Customer Reviews

Eve of Destruction: Prophecies, Theories and Preparations for the End of the World

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the subject matter of this book is potentially facinating, this book has problems. First of all, it is shockingly poorly edited. Second, the author can't quite decide to take a detached view of the material or to be lighthearted. One way or the other might not be that bad, but both is annoying. For a better, more in-depth treatment of this subject, I recommend Nicholas Campion's "The Great Year".

"Eve of Destruction" is a great place to start your interest in eschatology, the study of myths of the end of the world. It's written in a fairly lighthearted but entertaining manner, and it is enlightening in its broad brush of end-of-the-world theories and myths throughout history. It is the rare book that contains both scholarly research and a layman's language, and "Eve of Destruction" fits the bill. Worth a read.

This book is filled with a remarkable variety of material on the topic of the End of the World. While the author does thoroughly cover the various biblical interpretations of the End Times, she goes far beyond the various Christian perspectives. Here you also find Mayan, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim, teachings equally considered. Moreover, prophets and prophecy from all ages are included, from the dawn of recorded history to contemporary times.

It is truly fascinating how profoundly metaphysically advanced Traditional cultures such as the Greek, Indian and Mayan could come to quite simular concepts and timing on the great cosmic cycles...

As this book points out, Madam Blavatsky was also of the opinion that an end would come around the year 2000-but could be changed by more and more people becoming attuned to spiritual wisdom and guidance.

The author's use and comparison of quotes from relevent source material is especially good.

The book's point gets lost from chapter to chapter when it provides detailed accounts of fundamentalist Christians in US history who ruled by fear that The End was coming. There aren't many prophecies in the book and basic prescribed methods of preparation for the end. Some Hindu and Muslim mythology is incorrect due to the lack of core understanding. It mainly focuses on the freaks in the US with little information about the rest of the world. The overlapping predictions of some of the New Age psychics are a bit redundant. Read this if you are in the mood to skim - it is the only way one can see the last pages. It seems like a basic stepping stone that could lead to better reading if the subject matter is of interest to the reader.