History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Why Things Break: Understanding the World By the Way It Comes Apart

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Good but not great
50% moderately useful info, 50% personal rant
Disappointed ...
Some answers;but a lot of questions remain.
Some good points...

Why Things Break: Understanding the World By the Way It Comes Apart
Mark Eberhart
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400048834
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Book Description

Did you know—

• It took more than an iceberg to sink the Titanic.
• The Challenger disaster was predicted.
• Unbreakable glass dinnerware had its origin in railroad lanterns.
• A football team cannot lose momentum.
• Mercury thermometers are prohibited on airplanes for a crucial reason.
• Kryptonite bicycle locks are easily broken.

“Things fall apart” is more than a poetic insight—it is a fundamental property of the physical world. Why Things Break explores the fascinating question of what holds things together (for a while), what breaks them apart, and why the answers have a direct bearing on our everyday lives.

When Mark Eberhart was growing up in the 1960s, he learned that splitting an atom leads to a terrible explosion—which prompted him to worry that when he cut into a stick of butter, he would inadvertently unleash a nuclear cataclysm. Years later, as a chemistry professor, he remembered this childhood fear when he began to ponder the fact that we know more about how to split an atom than we do about how a pane of glass breaks.

In Why Things Break, Eberhart leads us on a remarkable and entertaining exploration of all the cracks, clefts, fissures, and faults examined in the field of materials science and the many astonishing discoveries that have been made about everything from the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger to the crashing of your hard drive. Understanding why things break is crucial to modern life on every level, from personal safety to macroeconomics, but as Eberhart reveals here, it is also an area of cutting-edge science that is as provocative as it is illuminating.

“An engaging personal account not just of the physics and chemistry of materials but of the ethics, economics, and politics of innovation, with delightful bonuses on topics from the origins of ‘ghostly’ noises in old houses to the amazing coevolution of armor and armor-piercing projectiles. If it ain’t broke, Mark Eberhart can tell you why—and explain equally well why a shatterproof world remains beyond our reach.”
—Edward Tenner, author of Our Own Devices and Why Things Bite Back

“I don’t remember a book that has taught me so much, nor previously encountering a teacher like the marvelous Mark Eberhart, who in Why Things Break provides enlightening and thoroughly captivating scientific explanations of subjects ranging from the structural failures leading to the sinking of the Titanic to everyday, no-less-fascinating topics such as the reason why, even at the same temperature, winter days always seem so much colder in Boston than in Denver.”—Richard Restak, M.D., author of Mozart’s Brain and The Fighter Pilot

“Eberhart brings his insights to the reader by weaving personal anecdotes—from his childhood fear that cutting a stick of butter would release the energy of the atoms within to his arrival in Boston for an interview with MIT without a suitable winter coat—into a fascinating discussion of the forces that hold atoms and molecules together. A lively, unvarnished look at chemistry on the cutting edge.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews:

Good but not great.......2007-01-31

Having just read the book, I agree with other recent reviewers. There is interesting information in here (for instance, that lexan becomes extremely brittle when exposed to nail polish remover). But that content is diluted with personal rants (such as the author's grad school interview process) and silly analogies (like "If even a tiny scratch were to expose niobium to air at 2,500*F, it would soak up oxygen faster than Bounty--the 'quicker picker-upper'--soaks up water.")

And the photo on the cover IS completely misleading--the book is about fractures on a micro scale. You won't find anything about why the bridge in the photo broke.

50% moderately useful info, 50% personal rant.......2006-11-29

I enjoyed about 50% of this book. The author gives some good practical explanations of why materials, such as the hull of the Titanic, fail. As a layperson, I found this very interesting. However, I found his personal rants about the politics of scientific research and his personal tales of life in graduate school and beyond really, really tiresome. In addition, the title and book cover (a picture of a bridge failure) are a come on which have almost nothing to do with the contents. The science in the books moves from the macro to the micro, which makes a certain amount of sense but I found the topics to be really poorly organized. I would not recommend this book unless you have lots of free time.

Disappointed ..........2006-10-24

As a non-scientist, I enjoy reading intelligent books about science that do a good job of explaining scientific concepts to an educated but non-technical audience. I recently became more interested in materials science after reading Stephen Sass' "The Substance of Civilization" (which I recommend heartily) and had hoped that this book would make a good next step.

Unfortunately, the promise of the book's title remains substantially unfulfilled. This is a more a book about why EBERHART is interested in why things break and why he thinks it's a disgrace that most people don't understand more about science (and specifically about materials science). Now, both of those (and particularly the latter) are potentially interesting topics but they aren't the reason I picked up the book.

This is not to say that there is no direct information about materials science in the book. But the information that there is tends to be woven into other stories (which themselves are filled with other stories and regressions -- it's a book that could also use a little more editing) about the importance of materials science, rather than the science itself.

Some answers;but a lot of questions remain........2006-09-18

I really enjoyed this book. Although I am an Engineer in my senior years; one does not really need more technical knowledge than that received in High School to enjoy this book. The author has done a fine job of communicating with lay people who may only have a passing interest in why things break. Most people ,who have little science background ,will find it a pleasure to intercourse with an extremely knowledgeable Scientist whose world includes highly complicated areas such as Quantum Mechanics.
Although the author touches on some difficult areas,he always puts what he is dealinng with in language and examples that are easily grasped.
You are going to learn that the sinking of the Titanic was a lot more involved than simply hitting an iceberg. And how about the fact that the Titanic had no binoculars for lookouts,insufficient lifeboats.You'll also find why so many Liberty Ships sank in the Atlanticduring WW11, without having been hit by shells,bombs ,mines or other armanents. You'll also see that the reason for their sinking was not even incorporated into the design;or for that fact,even known.Amazingly ,a fix was quickly found.
Even something as simple as "unbreakable" dishes like Pyrex and Corningwareis explained. The book also discusses some simple things ;such as why snow doesn't have to be shovelled in Colorado--or did you even know that? He discusses a lot about metals,how the properties of various metals was found by trial and error;but the reason why things happened was basically unknown.He also discusses a lot about glass,particularly armored or safety glass. I once had an experience with large panels,5 X 10 feet; that were used as interior walls in buildings. Several broke for no apparent reason. The panels consisted of two sheets with a plastic film sandwiched between them. When they broke.it looked like a bullet had hit them. All the breakage radiated from one point,similar to a giant spider web. It was determined that it was caused by an impurity.Supposedly,theimpurity was a Manganese crystal that kept growing until it created enough stress to fracture the whole panel,with not a piece left bigger than a piece of popcorn. Something like you see with a rear car window in a hot parking lot or when struck a severe blow in an accident.The intent being that the pieces would be small fragments,rather than shrads that were large and would like daggers. Our panels,with the plastic layer still remained in place. I used a magnifying loop and lo,and behold,right in the center of the "Web" you could see the tiny black crystal,no more than a couple of millimeters long.I would be curious to hear from anyone else who has heard of this type of failure as it is not discussed in the book.
I also had a lot of experience with "Lexan" and was very surprised to hear some of the things the author had to say about it.

Some good points..........2006-06-24

The book is a good treatise on material analysis, with the attendant dryness you might expect. Dr. Eberhart injects some humor, but at the level you might expect from a research scientist. As for the analyses of the three failures mentioned in another review, there is scant information provided. In his summary of the failures, he makes references to some facts that are not explained, and leaves the reader curious, unsatisfied. (Example - the decompression flap in the Aloha flight. Why was it opening? What triggers it to operate?).
Probably a bit esoteric for the average reader without any background in materials.

Explorations in Physics: An Activity-Based Approach to Understanding the World

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Explorations in Physics: An Activity-Based Approach to Understanding the World
David P. Jackson , Priscilla W. Laws , and Scott V. Franklin
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471324248

How We Learn; How We Remember: Toward an Understanding of Brain and Neural Systems : Selected Papers of Leon N. Cooper (World Scientific Series in 20th Century Physics, Vol 10)

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How We Learn; How We Remember: Toward an Understanding of Brain and Neural Systems : Selected Papers of Leon N. Cooper (World Scientific Series in 20th Century Physics, Vol 10)
Leon N. Cooper
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9810218141

Book Description

Leon Cooper's somewhat peripatetic career has resulted in work in quantum field theory, superconductivity, the quantum theory of measurement as well as the mechanisms that underly learning and memory. He has written numerous essays on a variety of subjects as well as a highly regarded introduction to the ideas and methods of physics for non-physicists. Among the many accolades, he has received (some deserved) one he likes specially is the comment of an anonymous reviewer who characterized him as "a nonsense physicist".

This compilation of papers presents the evolution of his thinking on mechanisms of learning, memory storage and higher brain function. The first half proceeds from early models of memory and synaptic plasticity to a concrete theory that has been put into detailed correspondence with experiment and leads to the very current exploration of the molecular basis for learning and memory storage. The second half outlines his efforts to investigate the properties of neural network systems and to explore to what extent they can be applied to real world problems.

In all this collection, hopefully, provides a coherent, no-nonsense, account of a line of research that leads to present investigations into the biological basis for learning and memory storage and the information processing and classification properties of neural systems.

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Understanding the World of Physics
Frederick J. Bueche
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0070088632

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Understanding strain sensitivity effects in vibration isolators.: An article from: Rubber World
Francis J. Andrews
Manufacturer: Lippincott & Peto, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00092KG8K
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Rubber World, published by Lippincott & Peto, Inc. on November 1, 1992. The length of the article is 4491 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: The effect of vibration isolators depends on variations in frequency, strain and temperature of the elastomers. Consequently, the designer of a vibration isolator must take into consideration the dynamic properties of the polymers and fillers used. The sensitivity of elastomers to strain is analyzed by modeling a highly damped silicone compound. Variations in vibration data demonstrate the effects of strain sensitivity.

Citation Details
Title: Understanding strain sensitivity effects in vibration isolators.
Author: Francis J. Andrews
Publication: Rubber World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 1992
Publisher: Lippincott & Peto, Inc.
Volume: v207 Issue: n2 Page: p24(7)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Understanding the world of physics
F Bueche
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OG16WQ

Amazon.com

In 1978, science fiction writer Spider Robinson wrote a scathing review of The Stand in which he exhorted his readers to grab strangers in bookstores and beg them not to buy it.

The Stand is like that. You either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it. Stephen King's most popular book, according to polls of his fans, is an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99 and 44/100 percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil.

"I love to burn things up," King says. "It's the werewolf in me, I guess.... The Stand was particularly fulfilling, because there I got a chance to scrub the whole human race, and man, it was fun! ... Much of the compulsive, driven feeling I had while I worked on The Stand came from the vicarious thrill of imagining an entire entrenched social order destroyed in one stroke."

There is much to admire in The Stand: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath. Anyone who wants to know, or claims to know, the heart of the American experience needs to read this book. --Fiona Webster

Book Description

It's the end of the world...

as only Stephen king could imagine it.

Humanity has been all but wiped out by a lethal virus. But the survivors are divided by light and darkness, and must face a final battle that will decide the fate of more than their lives: their very souls...

Customer Reviews:

Horrible Book.......2007-09-29

Be warned!: if you value your time and sanity, do not read this book!

I've often wondered about abandoning books. As a youth I thought it was almost criminal to stop reading a book in mid-read. I figured everyone had something worthwhile to say and, besides, the book might get better. My best example is Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. The first seventy pages or so are tedious but after that it becomes a great historical adventure/romance.

But as I get older I find I no longer have the patience or the time to spend with a book that just doesn't interest me that much. Some books are just so awfully bad it's hard to justify spending so much time with them (Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard springs to mind). Some books I feel I'm not prepared for yet. Some books just seem to have a lot of promise and eventually go straight downhill. The Stand by Stephen King is one such book.

Let me give you a description of my experience so you'll understand my revulsion:

First, the book opens with a scene describing some awful/weird happening going on. The opening is full of action. It is kind of disorienting. You're not sure who these characters are or why they are going through what they're going through. It is a great opening scene. It is intriguing and makes you want to keep reading to understand what is going on here.

Then the characters are introduced. Background is given on each character while sections are interspersed explaining the larger story concerning the epidemic. You get to learn about the characters, believe in them, understand them, care for them, and worry about what will happen to them when the epidemic hits them. By the time the epidemic starts affecting all the characters Stephen King has got you where every author wants you, a rapt listener to his tale.

So the second part begins--a major event has occurred and you want to know how these characters will deal with it. But a nagging voice inside your head keeps wondering when this story will pick up steam. There is plenty to see and experience but you start to wonder if maybe it isn't just a bit too much. There are so many characters to deal with and you start wishing that Stephen King didn't feel the need to go into minute detail about each characters' idiosyncracies and thoughts and lives. When every character is important, none of them are. But the story is so strong at this point that you let that voice subside for awhile.

Now you find yourself at page 300 or 400 and you're still not exactly sure where this story is going. A story concerning an epidemic hitting the world, decimating 75 or 80% of the population, and the consequent anarchy and loss experienced is a gripping tale. But Stephen King keeps inserting these annoying glimpses about something supernatural. By page 200 or 300 you don't need something completely new inserted. The story was interesting just as a tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Why do we need some pabulum about prescience and good vs. evil now? You start to feel tricked by the author. It's almost as if he had this idea about writing some grand epic on good vs. evil, chose a vehicle (the epidemic) to tell that tale, and when the background tale was better than his original conception he refused to let go of his original idea.

But, like a Scientologist who figures, "I've spent a lot of time and money believing this, I might as well keep on going," you read on.

I've got a pretty good memory and I think I'm an attentive reader. But after awhile you either start to forget the characters or you just don't care. When that happens, reading becomes a chore, not a pleasure. I would read The Stand right before going to bed and it would truly help in putting me to sleep. I wanted to scream at Stephen King to bring back the good story he had going, not this cosmic good vs. evil stuff. I was interested in how people could live after such a disaster (a great, human story) not some banal metaphysical rubbish. Now there's some evil man trying to conquer the world with cosmic powers and some annoying, saintly woman who is somehow going to stop all this because of her faith in God.

Stephen King, you robbed me of several hours where I could've been sleeping or farting or reading a better book. Needless to say, I abandoned the book. I couldn't go on. Around page 700 I gave up. The story wasn't interesting anymore. The characters became flat and mere vehicles to further the cosmic agenda. You fooled me again, Stephen King.

Stephen King is not a bad writer. People who refuse to read him or disdain him because he writes horror are snobs. But he is far from being a great writer. Some of his worst qualities are abundantly in evidence in this novel: prolixity (get an editor once in a while, please?); lack of discipline (stories told not because they need to be told, but because they can be told); and an obsession with the minutiae of everything to the point where the story becomes obscured. But the worst sin Stephen King commits in this novel is abandoning a good story for a poor one. He should've let his muse take him where she would and not allow his own internal editor try to make this into something it was not.

If you like Stephen King read The Shining or Four Past Midnight. He has done some good work in the past. But this horrible, tedious, pointless novel should be left for future literary critics to disembowel.

This one still haunts me........thanks a lot, Mr. King.......2007-09-11

I admit it. I am one of those people (just like in the not-so-recent poll everyone keeps referring to on here) who believe that this is Stephen King's greatest literary work. A bit long......yes. A book oozing just about every emotion that one could experience in the face of death and the end of the world.......check. Vivid characters that seem so real you still think of them more than your mother..........affirmative. This book has it all (maybe that explains why it's 1100+ pages) and the fact that King wrote this earlier in his career is quite impressive. His portrayal of the ultimate struggle between Good and Evil will have a place in my heart (not to mention my bookshelf) until the end of times (hopefully, not tomorrow).

An incredible post-apocalyptic journey.......2007-09-08

It's easy to be drawn deeply into this book, to feel so connected to the characters that to finish it is a kind of death. I still feel slightly depressed and it's been about a week since I finished it. King is constantly underrated and glossed over by elitist critics (such as Master Snob Harold Bloom, who never published any fiction worth reading), but this novel is truly a masterpiece and deserves respect. You know the plot - a superflu kills 99% of the population. The survivors migrate west to Colorado and Vegas, attempting to rebuild society, trying to figure out the meaning of their collective dreams. What is the "good" dream really about? Who is the "dark man"?

King created several strong characters. Among my favorites are Glen, Tom, and Kojak; I still grieve for Nadine, Harold, and Trashcan Man, all clever and pathetic in their own ways - and I believe many readers can sympathize with them. Trashcan Man began to thrive in Vegas, only to regress to his former ways and thought patterns because of a random comment made by a person from his new life. You can feel on top of the world, feel as if you're "fixed"...until you hear those words again, which trigger painful memories ("unquiet corpses come back to life"), and you might lose all progress made up to that point. You realize how fragile you are, and this can be terrifying.

Nadine and Harold are both disturbed souls, though Harold is driven more by revenge and Nadine is driven by evil. Nadine is tormented by and attracted to the dark man, but she is also drawn to Larry, who is desperate to make the right choices this time around to atone for his pre-plague life of darkness. The lines "Only this time the boy would catch her. She would let him catch her. It would be the end. But when he had caught her, HE HADN'T WANTED HER" are ones I can imagine Nadine replaying in her head as she travels over the mountains. She mourns for lost chances, acceptance, and goodness as she yields to her fate.

Along with the powerful theme of good vs. evil, a number of characters sacrificed themselves (for good and evil), seeked redemption, and many "innocents" were rewarded (such as Tom and Kojak). And remember that the devil is not all-knowing, but he does not want anyone to know this.

This novel really makes you think about the end of the world, and whether you would stand for good or evil. King, the dark genius, describes the growth of evil:

"Far away over the mountains was another cloned creature. A cutting from the dark malignancy, a single wild cell taken from the dying corpus of the old body politic, a lone representative of the carcinoma that had been eating the old society alive. One single cell, but it had already begun to reproduce itself and spawn other wild cells. For society it would be the old struggle, the effort of healthy tissue to reject the malignant incursion. But for each individual cell there was the old, old question, the one that went back to the Garden - did you eat the apple or leave it alone?"

The plague gave humanity another chance. They could build a superior society, choosing not to repeat mistakes from the past, or they could throw away this great opportunity to start over by giving in to the old ways. This chance is so rare that to waste it would be the worst mistake. And yet, inevitably, humans cannot be "good." The dark is too tempting, too consuming, and will always exist.

Great condition and great service.......2007-09-05

This was a great purchase! arrived on time and in excellent condition! Would definately recommend this seller and would do business again! Book is exactly all i thought it would be! Thank You for the great service! Grade A 5 + stars across the boards!

This could really happen..........2007-08-27

The Stand was one of the greatest pieces of literature I've ever read. I first read The Stand back in 1982 and immediately re-read it because it was so massive. When the complete and uncut version was released in 1990, I read it again. The concept is a simple one - the government accidentally releases a plague and most of the population is wiped out. This is frightening for the simple reason that an accident like that could happen at any time. As far as the writing is concerned, the characters are extremely vivid - you feel as if you've known these people for years. The graphic descriptions of events as the world as we know it is winding down and expiring are breathtaking in their magnitude. You are there! Mr. King was quite young when he wrote this masterpiece and, as big a fan as I am of his, I don't believe he has yet created anything more powerful than The Stand.
The Cydronium Chronicles
Swan Song

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