Book Description
Whether knight's charger or beast of burden, horses played a vital role in medieval life. The wealth of medieval finds excavated in London in recent years has, not surprisingly, included many objects associated with horses. This catalogue illustrates and discusses over four hundred such objects, among them harness, horseshoes, spurs and curry combs, from the utilitarian to highly decorative pieces. London served by horse traffic comes vividly in view. The introductory chapter draws on historical as well as archaeological sources to consider the role of the horse in medieval London. It looks at the price of horses and the costs of maintaining them, the hiring of 'hackneys' for riding, the use of carts in and around London, and the work of the 'marshal' or farrier. It discusses the evidence for the size of medieval horses and includes a survey of finds of medieval horse skeletons from London. It answers the key questions, how large a 'Great Horse' was, and why it took three horses to pull a cart. A new introduction to this edition provides an update on research and a supplementary bibliography. This is a basic work of reference for archaeologists and those studying medieval artefacts, and absorbing reading for everyone interested in the history of the horse and its use by humankind. JOHN CLARK is Curator (Medieval) at the Museum of London.
Book Description
"As the Indiana Jones films showed, Nazis, new age mumbo-jumbo and exotic locations are a formula that works. Christopher Hale's gripping and well-researched tale of an SS-sponsored scientific mission to Tibet in 1938-39 has the whole shebang: mad occult beliefs, mountains, strange charactors called Bruno or Ernst and stomach-churning concentration camp experiments to round things off."
—The Sunday Times (London)
A scientific expedition or a sinister mission?
Why would the leader of the Nazi’s dreaded SS, the second-most-powerful man in the Third Reich, send a zoologist, an anthropologist, and several other scientists to Tibet on the eve of war? Himmler’s Crusade tells the bizarre and chilling story one of history’s most perverse, eccentric, and frightening scientific expeditions. Drawing on private journals, new interviews, and original research in German archives as well as in Tibet, author Christopher Hale recreates the events of this sinister expedition, asks penetrating questions about the relationship between science and politics, a nd sheds new light on the occult theories that obsessed Himmler and his fellow Nazis.
Combining the highest standards of narrative history with the high adventure and exotic locales of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Himmler’s Crusade reveals that Himmler had ordered these men to examine Tibetan nobles for signs of Aryan physiology, undermine the British relationship with the ruling class, and sow the seeds of rebellion among the populace. Most strangely, the scientists–all SS officers–were to find scientific proof of a grotesque historical fantasy that was at the center of Himmler’s beliefs about race.
Set against the exquisite backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, this fast-paced and engaging narrative provides new and troubling insight into one of the strangest episodes in the history of science, politics, and war.
Customer Reviews:
Compelling but with distractions.......2007-04-17
This is the story of a Nazi expedition into Tibet. The expedition was commissioned by Himmler and led by zoologist Ernst Schaffer. Whilst there were plenty of regular science done in Tibet, much of the expedition had more sinister motives. The expedition included an anthropologist who measured the skulls of Tibetans as part of Himmler's pet project to trace the roots of the Aryan race to Tibet. Hale outlines several other examples of Nazi mysticism, pseudoscience and historical revisionism. He also provides plenty of background info on what happened before and after the expedition but at times these tangents become too much.
The book is an eye opener to the dangerous nature of romantic illusions of mysticism, lost civilisations and more. It also provides info a unique link between Tibet, the British and Nazism and how the three interacted in a very curious way in the 30s. However Hale could have been more organised, coherent and relevant (for instance probing beyond the surface of some of the mystic beliefs described). A good intro to an extremely weird aspect of WWII history, but not the defining word.
True life adventure ...and one of history's strangest turns.......2006-05-12
History makes strange bedfellows. Here we see the Nazi (or more exactly Himmler's) flirtation with Tibet, and Tibet's aristocracy. A fascinating real world "Indiana Jones" adventure into one of history's strangest chapters.
The author also touches on the role of eugenics and physical anthropology in this strange but true tale. This is fascinating but in the end I didn't find it completely satisfying.
Unfortunately they painted a too monochrome view of German physical anthropologists here. Some of the individuals they paint as black hats, were more complex and probably thus more interesting.
In particular I'm referring to their discussion of Felix von Luschan. In this book he is painted as the worst kind of scientific cannibal, but elsewhere (see the discussion in Jan Klein's textbook "Where Do We Come From?") we are told in 1922 he issued a "Ten Commandments", designed to guide the general public away from racialist error. In these commandments he seems to explicitly rejected the viewpoint Christopher Hale attributes to him.
For example, von Luschan's second Commandment says "(t)here are no savages, there are only different cultures. The real barbarians are those ignorant white men who are unable to fathom other races and who exploit them." This is the kind of thing we would expect to hear from "human brotherhood gurus" Margaret Mead or Ashley Montagu, not from a "Nazi mad scientist".
I don't doubt Hale's findings, but something does not compute here. Maybe the gap between Nazi mad scientist and human brotherhood guru is less than we thought. There is obviously a fascinating chapter yet to be unearthed.
A GOOD YARN RUINED.......2006-04-19
This is a good yarn ruined ! The subtitle of the book is, "The true story of the 1938 Nazi expedition into Tibet". If the author had limited himself to this he might have had a winner on his hands, but sadly for the reader it didn't work out that way. The actual story of Schafer's expedition could have been told in less than 200 pages, but Hale pads it out to over 500 pages, with so much extraneous material that book becomes frankly boring.
The book is full of adjectives which show that the book is not really objective, but is a tour de force of Hales own opinions. As an example, whether you agree with her or not, Savitri Devi's books do not deserve the epithet "repellent" ! Odd perhaps, but not repellent. Hale's book is also full of petty (and not so petty !) errors of fact and figure which call into question the thoroughness of his own research. For instance, on page 53 he misnames Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Also in several places, despite describing himself in one part of the book as a "British journalist", he makes that so American mistake of confusing Britain with England, as on page 231 where he says, "Hitler calculated that France and England wanted to avoid war". He repeats this confusion in several places. On page 440, he says, "After September 1939 no-one in the German High Command could predict the outcome of a war with England". Mr. Hale, Germany was never at war with England ! The war was with Britain, of which England is just one part. It was noticeable too that some of the more lurid "quotes" in the last part of the book lack references to show where they came from, like Beger on Jewish female bottoms on page 489. This detracts from the authenticity of such remarks.
The last 100 pages or so of the book have absolutely nothing to do with the 1938 Nazi Expedition into Tibet, but are yet another reiteration of the sins of Germany in World War 2, and I suspect this was put in purely to make the book politically correct and ensure publication.
In sum, this could have been a very interesting book if Hale had stuck to the subject in hand. It does shine through in places when the actual expedition is being written about, but the rest of the book is so dull that the good parts are overshadowed. I was left with the abiding impression that the boring parts one and two were only there as an excuse for the politically correct part three. All three parts were so full or errors, minor and major, that the book is useless as a research tool, and it is so dull that it is not even a good yarn.
Shame really, but I suppose it might be a cure for insomnia !
Fascinating Book.......2006-03-28
I found it quite interesting and certainly thought provoking! While the book did, at times, drag a bit, overall I believe that it is a well researched and highly enlightening story about the Nazis' odd interest in Tibet.
Tells the story.......2005-12-29
This book tells the story of the nazi excursions into the tibetian areas in search of establishing their race agenda. Lots of "reports" of such journeys have been referenced throughout the years, this book gives the facts, of the actual journeys, the "experements", and the men themselves. Good info for those who want to look at factual information about this subject rather than hype.
Book Description
Packed with more than 200 photographs, cross-sections, maps, and a pictorial timeline. Fact boxes provide extra insights and highlight links with the present.
Book Description
An essential guide to exploring the best wines from southern France, with wine tours of both the most popular and lesser-known regions, and details of top producers and local tourist attractions. There is expert advice on how to choose the top wines and transport them home safely, and useful tips on local culture, eating out, where to stay, and the best ways of traveling around.
Customer Reviews:
Not a Complete Survey of Southern France.......2006-08-31
There are numerous wine areas of Southern France that are referenced and given wonderful details....Yet, the author has completely left out one of the most magnificent areas of what is definitely part of "Southern France"..... the Chateauneuf du Pape area, and almost the entire Northern and Southern Rhone region..... If he had included this area,..... he would have created a MASTERPIECE.
Don't leave home without this book!.......2005-09-10
I learned a lot about the South and France and its wines from this book. The author makes you feel like you're there - and he tells you what wines are worth buying, and why. The book is beautifully illustrated too, with fabulous photographs and loads of maps with suggested wine routes. I like the fact he takes you off the beaten track and adds lots of quirky details that other guides overlook. He obviously knows his stuff. There are great recommendations about what to eat, where to eat, and where to stay, too. Highly recommended!
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Europe Finds the World (Cambridge Introduction to World History)
Trevor Cairns
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521044227 |
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Find Out About: The Celts: What life was like for the warlike tribes of Ancient Europe (Find Out About)
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How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages (How Would You Survive Ser)
ASIN: 1842156934 |
Book Description
This book introduces fascinating facts about the many different Celtic peoples including the reason for their migration, their mysticism and beliefs, and the exquisite metalwork that they crafted.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent resource!.......2003-01-11
As an educator and student of Celtic history, I am always on the look-out for good resource materials. This excellent little book is perfect for my elementary to middle-school age students. It is well researched, easy to use and, most importantly, remarkably appealing. It includes a number of fun educational projects so that children can have a better understanding of what life really was like for the Celts. Fiona MacDonald generally does great work and CELTS: WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE FOR THE WARLIKE TRIBES OF ANCIENT EUROPE is no exception. Highly recommended.
Product Description
This third and final monograph completes the description of the excavations carried out by the British team on the site of the Roman city of Nicopolis ad Istrum in northern Bulgaria. The reports here perform a dual role: they provide the material evidence upon which much of the interpretation of the site and its development is based, and they also constitute a unique resource for the palaeoeconomy and material culture of the region from the 2nd-6th centuries AD.
Customer Reviews:
An extraordinary book of memoir and history.......2007-03-13
I read Passage to Ararat thirty years ago, and it continues to ring loud in my memory. Over the years I've given it to many friends as a present. The book is a memoir of Michael Arlen uncovering and discovering his Armenian heritage. It's intimate and personal, a window into the peculiar way history, individual memory and collective tragedy mix. I couldn't help but think of the Jewish and Palestinian experiences as I read it.
Getting to Know Me.......2006-07-22
In THE TEACHINGS OF DON JUAN, Carlos Castaneda takes forever to realize that what he is going to learn is not the pharmacopia of Yaqui Indians. We, the readers, get pretty darn fed up with his obtuse wonderings about "what the heck is going on here ?" Castaneda used this literary device to introduce what turned out to be a very long series of books about other ways of seeing the world. I felt somewhat the same about the style in PASSAGE TO ARARAT, though as far as honesty goes, I would put all my money on Arlen, rather than Castaneda. After finishing Arlen's short, but hard-hitting book, I still felt that he had somehow graded, planed, hammered, and sandpapered my emotions into accepting the transition from "I don't give a damn about the past. I didn't really love my father or understand him. I can't identify with Armenians." to feeling Armenian, to feeling outraged about the early 20th century genocide of "his" people. He wrote of this transition as a result of a trip he took to Soviet Armenia in the 1970s. I like how he wrote about Armenia and the people he met there. I even like how he wrote about Istanbul, which he visited afterwards. But I could hardly believe in that gradual transition. I still do feel that it is a literary device to make a "story" out of this work, and I feel that such a device wasn't necessary. I am not Armenian, but as a Jew I can feel pain when I think of genocide, the many other genocides that sit right in front of us----Native Americans, the Middle Passage, Cambodians, Tasmanians, Rwandans, Darfur---you can add your own. How can a man (a literary man who deals naturally in expressing feelings, ideas, longings, and the pain of the human soul) say that the genocide of Armenians meant little to him ? Maybe we don't want to confront our own past, OK, but do I have to be African to mourn the 800,000 dead Rwandans ? If I am not Cambodian, can I never feel shock and sadness at what was done by the Khmer Rouge ? Where are our American Indian brothers and sisters ?---I ask you in God's name.
Other than this comment, I can only say that this is a fine book about Armenia as it was in the 1970s. You get a lot of well-written, easily-digestible Armenian history, up to and including many pages on the genocide. How long is there going to be an argument about "whether it occurred or not ?" What, did a million people just up and commit suicide ? There is very little about the Soviet aspect of being in the Soviet Union, which since 1991 is beside the point now. I see there is an updated edition, which I did not have. It is also a fine book about changes of heart, even if I still do doubt it could have been that sequenced.
Brilliant.......2006-02-17
I think this book is magnificent.I love it.It really does give accurate historical information.
"Genocide"?.......2005-05-07
It just astonished me as how certain discursive formations can actually lead people to believe as the 'real' reality. It does not matter whether for an event to 'really happen' or not. What matters is that you hear it on a radio or read it on a newspaper or website or even talk about it at the water-cooler. Those who have had the chance to watch 'Wag the Dog' might get the idea of how such 'reality' is constructed.
On a more advanced level 'discursivity', a la Foucault, is a building block of a discourse in which certain linkages, here and their, add to what ordinary people believe on the street.
Now obviously Hitler was one of the worst things that happened during the 20th century. This is commonsense. But to add certain 'material' so as to advance another claim by building upon Hitler, is something that should be carefully approached, at least for people who at least visit and read stuff through Amazon.
If a chain in a series of discursive formations can be shown to be weak or invalid than it would be proven that that chain of a discourse is on shaky grounds, and that most of what is known about it is likely to be false.
Unfortunately we see certain 'material' is attached to certain claims so as to resemble the Holocaust. Let us revisit a single claim on part of those would like to exploit the events during the early 20th century. A reviewer, for instance, obviously bought one claim and thus knows it to be the 'truth'
Adolf Hitler: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
Now has anybody bothered to investigate it. No, of course. "It sounds like as if it is true, so why not believe it". Well fortunately there are still people who like investigating such stuff.
Read for example :
Heath W. Lowry
Washington, D.C.
Political Communication and Persuasion, Volume 3, Number 2 (1985)
Abstract This article traces the history of a purported Adolf Hitler quote which cites the perecent of the world's lack of reaction to the fate of Armenians during the First World War as a justification for his planned extermination of European Jewry in the course of the Second World War. By a detailed examination of the genesis of this quotation the author demonstrates that there is no historical basis for attributing such a statement to Hitler...
[...]
If one is serious about really getting into history, rather than believing simply what is out their in the popular press,
I would additionally suggest to take a tour of the documents of Ambassador Morgenthau. First let us not take any word for having a Godly truth 'Its ambassador so its gotta be true' mentality is ok if you're ok with it (respect of thought). But there are historical evidence that suggests that Morgenthau did not even know Ottoman scripture, and that this is proved throughout his letters when he attempts to translate 'words' and 'dates' of events. Do not hesitate to read...
[...]
For those who have CAREFULLY read what I have written so far, notice I am not either on one side of the argument between Armenian historians or historians of the Ottoman empire, but that I have just thrown out some thought provoking information so that one will at least ask some questions before believing what they read. Doubtless there will be those occasional pointless replies to this review, but again all I am saying is, think before you react. Now one could argue that I am saying is a postmodernist crituque and historical relativism. That would be false. I believe in historical analysis, as a scientific enterprise (and only the scientific version of it). But then again let us not forget that some American historians who were studying the case at hand were bombed by Armenians. Now if history is written by historians and that some historians (i.e. UCLA professor Stanford Shaw)are bullied so as not to investigate certain historical matters than, at least if you have a capacity to think critically than be suspicious about it. [...]
By the way absolutely nothing is mentioned about the equal ammount of civilian Turks that were slaugthered by Russian backed Armenian militia. Nor anything about the terrorism campaign of Armenians during the 1970's that left thousands of people dead and wounded. To say "denying genocide is a wrong thing" is one thing. But in doing so if one is denying the death of tens of thousands of innocent Turks, is called hypocrism and puts one in ethically shaky grounds.
The latest British governemeents acceptance that the "blue book", which Armenian claims are based upon, have been declared by the government itself to be a WW1 time propaganda material. Yes you heard it right!
Here's another eye opener: Often the claim is made there 1 million Armenians were murdered. What they do not say that the same material they indicate that a "genocide" happened says that
the ENTIRE Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire was 800 thousand (200 thousand difference!) MOREOVER Keep in mind that the Armenian diaspora, that builds its own desire to have a national identity, has a population of more than 9 million people across the world. HOW CAN this be??? Well thats how nationalism is formed: impossibile numbers, man on white horse, the evil "other" etc.... So this "genocide" attitude is more of identity building rather than real history.
Well I hope I contributed on an intellectual level and I hope 'thought thugs' would not misunderstand what I have suggested.
Coming of (middle) age.......2004-10-05
Michael Arlen takes a very novel approach to discovering his roots. He freely admits early on that he doesn't even like Armenians, although he himself is of Armenian descent. Arlen's father shielded him from the burdens that virtually all Armenians bare: that of the genocide/massacres of 1915. It is not until his father's death that Arlen begins to interact with the Armenian community and ultimately takes a trip to Soviet Armenia. He describes the country and the people in a detached manner and with a dry sense of humor. His research of Armenian history is rather academic at first. Ultimately he is affected by the great suffering of his people.
Arlen asks many questions that he cannot and does not answer. His references to certain Armenian qualities as "childlike" was offensive, and his attempt to examine the Armenian race using traditional psychological analysis, determining finally that Armenians are burdened with self-hate, had its limitations. But I do not view Passage to Ararat as a scholarly treatise. It is instead one man's journey to the land of his ancestors in order to come to grips with who he is and whether he should be proud of that.
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Roman Finds from Exeter (Exeter Archaeological Reports)
N. Holbrook , and
P. Bidwell
Manufacturer: University of Exeter Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0859893677 |
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