school and the problems that resulted because of this.

I recommend this book to everyone, MTG fan or not. It is fun and interesting. J.Robert King writes a very compelling story with relatable characters on the verge of destruction.

This third book in the tale of Urza the Planeswalker is much better than the second, Planeswalker, and possibly even better than the excellent The Brothers' War. Picking up where PLANESWALKER ended, TIMESTREAMS tells of the continuing war between Urza and the minions of Phyrexia. Similar to the previous two books, this one spans around 50 years of time, skipping multi-year periods in which armies are built and characters grow older, resulting in a action-packed and exciting read. J. Robert King is a very talented writer, bringing the world of Dominaria to life like few (if any) other MTG authors have.

Most of this book is taken up by battle sequence after battle sequence, with Urza's armies of students and artifacts fighting off a never-ending stream of attacking Phyrexian mutants. While there is action galore, this book also introduces some great and intriguing characters. Jhoira, Teferi, and Barrin are Urza's disciples and proteges and are each developed into believable and highly individual characters that you'll really get to know as the story progresses. Karn, a silver golem that appears in a number of other MTG books (Rath and Storm, Mercadian Masques, and others), is created by Urza in the first chapter, and much of the book is devoted to developing his personality and purpose. The idea of Urza's Legacy, including Karn and the Weatherlight, is also developed here.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this book is the exploration of time rifts, where the flow of time is either faster or slower than normal. King does an excellent job of making this concept seem somewhat believable and uses the rifts masterfully to make this story one you're not likely to forget. I'd feel comfortable saying that this is the best MTG book I've ever read.

Highly recommended.

This is where so many of the characters are developed that lead to the other series. Seeing the obsession of Urza as he seeks a way to destroy Phyrexia and his interaction (or lack thereof) with those around him made the story compelling.Great addition to the cycle; I just wish Jeff Grubb or J.Robert King had done the second book in the Cycle.

This book was pretty good,... I felt that this novel was very choppy. Years would pass all of a sudden, leaving you to wonder what happened during that period of time. I'd lose interest sometimes, leaving the book to sit for weeks before picking it back up again. Despite these faults, I really liked the concept of the "Alliance" of races, and I thought the battles were well written. I'm glad Yavamaya finally got some attention as well. Hopefully Bloodlines will keep my attention better.

I read this book during my lunch breaks while I was teaching SUmmer School. I found it extremely enjoyable and I particularly liked the way he used time paradoxes when he described the Time Bubbles.

Very Good. My students liked it too.

This is the single most usefull reference book of it's type. Every serious researcher needs this.

This is the "bible" of genealogy citation. The layout of the book makes it easy to find the source and how to cite it correctly on research.

Service in getting this book was both quick and easy. The book is great and has been very helpful in my family research.

"Evidence Explained" by Elizabeth Shown Mills is by far the most comprehensive resource I have seen for accurately and effectively citing historical sources. The book is well organized and the author provides excellent citation examples for just about every source imaginable. Whether you are a novice or experienced researcher, I would highly recommend this book.

I admit it -- when a new book is announced by Elizabeth Mills, I immediately put in an advance order, without even reading any reviews. I've heard her speak at dozens of conferences and seminars, local and national, and I've read (I think) all of her published articles. My regard for her professional expertise is such that anything she cares to say, I want to hear.

Taken by the main title alone, and by the announced length of the book, I was hoping for a grand collection of the author's thoughts on the ferreting out of sources, the evaluation of evidence gleaned from them, and the knitting of that evidence into a provable case. Sort of a distillation of her forty-plus years of accumulated wisdom in an area of family research in she is arguably the leading expert. The subtitle, though, is more accurate. Only twenty-two pages at the beginning address the subject of evidence and what to do with it.

The bulk of the volume is given over to a series of topical chapters of various types of source materials -- published books and articles, unpublished manuscripts, business and institutional records, census, church, and cemetery records, local and state records produced by courts and clerks, national governmental records, and laws and court cases. Another sizable section covers handwritten and electronic correspondence, records and other materials (often ephemeral) found on the Internet, and broadcast or televised source material. Each chapter and section is preceded by a "QuickCheck" list of concise models and examples of the citation formats under discussion. (Those for electronic sources expand on Mills's "QuickSheet: Citing Online Historical Resources," a four-page laminated ready-reference tool also published by Genealogical Publishing (revised edition, 2007). There's an immense amount of detail here, far more than in Mills's classic and now standard _Evidence!_ (1997). If you need to know how to cite the contents of the Norwegian Lutheran Church's registers, you'll find it on pages 362-65. In that regard, this volume should be considered the genealogical equivalent of the _Chicago Manual of Style,_ and as such, it's going to be the immediate standard for genealogical writing for publication. But it will probably be regarded as overkill for most hobby-level researchers. (The author would argue that every effort should be made to produce the best work possible, whether the researcher is a professional working for pay or a weekend hobbyist, . . . and I would agree. But still.) Perhaps this book would have been better conceived (and marketed) as a substantial expansion of _Evidence!_ And I'm still hoping to see that future work with Elizabeth Mills's name on it, called perhaps "Everything I Know About Genealogy."

Finally: Not to cavil, but one error on the very first page caught my eye, where the author quotes Lawrence of Arabia's warning that "All sources lie," and then refers to him (twice) as "Sir Lawrence." Actually, Col. T. E. Lawrence's given names were "Thomas Edward," and the proper style is therefore "Sir Thomas." The copyeditor really should have caught that.

Artifacts is well written. The setting is interesting and vividly described. The main characters are quirky and multi-dimensional and represent the kind of people that I would like to know. The author apparently knows about the field of archaeology and knows how to weave this knowledge into a good mystery. Based on this book, I bought the second in the series and enjoyed it, too.

A rivoting mystery about a strong female lead character with a problem: money. The story keeps you turning pages and leaves you satisfied while avoiding caricatures. Yes, Faye is a loner, but what detective worth his or her salt isn't? She's a scofflaw with morals, and her supporting cast is finely and sympathetically drawn.

Evans weaves in a multi-generational plantation history of Faye's home, Joyeuse Isle (cleverly named from a Debussy composition), perched on the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast of Florida.

Satisifying to feminists, history buffs, those with an interest in archeology and meteorology, and just plain old mystery lovers.

The author's background as a scientist, musician, and mom help her create a believable and well developed world full of characters to care about. Fans of Sue Grafton, PD James, and Sara Paretsky will enjoy this book.

I can hardly wait to read Relics, Faye's next adventure.

Artifacts is one of those books that isn't written, it is crafted. It is Evans' first book and it is packed with descriptive detail, multiple plot lines, and interesting characters with lots of back story. This book is a page-turner as the reader gets sucked into Faye Longchamp's struggle to save her historic home, solve the murders of two co-workers, solve the mystery of the disappearing skeleton and... but I don't want to ruin it for you.

Faye is a fascinating character. She has a background in archaeology and knows that the illegal artifact hunting she is doing to generate cash and keep her historic home in the family is wrong, but she is desperate. She is without family and doesn't have much of a support group or a safety net, but she has a goal and she is determined. Evans has given us so much detail about Faye and her situation that the reader has a great deal of empathy for her and her plight. As events unfold, Faye has to make some hard decisions. Evans clearly plotted this book carefully and keeps Faye's choices true to her character - she doesn't take the easy way out and leads the reader down paths that are sometimes unexpected but feel right.

This book is a delight to read. It is a wonderful blend of the past and present and, along the way, you learn a little bit about archaeology, flint-knapping, historic homes, slavery, and the illegal trade in artifacts. This is the kind of book you recommend to everyone you know - and anxiously await the author's next book.

Favorite character? That is a hard one. Joe, Liz, and Magda are all friends of Faye, are great characters, and are all given great moments in which to shine. I think it has to be a three-way tie. Did I guess it? Yes - but that didn't detract from the book one bit. Will I read another? Just as soon as it comes out!

[...]

Archaeology student Faye Longchamp is struggling to keep her ancestrail home of Joyeuse on Florida's northern gulf coast by illegally digging up artifacts on federal lands and selling them on the black market. However, one day she unearths a human skull and it doesn't look like it's been in the ground for a couple hundred years, more like only three or four decades, so it's not fresh, but not an artifact either, and judging by the head wound, this woman met a violent end. She decides to try and find out who the dead woman was on her own, as she can hardly go to the police and confess that she'd found the skull by illegally pot-hunting.

Then the next day two students on a legitimate dig she'd been working on wind up missing, then their bodies are found in shallow graves and she has to wonder if their deaths are tied in with her own dead person. And, of course, there is a very bad guy out there who wants to keep this all quiet, so Faye is in a spot of trouble.

ARTIFACTS won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence in Mystery and it is easy to see why. This is a story that will keep any mystery buff glued to his chair till the reading is finished. A darned good debut, one you won't be able to put down, that what this book is.

As an archeology-phile, I was predisposed to like this first mystery by Mary Anna Evans. But there is so much more there than just archeology and mystery. Her characters are decidedly physical and real, the disparate elements of her plot, with the helping hand of Fate, dovetail perfectly to keep you reading until all the loose ends have been woven into place.

Faye Longchamp is a tough, smart, gutsy heroine who still savors her few chances to be feminine. Joe Wolf Mantooth, the simple-hearted Indian who shares her home, is a complex, realistic hero. It takes all the wit and strength that either of them has to get through what life throws in their way.

When the book opens, Faye has discovered the remains of a murdered woman while doing some illegal "pothunting" on Federal lands. She can't rest knowing the woman is alone and unavenged, but how can she report her discovery without sending herself to jail? By researching the "case" on her own, until she thinks she has the solution.

But almost immediately, two students working on a legitimate excavation with Faye are shot to death and buried in shallow graves. Does it have anything to do with Faye's find? While she works to make enough money selling black market artifacts to keep up the property taxes on her ancestral home, Joyeuse, she is dogged by the spectre of a man who has killed before, by the large-scale artifact thieves operating just a short distance from her, and by the outside world which has only suspicion for people who live without need of society or technology.

"Artifacts" is a smashing story, blending excerpts from the journal of several generations of former owners of Joyeuse with the contemporary occurrences which Evans weaves into a perfect, but never simple, tapestry of a story.

This is a wonderful book. I found it hard to put down once I started looking at it. Each caption is very heartfelt from those who served in Vietnam and those who know someone who did. I love the fact that with books like this, "they will never be forgotten". Some of the words are very small and I definately needed my reading glasses, but the pictures are worth a thousand words. A huge thank you to those who served and those that sacrificed.

This is a moving book about the artifacts left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington,D.C. Reading and seeing the pictures, about the different artifacts: stories, letters and notes are of interest on there own admission, but to tie it to the individual name on that black slab of granite, America's tombstone of the Vietnam War is mythical.

Have picked it up a number of times, since reading and digesting its contents.

No matter how you may feel about the war, the humanity revealed in this book will touch your heart. A little keepsake or memento left behind to a buddy, brother, husband or father is more than politics or justification of warfare it is about an offering to a loved one that died. That old saying a picture is worth a thousand words is true with this book, I found myself just staring blindly at insignificant objects that in any other place could easily be looked over, but here its is given to pay homage to the dead and maybe give a little peace to the living.

Eventhough I do not understand the Vietnam war, and I was not alive at the time, this book really touched me. The guilt, pain, and loss that the offerings people had left made me cry. There was a picture with a little girl and her dad, and a veteren was telling about the day he met the man in the photo. I think that story will stick with me forever. I saw the pain of innocense lost through the artifacts, and the truth of the poeple in that war was revealed. I reconmmend this book to anyone from that era to the youth of mine.

I sobbed through Offerings at the Wall. Sobbed for the loss of innocence and young lives lost. For anyone raised in the 1960s this should be a must read to understand and come to grips with the imapct the Vietnam War had on our generation. God speed to our veterans and to the brave young men and women of today's military still fighting for our freedom. Please take the time to thank a veteran for his/her service to our country.

I really like this book. I got if for my 2 year old to get her familiar with Christmas. Last year she had just turned 1 and had no idea what was going on other than she got to rip a lot paper. It is basically a parody of Jingle Bells and we sing it almost every night as it is one of her top 3 books right now.

This book is absolutely adorable, any child that loves the Backyardigans will absolutely love this book. If you are anything like me you find that you will have a hard time just reading the book. It's written to the rhythm of the song Jingle Bells, so I find it almost impossible to just read it. I have to sing the words to the rhythm of the song. My son gets such a kick out of it. We've spent many nights laughing and enjoying this book. I highly recommend it.

My three-year-old loves to be read to, especially from books that have flaps. This book fits right into her wheelhouse and our reading sessions are more interactive as she lifts the flaps, points out what's underneath, and giggles. This is a must for parents who (like myself) are trying to limit that daily tug-of-war with television.

Just like the "Monster Halloween Party" book, this book is wonderful for any Backyardigan fan and budding book lover. The flaps are so cute, and pretty durable. I would recommend this for any Backyardigan fan.

I bought this for my 2-year-old son who loves the Backyardigans. I love that this book has beautiful illustrations and the foils add something extra too. There are a few flips on each page and keeps my son interested in the book when he gets tired of listening to me reading. (he has ripped a few off, though) The text rhymes and I sing the book's words to my son in the tune of "Jingle Bells" sometimes and he laughs. This is one book he wants to look at and have me read to him. In fact, he got two for Christmas (one from me and grandma) and he loves them both!

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3A80YKC8W7UEE New Chronology is a theory validated by astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient manuscripts that asserts: that Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th centuries. Human civilization is barely 1000 years old!

New Chronology complies with the most rigid scientific standards:

- It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know;
- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion;
- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically;

New Chronology goes by the following basic axioms:
- Chronology is the basis of history;
- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;
- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history are fantasy and hoax;
- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;
- The closer in time is a given manuscript to the events described the less distortions it contains;
- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Fomenko asserts: There was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by over two centuries of yoke and slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a trilingual state with Arabic and Turkic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that official Russian history is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scholars brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs. Their ascension to the throne was the result of conspiracy, so they charged these imported historians with the mission of making Romanov's reign look legitimate.

Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate Godunov rulers and the ambitious Romanov upstarts.

As Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, he successfully removes a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one: the Ancient Rome: the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the 14th century A. D., the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece.

The Ancient Egypt: the pyramids of Giza become dated to the 11th to 14th century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less. The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the 11th to 15th century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone, like enormous Dendera horoscope that hangs in main entrance to the Louvre museum in Paris.

He was the first one to decipher and date unambiguously all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case.

English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the book "History: Fiction or Science?" portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such ancient history. Period. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the 17th 18th century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them otherwise.

Islam with all its key figures appears as late as 15th-16th century A. D. as a branch of proto-Christianity. This is amply illustrated by imagery of Prophet Mahomet, archangel Gabriel, Heaven and Hell of this period. In today's Islam all imagery of the things living is taboo.

Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th 17th century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a proto Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian!) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.


The history of religions according to Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the 11th century and Jesus Christ ), Bacchic Christianity (11th to 12th century, before and after Jesus Christ), Jesus Christ Christianity (12th to 14th century) and its subsequent mutations (15th to 17th) into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on..

Saint Augustine was quite prescient when he said: "be wary of mathematicians,.. particularly when they speak the truth."

Henry Ford once said: "History is more or less bunk!"

Prominent mathematician Anatoly Fomenko not only proved it for a fact, but as true scientist tried to upgrade it into a rocket science.

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Very fun history book!! It is engaging and not overloaded with unused information. Each article is short and to the point. I read the whole thing and I am not one for history!

This is a good book for Triva buffs and History buffs that discribes where all sorts of interesting items have gone and where they are now. This is a book that will make a great one time read and referance book. It is also big and looks good on a book shelf!

This is a good book for Triva buffs and History buffs that discribes where all sorts of interesting items have gone and where they are now. This is a book that will make a great one time read and referance book. It is also big and looks good on a book shelf!

Rachlin has compiled an amazing amount of information on a wide range of subjects into this collection. It is a great book for anyone who enjoys history, whether as a hobby or a scholarly pursuit. He keeps the entries short and concise and still manages to provide a thorough explanation on the artifacts. The book is also convienient in its structure, in that you can read a chapter, put it down and leave for months, and then come back and read about another historical treasure.

I watch the History Channel too but somehow missed this. Working for an airline I do not have alot of time to spend on novels etc. But this is right up my gangway. Neat stuff to tuck away in my brain for a rainy day or maybe a gameshow! Glad I saw it here.

If you were born in the 1950's this book is for you! All the great shows are here (U.N.C.L.E., Wild, Wild West, Mission Impossible, etc) The book is nicely illustrated and features the author's incredible collection of props from many different shows. Much of the author's prose illustrates his considerable knowledge and love of the subject. I wonder if the former Soviet Union has books like this one? It is my theory that the Soviet Blok collapsed because it simply wasn't very fun. This book is fun. Buy it, or you will be shot with a sleep dart (while you are sleeping, of course, so you will never know that you have been shot with a sleep dart)

Danny Biederman is the actual author--the forward was by Robert W. Wallace. Biederman's collection of fictional spy artifacts is interesting to both movie buffs and to those involved in real-world espionage. I hadn't heard of most of the movies in "the Incredible World of Spy Fi," so I'll be looking them up on DVD. The spy gadgets and props are almost as important as the actor--the gimmicks are characters, too! Who can forget John Steed's steel-lined bowler, Maxwell Smart's shoe phone, the U.N.C.L.E. Special, James Bond's PPK and tricked-out sports cars, or Jim Phelp's self-destructing tape recorders? I enjoyed reading this book and it will be a valuable reference in my personal library.

This book should be in the library, or, more likely, on the coffee table of every aficionado of espionage. Most of us of a certain generation were weaned, so to speak, on the exploits of the imaginative and edgy TV spy series of the 1960s, so there's much here to bring one back to one's formative years. Danny Biederman gives it all his intelligent, informed, and indulgent commentary. There is simply no book like this.

Christmas present, birthday present, valentine's present, no-special-occasion present: this book makes me HAPPY! I can't imagine anyone not falling in love with it. It brought back floods of ecstatic memories -- and of course, I had to read it while drinking a shaken/not/stirred martini! BRAVO! MORE BOOKS from Mr. Biederman's archives -- and WOW, can he write! Wry, witty, charming, impeccably researched -- 10 STARS!

Danny Biederman's THE INCREDIBLE WORLD OF SPY-FI is not only the perfect coffee table book for those of us who grew up wanting to be James Bond (and maybe still DO want to be James Bond), it's also a brilliant and deeply enjoyable work of scholarship and pop-culture history. Biederman's personal collection of props, costumes, and other arcana from the Bond films, TV shows like THE MAN FROM UNCLE, and even spoofs like AUSTIN POWERS, has been justifiably legendary for years; now he's given us the gift of an intense look at just a fraction of that collection. One word of warning: Don't just get lost in the incredible photos, because Biederman's insightful, humorous, and intelligent prose (which accompanies the pics) is every bit as pleasurable as the visuals. My only complaint? I just wished this book was six times longer. Can we hope for a SPY-FI 2 sometime in the future, Mr. Biederman? Sure hope so.

This truly is a masterpiece! Wonderfully illustrated and historically accurate book for young and old. Every student and household should own this amazing book. The personal letters of Merriweather Lewis to his mother were very interesting, they made you feel as if you were there with them. Reading this book makes you more appreciative of the country we live in and the wonderful contributions Lewis and Clark did for this nation. This is certainly a MUST read!

Much has been written, let it simply be said this is the type of book you can pick up for ten minutes and learn something new and fascinating. The pop-outs and pull-out copies of historical documents is wonderful. I've stumbled on it at a retail outlet and have since bought several more as gifts. A good investment for all ages.

This is a very fun book to read. It has many pockets that contain maps, receipts, and letters that look and feel like the real artifacts. One gets the feeling of history looking through these things. It is appropriate for young people, and adults. It is not a book to read though for the "details" however. I highly recommend this book to school libraries or young people with an interest in Lewis and Clark history. For details of the expedition look at Undaunted Courage, and/or Moulton's book.

I purchased this book for my daughter after we visited Fort Clatsop, Oregon where The Lewis and Clark Expedition settled for the winter. My daughter is ten years old and absolutely loves the interative features of the book, such as the replicas of the maps and journal entries from the expedition. The book was such a hit for my daughter's birthday that my parent's ordered the book and a little girl at the party ordered one also.
The replica maps and writings are a little hard to read as the writing 100 years ago has evolved to what we have now. But helping your child interpret these readings makes this book a true family book.

Keeping history in perspective is important.What is 200 years?I am creeping on to 70 and my father was born in 1891.So,it was only 85 years before my father was born that Lewis and Clark completed their journey.Another way to look at it is that Clark died in 1866 only 25 years before my father's birth.Not really all that long ago,when you think of all that has happened in that short time.
This is a very unique book,only 48 pages;but a real excellent effort.Scattered throughout the book are over a dozen packets containing authentic looking reproductions of maps,letters and other documents that were prepared along the trip.It's almost like handling museum documents.Also included are many excellent paintings of scenes along the journey as well as sketches,maps and photographs of important items used.The paper,printing and overall construction of the book is superior in every way.At the back of the book there is a wealth of source material covering,acknowledgements,credits,notes and transcriptions.
All in all,a first class book on the Lewis and Clark Journey that shaped America.