Book Review: Black Holes in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Robert Feather's recent book (2012) consolidated a strong suspicion I held for almost sixty years: that monotheism had its roots in ancient Egypt. In the library of Cotham Grammar School in Bristol in the early 1950s, I read of Pharaoh Amenophis IV, who changed his name to Akhenaton and founded the new religion of the worship of the One God, Aton, at his newly-built capital near modern Amarna. All I knew at that time was that Akhenaton died about 150 years before Moses led the Jews out of Egypt and that the memory of the Great Hymn to Aton was preserved in Psalm 104 of the Bible. To these bare bones, Robert Feather has added flesh in such abundance that one is tempted to believe that the suspicion is confirmed; but we are warned that it may be many decades before mainstream scholarship overcomes its plethora of vested interests to rewrite history along these lines.

Ancient Map of China:
The war broke out frequently during the Warring State Period (475 B.C.-221 B.C.), and all rulers of the bigger kingdoms were busy with expanding their territories, who captured Mongolia in the north, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Provinces in the southeast, Gansu and Qinghai Provinces in the east and the Yangtze River in the south.

Solar-Powered Steam Engines, An Unlikely Hallmark Of The Victorian Age:
Harnessing the unlimited energy of the sun has been one of mankind's oldest fantasies, an elusive dream that has haunted us since the days when Archimedes allegedly used mirrors to set fire to hostile Roman ships. But it was not until the industrial revolution, with its great demands for fuel, that inventors --like Prometheus carrying fire from Mt. Olympus--began to build machines capable of channeling the sun's rays into usable energy.Many recent writers have told the dramatic saga of solar invention, from its optimistic dawning in the mid-19th century to its impending triumph today. These books introduce solar pioneers such as Auguste Mouchot, whose solar-powered steam engine amazed Napoleon III, and Frank Shuman, whose solar pumping station, in 1911, became the largest and most cost-effective machine prior to the space age.

By One Vote by Carole Eglash-Kosoff:
By One Vote brings an interesting perspective to American Politics. From the beginning of our Constitution elections have been won by just one vote. Often that vote has weighted heavily on the mind of the one who cast it.

Book Review of Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor:
Undefeated is Bill Sloan's book about the first American land battle of World War II. On December 8th, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Forces attacked American bases in the Philippine Islands. For four months, approximately 15 thousand American and 75 thousand Filipino forces valiantly defended the Philippines with no reinforcements of men, ships, aircraft, ammunition, food, medicine, or weapons. It was an impossible attempt and resulted in history's largest surrender of forces under the U. S. flag.

eBooks to Learn About Historically Important American Collectibles and Sites:
USA is replete with a number of notable events and relics that have earned a special place in the annals of the nation's history. There are many books in the market that talk about items that will add value and grace the portfolio of any collector.

Historical Fiction Brings the Past to Life:
The historical novel is "set in a period of history and attempts to convey the spirit, manners and social conditions of a past age with realistic detail and fidelity to historical fact," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. "The work may deal with actual historical personages, or it may contain a mixture of fictional and historical characters. It may focus on a single historic event. More often, it attempts to portray a broader view of a past society in which great events are reflected by their impact on the private lives of fictional individuals." In the last two centuries, historical novels have become so popular that, after studying the basic facts of history in school, most people claim they learn more about the past by seeing and feeling it come to life in historical fiction-in books, plays and movies-than any other way due to its power to persuade through the vitality of its dramatic narrative.

Review: Nails in the Wall:
Review of Amy Leonard's "Nails in the Wall: Catholic Nuns in Reformation Germany" (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2005). An analysis examining the author's thesis and sources in an academic context.