[RGV]∎ [PDF] Ghosts of Vesuvius A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii How Towers Fall and Other Strange Connections Charles R Pellegrino 9780060751005 Books

Ghosts of Vesuvius A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii How Towers Fall and Other Strange Connections Charles R Pellegrino 9780060751005 Books

Download As PDF : Ghosts of Vesuvius A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii How Towers Fall and Other Strange Connections Charles R Pellegrino 9780060751005 Books

Ghosts of Vesuvius A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii How Towers Fall and Other Strange Connections Charles R Pellegrino 9780060751005 Books

Charles Pellegrino is one of my favorite authors of non-fiction and the entire book is as entertaining as it gets. The history of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in contrast with some of the other natural disasters, really outs in perspective our place in the cosmos as well as on our fragile Earth. The first part where he goes backwards from the current evolutionary time, to the beginnings of the creation of the solar system is so fascinating that you'll find yourself thinking long after you put the book down.


Tags : Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections [Charles R Pellegrino] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A fascinating look at Pompeii, Herculaneum and the Vesuvius eruption in comparison with other historically significant volcanic eruptions,Charles R Pellegrino,Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections,Harper Perennial,0060751002,Ancient - General,Excavations (Archaeology) - Italy - Pompeii (Extinct city),Pompeii (Extinct city),Vesuvius (Italy) - Eruption, 79,Ancient - Rome,Ancient Archaeology,Antiquities & Archaeology,Archaeology,Archaeology Anthropology,HISTORY Ancient General,History,HistoryAncient - Rome,History: World,RELIGION Antiquities & Archaeology,SOCIAL SCIENCE Archaeology,Social ScienceArchaeology

Ghosts of Vesuvius A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii How Towers Fall and Other Strange Connections Charles R Pellegrino 9780060751005 Books Reviews

This book is fascinating if long andsomerimes repetitious in first chapters. But then... Once we get to Vesuvius and Herculaneum,the commentary is literally a blast,,a force seldom seen on earth, with human consequences hardlymknown in our history. What an incredible and horrific event this was!
Pelligrino's strong suit is writing in a way that places you at the heart of the society and event described. He describes the hyperelastic awareness of time that anyone who has ever truly experienced an emergency experiences, the denial and the every day human element all against a backdrop of the cultural and historical reality of the event. His description of blast forces that level every thing in their path and the contrast between relatively nearby bubbles of protection that survive the explosive forces is fascinating.

When I heard that he had a new book out about Hiroshima, I resolved to buy it as well. His breadth of knowledge and imaginative writing overcome any disorganization in the material in my opinion.
Mr. Pellegrino, with skill and compassion, has written nonfiction that manages to connect the A.D. 79 Mt. Vesuvius eruption that entombed Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Titanic's sinking and the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Follow the bread crumbs and trust him to guide you to the end. He goes beyond science, though manages facts and data competently and enagingly, to embrace the tragedy and grief of these events that link people despite the centuries. As always, Mr. Pelligrino's competent prose keeps me interested all the way through. I love this book and recommend it highly.

August 27, 2011
As advertisements for documentaries and other Sept. 11, 2001 remembrances mushroom, I recommend this book as a way to remember our 9-11 dead. I had no idea that Vesuvius's ghosts could include the Titanic's dead and those who perished in the Twin Towers but they do. Thank you, Mr. Pellegrino, for writing such a moving and informative book.
[Review of Hardcover edition]

This is a tremendously interesting and engrossing book, on many different levels. "GoV", contrary to what the title might lead one to suspect, is NOT just a book about Mt. Vesuvius - it's a tour de force exploration of the effect of volcanic forces on people, on civilizations, on religion(s), on species and evolution in general, on the landscape, and even on the very formation of life itself ... and the author draws upon a wide array of scientific disciplines in order to tell the tale effectively.

In similar fashion to Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe", the book opens with a bang ... or more specifically, with the origins of the universe, the formation of heavier elements in the hearts of stars, the evolution of solid matter (planets, asteroids and dark matter), the formation of volcanoes on those planets, and the role that volcanic forces play in the formation of life. From there, the author gives the reader an introductory taste of some of the possible connective threads between volcanic calamities of recent millennia, their appearances in (and possible influence on) religious accounts & beliefs, and how the tripartite aspects of creation, destruction, and preservation directly mimic the aspects of certain deities recurring throughout human history in various different religions ... a theme touched on indirectly by Fritjof Capra's Hindu-slanted poetic paradigm for viewing physical reality "The Tao of Physics".

From there, the authors pauses (in Chapter 3, "The Time Gate") to neatly tie together a broad range of different fields of human study into a single and innovatively coherent view of time. In it, the author telescopes backwards, in accelerating fashion, as he zooms further and further outwards - from recent history, through archeology (deep history), past paleontology (biological history), past geology (planetary history), and onward into astrophysics (stellar history) ... with major volcanic events as the connective thread every step of the way. A larger and more robust treatment of this material is also covered in a stand-alone novel entitled "Time Gate".

Next, the author reels the reader's time focus back in closer to home again, and delves into the heart of the book, and the author's chief love archeology. In this case, the primary focus are the twin cities destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD Pompeii and Herculaneum. The author treats us to a veritable smorgasbord of some of the written accounts dating near, relating to, or directly affected by the eruption

* Historical accounts (ex the Plinys, Democritus, Josephus, Spartacus the Gladiator, etc),
* Biblical references (ex the Council of Nicea that originally collated, edited and winnowed down the scattered accounts of the time into "The Bible" as we know it today),
* Legal records (ex the legal case of the ex-slave Justa who was suing to retain her freedom at the time of the eruption) recovered from the carbonized remains of a large cache of library scrolls.

Reading those accounts drives home in dramatic fashion the terrible and lasting impact Vesuvius had on both the personal lives of the people nearby, on the surrounding nations and empires, and on the bible itself ... effects that are being felt even today, in ways that we're only just now beginning to understand.

From classic archeology, the author then re-focuses closer still into the subtle nuances and intimate details offered by forensic science, and the oh-so-human stories that the latter is allowing to emerge from the archeological strata. The bones can literally speak to us now ... telling us their exact age & gender, their most likely profession and social status, their dietary habits, wounds and diseases they suffered from, and so much more ... details that truly reinforce that archeology is not just about biology or dead civilizations - it's also about individuals.

It was shortly after the author finished writing the draft of this book that history and fate played a cruel joke ... on September 11th, 2001, hijackers crashed two passenger jets into the Word Trade Center in New York City. The buildings subsequently imploded and down blasted into the Manhattan Bedrock, and massive debris clouds radiated throughout southern Manhattan, burying, damaging and destroying much in it's path. The resemblance to Pompeii and Herculaneum was uncanny ... and that brings us to Chapter 10, the final chapter of GoV, in which several archeologists (including the author) converge on NYC to study the still-fresh archeological record.

Central to Chapter 10 is the story of NYFD Ladder 4 that emerged from the archeological evidence, and subsequent attempts (by certain unscrupulous people) to censor/delay/suppress the publication of this very book for daring to tell the truth ... a truth that exposed an earlier journalistic claim (of looting) as a slanderous hoax. For the details on that matter, I refer interested readers to the author's official discussion forum, which contains a thread on that subject, with additional information by the author.

To conclude, GOV is a must-read for anyone who's interested in the sciences in general, in history (both real and biblical), and in the ongoing efforts by determined researchers to carry forward the bright torch of knowledge & truth across the dark wastelands of time, superstition, ignorance ... and sometimes across the barbed wire boundaries of 'accepted theory', through toxic pools of opportunistic lies, and through suffocating clouds of censorship.

To quote Dr. Pellegrino "History [and Truth] will eventually have it's way ... it always does."

I enjoyed it immensely, and I was engrossed throughout, from cover to cover.

I'd also like to compliment the author for his steadfast commitment to "Keep faith with the dead", regardless of the risk to his career as a published author. I've seen some of the consequences of that decision, first hand.
Another fantastic Pellegrino work. Imagine being one of those that finds the remnants of some stiff that suffocated, burned, vaporized, or huddled together as a family to endure the very end of human existence. Perhaps buried for centuries with only a volcanic ashen shell to show they ever existed. Certainly more than was found in Atlantis... The author is very thorough in this study. Volcanic forces have wiped out many civilizations and existences through world history, and very few leave many remnants. A cross between a scientist and a grave robber to research and figure out the civilized part of civilization. Believe me, this is a great work!!
Charles Pellegrino is one of my favorite authors of non-fiction and the entire book is as entertaining as it gets. The history of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in contrast with some of the other natural disasters, really outs in perspective our place in the cosmos as well as on our fragile Earth. The first part where he goes backwards from the current evolutionary time, to the beginnings of the creation of the solar system is so fascinating that you'll find yourself thinking long after you put the book down.