Earth Books

A book I pass around alot! If you are concerned about Earth's natural resources and our future, this is a must read. The author explains the coming world production peak in conventional oil and the facts of dealing with finite resources.

Don't be surprised by the problems we face just around the corner in the new century in energy, minerals and water.

A very depressing book but a very important one if the author is correct. It covers resources of all types: water, metals, oil, arable soil, etc. as it relates to the various economies and lifestyles throughout the world. At the rate resources are being used up, in particular oil and gas, the standard of living outside of the Persian Gulf state could be materially affected in the next 50 to 100 years.

Read it at your own risk: it's going to paint a bleak picture of future mineral resources.

There are many good books on peak oil, but none fly as high as Youngquist's "Geodestinies", giving you an eagle-eye view of how the world works from a resource standpoint. Far more than just the mineral of oil is covered. Youngquist also delves into the role of minerals and good health, their use as currencies, the distribution of minerals around the world, and the most precious mineral of all: topsoil.

The range of what is covered is so vast I can't do justice to this book, but among other things, you'll learn the role of minerals and wars, civilizations, politics, and overviews of alternative energy sources. You'll emerge with a better understanding of how the world really works, what to invest in, and a deep appreciation of the amazing lives we're leading at this peak of civilization.

After I read this monumental book, I was sad and angry that history was never taught this way while I was in school. If there is one book you should have on your shelf for those who make it through the bottleneck of the coming ecological crash, this is it.

I have read thousands of non-fiction books as I walk to work and back ten miles a day -- this is the most important and life-changing book of all of them.

This is one of those rare works that has the power to transform society. It is extremely well written, easily readable and cites an extensive list of references.

This book should be required reading for all college freshmen, and should be included in every high school, college and public library.

It is unfortunate that the book is often out of stock and difficult to find.

While the book reads more like a high school textbook, for the inquisitive mind, the information imparted more than makes up for it. Learning the principle of doubling time and it's portent for future populaiton growth and resource depletion, alone is worth the price of the book. The information presented in the book is sobering and thought provoking, and not a little depressing.
Let's all hope that technology can deliver us from most of the doom and gloom presented in the book. As a geologist I was familiar with the limitations on our mineral resources but did not construct the relational scenarios that were presented in the book. The "oil interval" of earth history is overlooked by most people even in the sciences. It's far reaching implications points out the severe case of myopia from which our society suffers. The fact that we comsume 60% of our soon to be precious oil for the luxury of being able to run to the convenience store for a pack of gum is also sobering. Buy the book impart the information to your kids.

This book does a terrific job listing simple, practical eco-friendly practices that any household can adopt. Highly recommend!

This is a cute book with a great message. While many "green" books give you long list of dos and don't (mostly don'ts!), Green Chic goes further. Author Christie Matheson goes into great detail as to the why that making environmentally friendly choices makes a difference. She is not at all about appearances, but is definitely all about the change of mindset and attitude.

The best part of this book is that Matheson offers very doable tips to make small changes that almost anyone can handle that make a major impact in our world.
Go Green!

So far this book has some good stuff to say. I have doggeared some pages to remember when I have to buy replacement "green" items. Easy read for anyone wanting to improve their "footprint"

The title of this book almost makes it sound like you'll be buying $500 dresses from organic hemp. Actually, what Green Chic provides is an extremely useful primer on how to incorporate green living into your daily life in a way that balances usefulness and impact.

Christie Matheson goes over a variety of basics in an easy to understand fashion. She explains the differences between incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, why fluorescent is better, and how to manage the switch. She talks about how wasteful plastic bottled water is, why it causes a lot of harm to the environment to buy water in this fashion, and what your options are.

She goes over the small differences you can make in your daily routine that really add up. Cut your shower length by 2 minutes to save 400 pounds of carbon a year. Uncharge your cell phone charger when not in use for another 100 pounds a year. These are things that are better for you anyway - your skin does much better with short showers - but you might not have thought about them before.

Wash your clothes in cold water. The heat really doesn't do anything at all with modern detergents, and if anything it might set a stain rather than let it wash out. Use recycled paper in your paper towels - if everyone in the US did that just once we'd save 1/2 million trees. Eat local foods, to save on the shipping impact of exhaust and gas.

We live in a consumer society. We buy things without thinking about their impact on our world. If each of us just made small changes - buying recycled paper cards, getting "non-thing" gifts for people like massage gift certificates or restaurant gift certificates, turning off lights when we left rooms - the impact could be phenomenal. Christie points these things out in an engaging manner.

Highly recommended! Then donate your copy to your local library, so even more people can learn from the information, and your own house reduces on its clutter!

Just for starters im 23 yrs old, and am apart of the generation that is really catching on to green living. Im also a major "tree hugger" as my family would call me lol. I love to do anything i can to help our environment, and that includes getting family members to start doing it to. So i have over the past two years bought several books. This one is my absolute favorite! this is perfect for anyone around my age or younger who wants to start going green! In this book it felt like the author really got down to some honest things we do that are hurting our planet without realizing we are doing it! Her words are truly inspiring. I thought i had this whole green living completely figured out, The author points out some things that im even guilty of. This book gave easy, simple and effective soulutions to living green without huge efforts or spending alot of money. The author of this book did a amazing job. I am so Happy i found this, i have three friends who went out and bought it and are now doing their part to live green. I have given it to two friends as part of their birthday gifts and they got back to me and told me they had finished it in less than two days. Fair price for such a Great Book! buy this book! you wont be let down.

Dr. Wemp has the unique ability of "pulling the cookies off the top shelf so we all can enjoy them!" I recommend this book to everyone. I am amazed by ease in which we are drawn into a closer walk. God can use this book to reach a lost friend as well, as he shares the Gospel, the Good News of Christ's death , burial and ressurection to pay the penalty for our sin! Don't miss the wealth this book can bring to your heart!

I was highly impressed with the teachings in this book. Dr. Wemp made the reading very easy, and down to earth. I enjoyed reading this book, and found it to be very practical for every day life. I was also impressed with the fact that Dr. Wemp used the scripture references right in the book, so I know that his thoughts were coming right from the word of God. I have had the opportunity to get to know Dr. Wemp, and it is encouraging to know that the words he writes in all his books are self evedent in his lifestyle. He is a man that loves the Lord, and loves people, and has a heart to see everyone come to know his God better.

Because of the statement that"so many people live such a subnormal Christian life, that when they live a normal Christian life, people think they are abnormal", I was challenged to rethink my Christian experience in light of God's Word. I recommend this book for anyone learning to walk in Christ or for anyone wishing to disciples someone else. A must for a Christian worker's library!

How on Earth can I be spiritual will be of great help to any Christian seeking a balanced treatment of the Holy Spirit. The reader will come away will a deeper understanding and desire to allow the Holy Spirit to have His rightful place in their life. Highly recommended reading for the Christian

I doubt there's another book that so clearly and so simply acquaints the reader with the Holy Spirit. When it comes to the Trinity, it seems that most of us have a better understanding of the Father and the Son than we do of the Holy Spirit. This book will clear up any confusion you might have...it did for me! You will not only develop a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit, but your spiritual walk will improve drastically. If you go beyond the "reading" of the words, and truly grasp Dr. Wemp's teachings, you will be on your way to a Spirit-controlled life. You will start to understand the power, the comfort, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. You will be excited! I can truthfully say that this is one of the top two or three books that I've ever read. I rate it so highly because of how easy it is to read, how well it educates, and how much it motivates one to be a better Christian. I cannot underestimate what a powerful affect this book can have on your spiritual walk, and I encourage everyone to make this one of the next books they read. I know that I'll be reading this one all over again in the near future.

I was impressed with the chapter by Charlotte Laws on Jainism. I have spent years searching for information on this elusive religion and found very little. Jainism has much to offer the environmental movement, both radical and mainstream. As a novice Jain, this chapter made me think about my own habits and realize I need to make some major changes. I can lend a hand to the environment and animals and plan to do so from now on.

People in and around mainstream environmentalism have spent the last year mentally masturbating about whether or not environmentalism is dead. Igniting a Revolution is a thoughtful, noisy, cantankerous, and courageous collection that should serve as a conceptual prophylactic that ends that debate once and for all. During a time of Green Scare when federal authorities are infiltrating activist groups everywhere, decrying "ecoterrorism" in the hollow halls of government, and carting earth and animal liberationists off to prision as quickly as possible, Best & Nocella (along with the AK collective) have edited/produced a roof raising howl of tremendous defiance and disgust. Only time will tell if the book is prophetic and ecologically mindful revolutionary forces materialize to play a role in transforming society such that a verdant peace grows out of the shorted-out circuitry of the mega-war-machine. In the meantime, however, the diverse range of essays included herein should be more than capable of setting fire to readers' imaginations as they generate ideas of how a more just, peaceful, and beautiful world might be achieved. A must read I would think for anyone with even the slightest concern for the state of the planet...

In a time when apathy is no longer a luxury we can afford; this book delves into the deep social-environmental issues that involve us all. This book has an underlying message that hyper-individualism is not at all in our best interest, we should be practicing social responsibility for even the slightest hope of a sustainable planet.

Much of the environmental struggle reminds me of the idea that the means of resistance is not determined by the oppressed; rather the oppressor.

Are the "eco-terrorists" fighting fair? Well, how about their opponents; big business with seemingly endless financial resources and legal sway?

This book is a great read and a real motivator.

I have read this book twice and find something amazing everytime I read it. With so many authors talking about so many amazing and important topics, this book is perfect for anyone interested in social change, - from feminism to veganism. This book is a must read!

I've been a member of the friends of AK press for about six years. Every month or so I get a package filled with books, videos and CDs. It is a cool deal, for twenty bucks a month you get everything AK press produces plus stickers and random zines.

Today I opened an AK press package and found a book with my writing in it. It was pretty cool. Igniting a revolution: voices in defense of the earth is a pretty intense anthology with a nice rant from King Maxwell. It was cool enough to be in an AK press book, but this book is filled with some serious radical stars and takes up where most of the other radical ecology books of the nineties finished.

The alliance-orientented big tent approach is worn on most of our sleeves. Queers, radical labor peeps, "take back the land" indigenous activists, eco-feminists, animal liberationists, anti-civilization roughnecks - y'all are included in here. This ain't your Dave Foreman radical ecology.

Despite being in the book, I had no idea who else was going to be included. Poems from anti-imperialist political prisoner Marilyn Buck help to set the tone of the text as open but SERIOUS. A few poetic words are included on being imprisoned by Little Chairman Fred Hampton - POCC. The book includes a nice essay from Robert Jensen who seems to agree with the 100-mile diet as a revolutionary ecological tactic and a piece by Derek Jensen on his own direct action. Adam Weismann, a dedicated NY activist who is serious about freegan scavenging and helps to articulate a feral city-based life style in his chapter. L. Kimmerer offers a strong argument about faith and liberation.

I'm kind of excited that there is a fervent discussion on the contribution of the anti-civilization movements to earth liberation activities. John Zerzan drops a brief tribute to liberation. Imprisoned activists Rob Los Ricos and "Critter" Marshall get seriously hardcore on folks while Jeff "Free" Luers tells his story of radical activism.

Igniting a revolution has a great section on repression with words from a dozen folks who've done time for earth, native, and anti-imperialist actions. Sara Olson, the symbionese liberation army underground activist who was captured in 1999 calls for Armageddon. Rik Scarce writes about the repression of authors and activists. Anne Hansen also provides a chapter reflecting on her own contributions to earth liberation and the continued value of direct action.

The two highlights of the book in my opinion are former Black Panther and former BLA activist Ashanti Alston's essay on the cross-fertilization between militants called "Mojo Workin'" - an awesome dialogue. The other piece which brought me to tears was pattrice jones' "stomping with the elephants" which documents how humans can learn from animals about liberation. Both should be required reading, and soon will be in my classes . . .

Closing with a poem from BLA coordinator Jalil Muntaqim on Katrina, the book stands as an incredible testament to the power and diversity of the struggles for the earth. There is no other text like this - certainly nothing as diverse or as militant.

The book is awesome and worth your attention. Support AK Press, get your learn on and buy one now!

This book was great i wouldn't have read it if it werent for my 6th grade teacher. When i first got the book i thought it was an other horrible book i had to read for school. When i first started to read it it didnt interest me at all but i had to read it so n e way so i did the book got a lot better. All my classmates agree it was a great book.

i probably never would have found out about this book, but that's my picture on the cover so i guess it was fate. this is possibly the best book i've ever read. i really enjoyed it. the way its written with two people's perspectives really makes for an exciting story. its quite informative of the lives of the indians, but in a sense, has also a modern twist to it in jenny's telling of the story. if you haven't read it, you definitely should because it's simply wonderful.

THE PLACE AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH masterfully combines mystery, time travel, Indian history, and suspense. Bebe Faas Rice skillfully weaves the factual information about the Indian schools into her well-plotted story.

This is a book to be treasured by children (of all ages) and their
parents. Like all great books, it is a "keeper", one to read and
reread and share with family and friends.

The Place at the Edge of the Earth by Bebe Faas Rice

Scrupulously researched, this book is a fascinating dramatized account of a young Lakota boy who is forced, along with other Indian children, to attend a boarding school in the late 1800s for the purpose of assimilation into white society. The story follows Jonah Flying Cloud on his frightening trip to the school in Pennsylvania where his hair is cut (a sign of mourning with his people), his Indian clothes taken from him, and he's made to wear scratchy long underwear, thick woolen uniforms, and shoes that hurt his feet. His days are scheduled by bells and bugles, and he's marched to meals and classes where he's taught to speak the white man's language. He's even taken to church and told he'll burn in a fiery pit forever if he doesn't accept the white man's god. Jonah Flying Cloud dies, brokenhearted, at the school and is trapped between the place of his earthly life and "the land above the clouds, where the eagles fly."

Jonah Flying Cloud's first-person narrative unfolds in alternating chapters with present-day Jenny Muldoon's story. Jenny moves with her mother and new stepfather to military quarters at Fort Sayers, which once housed the Indian school. When she finds out that her new home was once the school infirmary, the stage is set for her to meet the spirit of Jonah Flying Cloud who needs her help to be released from his dark half-world so that he can join his family and tribe members in the afterworld.

Both stories keep the reader moving quickly through the pages. In an interesting subplot, Jenny helps a friend, the son of the commanding general at Fort Sayers, stand up to his father and get help for his alcoholic mother. At the end, Jenny is finally able to figure out how to help her Indian friend. The novel ends with a final, poignant scene between Jenny and Jonah Flying Cloud.

This book a must for anyone interested in learning about the Indian schools. Its compelling story is sure to capture the interest and imagination of readers of all ages. Highly recommended!

This is a beautifully written and important book. It will give all readers, young and
old, a better knowledge, understanding, appreciation and sympathy for the Indian
children about whom the author writes with such deep feeling. Rice has managed to
balance the stories of the two main characters--the young Indian boy, Jonah Flying
Cloud, who died over a hundred years ago and the modern day young girl, Jenny
Muldoon--with exceptional skill as the two young people "meet" in a time warp and

gradually become sensitive of one another's feelings.
This is a well-told, smoothly flowing tale, a real page turner. Rice has a knack for
perfectly capturing the way young people talk, how they respond to one another and to
adults. Once again, balance comes into play in the way the author weaves flashes of
humor into the central, serious story line.
Though I hated to have the book end, my spirit soared at the conclusion, which
deserves to be read and reread several times. It's truly beautiful.
The Author's Note, where Rice speaks of writing this book "from the heart"
should not be missed. I wouldn't be surprised if The Place At The Edge Of The Earth
garners several awards, both for its writing craft and the importance of its subject.

If you are still debating, which of the two 1998 Hollywood flicks, "Deep Impact" or "Armageddon", is the better comet catastrophe movie, you will get delivered from this nagging question by reading this 1995 book: none of the above. I am amazed that Hollywood DIDN'T exploit the in reality much more gloomy scenarios of a comet impact's chain reactions leading to the effacement of the human habitat by multiple means.

The book starts out with the realization process of modern human society that comets are one of the biggest threats. Actually, the author thinks that comet awareness hasn't sharpened sufficiently yet and sets out to change that, successfully so for anyone who reads this book. From the discovery of solar system planetory impacts to the ongoing search for the remains of Earth' comet craters and the quest of mapping space in search for the villains of iron and ice, the author lets us know the high probability of global killers. In the process thwarting the current easy-going negligence, caused by what he terms 6-10,000 years of freak climate stability on Earth (equaling relatively comet-free times), responsible for the possibility of the emergence of human civilization and the population boom. Concluding with 10 random computer probability simulation scenarios of how the 20th century could have looked like in parallel universes. In between filling the book with the ugly comet consequences BEYOND cratering, shock wave, mega tsunami and dust-induced perennial nightly winter, I had never heard of before.

Some of my questions from reading other books got solved, most of all the so-called mystery of the Libyan desert glass (in Egypt), which is vitrified sand over a large circular area. The yellowpress book Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients mused about ancient nuclear warfare (I am not kidding), since this isn't a crater (yet mentioning nuclear cratering in another chapter). Whereas already half a decade before, this book had explained the effects of both nuclear and cometory explosions on the ground or in the air, causing either cratering or intense burning. (It is called a meteor, if it doesn't survive Earth' atmosphere and a meteorite, if it reaches the ground.)

The book may be dusted already, after all human knowledge currently doubles every five years. It becomes evident that it was written before September 11th, 2001 and the 2004 Christmas tsunami. Yet both deep impacts on the human psyche are explained in principle in this book: Unusual events eclipsing more deadly continuities. The average earth quake saving more lives by interrupting traffic (accidents) than killing others. More US-Americans killed in post-invasion Iraq than on September 11th. A neo-colonial induced economic tsunami sweeping Africa several times a year. So even on the level of reasoning about human perceptions, this book is worth the read and even some of the obviously dusted parts are translateable to an update of mind.

Actually, there has been an 1997 paperback update of three pages: More historic evidence found including a 580 A.D. match of one of the fictitious simulations about France's Orleans. The most scary part, I may say. Also the 1996 1st time confirmation of one of the theories extrapolated in the first edition of the book a year earlier: Earth "capturing" cometary debris, i.e. forcing it into temporary orbit.

In 1999, a more unorthodox book was first published - referencing this book - suggesting that human civilization had already lived through at least two such global killers - which merged into the flood stories. It suggests, megalithic structures on the Irish/British Isles were used to train people from far away places how to detect future comets and how to rebuild civilization after the strike - with Biblical Enoch and Noah being the ones in the position to apply that training. The book avers much higher tsunamis than "Rain of Iron and Ice", but it is fascinating reading: Uriel's Machine: Uncovering the Secrets of Stonehenge, Noah's Flood and the Dawn of Civilization. In Voyages of the Pyramid Builders: The True Origins of the Pyramids from Lost Egypt to Ancient America a similar historic scenario is described for Sundaland (once dry land of today's south-east Asian island nations world of Indonesia etc.).

__________________

The need for radioastronomy to detect near Earth objects on the day-side is documented in this book. Amateur astronomers have a real opportunity to potentially save all life on Earth. Despite the efforts expended (mostly since 1994, after the impact of the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter) the estimate is that 90 per cent of nearby asteroids are unknown. As David Morrison has warned, nothing can be told about the unknown majority, and the odds are that there will be no warning.

At least four large impacts occurred during the 20th century, the best known being the Tunguska object in 1908. I was a bit startled to learn of the small 1919 impact on Lake Michigan (p 159) having never heard anything about this from elderly folklore-prone relatives.

Perhaps most useful is Lewis' discussion of the various myths about our safety from such impacts.

See also "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" by James Lawrence Powell.

This book by John Lewis is very intriguing read. Roughly 220 pages with fifteen chapters, and easy to read. He explored the threats from space as well discussed the asteroid impacts from the past in our solar system, including that of Mars, Moon, Mercury, and even the impacts on asteroids themselves.

Out of all informative and fascinating chapters in this book, I felt the fourteenth chapter is most chilling to read because the author brings the reader to experience each scenario of impacts from A to J. Each is frightening as one begin to see, as the computer simulations show, what it would be like to be collided with the iron asteroid.

Overall, I felt this book is directed towards bringing the public awareness of the threats from space as it is likely. Not everyone ever believes that Earth will get hit by comets or asteroids, and that we are safe from such threats. This book can help one to understand the grace issue of such threats, and why we would need to look up and be aware of such cosmic events will happen, and it is just the matter of when. This book will surely be added to that awareness.

In my opinion, I really recommend this book.

This book is a natural five-star. It clearly and eloquently discusses the threat from asteroids and comets. The scenario of a SMALL asteroid falling in the Philippine Sea should be eye-opening to even the most jaded. Also especially worth reading are the chapters on Mercury and on computer created scenarios of falls over a century's time. The book maintains a steady pace throughout, and is a must for anyone interested in meteoritics.

This fine book is designed primarily with one goal in mind. Aimed at a popular audience, it is written to counteract the unfortunately widespread myth that no one has ever been killed, or will ever be killed, by a falling asteroid or meteor. John Lewis reworks this statement, reminding us that the way it should be phrased is as follows: "no one as ever been killed or hurt by a meteor or asteroid in the presence of a Western, 20th/21st century journalist or meteoriticist."

This book demonstrates, through statistics and anecdotes, that it is more than just a question of occasional asteroids like the one that killed the dinosaurs, or like the ones in the asteroid movies from the summer of 1999. There is an extremely wide range of asteroids, meteors, and other random space-rocks, of all different shapes, sizes, and compositions. The ones large enough to do fairly serious damage land all over the planet, and substantially more often than many of us tend to believe.

Chapter 14 alone is worth the price of the book. In it, Dr. Lewis shows us computer simulations of several likely asteroid strikes. Let me clarify that -- he presents the results of computer simulations of 10 randomly computer-generated "centuries" on Earth, and what the statistical likelihood of pretty awful asteroid collisions are in each century. Many of the simulations are pretty terrifying. The one that opens the chapter, taking place in the Phillipines, is one of the most horrifying things you'll ever read.

Another valuable part of the book is the table in chapter 13, which lists dozens of damaging asteroid or meteor strikes throughout recorded history, all over the world. Stories like this crop up throughout the book, they aren't just in chapter 13.

The intent of this book is to raise public awareness. It succeeds dramatically. Please buy a copy, and get copies for some of your friends. Two thumbs up.

This is a true story of the author's father, whose passion for rocks (even when other people teased him gently about it) eventually led him to become director of a museum and, in her own words, "probably the happiest man I ever knew".

I love this one beyond belief. It's very sweet and nostalgic.

I will say that it's probably better suited for the older end of the 4-8 range. It's a bit wordy, and some of the details about their lives - much of the book takes place during the Depression - are going to go right over the heads of the younger ones.

I was priviledged to meet the author and take a workshop given by her. She was and is a great story-teller! I read this book to my second graders and they loved it. It tells how her father followed his love of rocks and minerals into his dream occupation: curator at a museum. It was a long, slow road, but he always had a rock in his pocket and a story to tell about it. My students repeated the line: "Take a look at this one..." each time it was read. I combined it with Gail Gibbons' book Dragonflies, Diamonds and Dinosaurs, which is about a Natural History Museum. We followed up with a nonfiction book about rocks and minerals. It was a series that held high interest for my students and me.

I like to read this to my 2nd grade class during our rock unit.

This book tells the life story of the narrator's father, a self-educated man who managed to become museum curator due to his passion for rocks. When the narrator's father was a young boy, he collected rocks everywhere he went. When he grew up, he ran a gas station and kept his rocks on shelves for customers to look at. The gas station went under during the Depression. After hunting around, the man eventually stumbled into a job as a night janitor at the Museum of Science. He was quite happy with this job because he got to polish the rocks in the exhibits. Eventually he was even promoted to the position of curator of the museum because of his expertise with the rocks, even though he lacked a college education. The story is quite appealing for older kids. With 1250 words, it may be a bit long for the young ones.

This book is narrated by a rock-collector's son. He starts off telling how his father worked at a gas station. He displayed his large rock collection at the station where he worked. Many people came to talk, look at the rocks, and play chess with the father. Then the Great Depression started and the father had one job a day. He still found time to go to the museum and look at rocks. The museum manager noticed him and she gave him a job as a janitor there. Then he was found switching the rock labels because he knew they were wrong. After this happened he was moved up to museum currator. I like this book because to me, it is about following your dreams.

I have been reading this book as part of a research project. The essence of the book is a play by play of the development of the LOTR through multiple drafts. If someone is looking for a continuation of the entertaining series, I would suggest first The Silmarillion, then Lost Tales, Lays of Beleriand, or Unfinished Tales. For the serious Tolkien fan who wants to understand the origins, the book does a good job of organizing the multiple drafts and highlighting significant shifts in Tolkien's thought.

For those of us who enjoy taking Tolkien's vision and expanding upon it, this book and the "History of Middle Earth" series is a must as a reference source.

This book and the whole series expounds on Tolkien's vision and desire for his characters. Often nuggets of data not found in the primary books (LotR, The Hobbitt, etc.) can be uncovered within the HoME.

I would only recommend this book to a hard core Tolkien fan. A great source of information on the development of LOTR, but can be a bit tedious to get through.

`Sauron Defeated' is the last of a four volume series (`The History of the Lord of the Rings') within a series, (volume IX of `The History of Middle Earth') edited by Christopher Tolkien, from the unpublished writings of his father, J. R. R. Tolkien, most famous as the author of `The Hobbit' and `The Lord of the Rings' (LotR).

The most important thing to realize about this book is that only about a third of its pages deal with `The History of The Lord of the Rings'. The remaining two-thirds deals with a subject which harks back to `The Lost Road' and the wager taken up between the two `Inklings' (an Oxford literary and social society), Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

The LotR story in this book covers the last few days of Sam and Frodo in Mordor, as they painfully make their way to the Cracks of Doom on Orodruin in order to finally destroy the `One Ring'. This takes a very few pages, after which we are left with the notes on the long and slow road home, to one of to me the most interesting episodes in the whole LotR, `The Scouring of the Shire'. I can easily understand why Peter Jackson left this episode and the events involving Tom Bombadil from his films (ten hours is surely long enough for even a cinematic event of these proportions), but they still remain my favorite events.

The middle third of the book is taken up with `The Notion Club Papers', which appears to be a fictional account of the goings-on at the real live `Inkling' meetings at Oxford. There is a lot of playful parodying here, especially on some of C. S. Lewis' works. These drafts also use a conceit most famously used by Robert Graves in his `I, Claudius' and `Claudius The God' novels, where it is made out that these papers were discovered among discarded papers in the year 2012 (about 60 years after they were actually written.) The final third of this volume is filled with additional versions of Tolkien's Atlantis myth, entitled `The Drowning of Anadune', the events which lead the Numenorean ancestors to flee to Middle Earth and become the Dunedain.

The primary relevance of these materials to LotR lie in the fact that Tolkien seems to have put aside work on LotR to do these things, until his erstwhile publisher, Stanley Unwin gently prodded him into returning to completing LotR.

The LotR fanatic, these `The Notion Club Papers' have much less interest than LotR notes or even the Numenor myths, but there they are, certainly useful for any study of the times and doings of Oxford during the real war raging just on the other side of the channel.

Pending my review of the last three books of `The History of Middle Earth', I suspect these four are easily the most interesting to fans of Tolkien's published works.

So maybe you didn't fly through the last 3 books like the first five, but get ready to put your seatbelt on for this ride. The start of this book finished off the evolution of the lord, and also gives a pretty cool story where sam is answering his kids questions of what happened in the war of the ring.

The second part is back to the stuff that I love. I have reread the wierd inklings fictiot piece a number odf times, and it gets more interesting every time. My first time reading it, it was very hard for me to understand.

The third part of the book is certainly one of the coolest things that I have ever read. It is a totally superior version to the silmarillion of the fall of numenor. Anybody looking to go into the mind of sauron a little deeper, this is a MUST BUY for you!!!!!!!!!!

The last part of this book will go over most peoples heads(at least I hope so, cause it went way over mine.), it is a GREAT writing about the language of Adunic? I don't really speak any of tolkien's languages, but still like to read his essay-type papers on his languages. Though not as interesting as the lost tales and stuff like that, I still found all of them fun to read, and this one on the Adunic language I thought was the best out of them all.

OVERALL ONE HELL OF AN ADDITION TO THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a pleasure to finally read this classic book. I grew up loving Cousteau's television programs. Ultimately, I became a diver because of Cousteau.

This is adventure writing at its best. Cousteau was always a master storyteller. That was probably more instrumental to his success than his bravery, innovativeness, or his ability as a diver. This book is a collection of Cousteau's experiences with early scuba. He masterfully captures the awe, the fear, the struggles, and the sense of adventure of the first years of scuba.

I love adventure writing, but sometimes great adventurers are not great writers. Cousteau was both. If you have an interest in Cousteau or in scuba diving, this book is a must read.

As promised in the title, in this book Jacques Cousteau reveals a new world of unanticipated beauty, fittingly described in his charming, French-influenced English phraseology. C. Blickenstorfer has done a fine job explaining the contents of this book, particularly as it relates to divers or those interested in diving history. However, The Silent World, read as a frontier narrative, also has relevance for anyone interested in our current and historical treatment of the ocean.

Humans have interacted with the ocean for ages, but before divers like Cousteau it was a blind interaction, a grasp at resources based on guesses and historical results. Cousteau's underwater observations of trawl-net fishing make clear the change of ideology his "aqualung" opened to humans. Watching the net destroy grasses on the ocean floor, Cousteau reports "Man's method of undersea farming seemed to consist of blighting the acre while reaping a small part of the crop" (48). As opposed to a history of blind grabs at ocean creatures, Cousteau's aqualung gives him the capacity to see without touching, and his narrative provides a chance for our knowledge to begin catching up to our know-how.

Another epiphany facilitated by the aqualung is a completely new set of fears and a new evaluation of old "monsters." The killers of which Cousteau writes are nitrogen in his blood and clams with shells sharp enough to sever air pipes. On the contrary, the octopus, demonized by Victor Hugo as a monster who will suck out a man's innards, shows itself as harmless and shy. Cousteau concludes his chapter "Monsters We Have Met" with a jocularity that is persistent in the work: "If none have eaten us, it is perhaps because they have never read the instructions so generously provided in marine demonology" (222).

Cousteau's reinterpretation of the ocean brings readers to the fundamental questions of humans and their environment. How are we going to think of this new space? Should we sell it as new realty? Militarize it? Farm it? Should we simply Keep Out in a quest to guard some portion of the earth against ourselves? Those from my generation who have mythologized Cousteau as a heroic conservationist might struggle with Cousteau's narrative. This is not the work of a dolphin-hugger. Cousteau writes of his exploits kidnapping an endangered monk seal pup in his desire for an aquatic hunting dog (the seal almost dies and is given to a zoo) and bludgeoning most large sea creatures who get close enough. This includes wounding a captured porpoise to watch sharks eat it alive, an act which he justifies with "It was cruelty to an animal but we were involved in a serious study [. . .] and had to carry it out" (234).
In his conclusion, Cousteau asserts "Obviously man has to enter the sea. There is no choice in the matter. The human population is increasing so rapidly and land resources are being depleted at such a rate, that we must take sustenance from the great cornucopia" (266). Both those who would agree with this 1950s assumption and those who believe this "cornucopia" has been already overexploited can gain insight from this book as a well-written record of human reactions to the new world under the waves.

As a diver for long years, I remember the old b&w tv days, when we find happiness with Cousteau's documentary films. Now it's a mirracle to be able to purchase the whole collection in DVD format.

As great a read today as it must have been over 50 years ago. Being a modern day technical and recreational dive instructor I still find this book a fascinating read and would recommend it to all ages to divers and non divers alike.

What can be said about Jacques Cousteau and his groundbreaking book that hasn't been said a thousand times? He is undoubtedly the defining figure of modern scuba diving, his books, films, and documentaries known to millions or billions. Even the name of his ship, the Calypso, is known the world over. It's a small volume, this book, just 160 pages, yet it's absolutely mandatory reading for anyone interested in what Cousteau termed "the silent world" under the surface of the water that covers 71% of our planet. The Silent World is the bible of modern scuba diving.

Jacques Cousteau himself died in 1997 at the age of 87, but the legacy of his pioneering work with diving and diving physiology lives on. It is all well documented and disseminated worldwide, thanks to this French explorer's unique combination of instinctive understanding of the world under the surface and his equally unique knack of spellbinding the world with his words and images. A total master of public relations and getting the word out, Cousteau managed to grab attention and media coverage wherever he went. Critics went so far as suggesting his media talents exceeded his actual contributions to understanding the seas.

At first it's hard to figure out why this slim volume became such a success. It's not a textbook, it doesn't cover the history of diving or even much of Cousteau's own research, and it's not an adventure book. Though Cousteau was French, he wrote The Silent World in English as he had attended American schools in his youth, widely traveled the US, and, of course, extensively lectured in his enchanting French-accented English. Yet, The Silent World clearly reveals its author's non-English origin and decidedly "non-English" thinking. The writing, while precise, often suggests that Cousteau frequently described a word or concept that existed in his native French, but did not directly translate into English. As a result, the writing at times seems a bit flowery and, well, foreign, and you need to read a sentence or paragraph two or three times to figure out what it actually means. Cousteau's liberal use of metaphors, artistic nuances, poetic concepts and words that have since fallen out of currrent language only serve to make The Silent World even more unusual of a literary treat.

Anyone looking for technical explanations, precise history, a logical flow of events, or anything one might expect from a world-famous documentary maker and researcher will not find it in this book. The Silent World is a totally unique, very compressed tale flowing from Cousteau's mind. Read half a chapter and you know the man; he's a unique combination of inspired philosophical observer and gifted researcher with uncanny intuition. While others conducted their research methodically and ploddingly, Cousteau always just seemed to know what to expect, how to behave, and what to seek and avoid to make it all seem easy. He and his close associates and friends Phillipe Tailliez and Frederic Dumas used their "aqualung" to experient liberally in sort of a "Hmmm.... this is probably what will happen, let's go check it out!" approach.

Using this, Cousteau describes the difference between "helmet divers" and the newly liberated users of their "aqualung" -- what we now know as air tanks and regulators. The book casually touches on all the principles of diving physics and physiology, the stuff we learn in our PADI and NAUI classes. He describes sea life, how it reacts, where it lives, how it behaves, and what is dangerous and what is not. They see just how deep they can go. They check how colors change. What nitrogen does and why we need recompression chambers. He offers his views on treasure hunting (not worth it; if you find real treasure authorities and hordes of lawyers will soon apprehend it). He reports on atrocities he witnessed underwater, like the needless destruction of corals and cruel killing of fish. He debunks myths of sea monsters, seeks answers to geological phenomena such as the Fountain of Vaucluse near Avignon, one that almost cost him and Dumas their lives in a pioneering effort at extreme cave diving. He describes what fish do and how they react. And sea mammals and other sea critters. Sharks remain an enigma to Cousteau as his conclusion is that you simply cannot understand or predict them.

So The Silent World relates, in 14 fascinating self-contained chapters, pretty much everything we know about diving today, 60 years after Cousteau began researching as a "manfish," all the principles we know, and it's all neatly and attractively presented in tales that always mix research with adventure. Cousteau never preaches or lectures. He just explores, pushes, interprets, and reports. Maybe Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a showman as much as a researcher. If so, good for him as otherwise we may never have had the opportunity to learn from him and enjoy his remarkable insights. -- C. H. Blickenstorfer, scubadiverinfo.com

Set in present-day California, Joe Magee is a world-renowned anthropologist and expert on Mayan culture, working for a local museum. He is set to lead an expedition into California's Central Valley to explore the bizarre possibility that Mayan culture may have made it that far north, before they disappeared many centuries ago. Magee is told to include Amy Parrish, another world-renowned Mayan expert, in the expedition. The museum Board is less than convinced that is is a good idea.

She moves into Magee's isolated house in the hills, and the two immerse themselves in Mayan culture. One night, a strange computer virus is found on Joe's laptop, where he keeps his scientific data. The computer seems to turn on by itself, and sends Joe's files to an unknown location. Sean Gables is another museum employee, who is not what he seems. Sometimes, he is legitimately helpful to Joe and Amy, and other times, he acts, well, the word "slimy" comes to mind. Strange things are going on, but neither Joe or Amy can put their finger on it.

Later, a dead body is found in the nearby hills, a Hispanic male with his heart cut out. For most people, this is just a particularly gruesome murder, but for Joe and Amy, it means a lot more. According to Mayan prophecy, the Fifth World is ending, and the Sixth World will be coming in a few years. It is to be preceeded by three human sacrifices. Days later, two more bodies are found with their hearts removed, right on time. Someone is putting up a very large Keep Out sign. Joe has an anonymous benefactor paying him a lot of money to find Mayan culture in those hills. The Sixth World is characterized by a shift in the earth's magnetic pole, causing worldwide catastrophe. At that time, Mayan culture will rise again, and rule the world. During a mini-expedition in the hills with some college students, Joe and Amy make some huge discoveries which prove that the rumors of Mayan culture making it as far north as central California are not just rumors.

This is a really good thriller story. My only criticism is that the first half of the book could have moved a little faster. Stick with the book, and this is a story that will give the reader plenty to think about. Also, keep an eye on the month of December, 2012. According to Mayan prophecy, at that time, big things are supposed to happen.

This book was a page turner. The author has a fast plot driven by intrigue, romance and greed. You are not quite sure how it will all turn out until the end. I read it straight for two days. The romance side was gratifying also. The Mayan prophesies may indeed be realized, I would recommend that you read this if you like Dan Brown or Michael Crighton.

Dr. Joe Magee, a world-renowned professor of anthropology, specializing in pre-Colombian civilizations, is employed by the San Francisco Museum of American Antiquities. He conducts research and seminars from his home in the hills overlooking the lush Central Valley of California. Magee has a nice parcel of land and enjoys living in relative isolation. Except for his professional obligations, he has become reclusive in the last years, unusual for a man in his early thirties.

Dr. Amy Parrish, anthropologist and world expert on Mayan culture, attends one of Magee's seminars. Previously, Joe had been asked by one of the museum's directors to hire her to collaborate with him on an upcoming expedition on his property. However, he had never even met Parrish and was reluctant to do so. After talking with her at length after the lectures, Magee decides to employ her for the enterprise, planned for the spring. The success of the job interview may be largely attributed to Amy's beautiful blonde looks, as well as her extreme intelligence, a terrific personality and a specialty in Mayan culture.

The decline of the Maya civilization, and their disappearance from their home in the jungles of Central America, has long been a mystery. Dr. Magee, and other expedition members, plan to search for possible evidence that surviving members of this ancient civilization may have made their way north, as far as California's Central Valley. This hypothesis has long fascinated Amy Parrish. In fact, the work of both anthropologists meshes perfectly and Magee employs her ahead of time to assist on special projects and presentations. Amy moves out to Magee's property and into the lodging he provides for her near his home. The two turn from anthropology to detecting, however, when recent corpses are discovered on his property with their hearts torn out in a manner suggesting ancient Maya and/or Aztec sacrifices? They also find Mayan hieroglyphics in the area, forecasting the beginning of the Mayan Sixth World. It appears that 21st century descendents of the Maya are preparing for the cataclysmic end of the Fifth World, (that's the one we live in), as well as the inauguration of the Sixth, when the Maya will rule the earth.

December 22, 2012 is the projected date for the event, based on actual Mayan predictions of the new age involving the Earth's ongoing reverse magnetic energy, sunspots and solar flares. Are the predictions accurate? And is Dr. Parrish more involved than she is aware of, with this civilization she has always felt an affinity for?

The book's premise is certainly interesting. However, I had hoped that much more factual information about Mayan history, science and culture would be included in "The Sixth World." I am disappointed that elements of the novel were not more evidentiary based, as would befit a book of this kind, which asks the reader to buy into the fantastic. Ultimately, I had a difficult time going along with the author's storyline because she failed to back up her case with historical research.

The first part of the novel seems to focus primarily on the budding relationship between Parrish and Magee. Unfortunately, theirs is by no means a thrilling romance. There is little chemistry between the two, and they have barely kissed by page 200. What's worse, however, is I didn't even care, at this point, whether the prospective couple ever connected! I guess this means "The Sixth World" is not a romantic novel. Nor is it a historic novel, nor a fantasy sci-fi bolstered by fact. Other characters are introduced spottily, not in depth, as are the ancient Maya. At almost 400 pages, the book is overlong and the pace is slow during the first half. Almost no excitement - very little tension - is built in the relationships or in the mystery itself. The events warrant more passion than they actually provoke. The narrative could have been easily cut to make it more taut. I hung in there because I was hooked and wanted to see where the plot was leading. I am extremely interested in the Maya civilization, but was left wanting at the conclusion of "The Sixth World." I felt as if I had been served an appetizer and now wanted the main course.

As I said previously, I was curious enough to read the novel through to the end, so obviously there is interesting material here. Check it out at the library or book store, however, before you invest in a copy.
JANA

Margaret Evans is a native of the Washington, DC, area, and a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Business Administration. She works in the managed health care industry in a legal capacity. For many years she has written for community newsletters and magazines.

It's easy to see Margaret Evans is also a skilled novelist. THE SIXTH WORLD may be her first novel, but it reads like her tenth. It is an expertly written, flawlessly plotted mystery thriller. If you liked THE DA VINCI CODE, you'll love THE SIXTH WORLD. Where THE DA VINCI CODE grips the reader in a breakneck race to discover the Goddess and the secrets of Mary Magdalene, THE SIXTH WORLD entangles the reader in a race against terrorists and numerous foes to discover the lost civilization of the Maya and its secrets.

THE SIXTH WORLD is the story of two anthropologists working for the San Francisco Museum of American Antiquities, who lead three expeditions into the hills of California's Central Valley to prove the theory that the Maya vanished from Central America in the ninth century only to reappear in the United States. They believe the Maya accomplished this by a slow, planned exodus in boats, having been forewarned by their gods of the coming invasion of Spain. Here, they built a city composed of temples, pyramids, and a library packed with astrological calculations and predictions for the future. Oh, yes, and a large supply of gold. The primary plot driving the novel is the ancient Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012. Because THE SIXTH WORLD is also a well-researched novel and remains true to the facts we know about the Mayan culture, the reader should be prepared for a few grizzly sacrifice scenes, as the descendants of the Maya welcome the approach of the Sixth World.

For those who enjoy expertly plotted, fast-paced fiction, I highly recommend this book. The only thing I can't understand is why THE SIXTH WORLD wasn't snapped up by a publisher in Manhattan? A modern-day mystery, I'm sure. But one thing is certain, Margaret Evans is a talented novelist to watch. I predict the New York publishing world will soon discover what it has been missing with Evans, and in the coming years we'll see her novels sitting beside the publishing industry's favorites on the shelves of every chain bookstore in the country. Order a copy of THE SIXTH WORLD today and see for yourself. No kidding.


Highly recommended.

At last we have someone who can write a decent novel without resorting to all the trite places and circumstances. Not ALL of us are interested in the beautiful people of Zoo York or La la land. Evans' book involves none of the overworked topics, either. This one is fresh; the characters are real.