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.

A Plague of Angels: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery

Average customer rating:

Amusing and convincing Elizabethan detective series...
Plague of Angels
Walk the streets of Elizabethan London
A Delightful Series
Excellent historical mystery

A Plague of Angels: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery
P.F. Chisholm
Manufacturer: Poisoned Pen Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Historical | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1890208434

Book Description

In 1592, dashing courtier Sir Robert Carey took up his northern post as Warden of the West March in order to escape the complications of creditors and court life. Trouble, however, dogs his heels wherever he goes. And where he goes in autumn, after the summer's misadventures in Carlisle, is back to London upon a summons from his father.

Carey is on difficult terms with his powerful sire, Henry, Lord Hunsdon. Hunsdon, son of Anne Boleyn's elder sister, Mary -- and probably of a young King Henry VIII -- swings a lot of weight as "cousin" to Queen Elizabeth. But Hunsdon needs his ingenious younger son, Carey to sort out the difficulties his elder son has got himself into as an innocent party in a plot to discredit the family.

Accompanied by the shrewd Sergeant George Dodd, who's like a fish out of water as he copes with the strange Londoners, Carey tackles Catholics, treachery, and such persons known to history and students of literature as George Greene and Christopher Marlowe who are working as spies and double agents. Most arresting is a portrait of a love-sick, snivelling hanger-on named Will Shakespeare....

Customer Reviews:

Amusing and convincing Elizabethan detective series..........2003-07-06

This series by Patricia Finney features Robert Carey, the youngest son of Lord Hundson who in turn is the bastard son of Henry VII and Mary Boleyn, Ann's sister. Carey has landed a position as the Queen's representative at one of the border forts between England and Scotland, at a particularly crucial time, when Elizabeth's heir, James, is king of Scotland, and his succession to the English throne will unify the two countries. Carey's main motive in accepting the position was to get away from creditors in England. And in the first of the series, Carey, began to establish himself as a kind of monarch in his own right in that most politically crucial of geographies. Now less than a year and three books' worth of adventures later, Carey must return home to London at the summons of his father, who is now the Queen's Lord Chamberlain. Carey has to deal with creditors who are stalking him, his father's girlfriend (and once his,) Mistress Bassano, her devoted swain and family servant, the rather unimpressive Will Shakespeare, and the fact that his gullible elder brother Edmund has disappeared in what turns out to be plague infested London, and Hundson's chief enemy, Thomas Heneage, probably has something to do with it. Meanwhile a bunch of counterfeit coins are turning up, and the penalty for counterfeiting is death. And Carey's Scottish man, Seargent Dodd is amusing everyone with his bumpkin ways and accent, while being extremely frustrated by their decadent city ways and lack of recognition for his family rank. It's fun stuff with great characterization and just about the best period resurrection I've ever experienced. But then that's true of all of Finney's work, and here, slick London kind of made me miss the crass and vulgar North.

Plague of Angels.......2002-01-10

This is the kind of book that makes life worth living.

Written in a spare yet vivid style, with outstanding dialogue, Plague of Angels features well-known characters from the first three books of Chisholm's series. But, due to a letter from Carey's father, they've had to ride south to London. Readers be encouraged: this is no Renaissance Faire.

Characterization is particularly strong in this volume because it's from the point of view of Sergeant Dodd, the tough, morose, thoroughly engaging Borderer. His viewpoints on London, the aristocracy, and Carey are not only humorous but have a certain ring of truth. I'd always liked Dodd, but in the course of this book he became one of my favorite historical fiction characters of all time. Carey, seen through Dodd's eyes, retains his notable charm and savoir-faire. And Chisholm does something nearly impossible: writes about real historical characters and does it well. Yes, Shakespeare is in this book, and yes, it works.

The plot is an exciting one, of course. Some of the twists aren't quite as well developed as they could be, but between the plague, the Fleet Prison, and our hero facing torture by the bad guys, it's hard to care.

I was particularly impressed here with Chisholm's presentation of Renaissance mentalities. The pure terror evoked by the plague, in an age when diseases were unstoppable and more or less uncurable, is very well described. It's also worth mentioning that, although her protagonists are male, Chisholm does well with female characters, making them realistic products of their time but still strong, interesting individuals.

Walk the streets of Elizabethan London.......2001-11-27

This book shows evidence of an amazing amount of research into the daily life of Elizabethan London. Perhaps this is, as one reviewer suggests, how Patricia Finney has fun in between her longer Elizabeth I mysteries, but all I can say is she does a lot of hard work too!

Sir Robert Carey was widely though of as the Queen's nephew (the illegitimate grandson of Henry VIII) and Chisholm makes the most of this fact in her mystery, using her hero's physical resemblance to the Queen and his father, Lord Hundson's, temperamental resemblance to Henry VIII to build a complicated tale of revenge, ambition, and murder. A score of minor--but also real!--characters thread through the story: Mistress Bassano (a member of a real family of Jewish musicians at the court), Robert Greene, Christopher Marlowe, and even the balding Will Shakespeare appear.

So many historical mysteries are more about evoking a powerful setting than telling a complicated tale of skulduggery, but with this book you get to have both. The setting and characterization are nearly perfect, and the central mystery pivoting around the consequences surrounding an alchemical experiment gone wrong is not only perfect for the period but darned confusing as well! I highly recommend this book, and the other books in the series. But, read A Famine of Horses (the first in the series) first or you will find yourself a bit lost for the first half.

A Delightful Series.......2001-02-21

The impression I get is that the Carey books are "fun" projects for Patricia Finney to take on between more serious books like Firedrake's Eye and Unicorn's Blood -- whatever the case, they are so worthwhile that I bought the UK editions before they were available in the States. All I can say about Finney's research is that I have made a study of swords and swordsmanship of the period, and her descriptions suggest that she has gone the extra mile in getting the details right, when many historical authors would settle for the Hollywood version. I recommend the whole series as a fine example of entertaining, well-written adventures that make the most of their Elizabethan setting.

Excellent historical mystery.......2000-12-10

Short of the monarch, the only person who Sir Robert Carey would heed an order from to come to London is his father Lord Hunsdon the Queen's Lord Chamberlain. Robert knows that the big city has many individuals irate with him, as he owes them a lot of money. However, his father needs his help and thus, accompanied by his Land Sergeant Henry Dodd, Robert travels south to London.

Hunsdon informs his son that he needs his peculiar skills as a detective. Robert's older brother is missing and a scandal is brewing that could cost Hunsdon more than just his job of security for her highness if the Queen becomes upset with the family. Robert is to find his sibling, a gambler, and bring him safely home. Unbeknownst to the detective and his companion Henry, the Vice Chancellor has set in motion a plan to use Robert and his brother to discredit their father in the eyes of Queen Elizabeth.

A PLAGUE OF ANGELS, The fourth Carey Elizabethan mystery, is a fabulous investigative tale that employs real persona from the history books including the lead character. Appearances by literary figures such as Shakespeare and Marlowe add a feel of authenticity to the plot, but the story line belongs to Robert and his sleuthing, and the stunned, naive Henry, seeing the big city for the first time. Sub-genre fans will enjoy this novel and P.F. Chisholm's three other Carey books (A FAMINE OF HORSES, A SEASON OF KNIVES, and A SURFEIT OF GUNS).

Book Description

Defoe's account of the bubonic plague that swept London in 1665 remains as vivid as it is harrowing. Based on Defoe's own childhood memories and prodigious research, A Journal of the Plague Year walks the line between fiction, history, and reportage. In meticulous and unsentimental detail it renders the daily life of a city under siege; the often gruesome medical precautions and practices of the time; the mass panics of a frightened citizenry; and the solitary travails of Defoe's narrator, a man who decides to remain in the city through it all, chronicling the course of events with an unwavering eye. Defoe's Journal remains perhaps the greatest account of a natural disaster ever written.

This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the original edition published in 1722.

Customer Reviews:

Yes, Bubonic Plague is no fun........2007-03-04

A Journal of the Plague Year. Is it a novel or a historical document? Apparently it is a bit of both, as Daniel Defoe took a real journal from a real survivor of the London plague of 1664 and filled in various historical tidbits to enliven the text six decades after the fact. The result is a most illuminating description of London life when half the city is sick and dying. There is no particular organization to the text, and Defoe does not include anything like a chapter or section break. He, speaking as the narrator, simply comments on subjects of interest that he witnessed or recalled. Some is repetitive, but deadly epidemics are repetitive things and the stories of the dead, dying, sick and crazy do tend to follow various repeated trends. The original author did seem to get around a bit, though, and at various times seemed to be in a position of some responsibility to examine the effects of the plague as it spread. He also maintained, possibly with Defoe's posthumous aid, an eye for relevant detail and a willingness to put it to paper. While the text maintains a style of detached, impersonal writing common to the era, it does make abundantly clear that a plagued city is a thoroughly unpleasant place to avoid.

History will repeat itself.......2005-11-21

Defoe, Daniel, A Journal of the Plague Year. 1722. Penguin Books, 1966.
Now that we're all reading up on bird flu, the flu pandemic of 1918, and even the Black Plague, it seems appropriate to revisit Daniel Defoe's account of the London outbreak of 1665. The author cleverly spins a fictional world based on the real one which struck England when he was only five. Using real statistics and first or second hand accounts, he brings the reader full into that world with its constant terror, its bell-ringing nightly dead carts, the screams of the dying and their families, all of which teaches us something about the fragility of society as we know it. During the pestilence and for months afterward all foreign trade was stopped between Britain and other countries; shops were shut, factories closed, and the wretchedness of the poor, which was only partially relieved by charity--primarily private--increased immeasurably. Aside from total isolation, which was virtually impossible in a mercantile economy, there were only a few ways to avoid the sickness. One mentioned by Defoe was by a woman who doused herself from head to toe with vinegar. I used this method myself in Acapulco in 1951, to avoid being bitten by sand fleas, and it works.

Defoe's narrator says that he fell ill for a few days before the pestilence reached its peak, but quickly recovered. He obviously gained immunity through this mild exposure. Samuel Pepys kept a diary during the 1660s, and casually mentions in one passage that he poured gin into his bathwater for its cooling effect. The gin, of course, killed any fleas that might have been around and Pepys survived unharmed and unaware of what had saved him from death.

Vinegar and gin will not save us from the flu pandemic that is threatened. Face masks and strictly enforced quarantine (disapproved of by Defoe) seem to be the answer, as inoculation will not likely be timely or sufficiently available. Defoe's tale shakes the reader's confidence in government's ability to help its people in a crisis; if it cannot figure out what to do in a hurricane, what will happen when disaster strikes the entire country?

Five stars.

Malignity is the very nature of man.......2005-10-06

In this documentary novel, Defoe sketches poignantly the irrational behaviour of man under extreme circumstances, when death threatens behind every corner of the street.
People turned to fortune-tellers, astrologers or conjurers who deluded them. They became the victims of `doctors' selling `infallible preventive pills'. They `swarmed to a wicked generation of pretenders to magic and black art'.
People were terrified by the force of their imagination and saw representations and appearances in clouds. Their impudence increased by using devilish blasphemous language.
Others risked their lives by stealing and plundering without any regard to the danger of infection.
Man behaved as a mad dog.

The Government encouraged devotion, public prayers, fasting and humiliation to implore the mercy of God to avert the dreadful judgment. `Many a penitent confession was made of crimes long concealed.'
Innumerable religious sects and divisions fought for the souls of the condemned. It was `altar against altar'. The discourses of the religious ministers were full of terror, prophesying evil tidings.
Unfortunately, religion was not the solution: `the best physic against the plague was to run away from it.' People who believed in predestination (`tis the hand of God, there is no withstanding it') and stayed home, were infected too and died by thousands.
For Swift `there was no apparent extraordinary occasion for supernatural operation, it was really propagated by natural means.'

The near view of death reconciled men of good principles one to another.
But as the terror of infection abated, things all returned again to the course they were in before.
More, after the plague, `people, hardened by the danger they had been in, were more wicked and more stupid, more bold and hardened, in their vices and immoralities.'

In this impressive panorama, worth a Breughel or a Hieronymus Bosch, the only weakness is the lack of some kind of plot.

Not to be missed.

Rare record of a terrible year........2005-01-08

This fictionalised journal (written decades after the event when Defoe was only 5 years old) argues its case better by a bald statement of facts, than by any elaborate literary devices. This reads like it is meant to be, a journal, bringing home the horrors of that awful time in a way that a second-hand description could never do.
Having said that, this account IS second-hand; it is only Defoe's journalistic expertise, boyhood memories and down-to-earth style that make it so believable.

BUT - anyone who reads this should not expect another Gulliver's Travels - it IS heavy going; it's not a book that one can curl up with & relax, you have to work for your entertainment.

The main point that comes across is the constant religious undercurrent, which was, I guess, typical of the time (if not of Defoe) and the willingness to attach blame for anything unusual to outsiders, or God's will, rather than examine their own circumstances (so what's changed in 339 years!?). As one of the few records of that terrible year, this deserves a place on any amateur historian's bookshelf.

Building our imaginary.......2003-12-12

This is quite an interesting book. Looks pretty much like journalism in a time the concept was not yet developed. It is very realistic and it looks like the author was actually present went the story happened, when in fact he wrote the whole thing many years after. Another interesting aspect regarding this book is that it "constructed" in a sense, our imaginary regarding middle ages epidemics. The descriptions are so vivid that they were used many, many times in the movies, paintings and other fictional pieces to characterise this kind of situations. Just for the sake of curiosity, one can read Noah Gordon's "The Physiscian" or watch the movie "Interview with the Vampire" (pay attention to the episode of the epidemics in New Orleans), to see that Defoe's influence came a long way through. Good read!

A Journal of the Plague Year (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

THE DAWN OF SCIENCE
Journalism not fiction
A credible account of a time of horror

A Journal of the Plague Year (Penguin Classics)
Daniel Defoe , and Cynthia Wall
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0140437851
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Book Description

In 1665, the Great Plague swept through London, claiming nearly 100,000 lives. In A Journal of the Plague Year, Defoe vividly chronicles the progress of the epidemic. We follow his fictional narrator through a city transformed-the streets and alleyways deserted, the houses of death with crosses daubed on their doors, the dead-carts on their way to the pits-and encounter the horrified citizens of the city, as fear, isolation, and hysteria take hold. The shocking immediacy of Defoe's description of plague-racked London makes this one of the most convincing accounts of the Great Plague ever written.

Customer Reviews:

THE DAWN OF SCIENCE .......2006-11-26

Since Daniel Defoe was only four years old in 1664, A Journal of the Plague Year is a novel rather than a journal. It was written as a pamphlet to warn people of what to expect and how best to defend themselves should another plague strike. What makes any book written in the distant past interesting is the glimpse it affords into the mentality of the people of the time. This was the plague that caused Isaac Newton leave London for the country, where he purportedly started the work that led to the invention of calculus and the laws of gravity. We can see the struggle between clear thinking and self-destructive superstition in the thoughts of Defoe's character.

On the one hand he insists the plague is doubtless "stroke from Heaven, a messenger of His vengeance, and a loud call to repentance," but in the next paragraph he understands that the plague arises from natural causes, propagated by natural means." So he concludes that God is using natural causes to exact his vengeance, even though he also says he must be allowed to believe than all who got sick received it in the ordinary way of infection. So he speaks disparagingly of fatalistic Christians, and especially Moslems, who ignore simple safety precautions because they are convinced that only those whom God wishes to will get the plague. Though convinced that the plague is God's way of punishing the wicked, he acknowledges that it strikes the good and wicked alike, and the wicked were just as likely to survive as the good. When the plague finally ends, he is convinced that nothing but God could have ended it - not even the worst of people could have doubted this. He seems surprised by man's unthankfulness and the return of all manner of wickedness soon after the plague. Presumably, the average people of the time really felt that they deserved to die arbitrarily of an awful disease, and after living with the horror of seeing friends and family die agonizing deaths, that they should feel thankful that God had not done the same to them. Thankfully, science has put an end to this kind of superstition. True, some people still cling to this ugly notion of God, but while we can respect Defoe as an unusually intelligent man of his time, any writer with such ideas today would be happily dismissed as a crank.
(Peter Payne, author of CAPTAIN CALIFORNIA BATTLES THE BEELZEBUBIAN BEASTS OF THE BIBLE)

Journalism not fiction.......2006-04-01

This edition restores Defoe's original punctuation, with capitals for nouns and colons for stops, so that the writing has recovered the vitality, weight and flexibility that Defoe intended when he wrote it.

To enjoy this book you need to read it as creative journalism rather than fiction otherwise it will seem dull, and Daniel Defoe is never dull. It can't satisfy as fiction because it isn't fiction. It doesn't have any of the benefits of fiction such as plot, author's whimsy, or character development. The Journal is based on the eyewitness experience of his uncle Henry Foe, which has been expanded by Defoe's own journalistic research after the event. He has simply taken the eyewitness experience of his uncle and created a masterpiece out of it for posterity.

This technique began with his first book, The Storm, except that in that book the eyewitness accounts - no doubt spruced up by himself - and his own work were separated. In the Journal of the Plague Year these are blended together so that his book has the vividness of the eyewitness view of the events as well as the talent and research that history would wish of an account of these events.

By misclassifying the book as fiction (and by modernizing the punctuation) we have been degrading the book's value to history and to readers.

I wish the print was bigger and blacker and this applies to the Modern Library edition too, as does the above review.

A credible account of a time of horror .......2005-11-10

The Great Plague took place when Defoe was five years old. Therefore his account written many years afterwards is as much fiction as eye-witness reporting. Yet his first- person narrator collects statistics and provides a credible account of the horrifying effect of the plague upon the citizens of London.
He relates the effects of the 'Plague' on various parts of the population and traces its develoment in time. One can sense in it how much Camus in writing his great work , " The Plague" is indebted to this work.
In the concluding days as the Plague wanes Defoe reflects upon the citizens of the city and their new reality.
This is the concluding section of the work, and gives an excellent feel of Defoe's language and narrative stance.

"It was now, as I said before, the people had cast off all apprehensions, and that too fast; indeed we were no more afraid now to pass by a man with a white cap upon his head, or with a doth wrapt round his neck, or with his leg limping, occasioned by the sores in his groin, all which were frightful to the last degree, but the week before. But now the street was full of them, and these poor recovering creatures, give them their due, appeared very sensible of their unexpected deliverance; and I should wrong them very much if I should not acknowledge that I believe many of them were really thankful. But I must own that, for the generality of the people, it might too justly be said of them as was said of the children of Israel after their being delivered from the host of Pharaoh, when they passed the Red Sea, and looked back and saw the Egyptians overwhelmed in the water: viz., that they sang His praise, but they soon forgot His works.

I can go no farther here. I should be counted censorious, and perhaps unjust, if I should enter into the unpleasing work of reflecting, whatever cause there was for it, upon the unthankfulness and return of all manner of wickedness among us, which I was so much an eye-witness of myself. I shall conclude the account of this calamitous year therefore with a coarse but sincere stanza of my own, which I placed at the end of my ordinary memorandums the same year they were written:-

A dreadful plague in London was
In the year sixty-five,
Which swept an hundred thousand souls
Away; yet I alive!"

A Journal of the Plague Year (Norton Critical Editions)

Average customer rating:

Brilliant, mesmerizing
A Journal of the Plague Year : Authoritative Text Background

A Journal of the Plague Year (Norton Critical Editions)
Daniel Defoe
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0393961885

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant, mesmerizing.......2002-03-28

Well, it's not really clear that Defoe used actual accounts, though he did draw on much discussion about the Great Plague. He was, after all, only five or six years old when it occured. But the narrative is utterly absorbing. Written by one of the greatest novelists of all time (he was Joyce's favorite English novelist), the narrative is vivid, moving, and sometimes hilarious. It is also remarkably contemporary. You meet quacks and prophets disturbingly similar to the no-nothings who dominate our own time. The descriptions of behavior, disease, fear, and denial are as fresh today, and as relevant, as they were when Defoe wrote the Journal. Don't miss it!

A Journal of the Plague Year : Authoritative Text Background.......2000-03-31

I liked the book. It was very factual and helped a great deal with research. It contains many accounts of the Plague.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Intro to a New "Olde" Time
At the Sign of the Sugared Plum
A book I highly recommend.
The best book ever!!! by Jessica L
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the Sign of the Sugared Plum
Mary Hooper
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Historical Fiction | History & Historical Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 158234695X
Release Date: 2005-09-15

Book Description

It is 1665 and Hannah is full of excitement at the prospect of her first trip to London. She is going to help her sister, Sarah, in her candy shop, 'The Sugared Plum'. But Hannah does not get the welcoming reception she expected from her sister, because the Plague is taking hold of London. However, Hannah is determined to stay and together the two young women face the worst-with the possibility of their own demise, growing ever closer. But through it all they persevere with the support of their neighbors and each other. And at last, they find hope in a daring attempt to escape the city.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Intro to a New "Olde" Time.......2006-09-07

A wonderful peek into the past. This book shows that "merry olde England" was not so merry after all, especially when The Black Death, bubonic plague, swept through London in 1665. Honest but not overpowering in its depiction of the tradgedy, with adventure and a little romance; honest too in its hints of the bawdiness of the times. A believable and likable heroine, a page-turning climax, a great read.

At the Sign of the Sugared Plum.......2005-01-13

Despite the work of art that is this book's cover, At the Sign of the Sugared Plum is a simple book. The plot is somewhat-suspenseful, but rather boring all the same. The middle is anti-climatic, and the end is a bit of a let down.

However, Hooper does manage to create believable characters/settings and recreates the Plague with such vividness that it's unsettling. In fact, I'm being a bit of a snob. This is a good book-I'm jut not a historical fiction fan, which, indeed, gives me no right to criticize this book. If you like historical fiction, this is a wonderful book.

Hooper writes very well, if simply. I guess my main qualm is that this is not a book you can read twenty or more times (which is what I like to do!). I've read it once, mostly enjoyed it, and I will at least check out the sequel. My point? History fans-go for it!

A book I highly recommend........2004-07-01

For Hannah, going to London for the first time and living there with her sister Sarah is the most wonderful adventure she has ever had in her happy but rather sheltered life. Sarah owns and runs a sweet shop, The Sugared Plum, and Hannah has come to help her make the candies and sweetmeats sold in the shop.

Even before Hannah arrives at the Sugared Plum, she receives warnings that all is not well in the great city, warnings that she chooses to ignore. Even after she finds the shop and is reunited with her sister, Hannah chooses to brush off the disturbing remarks that her sister makes about the possibility of a plague spreading through the city. Hannah insists that there are only a few cases of the illness in the more distant slums, and she is determined to stay in London and become a city lady.

However, this state of affairs does not last, and Hannah and Sarah watch and listen with fear and horror as the plague begins its terrifyingly rapid spread through the city. In this time of great misery and suffering, Hannah discovers a good deal about herself and others, about the cruelty and compassion that can lie in the hearts of both friends and strangers. Somehow, Hannah and her sister have to survive this terrible calamity and escape the monster that threatens both their lives.

Beautifully written, gripping and able to transport us into a London of 1665 complete with its sounds, smells and people, AT THE SIGN OF THE SUGARED PLUM is a book I highly recommend.

--- (...)

The best book ever!!! by Jessica L.......2004-04-10

At the sign of the sugared plum is a touching story and is the best book I've ever read! The story-line is of Hannah and her older sister Sarah struggling through difficult times as the plague threatens them in every chapter. Bringing the scene alive is exatly what Mary Hooper acheives, you can imagine the sights and smells of London, the church bells ringing constantly declaring more deaths as the sisters parish becomes infected.Also the fear stricken into Hannah as she discovers more and more blood, red crosses on doors and the dreaded words: God have mercy on us! This is also a very educational book telling you about the scenes of London, the symtoms of the plague such as the buboes and tokens that apper on the body. Everything seems so real as they travel through the disease stricken land-the pits piled high to the brim with corpses and the smell of preventives everywhere! I don't think Hannah will have any more time to worry about her bright red hair or freckles! This is a must read book!!!!!

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-01-14

At the sign of the sugared plum is just plan BRILLIANT!!! I would recomend it to Anyone and I advise Anyone to read it.
Mary Hooper creates the scene of london so well that you can imagen that your there in the terribl time of the Plauge.
Please, please, PLEASE read this book because I assure you that you're love it!

Average customer rating:

At the sign of the Surgard Plum
Wonderful sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum.
you won't be able to put this down

Petals in the Ashes
Mary Hooper
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1582347204
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Book Description

This gripping account of London's Great Fire of 1666 is a worthy companion to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum. Only one year after the city suffered such terrible losses during the Plague, London is recovering and Hannah convinces her parents that, with her younger sister Anne's help, she can return to the city and manage the sweetmeats shop on her own. The girls are thrilled to be back in London, and Hannah even finds her old beau, Tom, alive and well and working for a magician. But her newfound happiness is short-lived as fires begin to spring up around the city and quickly move closer to their shop. Finally, Hannah and Anne are forced to abandon their home to save their lives. When the fires have abated, the girls return to find their shop in ruins. They also find Tom, beaten and injured after being chased by a mob that blamed the magician for starting the fire. Despite their losses, Hannah is sure that one day she will rebuild her shop and once again trade under the sign of the sugared plum.

Customer Reviews:

At the sign of the Surgard Plum.......2005-05-17

This was an AMAZING book!!!! I was surprised to hear about all of the things that happend during the plague, but it was fun to read about a girl close to my age that lived during it. You will DEFINETLY enjoy this book!!!

Wonderful sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum........2004-08-30

Teenaged Hannah and her older sister Sarah barely managed to escape London alive during the great plague of 1665. Now a year has passed, and the plague has finally died out. Hannah wants to return to London to reopen their sweets shop, but Sarah wishes to remain at the family home in the countryside. So when Hannah returns to the city, she is accompanied by her younger sister, Anne. However, her life is once again interrupted when fire begins to spread through London. Can Hannah find the strength to survive yet another terrible calamity?

I highly recommend this book to all readers who enjoyed the first book about Hannah, "At the Sign of the Sugared Plum." I also recommend it to new readers who enjoy historical fiction and are interested in this time period. Hannah is a wonderful character, and her struggle for survival is riveting. I hope Mary Hooper writes another book about Hannah's adventures, as I would love to read it.

you won't be able to put this down.......2004-07-21

The sequel to AT THE SIGN OF THE SUGARED PLUM is just as good and carries on the wonderful adventure of Hannah as she grows up to learn different things in different enviroments. Just as thrilling as the first this will keep you guessing what's going to happen. If you want your teenage daughter to read give her this book and the one before. She'll love it and feel the same feelings as Hannah. Seeing as i'm a teenager i know what i'm talking about.

The Black Death and Other Putrid Plagues of London (Of London Series)

Average customer rating:

The Black Death and Other Putrid Plagues of London (Of London Series)
Natasha Narayan
Manufacturer: Watling Street
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Europe | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1904153011

Plague In Shakespeares London (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints)

Average customer rating:

Plague In Shakespeares London (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints)
F.P. Wilson
Manufacturer: Oxford Univ Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Public Health | Administration & Policy | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

The Great Plague: The Story of London's Most Deadly Year

Average customer rating:

5 on details, 3 to 4 on story writting
Many Intersting Facts, Yet as a Whole Almost Dull
Mankind's continuous fight with the microbial world
The Human Side of Plague

The Great Plague: The Story of London's Most Deadly Year
A. Lloyd Moote
Manufacturer: Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Public Health | Administration & Policy | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

History | Special Topics | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Book Description

In the winter of 1664-65, a bitter cold descended on London in the days before Christmas. Above the city, an unusually bright comet traced an arc in the sky, exciting much comment and portending "horrible windes and tempests." And in the remote, squalid precinct of St. Giles-in-the-Fields outside the city wall, Goodwoman Phillips was pronounced dead of the plague. Her house was locked up and the phrase "Lord Have Mercy On Us" was painted on the door in red. By the following Christmas, the pathogen that had felled Goodwoman Phillips would go on to kill nearly 100,000 people living in and around London -- almost a third of those who did not flee. This epidemic had a devastating effect on the city's economy and social fabric, as well as on those who lived through it. Yet somehow the city continued to function and the activities of daily life went on.

In The Great Plague, historian A. Lloyd Moote and microbiologist Dorothy C. Moote provide an engrossing and deeply informed account of this cataclysmic plague year. At once sweeping and intimate, their narrative takes readers from the palaces of the city's wealthiest citizens to the slums that housed the vast majority of London's inhabitants to the surrounding countryside with those who fled. The Mootes reveal that, even at the height of the plague, the city did not descend into chaos. Doctors, apothecaries, surgeons, and clergy remained in the city to care for the sick; parish and city officials confronted the crisis with all the legal tools at their disposal; and commerce continued even as businesses shut down.

To portray life and death in and around London, the authors focus on the experiences of nine individuals -- among them an apothecary serving a poor suburb, the rector of the city's wealthiest parish, a successful silk merchant who was also a city alderman, a country gentleman, and famous diarist Samuel Pepys. Through letters and diaries, the Mootes offer fresh interpretations of key issues in the history of the Great Plague: how different communities understood and experienced the disease; how medical, religious, and government bodies reacted; how well the social order held together; the economic and moral dilemmas people faced when debating whether to flee the city; and the nature of the material, social, and spiritual resources sustaining those who remained.

Underscoring the human dimensions of the epidemic, Lloyd and Dorothy Moote dramatically recast the history of the Great Plague and offer a masterful portrait of a city and its inhabitants besieged by -- and defiantly resisting -- unimaginable horror.

Customer Reviews:

5 on details, 3 to 4 on story writting.......2006-06-10

Thoroughly researched and presented with details about the lives of the people living in London at the time and the statistics of those who fled, those who stayed, and those who perished; bravery and cowardice and greed; the brutal conditions of the poor, the lack of effective medical knowledge, the treatment of those not of the Anglican church (Quakers, Catholics, Jews). The rich could run away, and of the remaining population half or more died, faster than they could be buried, the church bells breaking because they were being rung all day long for the numerous dead. Using diaries, letters, church records and published works of the time the authors present life and death in London and the surrounding areas in the year 1645. The narrative relies heavily on Samuel Pepys diary, which is an excellent source, and the main part of the story is told without the knowledge of modern medicine and causes being introduced. That part is left to an interesting epilogue that tells the story of how the source of the plague was discovered, a very interesting section in itself. Recommended for the insight into medicine and the world of 1645 and to human nature under stress.

Many Intersting Facts, Yet as a Whole Almost Dull.......2005-06-12

A more complete story of the London Plague is probably not available. But the character's stories of survival, heroism, charity and cowardness are fractured; here their stories are begun, dropped, begun again without a clear feeling that the story should have been dropped. It seems almost in mid-thought that the authors decide to go on to something that suddenly catches their interest without regard that the reader wants a more convincing reason, or better understanding as to why the subject has been changed.

The Epilogue is a different matter. Clear, concise, flowing well, a steady exposition of the bacterial infection (a flea from a black rat) how it evolved and changed over time. The theory of why it has not returned is compelling and persuasive. It is interesting. The style used here would, if used throughout the book, have improved it immensely.

Mankind's continuous fight with the microbial world.......2004-09-11

Wow, talk about a depressing book.

The Great Plague is not the story of the Twentieth Century flu epidemic, or about the Black Death of the Fourteenth. It is about the bubonic plague of Seventeenth Century London during the reign of Charles II. This was the epidemic that drove Newton to return to his home town to confront the famous apple; it is the epidemic that preceded the Great Fire of 1666; it is the Pepys' Diary world.

Probably more than anything, this book, like that on the Great Fire of London, proves the value of diarists and their contemporary accounts. While the facts of the devastation could be adequately conveyed by graph and statistics alone, the emotional impact of the event can not begin to be demonstrated by numbers alone. The courage of the population at every level of society as they attempted to carry on their daily lives despite the devastation all around them was amazing. Even those who fled the city because they could afford to do so, provided financial support to those who could not. The psychological toll that months of death cost is evident in many of the diaries. Even the ever buoyant and optimistic Samuel Pepys, the civil servant's civil servant, began to show cracks in his armor.

One of the things that most impressed upon me the reality of the plague was the staggering demands for burial property. Churchyards were used and reused for single burials, and empty land around the town was used for mass graves. Just disposal of the dead became a major problem. It reminded me of the same issues that arose in the aftermath of the 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas, only this was a "hurricane" that lasted over a year and produced far more fatalities!

Another point that impressed me was the incredible competence and active involvement of James, Duke of York, the king's brother. While Charles II fled the city for safety, James remained in London to conduct both the naval war with the Dutch and to keep the city stable during the plague. He did much the same during the great fire that occurred shortly after the plague died out. He sounds like a very useful person.

As a health care practitioner myself, I found the alignments of the various elements of the health care world of the time of considerable interest. The conflict between the medical establishment, the pharmacists, the surgeons, and the herbalists during this time helped to define the hierarchy of health care as it is today. It also showed that when confronted by a pandemic of this magnitude society was pretty much helpless. That reality comes through in discussions of the flu pandemic of 1918 (for which see The Great Influenza, by John Barry) as well. With the rise of drug resistant strains of bacteria and viruses like HIV, one wonders if society will one day once again be helpless in the face of a virulent plague.

The Human Side of Plague.......2004-07-13

The word "plague" is one of the most dreaded in Europe. For over a thousand years, Europe was the victim of a series of epidemics which decimated the population. One of the last of these epidemics was the Great Plague of London in 1665 that killed probably a third of the population and left few families untouched.

Plagues are a huge subject. Even today there is little agreement between medical experts as to which pandemics were caused by Yersinia pestis (the bacillus almost certainly responsible for the 1665 plague); what was the contagiousness and morbidity of the various strains of plague; and what were all the ways that it could be transmitted to humans. Then there are all the complicated social questions to sort out: What was cause, what effect, and what coincidence? All this has to be carefully determined from the artifacts left by a largely superstitious and semi-literate society in desperate times.

The husband and wife team of Lloyd and Dorothy Moote have pooled their skills in European history and medical research to examine the human side of the Great Plague. By going back to original source materials, they have provided an intimate picture of life during the plague year that is as free as possible from the myths and misunderstandings that have grown up around the subject. Most valuably, their interpretation of events is sensitive to the knowledge and beliefs of the people at the time. This was an afflicted community only three hundred years after the Black Death - one of the world's greatest horrors - and two hundred years before scientists such as Filippo Pacini, Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch would connect disease to an "organic, living substance of a parasitic nature."

Other books on the plague have tended to concentrate on the epidemiological and political aspects of pandemics. "The Great Plague: The Story of London's Most Deadly Year" is a very welcome addition to the literature because of its careful and sympathetic treatment of the human side of plague.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books