Book Description
Using primary documents from both foreign and domestic observers, prominent scholar Charles Adams makes a powerful and convincing case that the Southern states were legitimately exercising their political rights as expressed in the Declaration of Independence when they seceded from the United States. Although conventional histories have taught generations of Americans that this was a war fought for lofty moral principles, Adams' eloquent history transcends simple Southern partisanship to show how the American Civil War was primarily a battle over competing commercial interests, opposing interpretations of constitutional rights, and what English novelist Charles Dickens described as a fiscal quarrel.
Customer Reviews:
Poorly Documented, Lack of Analysis or Insight.......2007-08-12
I've never seen such poor research from a so-called historian. How would you interpret such inanity as the following: When he discusses the KKK, Adams concludes "Now the threat of a black-Yankee takeover of the South was over. The Klan continued because the Yankees did not completely disappear." Maybe that was a very minor motivation for the Klan's existence, but the author should go on to explain why racism was NOT the main motivation for its activity. Adams acts as if racism is a minor side note. My response to him is, if the KKK was primarily there to stop the Yankees, why weren't Yankees being lynched left and right as the blacks were?
The historian goes on to display his idiocy, claiming that even "ardent abolitionists" regarded blacks as an inferior race (p.159). Does he follow this bold claim by providing historical evidence, perhaps from the writings of ACTUAL abolitionists? Of course not! There are these things called primary documents and sources. Mr. Adams, you might want to try using them once in a while.
This book raises serious questions about the "real" Lincoln.......2007-07-30
I am a northerner, whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. between 1895 and 1914. I was taught that Lincoln was the greatest president in U.S. history because he preserved the Union. So when a friend suggested that I read this book, I was intrigued. I will try to present the book's strengths and weaknesses in an objective manner.
There are two significant weaknesses, and they are obvious. The author states on page 52 that Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and that over 10,000 people were arrested and held without trial. He cites many sources of people who complained about the arrests. But Mr. Adams names only two (Messrs. Merryman and Vallandigham) and the Maryland state legislature and its Southern sympathizers (51). This total of 53 is less than 1% of 10,000. Mr. Adams would have solidified his argument if he had quoted several references to help him reach 10,000.
Similarly, the author states that Lincoln shut down over 300 newspapers that opposed his policies. But on page 41, Mr. Adams names only 16 specific papers. He does quote one source that said, "scores" were shut down, but scores could be 100 (five score). Where are the rest? There are no references.
The second weakness is that the book repeatedly wanders from the topic. Chapter 1 discusses the history of secession, but the 10th Amendment is mentioned only in Chapter 12 (page 181). There are others: Chapters 2 and 4 cover tariffs and trade (the main reason for the war), but specific statements in Chapters 5 and 6 should have been mentioned in Chapters 2 or 4, and then referenced in the later chapters.
But these weaknesses are overwhelmed by the book's strengths.
The book's greatest strength is its list of references, both old (1862) and new (1998). There are more than 100 references, which support some of the more shocking facts in the book. The author makes a very strong case for the South's right to secede, citing both U.S. and world precedents.
These references adequately support the author's insistence that Lincoln was a tyrant, such as Lincoln's order to arrest the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Adams cited two specific references, of which one was a first-hand account.
The author supplies many references to show that the war was started over money, not slavery. (Read Lincoln's First Inaugural Address.) Ironically, it was an English writer (John Stuart Mill) who was the first to write about slavery as the real reason for the war, in February 1862.
The book is by no means disjointed. I could not have written it, but I think its organization could have been better.
There were some statements with which I strongly disagreed, but they aren't relevant here. The two main points that I learned were: 1. states have the right to secede, and 2. Lincoln was a tyrant.
Well worth your time and careful consideration.......2007-07-11
"You must not tell the truth if it hurts a national hero." - Anonymous commentator, cited in "The Last Place on Earth," by Roland Huntford.
Did you know...
- That Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, stated his support for the Corwin Amendment, which had just passed Congress, and which would have guaranteed the existence of slavery in perpetuity as an 'unamendable amendment' to the United States Constitution?
- That, at the start of the war in 1861, Congress passed a resolution stating that the war "is not waged on our part...for interfering with the rights, or established institutions of these [the Confederate] States"...meaning slavery?
- That Abraham Lincoln actually contermanded emancipation orders issued by Union General Fremont in Missouri early in the war on the basis that "It was a war for a great national idea, the Union" and that "General Fremont should not have dragged the Negro into it"?
- That Lincoln wrote to Horace Greeley (a prominent abolitionist and editor of the New York Tribune) stating that, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it"?
- That Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed only those slaves in areas of the Confederate States that were not controlled by Union armies, but left those in occupied territory and border states in slavery?
- That Congress, devoid of any representatives from the Confederate States, did not pass an amendment to outlaw slavery until December of 1865, months after Lincoln was dead and the war was over?
All of the above are facts, and yet few Americans are aware of them. Why? For that simple reason that, since the end of the war in 1865, a concerted effort has been made to present Abraham Lincoln and his comrades in Union blue as humanitarian crusaders bent on achieving the equality referred to the in the Declaration of Independence.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Lincoln himself stated many times that he was not in favor of equality between the races, a fact underscored by his participation in the American Colonization Society: an organization dedicated to relocating American blacks in such places as Africa and South America - anywhere but the United States. Had Lincoln and his Republican colleagues pushed for racial equality, the GOP would have died in its infancy. Lincoln himself admitted in 1858 that the vast majority of Americans (including himself) strongly opposed the idea.
Nevertheless, the modern image of Lincoln as a 19th Moses leading slaves out of bondage should not surprise us. All throughout human history, the factions that have won wars have done their best to present themselves in the best light possible, while simultaneously denegrating their enemies. They do this for two primary reasons: 1) to morally justify the enormous loss of life and destruction that wars cause, and 2) so that future generations will embrace them as heroes and accept their vision of the world. Sometimes, what they have to say is true; sometimes it is not. It is up to us to look back into the past, weigh the facts for ourselves, and decide where the virtue and blame truly lie in the history of any given conflict.
For those interested in the American war of 1861-1865, Charles Adams' book "When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession" should, along with the works of men such as Thomas DiLorenzo and Clyde Wilson, be considered 'equal time for the other side'. As such, I believe it is well worth your time and careful consideration.
"The thesis that the solid South seceded to protect slavery just does not make sense," writes Adams. "The institution of slavery had never been more secure for the slave owners, with the Supreme Court in their back pocket; with the Constitution itself expressly protecting slavery and mandating the return of fugitive slaves everywhere -- a mandate Lincoln said he would enforce; with Lincoln also declaring that he had no right to interfere with slavery and no personal inclination to do so; with Lincoln personally supporting a new constitutional amendment protecting slavery forever -- an amendment expressly made irrevocable." Indeed, rather than slavery, Adams argues that the war between North and South had more to do with taxation and competing economic interests; and he supports this assertion with an impressive variety of facts. Of particular interest here is that Adams quotes extensively from European sources, including newspaper accounts and the perspectives of such well-known figures as Charles Dickens and Karl Marx. Of all the books I have read on this subject, none weigh the international opinion so frankly and heavily as Adams does for us here. He also takes time to investigate the history of secession and to compare and contrast the ideology of the American Revolution with that of Lincoln and his Northern war partners. Again, the European perspective is evaluated, and we are treated to such thought-provoking quotes as the following from England's Cornhill Magazine: "With what pretence of fairness, it is said, can you Americans object to the secession of the Southern States when your nation was founded on secession from the British Empire?"
The only real words of criticism that I have for Adams is that I believe he downplays the role of slavery too much when he evaluates the causes of secession. He is absolutely correct in maintaining that the war was not fought over the question of slavery, but that does not mean that it played no role whatsoever in the events leading up to the war. There are prominent references to slavery in several of the secession ordinances of the Southern states; and while Adams would maintain that those references represent so much political posturing, I disagree. Although few Southerners actually owned slaves, slavery itself was an essential element of the Deep South economy, and an important aspect of the overall social fabric of 19th Century America (even many in the Northern states had no desire to see slavery end, as it might mean that freed blacks could move north). Thus, there were very real concerns regarding the institution and how Lincoln and his "Black Republicans" might interfere with it. Adams points out that Lincoln had promised not to interfere with it, but he forgets that Southerners trusted Lincoln about as far as they could throw him. I think Adams might have tackled the issue more successfully had he focused on the fact that, while several Southern states did mention slavery prominently in their ordinances of secession, the majority of their comments on the issue focused on sectional feeling (the "sectional, anti-slavery party in Washington," as South Carolina put it) and slavery's economic importance to the South (see Mississippi's ordinance). These factors tie back into his main thesis, while acknowledging that slavery did play a role in the secessions of the first seven Southern states to leave the Union (the latter four states seceded because of Lincoln's call for troops to be used against the first seven seceded states). Southerners simply had no desire to be dictated to, not on any issue; and they seceded when they became convinced that Northern interests had taken over the federal government, and that their best hope for protecting their interests lay outside the Union.
The 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth will be upon us in less than two years, and between now and then we will undoubtedly be subjected to a barrage of the usual Abe Lincoln-as-messiah-and-patriot-extraordinaire mythology. Swallow it if you will; but for those of you who are interested in the candid, and often downright ugly, truth about America's 16th president and its most disastrous conflict, I cannot recommend "When in the Course of Human Events" highly enough. My quibbles with him aside, Adams presents his evidence and conclusions in such a even-handed, scholarly and compelling manner that only the most ardent Lincoln admirers will be able to put the book down and walk away unaffected by it.
Also recommended in the 'equal time' department: "The Real Lincoln" and "Lincoln Unmasked", both by Thomas DiLorenzo; "Is Davis a Traitor?" by Albert Taylor Bledsoe; "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," by Jefferson Davis; "From Union to Empire: Essays in the Jeffersonian Tradition," by Clyde Wilson and Joseph Stromberg; and "A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States," by Alexander H. Stephens.
One of the Most Brilliant U.S. History Books Ever Written.......2007-05-25
Like most of us I grew up learning that the Civil War was fought to free the slaves, and that Abraham Lincoln was the Great Emancipator who freed all the slaves admirably once and for all. But over the years this story was just not adding up for me anymore.
For one, when has any country really fought a war only for moral issues and not economic and political ones? With this in mind does it really make sense that American families would send hundreds of thousands of their own children to their graves to fight a war to end slavery in the 1860s? If this was true, and these people felt so strongly about giving rights to the blacks, then why weren't black soldiers allowed to fight alongside white soldiers in our military until the Korean War approximately 90 years after the Civil War ended? Does it make sense that white families would volunteer their sons to fight for this cause if the government still wouldn't allow blacks and whites to fight together for another 90 years?
In addition, why then during the Civil War did Lincoln allow West Virginia to be admitted to the Union as a slave state more than two years after the war began? And why were the slave owners in the North allowed to keep their slaves throughout the entire Civil War? The underlying reason is because the Civil War was much more about money, economics, and politics than it was about slavery.
In this book Charles Adams shows us how the Southern states were simply sick and tired of how they were being treated by the North. 87% of the country's taxes were collected from the people in the South, with the majority of this tax money being spent on projects in the North. The South really wanted to secede from the Union because of this and some other issues, and the North recognized they would be devastated economically if they ever allowed this to happen. In addition, the South controlled the best shipping ports in the Union, and the North recognized they would be dealt a serious blow if they ever lost access to these ports themselves.
So when the war began, the people in the North were told it was all about the importance of preserving the Union, and nothing about ending slavery was mentioned at the time. The book shows letters, quotes, and newspaper articles that were written at the time confirming the North's position on this, and some of the articles came from Europe which had a more unbiased opinion in reporting on the war than the Northern and Southern journalists did.
The book also points out how Lincoln closed down hundreds of newspapers in the North for writing articles against the war, and how he imprisoned politicians for expressing their opposition to the war also. He even went so far as to order the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to be arrested for disagreeing with him.
As it's been said by many over the years, the Emancipation Proclamation freed no one. It only declared the slaves in the Southern states not already under Union control to be free from slavery. This Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January of 1863, almost two years after the war began. And when it was issued there were riots in the North because people were angry at the thought of the war being about ending slavery and freeing the blacks, not about preserving the Union for their own economic interests. And as the book points out...racism was actually far worse in the North than it was in the South.
Some of the Northern states allowed slavery, and most of the other Northern states either forbid blacks to live there or forbid them to own any property there. And as far as the abolitionists were concerned, there were those who thought slavery to be immoral, but the most vocal abolitionists were vehemently against slavery because they wanted no blacks living in any state in the Union whatsoever. This explains much about why racism has existed for so long in our country, both in the North and in the South. And surprisingly it was Indiana, a Northern state, that was the one with the highest percentage of its population who eventually became members of the Ku Klux Klan.
One interesting note is the fact that Lincoln's original Emancipation Proclamation was issued in September of 1862, four months before the one we've become familiar with was issued. In the earlier Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln offered the Southern states the right to come back, rejoin the Union, and keep their slaves if they'd agree to end the war. But the Southern states refused to do so, indicating that there was much more at stake for them to fight over than just keeping their slaves.
The idea of making the war look like it was really about slavery came only after it had been fought for about 12-18 months, and the North had been taking a beating both on the battlefields and in the media worldwide. They were being chastised for refusing to allow states to secede from the Union from what was seen as an oppressive government that was taxing the people of the South unjustly. And the international media talked about how ironic it was that the South wanted to secede for almost identical reasons as the original colonies did when they signed the Declaration of Independence and fought the British for their independence in the American Revolution. But in the Civil War, the North was convinced they needed the 87% of the taxes the South had been paying, and they weren't going to let the South secede and stop paying these taxes to them.
This book is one of the best ones I've ever read on any subject, and I definitely recommend it.
This is not history.......2007-03-18
Charles Adams is a man possessed: possessed of hatred for Abraham Lincoln, the North, and the United States of the 21st century. That the book is not history is proven by its subtitle: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession. An historian would not argue a case for or against any historical event. Like his counterpart Thomas DiLorenzo, Adams is an unhappy man who feels driven to trash the entire American historical scene with incomplete, anachronistic arguments. Neither man delves deeply enough into history, although Adams is the better of the two in that regard. Suffice it to say that if you truly want history, Adams and DiLorenzo are not the men to deliver it.
Book Description
FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING
AUTHOR OF JOHN ADAMS
On May 15th, 2003 David McCullough presented The Course of Human Events as The 2003 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities in Washington, DC. The Jefferson Lecture is a tribute to McCullough's lifetime investigation of history.
In this short speech, this master historian tracks his fascination with all things historical to his early days in Pittsburgh where he "learned to love history by way of books" in bookshops and at the local library.
McCullough eloquently leads us through the founding fathers' attraction to history, letting us in on his composition of 1776 as well as the Pulitzer Prize winning John Adams. His obvious affection for history is inspiring, because it encompasses the whole reach of the human drama. In McCullough's able hands, history truly "is a larger way of looking at life."
Customer Reviews:
David McCullough.......2007-09-11
This is one more great book from the brain of Mr. McCullough. I am an avid reader of T R Roosevelt books and this is the finest I have found yet. The research that goes into Mr. McC's books is mind-boggling.
Captivating. Picturesque. Vibrant........2007-08-23
To say that David McCullough has a way with words is like describing Mozart as having a way with music. McCullough has an ear for language and the spoken word the same way a wonderful photographer has an eye for a picture- it is just perfect.
McCullough gives us a precious gift with THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS as he describes his career and its subjects. He reminds us that we can only live in the present even while we study "other people's present". This CD is worth listening to and listening to again as we catch the rythmn of his words and a picture of our nation speeding by into the past.
In his own words........2007-05-13
There is nothing better than hearing an accomplished author speak about his craft in his own words. He is a terrific author of history and his sincerety and love of his craft is abundantly apparent in this CD...
Nice overview of concepts in American History.......2007-03-26
I enjoyed this book on tape (CD). It was nicely presented, however, less in depth than I had at first expected.
Course of Human Events.......2007-01-19
David McCullough delivers an inspirational overview of our country's rich history, reminding us that our leaders past and present were/are human, yet were able to rise to the challenges and exemplify the best that man's character has to offer
Book Description
The Pawprints of History shines a new light on a favorite subject -- the relationship between humans and their four-legged best friends. Stanley Coren, a renowned expert on dog-human interactions, has combed the annals of history and found captivating stories of how dogs have lent a helping paw and influenced the actions, decisions, and fates of well-known figures from every era and throughout the world.
As history's great figures strut across the stage, Coren guides us from the wings, adoringly picking out the canine cameos and giving every dog of distinction its day. In this unparalleled chronicle, we see how Florence Nightingale's chance encounter with a wounded dog changed her life by leading her to the vocation of nursing. We learn why Dr. Freud's Chow Chow attended all of his therapy sessions and how the life of the Fifth Dalai Lama was saved by a dog who shared his bed. Dogs have even found their way to the battlefield -- great military leaders such as Robert the Bruce and Omar Bradley have shared their lives, exploits, and gunfire with dogs. From Wagner, who admitted that one of the arias in the opera Siegfried was "written" by one of his dogs, to the dogs that inspired and lived with Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Johnson, and Clinton, these loving canines do double duty as loyal pets and creative muses.
From war to art, across the spectrum of human endeavor and achievement, there often stands, not only at his side but leading the way, man's beloved "best friend." For those who believe that behind every great person is a good dog, the uplifting stories in The Pawprints of History will be a lasting delight.
Customer Reviews:
Dog Lovers Unite!.......2006-10-08
This book is more a bon bon than anything substantial. But if you like dogs, you'll find this book a hoot. The premise is simple: dogs have had an impact on history.
The book commences with a chapter on dogs as sentinels. Thereafter, we read stories of the role of dogs in the lives of people as varied as Saint Patrick, Sigmund Freud, Richard Wagner, Charles I, Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington, Sir Walter Scott, Frederick the Great, Christopher Columbus, George Armstrong Custer, and so on.
In the last chapter, the author asks the question (page 291): "If dogs have had such an influence on human culture and history, it is quite reasonable to ask, why is it that we don't see canine contributions cited in standard political, social, and cultural histories?" The author provides no definitive answer, but his book is a lot of fun to read. Dog lovers will enjoy seeing "The Pawprints of History." One caution: There are a number of very bad factual errors in the chapter on General George Custer; this at least raises in my mind the accuracy of historical accounts elsewhere. But this is still an enchanting book.
Pawprints of History.......2006-07-26
This is an excellent and well-researched book describing how humans and dogs have interacted through history. It includes a wealth of interesting information about both individual and societal attitudes towards dogs and how those attitudes impacted events. Although the book is about the role of dogs in history, the stories humanize historical events by showing how compassion towards or fear of dogs affected individual people and societies. Great book.
The book is amazing.......2005-10-14
Dogs are my passion, in this wonderfully written book I've found that I am in GREAT company. It was well written, some of the stories could have been shorter. But it made me laugh and cry, and after almost every chapter I was amazed at what I didn't know about the people in the chapter. The research was extensive for this book. So if you love dogs and you love history you will really love this book.
A charming view of some wonderful friendships.......2004-02-12
This interesting book discusses the relationships between several noteable people and their dogs. At least one cynical Washington D.C. politician said that "if you want someone to love you in this town, buy a dog," and you will find he was not the first one to conjure up that thought. The author shows how people such as Florence Nightingale, Frederick the Great, Robert Burns, and Sigmund Freud were all warmly touched by the positive side of their dogs. These people, who somehow seemed so intensely boring in History class, never seemed so human as when interacting with their dogs. Dogs have served as companions for many others who needed a consistent friend, and they often served as inspirations for those who enriched our artistic and aesthetic lives (perhaps because they were so cheerful and so honest). Oh, by the way, the author gives us some pretty interesting lessons in history and the arts, too, so this story is not just about the canids. If you are looking for a good book to curl up with, and read to, your animal companions, give this one a try.
Eh........2003-07-10
Entertaining anecdotes, but not really what it promises. It's more a collection of famous people and their beloved dogs with a few notes (some of them are real stretches) about how the author believes the dogs might have affected them. Not particularly convincing, but sweet.
Book Description
The threats to human rights posed by non-state actors are of increasing concern. Human rights activists increasingly address the activity of multinational corporations, the policies of international organizations such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and international crimes committed by entities such as armed opposition groups and terrorists. This book presents an approach to human rights that goes beyond the traditional focus on states and outlines the human rights obligations of non-state actors. Furthermore, it addresses some of the ways in which these entities can be held legally accountable for their actions in various jurisdictions. The political debate concerning the appropriateness of expanding human rights scrutiny to non-state actors is discussed and dissected. For some, extending human rights into these spheres trivializes human rights and allows abusive governments to distract us from ongoing violations. For others such an extension is essential if human rights are properly to address the current concerns of women and workers. The main focus of the book, however, is on the legal obligations of non-state actors. The book discusses how developments in the fields of international responsibility and international criminal law have implications for building a framework for the human rights obligations of non-state actors in international law. In turn these international developments have drawn on the changing ways in which human rights are implemented in national law. A selection of national jurisdictions, including the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom are examined with regard to the application of human rights law to non-state actors. The book's final part includes suggestions with regard to understanding the parameters of the human rights obligations of non-state actors. Key to understanding the legal obligations of non-state actors are concepts such as dignity and democracy. While neither concept can unravel the dilemmas involved in the application of human rights law to non-state actors, a better understanding of the tensions surrounding these concepts can help us to understand what is at stake.
Customer Reviews:
Wow.......2000-10-09
I am in 7th grade and use this. I have learned so much from it. It is very detailed and has a glossary, maps, excerpets from important documents and important people all in the back of the book! For once I am enjoying history. If you need to get a history book I strongly recommend this one.
Product Description
Box Set of David McCullough titles.
John Adams, Truman, and Mornings on Horseback. Also includes a Special Edition of David McCullough's Landmark "Jefferson Lecture"
Average customer rating:
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Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings (Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law)
Stefan Trechsel , and
Sarah Summers
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Book Description
During the last 50 years interest in human rights has grown dramatically. Whilst newspapers focus mainly on dramatic issues: unlawful killing, torture, disappearances, or violations of freedom of speech; institutions charged with the implementation of human rights (as set out in international conventions and covenants) most frequently deal with allegations of human rights violations during criminal proceedings. The increasing internationalization of the administration of criminal law means that such cases are likely to become ever more important. In this book, the case-law of the international bodies dealing with such cases is presented and critically examined by an author who has contributed to its creation for almost a quarter of a century. The European Commission and European Court of Human Rights, in particular, have accumulated a considerable quantity of case-law, which is particularly interesting because it is intended to be valid in both Anglo-Saxon and Continental systems of criminal procedure.The law of the European Convention is emphasized because of its advanced procedures and the quality and quantity of its case-law. The book will be of interest to all scholars, practitioners, and students of international criminal law.
Product Description
This book collects essays on the impact of nine-eleven on the american culture and the mentality of the americans. They test the basic principles on which america is founded.
Book Description
Approximately 75,000 years ago, an event occurred that almost wiped out human life. According to a stunning new theory, this singular event may also have completely altered the genetic evolution of humankind. It was an event that released 3,000 times the energy of Mt. St. Helens.
The new book,
Supervolcano, explores this eruption of the Toba supervolcano in Sumatra, Indonesia, its far-reaching impact, and the strong possibility of another supervolcano eruption in our lifetime.
Supervolcanoes are considered one of the five biggest threats to humankind, along with asteroids, nuclear war, disease, and global warming. But of those, supervolcanoes are the only threat that cannot be prevented.
And their effects are catastrophic. So devastating was the Toba eruption and the sheer amount of ash it released into the atmosphere, it altered the global climate for years, creating a mini Ice Age that obliterated massive amounts of plant, animal, and human life. A new theory claims this earth-shattering event also caused a severe "population bottleneck" in humans, leading to the eventual extinction of all other branches of our species with the exception of one...the branch that survived Toba and became modern humans.
Supervolcano will explore:
-What supervolcanos are, where they are found, and why they are so deadly to life on earth.
-Toba, the largest of the known supervolcanoes in the past 27 million years, and how its catastrophic environmental aftermath brought humanity to the brink of extinction.
-How genetic, geological, and computer studies show that each human today is related to a survivor of Toba.
-How we can prepare for the next supervolcano, which many earth scientists believe could be right here in our own backyard--Yellowstone National Park. And why they believe an eruption at Yellowstone could be as catastrophic for humanity as Toba.
Customer Reviews:
Cataclysmic evolution volcanos.......2007-10-04
SUPERVOLCANO - The CATASTOPHIC Event That Changed the Course OF Human History. by John Savino & Marie Jones. New Page, '07
review by Micheal Sunanda. Pt 1,
I lived on Kilauea volcano a decade seeing red hot lava flowing into the sea there & hiked into its dormant crater 3 times, both very exciting & studying volcanoes first hand. I head the authors on Coast to Coastam talk show, so charming i got the book. Finally a new in-deep earth science geology book about monster volcanoes expanding our awareness of Cataclysmic Evolution now with many smaller earth changes happening simultaneously. Volcanoes are earth's most suddenly creative hot explosive scary event & place making land, gases & ash blowing far & near, even causing mass extinction in history of earth's evolution. The authors compare big eruptions of last 50 years, are small compared to Toba supervolcano' in Sumatra, Indonesia 75K years ago, They use Toba & Mt St Helens radically contrasting the global shock waves of past & possible coming supervolcano eruption. SV explains many kinds of big & super-volcanoes.
This very readable, dramatic, comprehensive? & scientific text has some charts & B/W illustrations: showing craters, fault-lines, destruction, trends & 6 types of volcanoes: flood or plateau, shield V; cinder cone, composite or strato V; V cone & caldera". Also under sea V & fault-line eruptions. They present a new theory of evolution `the BOTTLECK' - explaining how human life was nearly erased & few survived on earth after Toba Supervolcano. Also other extinctions were caused by super-volcanoes, that could happen again?!
So much for Uniformitarianism! .......2007-09-22
So much for Uniformitarianism! It now seems certain our history is tied to Earth history, and that cataclysm has been a significant force! Although science takes a lead role in the narrative Supervolcano is not your ordinary science book. It blends history, genetics, geology, and ancient myth, and tells the story of an event - the Toba eruption -around 70,000 years ago that changed the world and helped create what and who we are today.
As a habitual reader of science books, most of which are directed at a scientific oriented audience, I must say this book is one of the best. Jones and Savino make reading science (and history) a pleasure.
For anyone interested in volcanoes or the origins of mankind Supervolcano is a must read. I also urge the authors that their next book should be about the catastrophic events that caused mass extinction at the end of the Ice Age.
Response to last review - Cubic Kilometers.......2007-09-19
Keith, thank you so much for reviewing our book. We wanted to alert you and other readers that we did indeed write the book using cubic kilometers, but the publisher asked us to convert to miles for the general public. We certainly agree with you, but the general audience thinks more in terms of miles, etc... and the metric system of science is not as generally understood. Thanks for bringing this up, though!
Marie Jones
Lets stick with "cubic km.".......2007-09-19
I think the book covers supervolcanoes fairly well. The author should go into more detail about supervolcanoes taking into consideration readers should have some Geology and volcano background. AND, please stick with "cubic kilometers as the rest of the world does. Cubic miles mean nothing in scientific terms.
Real scary geology-not another end time speculative farce.......2007-09-19
What makes this book both so interesting and terrifying is that the possibilities for a supervolcano going off in the NEAR FUTURE is very high. First, there is yellowstone,30,000 years overdue, then in California, signs that another supervolcano is active. We could spend the rest of the review listing other volcanoes, but I will leave it to you to buy this both fascinating and frightening book....just one more supervolcano site....Toba, Sumatra...where are all of those 7 and 8 and 9 quakes happening right now? right in this supervolcanoes back yard, oh by the way, it is close to being due again, the last time this supervolcano went off, it killed off about 90 percent of the human population in the whole world !!!!!!!!!!!
Not for the faint of heart.
Beautifully, fascinatingly terrifying science !!!!!!
Average customer rating:
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The Course of Human Events: An Historical Novel
James Gulisano
Manufacturer: Writers Club Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
War
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0595268072 |
Book Description
At the height of the American Revolutionary War two men were destined to cross paths on a journey to infamy. Heroic and misunderstood General Benedict Arnold and poetic and well-liked Major John André had two things in common: ambition and Peggy Shippen, the woman who would become Arnold's wife. When Arnold becomes dissatisfied with his treatment at the hands of his fellow countrymen, he turns to his wife's one-time suitor to design a dark conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the Townsend family, patriots all (son Robert is an active spy for George Washington in New York), becomes unwilling hosts to British Queen Rangers. When young Sally Townsend becomes romantically involved with Colonel John Graves Simcoe, a window opens into the secret world of Simcoe and his trusted friend André. As the plot between Arnold and André develops, its greatest weakness emerges as the love of one of its strongest advocates.
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