Product Description
Modern scientific investigations show that Earth has been hit many times by objects such as comets and meteorites. Laboratory work on comet impact effects demonstrates that comets could cause tidal waves to exceed three miles tall and near 400 miles per hour. In the last 10,000 years, there have been two impacts of such proportion: a seven-fold impact into all the world's oceans around 7640 B.C., and a single impact into the Mediterranean Sea about 3150 B.C., the time of Noah's Flood.

Uriel's Machine proves ancient Europeans not only survived the 7640 B.C. flood, but developed a highly advanced civilization dedicated to predicting and preparing for future meteoric impacts. Building an international network of sophisticated astronomical observatories, these ancient astronomers created accurate solar, lunar, and planetary calendars, measured the diameter of the Earth, and precisely predicted comet collisions years in advance. This was the true purpose of megalithic structures such as Stonehenge. In 3150 B.C., the ancients' predictions proved true, and their device- Uriel's Machine-allowed the reconstruction of civilization in a shattered world.

Uriel's Machine also presents evidence that:

* There was a single global language on Earth
* A single female was a common ancestor to all living humans
* Angels bred with human women to create The Watchers, giant half-human beings
* The oral tradition of Freemasonry records real events

A fascinating study of humankind's past, present, and future, Urie/'s Machine proves the world was indeed flooded, but survived wholly due to these ancient Europeans, their heavenly knowledge, and one remarkable machine.Amazon.com Review
The last few years have seen literally dozens of bookschallenging our beliefs about history and archaeology, each of themseeking to show that the past was quite different from what standardbooks tell us. With Uriel's Machine, ChristopherKnight and RobertLomas move away from their previous books about the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, and thestrange chapel at Rosslyn in Scotland, and turn their attentioninstead to the much more distant past. The authors believe that Earthwas hit by a comet in 7640 B.C., and by another one in 3150 B.C., eachtime resulting in great devastation. From their study of Stone Agemonuments around Britain, and of the nonbiblical Book of Enoch, theyconclude that Enoch visited Britain some time before 3150 B.C. tolearn how to construct a megalithic celestial calculator that, amongstother things, could be used to forecast the arrival of comets. In theend, of course, there can be no absolute proof of this or any otherrewriting of history--or indeed of more orthodox versions ofhistory. Knight and Lomas's conclusions are controversial, but that initself is no bad thing. Existing paradigms in every discipline shouldbe challenged, and this is what they are doing. --David V. Barrett,Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

Best book I've read in a long time!
I HIGHLY recommend this book. It taught me a great deal about prehistory and made me realize just how advanced our ancestors really were. If you are interested in prehistory and want a good analysis on who the Nephilim from the bible really were buy this book. It's challenging at times but worth the effort. The only gripe I have with this book are the numerous grammatical errors and words placed in the wrong places, etc. It was really annoying. That aside, I am going to read The Hiram Key next. I will gladly read anything these two Freemasons write. Excellent book!

Excellent reading even if data is flawed
This book is a good read, packed with interesting information, and their working out of the purpose of some megalithic structures is pure genius.I say "some" because I think they went off track due to lack of data.But then, looking at the date of publication, there's no way Knight and Lomas could have known some things that would have drastically altered their interpretations. For example, since this book was published, The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Firestone, West and Warwick-Smith has come out, not to mention several books by dendrochronologist, Mike Baillie including A Slice Through Time: Dendrochronology and Precision Dating.One major series of clues they did miss, however, was Victor Clube and Bill Napier's Cosmic Serpent: A Catastrophist View of Earth History and "The Cosmic Winter."Another line of research that they could have followed would have been the work of John van Seters who suggests time and again that the source for much of the Old Testament was Greek mythology.

Knight and Lomas do a very interesting job of linking the Book of Enoch to Northern Europe, but then propose that some biblical guy named Enoch was taken there and taught secrets.The obvious idea that many things in the bible came from Northern Europe as in ripped off in the 2nd century during the Maccabbean times, doesn't really seem to have made much impact on their thinking.Too many people are stymied by this: thinking that the Bible can be taken as an "older" tradition than any other. It simply isn't true.

Nevertheless, it is an excellent effort and the interpretation of the astronomical instructions in the Book of Enoch, and its linking to Northern Europe holds up well and is, again, pure genius!

The book is well-written, entertaining, a book well worth reading.Recommended. (I would have given it five stars if it had not been for the fact that Knight and Lomas simply didn't dig deep enough!)

A challenging and good read.
I thought this was a little repetitive, but that is the style used by the authors to get their point across.This is well worth the read if you are willing to analyze the data presented objectively first, then make up your mind later.

I personally thought the facts of the argument were well presented and didn't have an issue with any of the references to Biblical information that other reviewers mentioned.I say judge for yourself!

Overall a good read.

Rev. Stephan Bradley
[...]

for pre-history buffs
This book is on par with 'Hamlet's Mill' (though much easier to read!).The authors give the real reasons for the stone circles of Western Europe - and shows our ancestors to have been intelligent scientists, not superstitious morons.

What the book cannot give is why the precise location of visible heavenly bodies was important to our forebears.The reason why can be found in a little 'novel' called "Atlantis to Aquarius" by Leigh Arias Dupre.It isn't a well-written book - the author is obviously a researcher, not a writer.But the information about the experiences and motivations of people in the distant past makes sense to anyone interested in this sort of thing.

EXCELLENT connection to civilization one, Stonehenge, Bible, and more
EXCELLENT, VERY thought-provoking book basically addressing the question "If people walked the Earth 2.6 [recently revealed to be 4.4] million years ago, why do we only seem to have civilization from about 10,000 years ago?" Suggests a comet hit Earth around 7460 BC, and again in 3150 BC; connects Bible/Book of Enoch to oral history, Knights Templar, and Freemason rituals. Addresses timekeeping, astronomy, megalithic cultures, origination of Old Testament text, Old Irish legends, Jewish-French nobles, and so much more. One of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read.
Became much more interesting and instructive as I actually started creating (it takes at least one year for a location)a mini-Uriel Machine following the instructions provided! EXCELLENT! ... Read more

Product Description
Fire and water can help people. They can also cause natural disasters. Forest fires can spread quickly. Floods can cover houses and towns. Find out how people fight fires and try to prevent floods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Informative, but rather dull
I really am a lover of these growing reader books as they are perfect for building readers.And many of them truly are great books.This is a declaration on the causes and results for forest fires and floods which is thorough, informative, and easy-to-read. However, except for a few cool pictures, it was surprisingly boring.Still, as a book for an emerging reader, I'm sure it will be appreciated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Essential reading
Every Christian should read this book.As the previous reviewer stated it brings up a lot of support for the Biblical account from various ancient and pagan sources, and reveals how the ancient Celts, Germans, and Middle Eastern cultures all perserved their ancient heritage as presented in God's Word.The chart at the back discussing how the various tribes all remembered the names of their Genesis forefathers is simply incredible.

Well researched, but...
This is a well-researched book (in fact, it is one of my favorites and I have given it 4 stars.)But that does not mean that it does not have several significant problems that the reader must deal with before accepting it wholesale.

For example, there are several places where Cooper is either careless with his sources or leaves information out on purpose. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but the absence of some very important information severely undercuts his case.

The first case has to do with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, which Cooper notes contain the phrase, "from Adam to the Flood were 2242 winters" (his translation). "It would be interesting," Cooper muses, "to discover whence the Saxons got this figure of 2242 years for the antediluvian period, for it does not appear in the Latin Vulgate which gives 1656 for this period, thus agreeing with the Hebrew; and they were not familiar with the Septuagint version which gives in any case a period of 2256 years for the antediluvian era. However, their figure does agree exactly with that of the Britons, as passed down to us by Nennius." (p.122)

That last sentence provides us a clue missed by Cooper. I went to Nennius and checked the sources that he claimed to use - one of them was Eusebius. Cooper apparently figured that Nennius was referring to Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica, which would likely not be a useful source to study genealogies - that explains why it does not appear in Cooper's bibliography. However, Eusebius' Chronicle, (http://www.attalus.org/translate/eusebius5.html) which attempts to present a more universal history, provides a chronology broken down almost exactly like that of Nennius (no surprise there). The period Eusebius notes for Adam to the Flood, according to the Septuagint, is 2242 years. We have a Bingo.

Nennius' next number, from the flood to Abraham, is noted as 942 years, of which Cooper notes: "We would say today that there are certain points on which this early British chronology is patently wrong. For example, there are not 942 years between the Flood and Abraham, but only ca 427 until Abraham's entry into Canaan....[Therefore] we have to conclude that [Nennius] passed down to us, characteristically unedited and uncorrected, a faulty (and therefore much older?) source."(ibid.)

However, if one checks Eusebius for the time between the flood and Abraham, the result is unsurprising: 942 years, based again on the Septuagint, which Cooper should have noticed as he just used it to check the previous number. Nennius doesn't use all of Eusebius' numbers, but in a strange twist, neither do Nennius' numbers add up to his total. Instead, his total is exactly the total provided by Eusebius. Nennius is not passing us a British source here at all but a Roman Christian one that he informs us in his prologue he is using.

Not only that, but Eusebius in that section compares the numbers given in the Septuagint, the Hebrew (which formed the basis of the Vulgate), and the Samaritan texts, and gives his reasons for preferring the Septuagint.

So not only were the British Christians (and therefore probably the Saxon Christians) familiar with the Septuagint, they had a recognized Church authority telling them why it was to be preferred over the Vulgate for this very number! I also added up the Eusebius' numbers using my own copy of the Septuagint: 2242 years rather than Cooper's 2256. Cooper is flat out wrong here.

The second case had to do with the itinerary that Geoffrey applies to Brutus in Book I, Chapter 12 (it also appears in Cooper's translation of Tysilio's Chronicle, available online). Cooper uses it to posit a first century source for Brutus and it is such a source, but perhaps not for Brutus as Geoffrey and Tysilio state. The same itinerary, with exactly the same landmarks noted (but without Geoffrey's pirates) is found in Nennius 15. But rather than applying to Brutus (of whom Nennius knows as he has several separate Bruts) it comes as a tradition via "the most learned of the Scots" and is supposedly the trek taken by "a Scythian of noble birth" leaving Egypt about the time of Moses. Since Nennius knows of Brutus but does not connect this with Brutus, Cooper needs to explain how this can serve as evidence for the antiquity of Geoffrey's (and Tysilio's) Brut rather than simply being lifted from Nennius or the Scots.

The final case has to do with his treatment of the Scaef-to-Woden line as it applies to the Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic kings. In my opinion, Cooper's illustration of the line from various sources proves both its antiquity and its integrity. He lines up six sources from four nations, and though the sources have linguistic differences (Geat could be Geta or Great or Jat) and gaps in different places, all of the names are recognizably the same and in the same order. Three of the sources trace Scaef to Noah, three do not, which shows the line itself is not a pious fraud.

Cooper has Scaef at the top of each list. However, in checking his sources I discovered that his chart is quite misleading: in the Prose Edda (his Icelandic source), there should not be a question mark above Seskef. That genealogy, in part, reads like this:

"Their son was Lóridi, who resembled his father; his son was Einridi, his son Vingethor, his son Vingener, his son Móda, his son Magi, his son Seskef, his son Bedvig, his son Athra (whom we call Annarr), his son Ítermann, his son Heremód, his son Skjaldun (whom we call Skjöld), his son Bjáf (whom we call Bjárr), his son Ját, his son Gudólfr, his son Finn, his son Fríallaf (whom we call Fridleifr); his son was he who is named Vóden, whom we call Odin."
--Prose Edda, Prologue, 3

Seskef is not at the top but in the middle of the Prose Edda genealogy, the something-something grandson of High King Priam of Troy. It does not mean the line itself is corrupt - in fact, I think this proves its integrity - but it appears to throw a nasty wrench in Cooper's assertion that Seskef is Japheth the son of Noah. And the worst part is that Cooper does not even address it. While it appears that the names in his chart come from Klaeber's 'Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg,' a respected source on that epic poem, the name Snorri Sturlson, who is the author of the Prose Edda, does not appear in the bibliography. Perhaps Cooper didn't even consult it.

These three issues are indicative of the kinds of source problems any author will have to deal with - Cooper is by no means alone here.But it also means that the Christian who takes this study seriously will also be forced to deal with them, and probably in a more comprehensive fashion than Cooper has.

So while this book is a must-read, it is by no means a book one can accept without giving serious consideration to the occasional places the book falls short of the whole truth.

Fascinating new information
I must admit I am a little bent that the public forum does not discuss both sides of history, from a Biblical as well as the dominant modernist starting point.I found this book to be very well tied together and footnoted thoroughly.Anyone who acts afraid of reading such a book to challenge and optimize their core beliefs is either afraid of real truth or an ignorant nitwit.

Call It Forgotten Lore or Mere Myth - the Research Is Thorough
This is a well researched book that provides documentary evidence that many things we "modern" folk consider mythological may have their roots in historical events. Most of the documents are European and from the Middle Ages--but few manuscripts of any kind exist anywhere before that. Using the notes in Klaeber's Beowulf, I can verify that Cooper's genealogies of the various Old English royal houses are accurate. Or perhaps I should say, accurate duplications of what the old manuscripts say. You may not agree with every conclusion, but it will challenge your thinking.

One group that will reject "After the Flood" are those who, like Voltaire, consider anything written before the Renaissance to have no historical value. Most of Cooper's sources are rather bland historical chronicles--and in many cases unrelated manuscripts agree with one another. The sources may not be as well known as Tacitus or Plutarch, but there is no reason to believe them any less reliable.

I have found this book a useful supplement in teaching Beowulf, and I am sure people who teach the Bible would, too. While it does some touchdowns around the West (Europe and the Americas), and one in China, its focus is the British Isles.

Online Read
This book is now part of public domain (free) and can be read here: http://www.ldolphin.org/cooper/contents.html ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (14)

Love the book!
Ned's got New Orleans 100% - I thought he wrote this book for me! I am about the same age as Ned, live (par time) and play music in New Orleans I'm Cuban and he mentions Cuba and Cuba's music a lot in this book. Ned's knowlege of the city, the people, the culture, and rituals (yes, we have rituals in New Orleans) is phenomially accurate and instructional. He also mentions a lot of musicians that Ive played with, he has a whole section about Kirk Joseph and his tuba (Souzaphone, and great picture) I've worked with Kirk and that Tuba! If you're a fan of New Orleans or live in it READ THIS BOOK it will make you smile. I bought all his other books and can't wait to get to them.

A Story of Re-Birth
This book captures so much about what I love first and foremost about NOLA. The people. The characters in these stories are what gave me hope that the return of this wonderful place would never be in doubt. It's a fascinating tapestry of the unique cultural contributions of this place that is so distinct from the rest of America -- yet whose story is the essence of our history.

Sublette's point-of-view on the Bushies and the bigots, who were content to sit back and wonder if was worth it to restore America's cultural treasure, is shared by everyone I've met in New Orleans. You may not agree, but Sublette is just a musician and late-blooming author -- what harm can his point-of-view do to this profusely-documented re-telling of an event that will be remembered as the re-birth of the American Spirit. The spirit by which the people of New Orleans have re-built their own lives, and their post-flood city, by themselves.

Not worth the paper nor the time
Not what I expected when I bought the book - way too many cheap politcal shots and "perceived" faults which the author seems to view as why he has a hard life - nevermind that he has a degree that doesn't even allow him to teach, let alone make a decent middle-class living. The few highlights of the book do not justify the time wasted in reading it.

Fantastic, but flawed
I think this is a fantastic, fantastic book.The depth of information and of a sense of the cultures of NOLA it provides is amazing.But, as the Marxist-socialist-commie-lefty-lib type that I am, I unfortunately have to agree with the Republicants posting here that his polemics, political or just cultural, distract from the narrative of the book.I recognize that it is a memoir, and not a scholarly tract.Yet when he asserts that Kerry was a useless senator who never did any good in the world he demonstrates that he has little understanding ofhappens in Washington (see, e.g. [...]).Further, when he slanders people who buy pizza in SOHO as "tourists" he just sounds like a pompous ass.I realize that he lives there, and that he has lived quite the bohemian life.But that doesn't mean that people who enjoy pizza in NYC are all tourists.

Still, notwithstanding his irritating political and personal polemics, it is absolutely worth reading.

I wanted to love it, but....
This author undoubtedly knows his subject.I learned things about New Orleans history that I never even knew to ask about.Scholarly, annotated, detailed.However, his vitriol against Bush and all Republicans in general clouds the reader's enjoyment.The author seems terribly intelligent and sensitive; he also is incredibly bitter about many things and finds solace in bashing the right at any chance he gets.I wanted to love this book.I enjoyed "The World That Made New Orleans" by this author, and though he made his political stance pretty clear there too, it was never this bad.He fairly seeths hatred in this book...and the religious right are supposed to be the haters?? For readers who enjoy a musical and cultural take on New Orleans and why this city is important, I recommend Tom Piazza's "Why New Orleans Matters."You won't come away feeling like you've just been in a heated argument. ... Read more

Product Description
With this surprisingly simple step-by-step guide, anyone can create beautiful pet portraits. Anne deMille Flood walks readers through her easy techniques for rendering cats, dogs, birds, horses and other cuddly friends.

Beginning and intermediate artists will appreciate the close-up demos for getting the texture of fur and feathers just right. There's also clear instruction on working from reference photos, choosing focal points and getting started.

This is an essential reference for anyone who wants to create animal portraits in colored pencil. Artists will quickly find themselves drawing better than they ever thought possible! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Did not appear complete
Although this book had several good technique tips, I found that I had two problems with the instruction. First, it appeared as though there were 'missing steps' from some of the portraits. Attempting to follow along, the artist had noted that 'moderate pressure' was needed to achive an over-all blue. The blue appearing in the book was smooth, an almost painted appearance that I could not replicate, even pressing very hard with the pencil. My work retained the granular 'pencil' look. I know that there are mediums that can help to smooth out colored pencil, such as fast drying odorless paint thinner, but this was not mentioned in the instructions. Secondly, the colours she uses almost exclusively belong to the 132 Prismacolor Set, which is upwards of 200$. I do not think this book was written with beginners in mind.

ONe of my favorites
I love this book. As an avid colored pencil artist, I refer to it frequently.I love to draw animals, and Anne gives great suggestions on how to achieve the realistic textures in fur, feathers, horse eyes, dog noses, cat whiskers....YOU NAME IT...Her basic exercises can be applied to drawing anything in colored pencil. It is very structured, some may even say too structured, but I think it is a great way to teach techniques.If you want to draw animals, this is a good addition to your library.

Step by step methods of drawing animals in colored pencil
Like so many colored pencil how to books, this book names specific colors to use.This is probably the only sure method to achieve the same look as the artist writing the book. I find this is often frustrating because I don't ever have the EXACT colors mentioned.I forge ahead using colors "somethng like" as close as possible to the recipe.Yes, this is like painting from recipes.I don't really approve of it all together, but I have to admit, if you do follow the directions to the letter, you most likely will find it easier to create your own mixtures.The examples are very well done.I particularly like the method of drawing the eyes in such a way as to achieve that moist and reflective quality.I would not have been able to get that look without following the pattern as prescribed

Pet Portratis in Colored Pencil
While I am not currently interested in painting pets in colored pencil, I wanting to see how the author taught about values, proportions and light.I also like to compare author/artists in what tools and materials they choose.This book met all of my expectations.

Amazing and helpful...
I bought this book with several others, and I just can't put it down.While it is true that some of the pictures are not photo-realistic, they are truly amazing.The author helps you with technique, and breaks down several aspects about animals that make drawing them difficult.I would have liked to know more about the whole body of the animal, but this isnt a drawing book, rather it is a technique book that covers the eyes, fur, feathers and to a lesser extent the expressions.She gives excellent advice on cat eyes to make them look liquid and translucent, and she breaks down some common mistakes.Overall an excellent book to own. ... Read more

Product Description
Marie took the late afternoon bus into town with a 12-gauge shotgun under her summer coat. Her kids wouldn't be home until late as this was a campfire night. She sat stiffly in the back trying to avoid being goosed by the long barrel of Mickey's prized Remington. She talked to no one. Marie stationed herself across the street from Charlie s Grill, nearest the second hand store where she could browse unnoticed for the longest time. Under her coat Marie fingered the safety mechanism on the gun, repeating to herself again and again, Back is safe, forward is fire, back is safe, forward is fire. When Corporal Jackie Carroll's body comes home from Vietnam, the family and townspeople of Peekskill, New York, try to cope with the loss of a son and star athlete. Flood brilliantly captures the spirit of a town filled with quirky and endearing characters whose animosities and friendships bring about an unexpected celebration. A fast-moving story that both charms and disarms. The Midnight Mile is a vibrant tale with a surprise ending that will move you to tears. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Action Thriller!
Novelist Denis W. Flood's action thriller "The Midnight Mile" will make you laugh, cry, be on edge, maybe even angry, but it isalways entertaining. His characters come across strong and vivid in your mind as you read his narrative. His book does not take the normal easy path with his story telling - this tale is fresh and totally new.

This would actually make a great action movie - with just enough edgy humor and drama mixed together with enough action to satisfy those who like good plot movement. A good book to sit down while on a airline flight or while stuck at the airport. It will be well worth your investment of time.

As a Vietnam Veteran myself,I could see how well the realities of that war and of those veterans who fought there were captured by the author's creative writing style. This book is for more mature readers.

Fantastic Reading
Having lived through the Viet Nam era, this powerful story could have been Anytown, USA. The characters were brought to life with superlative skill. Many reminded me of people from my own neighborhood. Mr. Flood's accounts of the horrors of jungle combat were so very real and compelling. Anyone who has been under fire will find themselves flinching during Mr. Flood's descriptive narrative.

A story of love, heartbreak, reconciliation and redemption, the ending is completely unexpected. This is a must read. Kudos to Mr. Flood for a marvelous story. I hope to see more from him in the future.

Highly recommended
Cover to cover, The Midnight Mile is a great story.Denis Flood weaves a wonderful tale around memorable characters and gives us a glimpse into the tragedy and horror of the Vietnam War.I treasured every page.

GREAT MOVIE MATERIAL
IT'S A GREAT READ. IT BROUGHT BACK MANY MEMORIES.REAL IN EVERY WAY AND WOULD MAKE A FANTASTIC MOVIE!

Wonderful story.
Mr. Flood's story telling skill shown through on every page.I finished the Midnight Mile in one sitting.I laughed out loud and was moved to tears.His vivid descriptions of characters and places were very skillfully crafted.This book brought to life the humor and horrors of the Vietnam and it's impact on small town America like no book I've ever read.If want you to sit down with a book that will entertain and touch,this is the book for you. ... Read more

Product Description
A thorough and educational exploration of the Genesis flood's effect on the earth's surface from "Frozen in Time" author Mike Oard. Discover if there really was a flood on the scale described in the Bible - and what evidence there is for this global event. Oard gives an astounding answer to these questions and affirms the reality of the account of the Genesis geologic history. Delve into the land features that bear witness of receding flood waters on a remarkable and unmistakable level. Ideal for advanced students and homeschoolers, this eye-opening book includes chapter questions for further review and discussion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

If there were a Global Flood what would the evidence?
People look at the landscapes, rocks, morphology, fossils, etc. and find evidence for a worldwide flood, local floods, or geologic transformations over billions of years? What is the measuring stick for evaluating geological data? The author (Mike Oard) of this 130-page 8-Chapter book entitled: `Flood by Design,' provides a very convincing measuring stick. His main emphasis is on interpreting and predicting how global flood waters would recede from their highest levels. What kind of effect would hydro-tectonic forces leave (carve) upon the Earth and come to rest to their current condition?
Such interpretation would have to account for water elevation, mega-tidal waves and tsunamis, mountain uplifts and basins, water flows and speeds reaching 100 miles per hour, volcanic activity, areas of hot oceans,underwater currents that cut mountains in half, etc.
Furthermore, the author compares his interpretation of evidence with that provided by the uniformitarian scientists whose opinions are quoted in this book. One obvious consideration, yet one that would seems to escape scrutiny, is the question why would the Bible document Noah's ark being docked on TOP of a mountain range if the flood was local? There are many such blinding self evident revelations that usually escape logical scrutiny.
I give Mike Oard credit for presenting a highly boring subject (geology) in a very logical and presentable language. I read the book in one sitting and felt that my questions had been answered.It is as if Oard had already had all the questions set before him and used the book to answer these questions.

Evidence based science - I think not
I bought this book as a geologist with an open mind. The tenant of the book is basically "a flood existed in the geological past therefore god exists". Whilst the author is indeed warranted to conclude there has been floods in the geological past, to equate them with Noah is beyond the evidence. There have been massive floods following the retreat of the ice age, the flooding of various basins, etc. There is also very strong evidence of changing sea levels on a global scale. There are many reasonable expalnations for these events without invoking the power of a god. The christian beliefs have clearly led to the evidence being selected to fit the hypothesis, something a true scientist should be very cautious of.

Overall; preachy, biased, inacurrate and misleading - but some nice pictures of rocks!

Excellent overview of evidence for Genesis Flood
The author skillfully explains why the surface of the Earth is a living laboratory of evidence for a global flood event, and how current mainstream theories cannot explain the very same geography. Obviously, the author is a Christian, but I would have preferred he leave out the "preachy" parts of his narrative. As a fellow Christian, I agree with his sentiments. However, I think if the goal of the book is to present a scientifically rigorous argument, then these moments could serve only to turn off the reader's objective consideration if they aren't a Christian.

Aside from this, and a few times where the explanations become a bit muddied, the book is wonderful. I highly recommend it to both Christians and non-Christians alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Through Flood and Flame Adventures and Perils of Protestant Heroes
Fantastic!

Of the many thousands of brave men and women who, during the stormy days of the Reformation, suffered persecution and death rather than deny their faith, only a few are now remembered.Some, after enduring terrible torture on the rack, went cheerfully to a fiery death; others took up arms against their persecutors; and a few, while attempting to escape to a land where they could worship God without fear of persecution, met with many stirring adventures.This collection of short biographies recalls the adventures and sufferings of several little -known Protestant heroes who dared to stand for the truth against the tyranny of the Inquisition. ... Read more

Product Description
Praise for Michael J. Clowes and the money flood

"What a fine book! As an active participant in the revolution in pension investing, I could almost feel the times and tides of the past half-century shifting beneath me. Mike Clowes’s splendid and articulate tour through the era is destined to become a landmark on the bookshelves of everyone interested in this illuminating history of the past, as well as its portents of the future."–John C. Bogle, founder, The Vanguard Group

"The corporate pension fund ranks high among the spectacular financial innovations of the twentieth century. Mike Clowes has built a fascinating story about the impact of this flood of money on the theory and practice of investing, the financial markets, the labor force, corporate management, and the general economy. The far-reaching consequences of these changes make this authoritative and lively book must-reading for everyone."–Peter L. Bernstein, President, Peter L. Bernstein, Inc., author, Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

"The definitive history of the rise of pension fund capitalism in America."–Keith Ambachtsheer, President, KPA Advisory, author, Pension Fund Excellence: Creating Value for Shareholders

"Beautifully written, broad in coverage of all the best parts of a great American story, Mike Clowes’s new book gives us an easy-to-read and easy-to-enjoy explanation of who did what and when in the investment revolution of the past half-century."–Charles D. Ellis, Partner, Greenwich Associates, author, The Investor’s Anthology:Original Ideas from the Industry’s Greatest Minds ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent survey of the US pensions business
As a UK-based observer of the asset management scene (my book "The City: Inside The Great Expectation Machine is due out in November: details onAmazon.co.uk) I found this comprehensive analysis of the development andcurrent state of the US pension fund industry both extremely clear andinteresting to read. It explained many things to me that are barelyunderstood on this side of the Atlantic and, I suspect, insufficiently wellunderstood even in the USA by professionals who are not pensionsspecialists let alone the American investing public. For example, theprecise origins and intentions of the 401(k) plan, the way in which ERISAand its refinements changed the investment management industry, and theprofound influence of defined benefit pension funds on venture capitalactivity and foreign equity investment. Anyone who is interested in whatmakes stock markets tick should be interested in what this book has to sayabout pension funds, the people who manage them and the impact that theyhave.

A Fascinating Read about the Financial Revolution
In The Money Flood, Michael Clowes, Editorial Director of Pensions & Investments, presents an instructive and entertaining overview of thepension fund industry and its effects on financial markets. The book beginswith the National Labor Relations Board's 1948 holding that contractnegotiations between employers and employees had to consider pensions-awatershed decision, Clowes argues, because it encouraged the growth ofpensions funds and thus fostered their largely beneficial effects onmarkets and the economy. In the 50 years since, pension assets grew from$14.3 billion to almost $9 trillion, and the business itself matured from asmall-club dominated by a few large corporations, bank trust departments,and insurance companies invested mostly in bonds to a diversified industryencompassing money managers, consultants, and mutual funds with investmentsin equity, real estate, commodities, start-up ventures, and overseasmarkets.

Clowes' chronological approach to this story is held together byseveral major themes. Primary, of course, is the fact that the growth inpension funds raised a vast flow of capital and unleashed it into America'smarkets. However, the effects of this new capital might not, Clowessuggests, have been as salutary, had not this flow of money encouraged thedevelopment of the investment technology and the investment professionalsto manage it.

The "professionalization" of pension fund management had atleast two beneficial effects. First, it allowed for the spread of pensionmoney beyond bonds into more growth-building investments, including equityand venture capital. Second, it allowed for the spread of capital beyondthe corporations that actually sponsored the pension funds. Clowes makesthe interesting point that this has not been the case in Japan or Germany,say, where pools of pension money (smaller to begin with) have beengenerally confined to the sponsoring company and its affiliates, hence havenot generated the wealth, for pension beneficiaries or the overall economy,that America's system has.

The book highlights the major turning pointsand participants in the development of the industry. These include the workof Harry Markowitz, Bill Sharpe, Fischer Black and others in financialtechnology; the efforts of Meyer Melnikoff at Prudential and AndersVoorhees at U.S. Steel to expand pension investing to stock; GeorgeRussell, Jr. and the development of the pension consulting business;Harrison Smith and the early moves to international pension investing atMorgan Guaranty; David Bronner's experiments with social investing at theAlabama Retirement System; and John Bogle and the growth of mutualfunds.

A leading role throughout is played by the U.S. government.Sometimes it comes out as hero, as with the Employee Retirement IncomeSecurity Act of 1974, which Clowes sees as enhancing the good effects ofpension investing by replacing the old "prudent man" standard with a"prudent expert" standard more suitable for pension professionals. Inrecent years, however, the government has played the villain, by passinglegislation that has stifled defined benefit plans. Clowes makes aconvincing argument that their replacements-401(k)s and other definedcontribution plans-will not be able to offer similar benefits in the way ofretirement security and incentives to overall economic growth.

The MoneyFlood is a well-deserved pat on the back for those pension plan sponsors,consultants, investment advisors, and academics that have, over the past 50years, created a financial revolution that benefited all Americans. It is"must" reading for all who seek to understand the development and workingsof the pension fund industry.

Bruce I. Jacobs, Principal, Jacobs LevyEquity Management. ... Read more

Product Description
In a masterful narrative, historian and biographer Charles Bracelen Flood brings to life the drama of Lincoln's final year, in which he oversaw the last campaigns of the Civil War, was reelected as president, and laid out his majestic vision for the nation's future in a reunified South and in the expanding West.

In 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History, the reader is plunged into the heart of that crucial year as Lincoln faced enormous challenges. The Civil War was far from being won: as the year began, Lincoln had yet to appoint Ulysses S. Grant as the general-in-chief who would finally implement the bloody strategy and dramatic campaigns that would bring victory.

At the same time, with the North sick of the war, Lincoln was facing a reelection battle in which hundreds of thousands of "Peace Democrats" were ready to start negotiations that could leave the Confederacy as a separate American nation, free to continue the practice of slavery. In his personal life, he had to deal with the erratic behavior of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and both Lincolns were haunted by the sudden death, two years before, of their beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie.

1864 is the story of Lincoln's struggle with all this -- the war on the battlefields and a political scene in which his own secretary of the treasury, Salmon P. Chase, was working against him in an effort to become the Republican candidate himself. The North was shocked by such events as Grant's attack at Cold Harbor, during which seven thousand Union soldiers were killed in twenty minutes, and the Battle of the Crater, where three thousand Union men died in a bungled attempt to blow up Confederate trenches. The year became so bleak that on August 23, Lincoln wrote in a memorandum, "This morning, as for several days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be reelected." But, with the increasing success of his generals, and a majority of the American public ready to place its faith in him, Lincoln and the nation ended 1864 with the close of the war in sight and slavery on the verge of extinction.

1864 presents the man who not only saved the nation, but also, despite the turmoil of the war and political infighting, set the stage for westward expansion through the Homestead Act, the railroads, and the Act to Encourage Immigration.

As 1864 ends and Lincoln, reelected, is planning to heal the nation, John Wilkes Booth, whose stalking of Lincoln through 1864 is one of this book's suspenseful subplots, is a few weeks away from killing him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Flood Shines the Light on 1864
1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History is written with a prose that makes the book easy to read, it is easy to find yourself up way past your bedtime.In my opinion, the most impressive aspect of this book is the way the author "blends" the political maneuvering with Lincoln's management of the Civil War.Flood easily moves from one, to the other, seamlessly tying the events together.The author makes a great case for 1864 being one of the most important, if not the most important, single years in our country's history.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that has more than a passing interest in our 16th president.For those that have studied Lincoln, this book offers much new material, that will leave you craving more.I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Flood for my blog.Check it out by going to ThisMightyScourge [dot] com and clicking on the "interviews" category in the right menu.

Michael Noirot
This Mighty Scourge blog
St Louis, Missouri
July 1, 2010

Novel Perspective of Lincoln
This book offers a quite new perspective of Lincoln and the time.Lincoln there is certainly a veryMachiavellian politician, bending all kinds of things for the election, and more important, for his big principle.Author did a fair job to describe several sides of Lincoln, more traditional and familiar Lincoln of idealists, who takes care of little people who visited White House; as well as this cunning politician who did all the tricks and back-stage maneuverer for the political convenience.The end result is still not as well as seamless, but the book offers somewhat a more close-to-us Lincoln.

The book does offer some points not as nice as I feel, especially about the military issue. Author spent quite some pages on Battle of Crater, covered all kinds of small details, while skimming over campaigns such as Grant's Overland Campaign or Sherman's Atalanta Campaign, which seems more important in the military and affects the political process more.These two campaigns are probably too complicated for a book mainly about the politics.But why put so much attention on Battle of Crater although I have to see that I learned a lot of interesting details there.Another example is Fisher's Hill of Sheridan'sShenandoah Campaign.Author described it like a front assault, while the flank movement of union force is quite important.

Overall, it is a very interesting book.It intensifies some of my WHAT-IF questions.Lots of corruption that later almost destroyed Grant started from Lincoln's day if not early.What would have Lincoln done if he had not died?Would he be able to rein those in or at least keep them contained?He seemed more cunning and ruthless and maybe he could do it.That would help the civil right in south.....

'Gates' Worth Opening
As I once wrote in a review of a book about the Clintons, too much about Abraham Lincoln is never enough.And as with Maureen Waller's wonderful `London 1945,' an historian's concentration on one year of a person's (or in her case, a city's) life allows a level of detail and rumination invariably impossible in an account of a more expansive period.

And such is the case with `1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History.'Though reflecting the very latest scholarship on the period and Lincoln's life, there is little new in Charles Bracelen Flood's account of those fateful twelve months.Rather, it is the seamless way the author treats with the year's pivotal events and their principal actors that sets this book apart from other, more comprehensive treatments.Although Flood is a wonderful writer, the reader is constantly, and pleasurably, reminded throughout the read how susceptible the material is to simply getting lost and spending too much time on one or more of the crucial events that shaped the course of the year and lives of the protagonists.But Flood never fails to maintain his perspective and thus paints a balanced and surprisingly refreshing picture of subject matter well known to the serious Lincoln/Civil War reader.

Two things stood out for me.One is the fact that Honest Abe was a politician through and through who could mix it up with his most astute and generally more ruthless opponents.If it was expedient to direct one or more of his generals to allow their men leave to go home to vote, so be it.If one or more competitors for power had to be appointed to the Supreme Court or other choice offices to get them out of the way despite the moves sticking in Lincoln's craw, it was done.Flood's account of these machinations may be a bit jarring to those who, perhaps understandably, worship, as opposed to respect, the man, but they serve as a useful reminder that Lincoln couldn't have accomplished what he did without playing the political game as sharply as anyone.

The second is Flood's thoroughgoing, but never maudlin or obtrusive, portrayal of Lincoln's unique character and the equally unique role it played in coping with the year's fearsome challenges.As the reader reflects on the man's courage, steadfastness in the face of doubters...and haters, never-failing sense of humor, seemingly bottomless compassion for the least among us, and, yes, that most uncommon of virtues, common sense, one cannot help but assay these traits against those of our modern presidents and world leaders.The inescapable conclusion is that Lincoln is so widely loved and respected not because he freed the slaves and orwas martyred but because he was that unusual, and that wonderful, a human being.

1864:Lincoln At The Gates of History
In his book, Charles Bracelen Flood succeeds in putting the microsope on the President in his last year in office (and alive).Much detail that had eluded me is brought forth in the book.This includes some of the following:
- The Radical Republicans convention and nomination of John Fremont and how he eventually abandoned the race.
- The key role played by Copperheads in the Democratic convention.
- The intrigue that led to VP Hamlin not being renominated and Andrew Johnson taking his place.
- Copperhead and Confederate schemes to breakoff the Northwest states into a separate country.
- Confederate and Union dialogue for possible peace conferences.Also, all the Confederate spying activity out of Canada.
- Detailed information of how Lincoln ended up choosing Salmon Chase to take Taney's place as Chief Justice.
- More information about talks Lincoln gave when "serenaded" at the White House in the wake of important Union advances.
- Detailed information about Jubal Early's attack upon Washington in July, 1864.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it without hesitation.I've read perhaps twenty biographies of Lincoln and found this to be an engrossing and enjoyable book.

condition of book
Condition of book was excellent, beautiful volume. It would be nicer if they would not put a black felt pen mark on the page edges, however. Otherwise, great. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The second magical, funny, and fabulously illustrated story in the Far Flung Adventures from the authors of Fergus Crane and the Edge Chronicles.
Corby Flood and her family are about to set sail on the rather ramshackle cruise ship, the S.S. Euphonia. Her boisterous brothers might not have noticed that anything is wrong, but Corby is highly observant and has a lot of time for note-taking and eavesdropping. Onboard, among the odd passengers and eccentric crew, there is a strange group of men in bowler-hats who call themselves The Brotherhood of Clowns. There's also a melancholy wailing sound coming from the hold. It's strictly out of bounds but Corby can't help investigating. What could be inside the crate she discovers down in the hold? As the ship arrives at its destination, Corby must enlist the help of some very well mustachioed locals to uncover the contents of the crate and the dark secrets of the menacing Clowns... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great book particularly enticing for reluctant readers
The Far Flung Adventures are a wonderful mix of adventure and contraptions!The subtle links between the 3 books in the series are thrilling for the kids to find. My son and I began reading these books when he was 5 and still pick one up for some great entertainment.The detailed drawings throughout the book (did I mention a great pull out map?) entice the reluctant reader to continue-and they are rewarded with wonderfully imaginative tales!We only wish the authors would continue adding books to this series as they are exciting but less "dark" than many popular series today.

Far Flung Adventure #2 - My Personal Favorite of the Series
Excellent! I'd say it's even better than Far-Flung Adventures: Fergus Crane, which was the first book in the Far Flung Adventure Series. Corby Flood builds upon elements from Fergus Crane, but is an entirely different story in an entire different setting. This series is truly remarkable! These books are well worth reading; they are easy to read, original, and entertaining - better than Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Corby Flood features five sinister clowns with "text-style" names such as: Mr. Garamond, Mr. Franklin-Gothic and Mr. Times-Roman. Like Harry Potter, Corby Flood features new made up sports, but unlike Harry Potter, it's not just one sport. Like Fergus Crane, creative inventions and engineering are featured.

A fun sample passage from Corby Flood:

"...'but don't cry little one. Konstantin Pavel will get you back to your parents and your sister and your brothers."

"You will?" said Corby, wiping her eyes.

"Yes," said the mayor, "but first I must know one thing."

"Yes?" said Corby.

"Why?" said the mayor, "are you dressed as a bumblebee?"

Will anyone believe her discoveries aboard the ship?
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's CORBY FLOOD provides the second installment to 'Far Flung Adventures' - but no previous familiarity with the series is required to enjoy this, unrelated in plot to the first FERGUS CRANE of the series. Corby faces a cruise ship full of amazing devices and eccentric passengers when she and her family embark on an adventure. She also notices something isn't right - and uncovers a scheme. But will anyone believe her discoveries aboard the ship?

The second Far-Flung Adventure is like a pleasure cruise
If you're buying a book for a young reader in the seven to nine age group, you may want to consider this new series.Brought to you by the same people who did "The Edge Chronicles" (another excellent series, but for slightly older kids), this one has large, easy to read print, simple language and wonderful illustrations to help keep the story bubbling along.To add to the fun, the dust jacket opens up into a fold-out map based on the geographical setting of the story.

Corby Flood is the second book in the "Far-Flung Adventures" series, the first being Fergus Crane, also available from Amazon. The third one "Hugo Pepper" will be available in February 2007.

Corby Flood is an eight year old girl.She and her large family are aboard a shabby cruise ship heading along the Coast of Dalcretia on their way to a new school.Armed with her trusty travel advisory "Hoffendinck's Guide", Corby learns about all the exotic ports along the coast while keeping an eye on the other passengers. There are the sinister Brotherhood of the Clowns, the unintelligible Hattenswillers, the mysterious man from Cabin 2 and the smarmy, slimy Lieutenant Letchworth Smith, and then there's the creature in the crate.

Imaginative and action-packed, this one is highly recommended.



Amanda Richards, September 23, 2006
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Enlightening, persuasive; one of the best on Hitler's early years
I do not condone one single evil thing Hitler did during his rise to and reign of terror and destruction but reading of the combination of events that caused this fanatical behavior is fascinating. It was more than the influence of the abusive father, the doting mother, being a loner and dropping out of school, losing his mother early in life, being rejected from art school that would cause Hitler to strive for and achieve control of his beloved Germany. It also took Germany losing the First War and the chaos, degradation and humiliation that followed, the insurgence of Communism in Germany and the perceived danger of Jewry.

It was this and more that turned Hitler into a hateful, vengeful, sadistic person that wanted to take it out on the whole world for the way he and his mother were treated, for not receiving the recognition he deserved. Mr Flood, a noted author, has presented a deliberate step by step narrative that clearly and eloquently shows the evolution of that lonely abusive child turn into the fanatical dictator that turns the world into chaos.
The author doesn't spend a lot of time on Hitler's childhood. The bulk of his story starts at the beginning of WWI, showing the bravery of Corporal Hitler and the subsequent appreciation he feels for the Wehrmacht and the state of warfare where you take what you want. He sees the possibility of wielding the power of a country for his obsessions. The author will lead you through every event and happenstance through the years up to Hitler's trial and incarceration for treason and the writing of Mein Kampf. The book ends just as Hitler is released from prison and resumes his path to political power. There are many people included in this story that either influence Hitler or was influenced by Hitler. People like Ludendorff, Rohm, Weber, Eckart, Goering, Streicher and even Wagner the composer to name a few.

There is a selection of great early photographs of Hitler, Hess, Goering and others that add to the value of the book. There is also an impressive Notes section and an extensive Bibliography if further reading is desired. The author spent six years on this book and it shows. While this book stops in 1925, it clearly shows the genesis of Hitler's fanatical ways and the beginnings of his rise to power. It is highly recommended.

The Early Years of Adolf Hitler, 1889 to 1924
Hitler--The Path to Power is a thoroughly documented and meticulously researched biography revealing the early years of Adolf Hitler.The book begins with a description of Hitler's childhood and ends with an account of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 and Hitler's subsequent imprisonment at Landsberg Prison.Flood also provides an analysis of Mein Kampf at the end of this engrossing biography.While the book is mainly about Hitler (who is very much present in this biography) and the development of the Nazi party, Charles Flood provides the reader a great deal of information about the economic and political situation in Germany between the end of World War I and 1923.German resentment toward the Treaty of Versailles is a common theme in the book.We also get a glimpse of future Nazi leaders such as Rudolf Hess, Hermann Goering, and Joseph Goebbels.Includes bibliography, index, and sixteen pages of photographs.Highly recommended.

Hitler - a study of...
Another of a line in study of out of control power that changed the world. A study of Hitler that contributes to the greater picture of governmental agents of change.. Study with opinions.

Do don't know squat...
Charles Bracelen Flood explains the life of Adolph Hitler and how he came to power following WWI. Want to know the true meaning of a story then you have to go back to the beggining and this is the book that does just that. Read this and all you think you knew will take on a new meaning. Your understanding of WWII and events today will take on a new under current.

Outstanding! Among the Best Out There!
Here we have a terrifically lucid, readable, and even entertaining account that truly does answer the question, how such a seeming loser from nowhere could rise to become the undisputed leader of the German Nazi party. The tragic and horrible conditions in Germany between 1918-1924 are described in haunting detail, the economy a wreck with inflation reaching 1 billion% by the time of the Novemeber, 1923 Putsch. The cast of characters includes the mesmorizing speaker Hitler, plus the weird general Ludendorrf, Rohm, Hess, the Strassers, Drexler, Goring, and many others, including the WC Fields-like Putzi Hafstaengel, who kept contact with foreign journalists. And the actual events of the BeerHall Putsch have their horrid moments plus some Keystone Kops moments too! In short, about the best early Nazi history out there! ... Read more

Product Description
During the last great Ice Age that ended some 15,000 years ago, the Pacific Northwest was repeatedly decimated by cataclysmic floods unlike anything of modern times. Giant ancient lakes such as Glacial Lake Missoula were created as lobes of the massive ice sheets blocked river valleys. These "ice dams" broke time and again over the millennia, sending walls of ice-laden water, miles wide and hundreds feet deep, racing over the land at speeds up to 80 mph – scouring a fantastic landscape and leaving a fascinating geologic record.

Now geologist Bruce Bjornstad has written the most comprehensive guide book yet to the incredible landforms scoured out by the Ice Age floods in the Mid-Columbia Basin. His new book, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A geological field guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin explores the origins, timing and frequency of the Ice Age floods and describes each of 19 geologic features they left behind. It is also an exciting field guide to features, trails and tours in the Mid-Columbia Basin where we may witness today the awesome power of the ancient floods. The guide includes:

• Explanations of landforms created by the floods, from hanging coulees and giant gravel bars to ice-rafted "erratics" such as boulders carried on huge ice bergs and deposited hundreds of miles from their places of origin.
• Detailed descriptions of 70 distinct flood-formed features scattered throughout the basin, with driving directions to observation points
• 30 off-road hiking and biking trails where adventurers can walk and ride amid the flood geology.
• 5 driving tours and 2 aerial tours for day trips to view the scope of the landscape carved by the great floods.

Illustrated with more than 200 maps, schematics, photos and illustrations, including 16 pages of color plates, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods provides a clear, concise and easily useable guide to the remarkable geologic record of the great Ice Age floods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Ice Age Floods
This book is an excellent companion to the book "Bretz's Flood".On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods tells you how you can follow the path of the great floods that occured in the Pacific Northwest near the end of the most recent Ice Age.If you use this book in conjunction with a good road atlas you can actually follow the trail of the great ice age floods that occured when the ice dam creating Glacial Lake Missoula failed catastrophically.These floods created many of the geological features now seen in Eastern Washington State including dry "coulees", which are dry river beds eroded by the flood waters, series of rolling hills that are, in fact, gigantic ripple marks created by the flood waters moving over them, and many other features as well.Recently a National Geological Trail has been established to follow these floods and this book is a "must have" to travel this geological trail and learn about a fascinating aspect of our geological history.

Just right for seeing it on the ground
I grew up near the area treated by this guidebook, and later as an adult lived in the middle of it for a decade. I have read and enjoyed other flood books, including Alt's "Glacial Lake Missoula and its Humongous Floods", which I also recommend.But only now, going back there on a visit with this guidebook in hand, did I really begin to understand many details of the land I had been looking at all the time.

After an excellent introduction to the various types of ice-age floods, the various marks that they left, and some geological background to help interpret those marks, the author locates and describes dozens of specific sites. Each description includes how to get there, land ownership and access issues, cautionary information (no water, steep trail, etc.), a description of the feature usually including a picture, and a geological interpretation. Separate chapters then present trails through interesting areas, auto trips organized to access many sites efficiently in a day, and even a few routes for touring by small aircraft.

In limiting his treatment to a circumscribed area that he has studied, the author has kept the book manageable, both for him and for the reader. This does, however, leave out the most famous of the flood features; Dry Falls is mentioned, but it lies North of the area covered in detail.One wishes for more books like it to treat other portions of the floods' paths.

I have now read most of the sections, have done one easy trail with my grandchildren on a visit last weekend, and look forward to doing many more.

Excellence as far as it goes
Concise,full of pertinent details. Full of selected references to other books websites groups and organizations.
If you flippped through this little tome at your local bookstore you might ask why thealmost slavish attention to detail.The washed out halftone pictures that accompany the text might further hasten your rush to judgement.
In detailing the distances between such precise geology of the mid columbia, he leavesyou free to do the ooohing and aaahing should you find yourself the visitor to this unbelievable place.
Nothing prepares you for the sheervisual scale of the floodlands.
Normally I am bored with an authors academic attention to such detail, but the elementality of the place, made purchase of this book compelling.

One star is missing....

The strength of the guide is its own weakness.To me, a studio-bound clay artist having a briefvacation, the mid columbia basin is Central Washinton.As one is on the trail of the ice age floodsnorth into the fantastic Moses and Grand coulee system that to me seems to stretch ever North and east towards Spokane, one realizes with a start that we have half a book here.Bjornstad has sort of drawn a line in the basalt from roughlyWenatchee to Lewiston, north of which his guide isjust is not there.. .
Back when I was a young buck and got critical in a review, some kind soul would point out to me publicly,how wrong I was. Is there an Ice Age Floods part 2 ?Please tell me there is!

Quantim change
Perfect book for a road trip to the scablands. Maps, trails and tours.

A terriffic guide to some of the most astounding geography in the United States
When you fly from the Northeast or MidWest to Portland, Seattle or Spokaneand passed the Rocky Mountains, you may have looked down at what appears to be an almost lunar landscape. These are the scablands. Desolate landscape with deep coolees, buttes seemingly rising up from the middle of nowhere, what appear to be evenly space rolling ridges rising from the land.

In large part, this eery landscape is the result of single flood that took place about 13,000 - 15,000 years ago. Glacial Lake Missoula covered 3,000 square miles of present day Montana and was up to 2,000 feet deep. On occasion, the lake was dammed by glacier ice. And more than once, the waters of the lake overcame the ice and flooded into what is now called the Mid-Columbia Basin, creating the Channeled Scablands.

What floods these were. A wall of water hundreds of feet high. It is estimated that you could hear the flood waters 30 minutes away . . . that's a noise so loud and powerful that it could travel 350 miles in advance of the event. Water is estimated to have flowed at 1.7 million cubic meters per second or about 10 times the flow of all the rivers in the world combined.

Owing to the unique geography of eastern Washington and Oregon, deep channels were plowed in a matter of hours or days. Islands of basalt (volcanic rock) might remain standing. Boulders weighing hundreds of tons were swept along by the force of the water and deposited hundreds of miles from their origins.

Bruce Bjornstad is an excellent guide to this country. The first part of the book is about the history of the floods and its artifacts. The second half is a series of walking, bicycle, horseand auto tours of the region. He even includes one suggested aerial tour.

Bjornstad obviously loves this country and his narrative is very well informed, but never condescending or overly-technical. The book is well-illustrated, though color photos would have been a welcome addition.

For the tourist, this book is invaluable. Bjornstad's suggested tours make sure you will see every kind of different feature left behind by these floods. For the scientist, I suspect it will be useful. The general student of nature and the armchair will also find this book thoroughly enjoyable.

Jerry ... Read more

Product Description
Warren Spalding and Betsy Tyler have been assigned to do a paper on the Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889.This time they've decided no to use the Instant Commuter time-travel device.It's too dangerous.After all, they nearly died on two previous assignments.So they interview ninety-five-year-old Doc Keaton, whose parents survived the flood.But when they learn that Doc still mourns his little sister who died, Warren and Betsy secretly agree to travel back to 1889, to find eight-year-old Anna and save any lives they can. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The dam has broken!
This book is great!It has all the "ingrediants" for a good book!Like suspense buy it you'll like it.

A really good book!
Ever since their trips back in time to the eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980 and a Minnesotta blizzard in 1940 nearly ended in disaster, Warren and Betsy have vowed never again to use the Instant Communter, invented byWarren's grandfather, to travel back in time. When assigned a report on theJohnstown Flood in 1889, they interview a ninety year old man whose parentssurvived the flood, years before he was born, but whose sister, Anna, died.Betsy and Warren decide to travel back in time to attempt to save Anna'slife. But can two kids from the present actually change history - and willthey be able to get back to their own time without complications? ... Read more

Product Description
SUPRISE! The original Church founded by Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles was actually a Church sustained and guided by the Holy Spirit.In Floods Upon the Dry Ground, Charles Schmitt gives an inspiring and thought-provoking history of the Church from a charismatic perspective. You won't want to put it down and will be profoundly enlightened by the author's insights. Allow him to carefully draw you into the realization that history is not yet finished and neither is God. Rediscover your roots and learn how the current rivers of renewal and revival fit into God's great plan for this world. In this study, God wants to immerse you in His presence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best Christian history text; superb research
The only thing wrong with this is that it is paperback, and not a hard bound textbook.This research is in depth and honestly seeks to see the moving of the holy spirit throughout history with a freshness I have neverfound in any Christian history texts.Highly suggested for any student. ... Read more

Product Description
The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia thrived between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates over 4,000 years ago. The myths collected here, originally written in cuneiform on clay tablets, include parallels with the biblical stories of the Creation and the Flood, and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale of a man of great strength, whose heroic quest for immortality is dashed through one moment of weakness.

Recent developments in Akkadian grammar and lexicography mean that this new translation--complete with notes, a glossary of deities, place-names, and key terms, and illustrations of the mythical monsters featured in the text--will replace all other versions.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Great reference book
This wasn't the easiest book I have read but then you wouldn't expect it to be, for such a dry subject, but it was very interesting to see the comparisons between religious paths and how they have, or may have, incorporated these stories into their own and to extrapolate how these stories have come down into many other cultures not mentioned but be able to see the themes as they may have transformed even up to the present day.

nice collection of mythology
For a course on Mesopotamian Religion I read most of the myths in this book.Each myth has a short introduction and frequent interesting and helpful footnotes.Although I am not an expert in this area, I thought the translations were easy to read.I also appreciated the way the stories were laid out.I also appreciated a glossary of god names, places, and key terms at the back and referred to it frequently.The myths included in the book cover many of the most essential myths of that era.

As an aside, I would not attempt to read these myths without the guidance of a class and teacher.They frequently take study and rereading many times to get the story.They're between 3000 and 4000 years old and really need some solid background information in order to fully understand them, as well.Also, keep in mind that many of these stories were meant to be chanted or otherwise performed at public functions, so that simple reading them on the page probably doesn't do them full justice.

Good luck!!

More pedagogical than pleasurable.
Though many of you would already know this, I think it's important that lay readers realize that this book contains direct translations of these tablets--so chunks of text will be missing from the stories.This is not a transliteration, so you're not going to have a series of stories that read particularly easily.

However, if you need to do research on ancient Mesopotamian mythology this book is a true treasure to behold.I'm writing a novel that requires me to dig deep into everything we truly know about these ancient civilizations, andI feel very confident that the book makes the most truth-preserving claims as the author could make, regarding what we can say for certain.She puts relevant background information as well as brief histories on the studies of each myth, then tells the tales while preserving the poetic style that the mythical originators wrote with.

Modern Translation in an Attempted Perfectionism
Revised review: I read the revised edition of 2000 - with 10 new primary sources - of the originally 1989 book. The author chose rather the Akkadian versions over the Sumerian ones. Included are ten stories of variating length: Atrahasis, The Epic of Gilgamesh*, The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld, Nergal and Ereshkigal*, Adapa, Etana, Anzu*, The Epic of Creation, Theogony of Dunnu, Erra and Ishum. (* = including standard version and older & shorter version). As you see, there isn't a story called "The Flood" as suggested by the title of the book. However, the flood is a recurring theme in several of the other stories.

Usually I detest footnotes, however, it makes perfect sense to use them here, as a translated text by someone else, from a distant civilisation has to be explained. Lost in translation puns and alliterations are pointed out. Also variating translations, which differ considerably. If the Bible translations via various languages have been done in a similar vagueness, I am not surprised that one or the other message has been misinterpreted. This book now uses modern English, which I am very thankful for, as it wouldn't make any sense to indulge in some sort of pretentious antique "translation". Stephanie Dalley is a perfectionist in the sense that she meticulously includes any missing line and lost word. Which sometimes leaves only a word per line extant. That is frustrating for sure occasionally, but unavoidable, if a reliable translation is sought. With some pages I was happy that I still have 99% of human vision, this tiny the text has been printed.

Though at times purposefully repetitious, the stories themselves are mostly interesting or/and indeed worthy to read. Not only for themselves, but also for the origin of some Western-known stories. However, one should be careful to draw direct lines of origin, as for one thing the same subject may be very different or, as the author points out, may variate considerably WITHIN the very long time of the Mesopotamian culture(s). In fact, the longer stories have largely been pieced together from different sources.

What she fails to mention is that the Mesopotamian culture(s) are derived from the Egyptian culture, as she avers the Mesopotamian one would be the first of mankind. That's an old Western urban legend attempting to dissociate from African culture, from Black culture as far as possible. Which is rather futile as Mesopotamia is located in Africa in geological reality for one thing and for the other, these specific ancients had been Black just the same. Which doesn't become clear at all in this book. Read The Africans Who Wrote the Bible or When We Ruled: The Ancient and Medieval History of Black Civilisations among many other books elaborating on that. However, I find it amazing that the derivations of the goddess Ishtar are mentioned, but she herself is presented as the original. Whereas it is long and officially accepted fact, even by the conservative science establishment that Ishtar in turn is derived from the Egyptian "Isis". In other words the Mesopotamian version may just be a sister derivation from Egypt, not the direct source for Western culture. In some instances that sister culture got remarried into the sources for later Western culture.

Speaking of conservatism and pseudo-origins: Elsewhere, the Epic of Gilgamesh is fancied as the first homosexual story in the world. To begin with, again, the Egyptians are able to top that. (For example with the story of Horus and Seth, though of course the concept of "homosexuality" differs from the modern one.) For another, the Gilgamesh story is rather bisexual, using modern Western terminology, as that concept was viewed differently back then and there as well. However, I find it remarkable that Stephanie Dalley isn't including that information in her veneration list. Accordingly, one can almost read this translation without noticing its however homosexual content. Gilgamesh's mother clearly speaks of Enkidu as if a son-in-law, but in the rest of the text he is translated in the like-a-brother routine. Well, maybe a "warm brother" as dated German slang would term him. Personally, I don't care about the translator's or my own view on this issue. It's even fun and safe for me, no matter my personal opinion, as in Rasta terminology, homosexuals happen in "Babylon" anyway (smile)... It's just interesting that she obviously leaves her path of perfectionism as soon as it comes to her bias. As I am a layperson on this, I wouldn't know, where else she missed some points. But maybe the reason for this is that the running gag in this story is that as soon as it turns homosexual, further text has been lost... Sure interesting to read in the ancient text that God made some humans nonbreeders to slow overpopulation. That almost sounds like modern slang.

I do recommend this book. Be sure to get the latest revision or another more recent book respectively.

This is the one scholars quote from . . .
A collection of the major Mesopotamian myths translated by a respected scholar.This is an excellent source for those desiring an authoritative translation.Even so, these myths can be somewhat awkward to read given Dalley's use of square brackets to indicate gaps in the text and omission dots to indicate an unknown word or phrase.No doubt these are accepted academic techniques for translating ancient texts, but I do hope someone will come along and render these myths in a more enthralling format.For just such an example of how ancient texts can be made to come alive for the modern reader, see "Gilgamesh: A New English Version" by Stephen Mitchell .Nonetheless, I give Dalley five stars, but also highly, highly recommend Mitchell's new version of Gilgamesh. ... Read more