Eros, Magic and the Murder of Professor Culianu
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A great read!
  • Interesting Premise, Boring Execution
  • Eros and Magic.
  • A True Murder Mystery, by fermed
  • Crime, politics, religion and the occult
Eros, Magic and the Murder of Professor Culianu
Ted Anton
Manufacturer: Northwestern University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
EducatorsEducators | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
RomaniaRomania | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
True CrimeTrue Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Look Inside History BooksLook Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein
  2. Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback) Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback)
  3. In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction
  4. The Boys of My Youth The Boys of My Youth
  5. Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction

ASIN: 0810113961

Amazon.com

Police have been stumped ever since popular University of Chicago Divinity Professor Ioan Culianu was killed in the middle of a workday in a campus bathroom. The 1991 murder has offered few profitable leads. Author Ted Anton suggests strongly that radicals from Culianu's native Romania did the deed. If he's right, then the death of Culianu probably marks the first political assassination of a professor on American soil. The bulk of this book focuses on the life, times, and scholarship of a man heralded by many to be his generation's Mircea Eliade--as well as why Romanian thugs would have any interest in such a person. The case's apparent unsolvability is maddening, but Anton does a fine job of recounting its essentials.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A great read!.......2007-03-16

This is an insightful look at the life and work of a brilliant Romanian scholar and exile, and at the frightening overseas activities of the Romanian secret police in the post-communist years. Written in a clear, elegant style, with plenty of references to Culianu's writings and glimpses at his complicated personal interactions, this book is a great read. As the author concludes, Culianu "left a legacy of the dangers of a life of the mind." Without this biography, his undeserved fate may well be forgotten.

2 out of 5 stars Interesting Premise, Boring Execution.......2006-02-02


I first heard of the murder of Professor Culianu when I was an undergrad at the University of Chicago. I was immediately drawn to find more about the man who allegedly believed in the magic he studied. After reading "Eros and Magic" and "Out of this World", I thought that this biography might shed some additional light on the man, his scholarship, and his occult dabblings.

I must admit I was somewhat disappointed. The book is very dry and factually oriented. The facts themselves appear to be well-researched, but are simply presented without much else. Mr. Anton tells us where Prof. Culianu was born, where he studied, what books he wrote, but seldom goes deeper than that.
Ironically, given the themes in Culianu's work and life, Mr. Anton fails to realize the importance of evoking the imagination in telling the story, to bring the facts to life in a meaningful, interesting way.

There are only the slightest hints of the exciting ideas that motivated Prof. Culianu's scholarship and personal life.
It is said that Prof. Culianu took a personal interest interest in the ideas he was studying, actually practicing divination and teaching a course on it. But rather than exploring in any depth either Prof. Culianu's professional ideas or personal interests, these facts are simply used as "hooks" to carry the reader along.

If you are interested in the ideas of Prof. Culianu and/or his interest in occult scholarship, this book will probably disappoint you. If you are looking for a lot of biographical facts about Prof. Culianu, then this book may be for you.

5 out of 5 stars Eros and Magic........2002-06-01

If you enjoyed Umberto Eco's _Foucault's Pendulum_, you will undoubtedly enjoy this true life tale of magic, European politics, and murder. The book gives an accounting of the life of Ioan Culianu, a professor of comparative religion at the University of Chicago, from his birth in Romania to his untimely murder. Professor Culianu provided astounding insights into the world of magic and attempted to explain its occurrences through complexity. He published many books on magic, comparative religion, shamanism, and gnosticism. Like Mircea Eliade, a fellow Romanian and his mentor before him, Culianu contributed a great deal to our understanding of religion and magic. He also wrote several novels along with his fiancee Hillary Wiesner. This book provides a look into not only the worlds of Eliade and Culianu, but also a disturbing examination of far-right politics in Romania. Culianu's murder remains unsolved despite its obvious link to his outspoken views on the Romanian revolution which occurred just prior to his murder. However, many disturbing coincidences abound regarding this event.

5 out of 5 stars A True Murder Mystery, by fermed.......2002-05-01

The shot that killed professor Ioan Culianu while he was sitting in a stall in the men's room came from a small Beretta: a .25 caliber gun, fired at leat 18 inches away from his head, for there were no gunpowder traces around the entry wound. It was the work of an expert, a person who stood on the toilet seat of the adjoining stall, and fired downward and into the back of his head; probably the shot of a left hander. Why only one shot? Why such a small caliber gun? Professionals are more heavy handed, more redundant, more brutal. This was exquisitely done, with minimal fuss and no traceable clues.

It was May, 1991, a little after one in the afternoon, at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Prof Culianu, a handsome man in his 40's had three books in press, was about to get married, was loved and respected by students and faculty, and was at the peak of his profession as a historian of religion. His work was recognized internationally, and he could look forward to the honors and comforts of a successful academic career.

Ted Anton presents the true tale of Prof. Culianu with deftness and care. It is a story that to this day continues to reverberate in academia and law enforcement because it has never been solved. Far more exciting than fiction, the story of this professor takes turns and dips that keep the reader on edge and breathless.Culianu was an expert not only on the traditional aspects of religions, but had an interest in the occult arts that formed part of the ancient rituals and practices. He was an expert in divination through geomancy, and was about to teach a course in this practice. He gravitated towards the occult. He knew about near death experiences and about the transmigration of souls; and at the same time he maintained his status as a legitimate scholar and teacher in one of America's prestigious universities.

Fictional stories about crimes and police work are very enjoyable, but reading a book like this renders the others insignificant by comparison. Of course truth is stranger than fiction, but it is also more exciting, more interesting, and finally...more scary.

5 out of 5 stars Crime, politics, religion and the occult.......2001-10-13

Culiano taught religious studies at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago--the hand-picked successor to the great Mircea Eliade. Culiano specialized in magic, dualistic heresies and mystical experiences. He practiced what he studied as well, entertaining students and aggravating colleagues. But he also wrote political articles and fiction for a Romanian journal. These got him in trouble with the Romanian secret police; his murder has never been solved.

Blending religious studies, occult phenomena, political analysis, and true crime journalism, this book is also an entertaining and intriguing look at Culiano, academics in America, Romanian intellectual traditions. I hope many people read and enjoy it.

Fairways and Dreams: Twenty-Five of the World's Greatest Golfers and the Fathers Who Inspired Them
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Bauer Power
  • Wind Beneath Their Wings
Fairways and Dreams: Twenty-Five of the World's Greatest Golfers and the Fathers Who Inspired Them
Michael Arkush
Manufacturer: Rutledge Hill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Golf | Sports | Subjects | Books
GolfGolf | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1558535977

Amazon.com

"The game," writes Michael Arkush, "is a rite of passage for the father sharing his expertise with the child he is training for the future--the same child who, almost inevitably, will dethrone him at the first opportunity." All of the 25 professional golfers who relate their tales of golf life with Dad eventually did out-drive, out-chip, and out-putt their old men, but all acknowledge appreciatively the essential roles their fathers played in the journey, and it is to them that they offer homage. Interestingly, the lasting legacies go beyond the essentials on grip and stance: it is the intangibles that fly the course from tee to green here. Jack Nicklaus thanks his father for instilling self-confidence; Arnold Palmer praises his father for teaching him how to lose; Amy Alcott is grateful that her father let her know the only barriers in her way were those of her own making; Calvin Peete extols his father's insistence that he be a leader, not a follower. If Fairways and Dreams fairly overdoses on its own inspiration and sweetness, that's its intention; you'll find testimonials worth respecting, and lessons worth learning and remembering. --Jeff Silverman

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Bauer Power.......2000-03-11

For me, reading a book about golf normally wouldn't have sparked my intrest, but I couldn't put this one down. I especially liked the part about the 18 year old phenom Elizabeth Bauer. She is my daughters hero. My husband passed away last year and he was teaching my daughter the game, and she was crushed. They were best friends. I saw this book in a store and bought it for my daughter and she became Elizabeth Bauer's biggest fan. I think the book really helped her to see that she can still make their dream come true. Now of course she wants to play for Duke University! Thank you Micheal Azurish for writing this wonderful book. It was nice for my daughter to read about famous people like Payne Stewart and see how they made it, and soon to be stars like Bauer. Thank you so much, a Five star book, Kerri and Kammi from North Carolina.

4 out of 5 stars Wind Beneath Their Wings.......2000-01-27

While reading Fairways and Dreams, I can't help but let my eyes fill with tears when learning the stories of such golf greats as Payne Stewart and Amy Alcott. Their determination and drive to succeed inspires me. It's nice to read about amateurs as well, and I was happy to read Beth Bauers' story. I was privledged enough to see her play in several tournaments over the past few years (being a native of Florida) and I must say, she has turned into such a beautiful, accomplished young woman. Her father clearly taught her well. Beth is one of those people whom you know is just special. I think this book helps give others an idea of the talent these people hold,an insight as to who they are, and most importantly,it tells us all about the wind that will always be beneath their wings.
Fairway Dreams: A Decade in Professional Golf (Mainstream Sport)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Fairway Dreams: A Decade in Professional Golf (Mainstream Sport)
    Lauren St. John
    Manufacturer: Mainstream Publishing
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books
    GolfGolf | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Golf | Sports | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
    ASIN: 1840183683

    Book Description

    Lauren St. John fell in love with golf quite by accident at the age of 18, after allowing herself to be talked into watching a friend's boyfriend play. This text gives the low-down on the world's greatest golfers, including frank discussions with legends such as Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros.

    Understanding Cinema: A Psychological Theory of Moving Imagery
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Understanding Cinema: A Psychological Theory of Moving Imagery
      Per Persson
      Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

      GeneralGeneral | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
      History & CriticismHistory & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
      All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
      ASIN: 052181328X

      Book Description

      Understanding Cinema analyzes the moving imagery of film and television from a psychological perspective. Per Persson asserts that spectators interpret, feel or make use of knowledge, assumptions, expectations and prejudices when viewing film. Persson explains how close-ups, editing conventions, character psychology and other cinematic techniques work, and how and why they affect the spectator. Utilizing examples from early and contemporary cinema, the book also analyzes the design of cinema conventions and their stylistic transformations through the evolution of film.

      Download Description

      Understanding Cinema analyzes the moving imagery of film and television from a psychological perspective. Per Persson argues that spectators perceive, think, apply knowledge, infer, interpret, feel and make use of knowledge, assumptions, expectations and prejudices when viewing and making sense of film. Drawing psychology and anthropology, he explains how close-ups, editing conventions, character psychology and other cinematic techniques work, and how and why they affect the spectator. This study integrates psychological and culturalist approaches to meanings and reception in new ways. Anchoring the discussion in concrete examples from early and contemporary cinema, Understanding Cinema also analyzes the design of cinema conventions and their stylistic transformations through the evolution of film.

      Communication Theories: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Communication Theories: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies

        Manufacturer: Routledge
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        CommunicationsCommunications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
        Popular CulturePopular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        Media StudiesMedia Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Communication | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        Media StudiesMedia Studies | Mass Media | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        CommunicationCommunication | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
        Look Inside Business BooksLook Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
        Look Inside Entertainment BooksLook Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
        Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
        ASIN: 0415331978

        Book Description

        This collection reprints a range of key essays both canonical in, and at the cutting edge of, communication theory. The papers here provide in-depth theoretical analysis and theoretical overviews rather than specific study of phenomena within a given theoretical tradition. The set represents communication theory in a fashion cognizant with the breadth of communication - nonverbal and verbal - that takes place within the universe. However, there are also special sections devoted to language and media.

        The four volumes provide academics and students with access to a free-standing body of theoretical work which is applicable to a range of different topics within communications, media and cultural studies. The set includes an introduction by the editor, a chronological table of articles and an index.
        Previous titles in the series include Popular Music (0-415-29905-5) 2003, 4 volumes and Film Theory (0-415-25971-1) 2003, 4 volumes. Forthcoming titles include Visual Culture (0415-32641-9) 2005, 4 volumes and Cybercultures (0415-34398-4) 2006, 4 volumes.

        Communication Theories: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies / Edited by Paul Cobley
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Communication Theories: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies / Edited by Paul Cobley

          Manufacturer: Routledge
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

          Media StudiesMedia Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 041533201X

          Greater Harad (Middle Earth Role Playing/MERP, No. 3111)
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Greater Harad (Middle Earth Role Playing/MERP, No. 3111)
            William E. Wilson , and Angus McBride
            Manufacturer: Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE)
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GeneralGeneral | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy BooksLook Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
            ASIN: 1558061002

            Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop-from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication
            Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
            • Introductory book on MITs developing FABLabs
            • An easy introduction to the process
            • This is not a how to book.
            • Thank you MIT
            • Fab is not happening..
            Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop-from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication
            Neil Gershenfeld
            Manufacturer: Basic Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            CultureCulture | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
            Computer DesignComputer Design | Microprocessors & System Design | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
            PCsPCs | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Reference | Science | Subjects | Books
            General & ReferenceGeneral & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
            Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
            Look Inside Science BooksLook Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
            All DealsAll Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
            Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
            ScienceScience | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
            Similar Items:
            1. When Things Start to Think When Things Start to Think
            2. Shaping Things (Mediaworks Pamphlets) Shaping Things (Mediaworks Pamphlets)
            3. Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing
            4. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
            5. In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World

            ASIN: 0465027466

            Book Description

            What if you could someday put the manufacturing power of an automobile plant on your desktop? According to Neil Gershenfeld, the renowned MIT scientist and inventor, the next big thing is personal fabrication-the ability to design and produce your own products, in your own home, with a machine that combines consumer electronics and industrial tools. Personal fabricators are about to revolutionize the world just as personal computers did a generation ago, and Fab shows us how.

            Customer Reviews:

            4 out of 5 stars Introductory book on MITs developing FABLabs.......2007-07-26

            As an introduction to the idea of personal fabrication this book works out quite well. The MIT FABLabs have been set up in a number of places around the world and this book tells us of the experiences that MIT students, et al, have undergone in setting them up and the things that they find people interested in making.

            There is nothing in this book about other people's developments in personal fabrication (such as Fab@home or RepRap) but these may have occurred after the book was written.

            All in all the book is a useful starting point introducing people to the perhaps novel idea of personal manufacturing, a growing field of endeavour.

            5 out of 5 stars An easy introduction to the process.......2007-05-17

            FAB: THE COMING REVOLUTION ON YOUR DESKTOP - FROM PERSONAL COMPUTERS TO PERSONAL FABRICATION covers a new prospect in desktop applications: the ability to manufacture products at home on the home computer. Personal fabricators hold much potential and promise to be tomorrow's hits, and FAB surveys the new technology of digital fabrication, from inexpensive ways to build large solar energy collectors to specialized radio collars for herding goats in Norway. Fab labs build digital fabrications using logic, and FAB is an easy introduction to the process which general-interest collections will want.

            Diane C. Donovan
            California Bookwatch

            5 out of 5 stars This is not a how to book........2007-04-17

            I think some of the reviewers here were expecting a how to book and are missing the point. This book is more of a sumation of some of the possibilities that microfabrication can bring to the world. This was a very good read and is inspiring to those with imagination. Well, if you don't have imagination, you probably aren't going to do too well when microfabrication tech truely becomes much more mainstream in the next 10 years--and it is coming despite any unenlightened assertions to the contrary. The 3D printing technology is already being proven and people with brains realize how fast printing technology comes down in price.

            Also, I've seen a computer controlled wood milling machine on the market for under 2k now; metal milling won't be too far behind. A clever person could put such things to good use in a small business framework.

            If you have an imagination, this book will be a good read. If you don't, well, no technology can cure that lol.

            5 out of 5 stars Thank you MIT.......2007-03-15

            This book is such a gift for those who know what science , in the right hands , can do for humanity.

            2 out of 5 stars Fab is not happening.........2007-02-19

            Despite many good reviews on this book, I find it disappointing. The book is a historical summary of the work that MIT labs did. Neil got his PhD in Physics from Cornell University, dabbled into Computer Programming, examples were on C programming and some Assembly Language codes. It is easy to impress physics students these topics. But all computer students learn C and Assembly in the 1970s. They have very limited use today. Most of the equipment, laser cutters, and others were used in the 1960s. Yes, they may be useful in India, Ghana, but Norway?

            Fast forward to 2007, Microsoft is doing C# (sharp) .NET programming, Windows Vista and Office 2007. Jobs are created to support all these new softwares. With globalization and outsourcing, USA manufacturing jobs are done to 23% and service sector jobs are 77%.

            With NSF grants and student enthusiasm, Neil's CBA reseach continues. But MIT graduates do not get jobs in manufacturing or personal fabrications. They mostly find work in programming, business systems, or work in the financial sector in NYC. Is FAB a good training for these jobs?

            Conclusion, it is great that we can bring manufacturing back, but the reality is: FAB is not happening in USA any time soon.
            FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication.(Book review) : An article from: American Scientist
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication.(Book review) : An article from: American Scientist

              Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Digital

              NonfictionNonfiction | Subjects | Books | Automotive | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Crime & Criminals | Current Events | Economics | Education | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Government | Holidays | Law | Philosophy | Politics | Social Sciences | Transportation | True Accounts | Urban Planning & Development | Women's Studies
              GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
              Science & TechnologyScience & Technology | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
              GeneralGeneral | Nonfiction | HTML | Formats | e-Docs | Formats | Books
              ScienceScience | HTML | Formats | e-Docs | Formats | Books
              ASIN: B000FPVFBS
              Release Date: 2006-05-16
              Fab: the Coming Revolution on Your Desktop - From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Fab: the Coming Revolution on Your Desktop - From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication
                Neil Gershenfeld
                Manufacturer: Basic Books
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Hardcover
                ASIN: B000O1FCIU

                Global Passages: Sources In World History (Sources in World History)
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Global Passages: Sources In World History (Sources in World History)
                  Roger Schlesinger
                  Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback

                  ReferenceReference | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | World | History | Subjects | Books
                  All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
                  Similar Items:
                  1. The Earth and Its Peoples : A Global History : Brief Edition : Third Edition : Volume I : To 1550 The Earth and Its Peoples : A Global History : Brief Edition : Third Edition : Volume I : To 1550
                  2. The Earth and Its Peoples : A Global History : Brief Edition : Third Edition : Volume II : Since 1500 The Earth and Its Peoples : A Global History : Brief Edition : Third Edition : Volume II : Since 1500
                  3. The Essential World History, Volume I The Essential World History, Volume I
                  4. The Earth And Its People: A Global History The Earth And Its People: A Global History
                  5. The Agricola and The Germania (Penguin Classics) The Agricola and The Germania (Penguin Classics)

                  ASIN: 0618067965

                  Book Description

                  This distinctive primary source reader, designed to supplement world history survey texts, has a conceptual framework that emphasizes comparative analysis by presenting foreigners' accounts of a given society alongside accounts from citizens of the same society.

                  These descriptions shed light on the values and beliefs of both the society being described, and those of the writer. In the words of the editors, "What observers expect to see determines what they find."


                  1688: A Global History
                  Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                  • Interesting and broad coverage
                  • Great book for world history classes
                  • Very Good
                  • A Bit Lightweight
                  • "the sketch and the anectdote" woven into world history
                  1688: A Global History
                  John E., Jr. Wills
                  Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback

                  GeneralGeneral | World | History | Subjects | Books
                  RenaissanceRenaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books
                  17th Century17th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books
                  All DealsAll Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
                  Similar Items:
                  1. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the Modern World (1300 to the Present) Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the Modern World (1300 to the Present)
                  2. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World
                  3. The World That Trade Created: Society, Culture, And the World Economy, 1400 to the Present (Sources and Studies in World History) The World That Trade Created: Society, Culture, And the World Economy, 1400 to the Present (Sources and Studies in World History)
                  4. Einstein's Enigma or Black Holes in My Bubble Bath Einstein's Enigma or Black Holes in My Bubble Bath
                  5. The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative

                  ASIN: 0393322785

                  Book Description

                  John E. Wills's masterful history ushers us into the worlds of 1688, from the suicidal exaltation of Russian Old Believers to the ravishing voice of the haiku poet Basho¯. Witness the splendor of the Chinese imperial court as the Kangxi emperor publicly mourns the death of his grandmother and shrewdly consolidates his power. Join the great caravans of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage from Damascus and Cairo to Mecca. Walk the pungent streets of Amsterdam and enter the Rasp House, where vagrants, beggars, and petty criminals labored to produce powdered brazilwood for the dyeworks. Through these stories and many others, Wills paints a detailed picture of how the global connections of power, money, and belief were beginning to lend the world its modern form.

                  Customer Reviews:

                  4 out of 5 stars Interesting and broad coverage.......2005-06-21

                  John Wills has done a good job of presenting the whole world as it was in 1688. The coverage is necessarily incomplete--if Wills had identified every culture and conflict alive in that year there'd have been only a sentence on each. It's thorough even so, and by 1688 the world was truly a global network: the Spanish mining silver in Bolivia; the Dutch bloodily extracting spices from the Indonesian archipelagoes; the British making their first military probes into India. The Tsar of Russia visited London; there were Armenian traders in Lhasa, English scientists in Australia, and Jesuits almost everywhere.

                  The coverage is so broad that Wills cannot do any one story real justice. He copes with this by picking specific narratives and telling them in detail, interspersing these stories among the general cultural and historical background. He covers the progress of the great religions, and literature and science as well as the struggles for empire -- this was the age of Locke, Leibniz and Newton, after all. And 1688 is a good choice for other reasons: the English Revolution of that year is the hook on which Wills hangs much material about the religious strife of the seventeenth century, for example.

                  The writing is clear and transparent. The book's only real weak point is that nothing is described in much detail; nothing gets more than a few pages. The result is that when you've finished you feel more as if you'd been reading newspapers about the year than a history text. You don't feel you know these cultures in depth -- you know them the way a slightly educated contemporary might have known them: by reputation, with a few high points. However, I think that's a fine result for a book like this. It certainly made me want to read half a dozen more books to get more details. I don't think this is a good book to start with, though, if you don't already have some awareness of this period of history; it is not truly introductory for any of the cultures covered. For those interested, though, it is well able to whet your appetite for more.

                  4 out of 5 stars Great book for world history classes.......2005-03-21

                  John Willis sought to accomplish one goal: an overview of world history for a single year. He accomplishes this in a very readable book. It can be a good corrective or complement to a narrower, traditional Anglocentric/Eurocentric presentation of history. Unfortunately the subject also makes it easy to criticize the book for being incomplete, or disconnected. But I can't imagine this book being written before the internet. In the past, it would require a large staff of ployglot librarians to tackle such a project, and at the cost of simplicity and narrative unity. Hopefully, 1688 will set a precedent for global popular histories.

                  4 out of 5 stars Very Good .......2005-02-14

                  The book is not perfect. I do not think the chapters are linked together in an effective way and at times the author has to spend too much of his time on background information of the period and not enough time on the actual year in focus. In the end these are minor problems. The sections when taken individually are excellent and I did like the quality of the writing., I even found wondering if there was going to be a 1689 or 1707.

                  3 out of 5 stars A Bit Lightweight.......2004-09-10

                  I will admit that the author covers a lot of ground in this book, in which he conducts a general survey of events and notable personages as of 1688. If that date is recognizable to the general public, it would be for England's Glorious Revolution, in which James II was deposed in favor of William of Orange from Holland. Obviously, though, there was quite a lot more going on across the globe, and the author hopscotches about to touch on various affairs here and there and to highlight sundry people of interest, whether they were political figures, poets and writers, travelers, adventurers, scientists, or priests.

                  His destinations include Mexico, China, Japan, India, Russia, Turkey, and other nations and regions. The details he shares on what was going on at the time in the East are particularly interesting, and he has a fair amount of material on the Muslim world and on Africa. The stuff on Russia is also pretty good. I found the sections on the Spanish-speaking countries to be rather weak, though, and in my estimation his chapters on Western Europe were nothing all that special.

                  What I found disappointing was the lack of depth. Too often he introduces us to someone whose story is wrapped up within two pages. I really don't learn that much in finding out that So-and-so was born, grew up to become a Jesuit, wrote some poetry, and then died. I wanted more background, more context, more details. How did their culture shape them? What impact did they have on those around them? What is their particular significance and their legacy? Mainly, it's the artistic types who get this short shrift, and it sorta chaps me to have the life of, say, Aphra Behn brought up and then disposed of in a few paragraphs. What was the point, really?

                  Also, the author is overly fond of the Baroque period and too often comments on how this, that, and the other thing were totally baroque. A lot of the time this is a real stretch, and ultimately doesn't serve to enlighten the reader that much.

                  However, as a quick synopsis of events large and small in this one year, this book does pretty well, and earns kudos for highlighting a lot of non-European areas of the world. Accept it as a skimming of the surface, but avoid it if you want a great deal of discerning analysis.

                  5 out of 5 stars "the sketch and the anectdote" woven into world history.......2004-03-16

                  John Wills takes a unique approach to writing global history by focusing on the world in a single year. More accurately, this is a history of the late 17th century in which the year 1688 serves as nexus, and justifies bringing together stories that he "stumbled across" while researching European-Chinese relations. The result is a somewhat personal and idiosyncratic, but very entertaining, book. He does not engage in extensive analysis, preferring the sketch and the anecdote to the Grand Narrative. The notions of fragmentation and serendipity, rather than system and analysis, guide the presentation: "The historian seeking to sketch a world tries not to be confined to any style, any set of questions but to follow hunches, to let one thing lead to another. Like Shitao letting the One Stroke appear in many forms, he hopes to avoid system and to put before his reader many pictures of a world, reflecting the unconfineable variety, splendor, and strangeness of the human condition" (P 112). The appeal of the book is that it is centered on the stories of real people, some of whom are well known and others obscure.
                  In my judgment the strongest parts of the book focus on points of cross-cultural contacts, what might be considered the "boundary" areas rather than the traditional "centers" of civilization. Here the sense of a dynamic, living world emerges most vividly. Rather than a world of static, closed societies, the world in 1688 is one in which boundaries are not rigid. People move about and encounter each other in pursuit of commerce, adventure, and plunder. A variety of cross-cultural contacts appear in these pages: individuals adapting to foreign and alien settings, diaspora merchant communities prospering and struggling, communities resulting from the forcible transplanting of people brought about by slavery, Creole societies in the New World, frontier towns like Potosi that brought together fortune seekers from all over.
                  One example of interconnectedness that affected people and communities in various parts of the world is the Atlantic slave trade. Portuguese activities left their cultural imprint on the Congo, where we see an African chief writing to a Capuchin Priest in Portuguese and calling himself "Dom Joao Manoel Grilho, who treads on the lion in his mother's belly" (P. 32). Across the Atlanta in Brazil, escaped slaves formed their own settlements called quilombos. They grew their own food, had they own smiths, and some grew as large as twenty thousand people. Eventually, leaders of coastal towns, suffering from raids by these quilombos, banded together with bandeirantes, Brazilian frontiersmen in the business of enslaving Indians, and in 1694 destroyed the largest of these communities, killing and enslaving those who remained. Meanwhile, back in London in 1688, a woman writer named Aphra Behn published Oroonoko: Or, The Royal Slave. This is the story of an escaped slave set in Surinam on the north coast of South America. It is brutal in its details of the cruelty of the whites and the suffering of the blacks. We see here that events in Africa and America are affecting the moral awareness of some people in Europe.
                  Wills argues that significant developments coalesced around 1688 heralding our own modern world. These developments were: "the rise of science; the growth of cities and commerce; government policies promoting economic growth; an immense variety of writing and publishing, some of it for broad urban audiences; some very individual and idiosyncratic acceptances and reinterpretations of the great religions; protests against slavery and the subordination of women." Furthermore, he argues that these developments, while led by Europe, were global, and that, "many readers will be surprised to find somewhat comparable changes taking place in many different parts of the world." The problem with seeking out origins of our own world is that it distorts the actual world of 1688. Furthermore, I think that these themes of incipient modernity, while perhaps suitable assessments of European developments, are something of a procrustean bed for the rest of the world.
                  Wills asserts that it was only a few Europeans who truly held a global perspective at that time. This is cleverly insinuated in the preface to his first chapter, "A World of Wooden Ships," through introducing us to the Venetian map and globe-maker Father Vincenzo Coronelli, a Venetian Friar, who is producing most accurate contemporary world atlas and globe. Creating the globe, he makes one triangular strip at a time, sending them to subscribers, European of course, throughout the world, who will finally assembly them into completed globes. This is an apt metaphor for the European global expansion. However, there is a whiff of teleology in anticipating European world dominance in later centuries.
                  1688: A Global History
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    1688: A Global History
                    John E. Wills
                    Manufacturer: Granta Books
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Hardcover
                    ASIN: B000NPPIT0
                    1688: A Global History
                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                      1688: A Global History
                      John E. Wills
                      Manufacturer: Granta Books
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Hardcover

                      RenaissanceRenaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books
                      ASIN: 1862074135
                      1688: A Global History (Doubleday Edition)
                      Average customer rating: Not rated
                        1688: A Global History (Doubleday Edition)
                        Wills John E
                        Manufacturer: Granta Books
                        ProductGroup: Book
                        Binding: Paperback
                        ASIN: 1862074674

                        Paths from Science Towards God: The End of All Our Exploring
                        Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                        • Highly Recommended
                        Paths from Science Towards God: The End of All Our Exploring
                        Arthur Peacocke
                        Manufacturer: Oneworld Publications
                        ProductGroup: Book
                        Binding: Paperback

                        GeneralGeneral | Theology | Reference | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                        PhilosophyPhilosophy | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                        GeneralGeneral | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                        GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
                        GeneralGeneral | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
                        GeneralGeneral | Philosophy of Religion | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                        Similar Items:
                        1. Pascal's Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding Pascal's Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding
                        2. The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker (Theology and the Sciences) The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker (Theology and the Sciences)
                        3. Theology for a Scientific Age: Being and Becoming-Natural, Divine and Human (Theology and the Sciences) Theology for a Scientific Age: Being and Becoming-Natural, Divine and Human (Theology and the Sciences)
                        4. All That Is: A Naturalistic Faith for the Twenty-First Century (Theology and the Sciences) All That Is: A Naturalistic Faith for the Twenty-First Century (Theology and the Sciences)
                        5. Is Religion Dangerous? Is Religion Dangerous?

                        ASIN: 1851682457

                        Book Description

                        In this ground-breaking work, biochemist, priest and 2001 Templeton Prize winner Arthur Peacocke offers a uniquely balanced evaluation of the science-religion debate.

                        Customer Reviews:

                        5 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended.......2001-09-10

                        I just finished reading this book and in my view it is one of the best books on the science religion debate. Peacocke is obviously a Christian and he also knows his science and the result is a very fascinating book. I can see why he won the $1 million prize from Templeton in 2001 for progress in religion.
                        Paths From Science Toward God (Russian Language)
                        Average customer rating: Not rated
                          Paths From Science Toward God (Russian Language)
                          Arthur Peacocke
                          ProductGroup: Book
                          Binding: Hardcover

                          All Russian BooksAll Russian Books | Russian | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
                          ASIN: 5818305155

                          Product Description

                          Russian language text

                          Endangered birds: Management techniques for preserving threatened species
                          Average customer rating: Not rated
                            Endangered birds: Management techniques for preserving threatened species

                            Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
                            ProductGroup: Book
                            Binding: Hardcover

                            Antiquarian & Rare BooksAntiquarian & Rare Books | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
                            ZoologyZoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books | Amphibians | Anatomy | Animal Behavior & Communication | Animal Psychology | General | Genetics | Ichthyology | Invertebrates | Mammals | Ornithology | Pathology & Parasitology | Physiology | Primatology | Reptiles | Research & Ethics | Vertebrates
                            ConservationConservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                            Hunting & FishingHunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books | Fishing | General & Anthologies | Hunting | Shooting
                            GeneralGeneral | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                            BirdsBirds | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                            ASIN: 0299075206
                            Endangered Birds: Management Techniques for Preserving Threatened Species
                            Average customer rating: Not rated
                              Endangered Birds: Management Techniques for Preserving Threatened Species
                              STANLEY TEMPLE
                              Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
                              ProductGroup: Book
                              Binding: Paperback
                              ASIN: B000ORRB7O

                              Books:

                              1. Exemplary Economists: Introducing Economics of the 20th Century (Elgar Monographs)
                              2. For God, Mammon, and Country: A Nineteenth-Century Persian Merchant, Haj Muhammad Hassan Amin al-Zarb (1834-1898)
                              3. Fred Pontin: The Authorised Biography of Sir Fred Pontin
                              4. From Communism to Capitalism : A Tale of Three Cities
                              5. From Salesman to Chief Executive Officer: The Trials and Travels of Anazje
                              6. Gentlemen Engineers: The Careers of Frank and Walter Shanly
                              7. Gerald Durrell: The Authorized Biography
                              8. God, Country, Notre Dame: The Autobiography of Theodore M. Hesburgh
                              9. Going Up: A Working Life
                              10. Head Over Heels in the Dales

                              Books Index

                              Books Home

                              Recommended Books

                              1. The Power New Testament, Third Edition
                              2. The Pressure Cooker Gourmet: 225 Recipes for Great-Tasting, Long-Simmered Flavors in Just Minutes
                              3. The Last Carousel
                              4. The #1 New York Times Bestseller: Intriguing Facts About the 484 Books That Have Been #1 New York Ti
                              5. Teaching First-Year College Students
                              6. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
                              7. The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
                              8. My Reggae Journey: Music's Rough, Tough Road
                              9. The COMING AMERICAN RENAISSANCE: How to Benefit from America's Economic Resurgence
                              10. Blue Green Algae: Current Research