It was a catastrophe without precedent in recorded history: for months on end, starting in A.D. 535, a strange, dusky haze robbed much of the earth of normal sunlight. Crops failed in Asia and the Middle East as global weather patterns radically altered. Bubonic plague, exploding out of Africa, wiped out entire populations in Europe. Flood and drought brought ancient cultures to the brink of collapse. In a matter of decades, the old order died and a new world—essentially the modern world as we know it today—began to emerge.In this fascinating, groundbreaking, totally accessible book, archaeological journalist David Keys dramatically reconstructs the global chain of revolutions that began in the catastrophe of A.D. 535, then offers a definitive explanation of how and why this cataclysm occurred on that momentous day centuries ago.The Roman Empire, the greatest power in Europe and the Middle East for centuries, lost half its territory in the century following the catastrophe. During the exact same period, the ancient southern Chinese state, weakened by economic turmoil, succumbed to invaders from the north, and a single unified China was born. Meanwhile, as restless tribes swept down from the central Asian steppes, a new religion known as Islam spread through the Middle East. As Keys demonstrates with compelling originality and authoritative research, these were not isolated upheavals but linked events arising from the same cause and rippling around the world like an enormous tidal wave.Keys's narrative circles the globe as he identifies the eerie fallout from the months of darkness: unprecedented drought in Central America, a strange yellow dust drifting like snow over eastern Asia, prolonged famine, and the hideous pandemic of the bubonic plague. With a superb command of ancient literatures and historical records, Keys makes hitherto unrecognized connections between the "wasteland" that overspread the British countryside and the fall of the great pyramid-building Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico, between a little-known "Jewish empire" in Eastern Europe and the rise of the Japanese nation-state, between storms in France and pestilence in Ireland.In the book's final chapters, Keys delves into the mystery at the heart of this global catastrophe: Why did it happen? The answer, at once surprising and definitive, holds chilling implications for our own precarious geopolitical future. Wide-ranging in its scholarship, written with flair and passion, filled with original insights, Catastrophe is a superb synthesis of history, science, and cultural interpretation.Amazon.com ReviewEverybody knows the Dark Ages weren't really dark, right? Not so fast, counters archaeological journalist David Keys, maybe it's more than just a slightly judgmental metaphor. His book Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World, based on years of careful research spanning five continents, argues that sometime in A.D. 535, a worldwide disaster struck and uprooted nearly every culture then extant. Given contemporary reports of the sun being blotted out or weakened for nearly a year and a half, followed by famine, drought, and plague, it's hard not to think that so many reports from all over the world must be related.Keys shows a keen grasp of both the written historical record from Asia, Africa, and Europe and the archaeological evidence from the Americas, and tells many tales of great havoc destroying old empires and laying the ground for new ones. Rome may have fallen, but Spain, England, and France rose in its place, while farther east, Japan and China each unified and gained strength after the chaos. Could an enormous volcanic eruption have had such influence on the world as a whole, and could the same thing happen tomorrow? Catastrophe makes no predictions, but leaves the reader with a new sense of history, nature, and destiny. --Rob LightnerFrom Publishers WeeklyIn Keys's startling thesis, a global climatic catastrophe in A.D. 535-536--a massive volcanic eruption sundering Java from Sumatra--was the decisive factor that transformed the ancient world into the medieval, or as Keys prefers to call it, the "proto-modern" era. Ancient chroniclers record a disaster in that year that blotted out the sun for months, causing famine, droughts, floods, storms and bubonic plague. Keys, archeology correspondent for the London Independent, uses tree-ring samples, analysis of lake deposits and ice cores, as well as contemporaneous documents to bolster his highly speculative thesis. In his scenario, the ensuing disasters precipitated the disintegration of the Roman Empire, beset by Slav, Mongol and Persian invaders propelled from their disrupted homelands. The sixth-century collapse of Arabian civilization under pressure from floods and crop failure created an apocalyptic atmosphere that set the stage for Islam's emergence. In Mexico, Keys claims, the cataclysm triggered the collapse of a Mesoamerican empire; in Anatolia, it helped the Turks establish what eventually became the Ottoman Empire; while in China, the ensuing half-century of political and social chaos led to a reunified nation. Huge claims call for big proof, yet Keys reassembles history to fit his thesis, relentlessly overworking its explanatory power in a manner reminiscent of Velikovsky's theory that a comet collided with the earth in 1500 B.C. Readers anxious about future cataclysms will take note of Keys's roundup of trouble spots that could conceivably wreak planetary havoc. Maps. BOMC and QPBC selections. (Feb.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 16
A rollicking good yarn that mixes detective fiction with Indiana Jones-style adventure.When Professor Lloyd Marsden is found murdered in the Museum of Victoria, Special Detective Sam Diamond is assigned to catch the killer. Thrown into a world of obsessive collectors, strange poisons, funerary rites and ancient artefacts, Sam's photographic memory and cryptic crossword skills are invaluable tools in her investigation.But when archaeologist Dr Maggie Tremaine whisks her halfway round the world in pursuit of the truth, Sam finds way more questions than answers. From Australia to Egypt to Peru Sam and Maggie hunt down the clues to a strange pact and a legendary relic.This novel was originally written for ICOM '98, the International Council of Museums' triennial conference, hosted by the Museum of Victoria in 1998. The ICOM '98 committee had the novel idea of promoting the prestigious conference, and its host city Melbourne, by commissioning a crime novel set in the museum... Views: 16
Edward York is an illegal clone, genetically engineered for perfection — but something went wrong. His twin sister, Ambassador Samantha York, is a gorgeous genius, but the physically perfect Edward is condemned by his faulty brain to service in the human Navy’s Outward Fleet Explorer Corps, a collection of misfits who call themselves the Expendables, and with good reason. After Edward fails to save his sister’s life on the war-torn planet Troyen, he is sent away on a Navy starship in which all other crew and passengers die in the same instant, leaving Edward alone — and trapped with unknown, destructive nanotechnology. If that isn’t trouble enough, his fate is mysteriously tied to that of Troyen’s native race, the Mandasar, in a complex interstellar web of conspiracy and treachery. And his only allies may be five young Mandasar; a human-alien symbiont with motives of her own; and the most infamous Expendable in the Corps, the hated Admiral Festina Ramos. In addition to Hunted , James Alan Gardner has written two previous novels featuring Festina Ramos, Expendable and Vigilant ; his novel Commitment Hour is set in the same universe. Views: 16
At Life Extension Ltd, we guarantee that your death will be painless, or your money back when you’re thawed. And the Cryo Bureau? They won’t suspect a thing. 'The Cryo Killer' is a thrilling sci-fi short that’ll convince you not to step into that freezer quite yet. Views: 16
People like me don't have friends. So if Heather wants Ed, she can have him. I don't care. Really. Views: 16
After years of being called a tease and then being labeled the Virgin Queen, Andi Kane decides that when she goes off to college, she's ready to ditch the labels. She's grabbing the bull by its horns and riding as wild as she can. Fate must be smiling on her the night she meets Cohen Wellington, the cute boy-next-door and fellow music lover. Their connection is instant, and as the night progresses, she knows she's found The One. Only...it doesn't go exactly the way she had planned it. And even though she can't get him off her mind, some humiliations are just too much to overcome. She walks away, never planning to see him again. Three years and a whole lot of experience later, Andi and Cohen are suddenly drawn together again, and it doesn't take long before it's clear their connection is stronger than ever. Fate. Destiny. Kismet. Whatever you want to call it, these two fall hard and fall fast. Their love burns hot, but when their plans for the future seem to move in two different directions, will it be enough to sustain the flames, or will the fire consume them, their relationship combusting before their very eyes? Sometimes love comes quickly without question, without hesitation, and without fear. But this kind of love is once in a lifetime, and sometimes you just have to ask yourself, can it really last? Views: 16
Science Fiction. 72768 words long. Views: 16
The Werewolf heart is a beast, there are more than one heart and love to deal with in Breukelen Girl’s life. In Brooklyn and Manhattan New York, the werewolves are restless. Hearts are being tested. Conall Wakely is missing his ex pack mate Bg. Bg must figure out what her heart wants during lunar week, with two males - one good, one bad, all werewolf. Views: 16
Sandry finds a dance-mage boy in Summersea, the twelve-year-old Pasco Acalon, the son and grandson of two police families (known as «harriers» in Summersea). When a rich trading family falls prey to a serial killer, she and Pasco must work together to stop the killer mages who have a deadly weapon — unmagic, which is the absence of magic and life. Views: 16
