Customer Reviews

Hidden History

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

 

 

I was impressed at the intelligent approach of this author's writing. The areas covered are very diverse, fact-based, fascinating accounts of mysterious places, curious and unexplainable artifacts and other strange and unusual historical events and people across the world. There is no question that this author put considerable time and research into each topic covered. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

If you're looking for those nuggets of history that conspiratorial political, social, and religious forces have attempted to bury or whitewash, don't look here. There really isn't much in this book that you wouldn't find in an encyclopedia entry. Although the author purports to be objective, it's pretty clear he's a skeptic. Not my idea of "hidden" history. If you want basic summaries of some controversial or historically intriguing topics, maybe this is your book. If you want substance I'd look somewhere else.

Written by archaeologist and devote of the esoteric Brian Haughton, Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries is an amazing survey of mystic places, people, events and structures throughout history. From clues to the true identity of the Queen of Sheba, to ongoing debates concerning the Great Sphinx, to the Irish Newgrange megalith hundreds of years older than the Giza Pyramid and Stonehenge, to evidence for the origins of the Greek myth concerning the Minotaur, each chapter sheds new light on ancient quandaries of human history. A scattering of black-and-white photographs illustrate this fantastic volume; though highly speculative at times, Hidden History is sure to be a treat for anyone with a taste for ancient fables, wonders, and conundrums.

I had expected perhaps 10-12 chapters with in-depth research. There are over 40. Each is about 5 pages or less. There is no real information here. It's clear that the book was both authored and published on the cheap. Don't buy it.

Brian Haughton has made an excellent work of compiling the basic facts around the ancient mysteries and secret knowledge topics. Because of the vast number of topics that he has covered in the book, I can imagine that a compromise had to be found in terms of length and depth. A pity that he didn't include more pictures and illustrations on the subjects, though.
All in all, a very good starting point for anyone wanting to research further on any of the presented topics.

Hidden History explores 49 historical mysteries. Most of these are well-known and well-misunderstood. It also thumnails, typically with a single paragraph, 40 more historical mysteries.

Because this book doesn't go too deeply into any one subject, Hidden History fills a niche. Most people hold strong opinions on things political, religious, or ancient. But ask them to explain and you rarely get a factual basis for that opinion (not that it's wrong, mind you--it's just baseless). They read something somewhere or heard some scuttlebutt sometime, so now they "know" a story but can't explain why from a basis in fact. Often, that "knowledge" is actually wrong.

The "obvious" solution is for the opinion holder to do some serious research. But that doesn't happen, because people lack the time and the inclination to wade through dense academic texts. It's just easier to go with what you already think you know. That's where this book comes in. The author constrains the scope of the writing on each mystery to what a typical reader is likely to absorb (or care about). People who write technical or scientific articles are well aware of the challenges involved in deciding what to leave out, so that the kernel is communicated to the reader.

The result of Mr. Haughton's effort is a highly readable and informative work that addresses the major mysteries of history. You can read on a given topic and "get it" within a few minutes. No need to spend two hours trying to absorb minutiae. Nor do you need to read three dozen volumes to cover these topics.

We live in a society in which something like only 40% of people read two or more books a year. Followers of my reviews know I personally read more than a dozen times that many each year; they may not know that I also "read" about 120 audio books a year. Anyhow, the demographics on reading instruct us as to what mix of depth and breadth is appropriate for a general audience.

An author can choose to go into great detail on one topic and leave the other forty or so unaddressed, or the author can produce a book like this one. I think Mr. Haughton made the correct choice. And because of that choice, people other than academics will have some basic knowledge of history's greatest mysteries.

Most people don't particularly care to be experts on bog bodies or Egyptian pyramids. Or, for that matter, any historical topic. But you have a winner when you put a collection together, make it easy to read, and stick to the highlights. Which is what Mr. Haughton has done in this case.

The work appears accurate, to me. Mr. Haughton doesn't provide his sources, though. No footnotes, endnotes, or bibliography. He does provide a 10-page listing of sources under the heading "Further Information" and these are organized into groupings directly related to the book's chapters (and in that order). Presumably, the author looked at or read these sources, so perhaps they were the ones he used for the book.

The tone in which Mr. Haughton writes is that of a tertiary source (primary being an original researcher, secondary being one whose sources are primary). So, no pretense and a good, almost conversational style. It's easy to read. The text does contain more editorial/copy errors than I would like, but those don't impede the reading very much.

This book consists of four Parts spread across 256 pages (several of which are blank pages between parts or chapter ends, and the actual text starts on page 15):

*Part I: Mysterious Places
*Part II: Unexplained Artifacts
*Part III: Enigmatic People
*Part IV: Some Further Mysteries to Ponder

It also has a Foreword, Introduction, index, Further Information (sources to read), and About the Author.

I think this book makes a good addition to anyone's personal library. It's also a good read for kids in middle school or higher. I wouldn't use it as a bibliographical reference for a research paper, but if writing such a paper I would use it to get my mind wrapped around the topic and to get a list of sources to start with.

Scholarly look at interesting history that we know very little about. Rather than sensationalistic, the author gives a balanced view, combining myth and modern thought - leaves conclusions to the reader. Highly recommended if you are interested in history.

As a skeptic, I enjoy picking up "conspiracy" type books, such as Cremo's "Forbidden Archaeology" and mentally debunking them. Despite the title of this book, this work is a skeptic's treasure trove!

The work is divided into Places, Artifacts, and People, and covers a wide range of topics, such as: Petra, Chihcen Itza, Easter Island, Helike, the Library of Alexandria, the Piri Reis Map, the Shroud of Turin, the Crystal Skulls, Robin Hood, Bog bodies, the Phaistos disc and so on.

Each chapter is about 5-6 pages long, perfect for a quick break. It doesn't denigrate the folks who would love to believe in more fanciful origins. It just calmly debunks them.

The only critique I might have is that there are no references, although he does refer to researchers, and so one could find the source material fairly readily - the book is geared toward a general audience, after all.

If you like this sort of thing, you can't pass on this work.

Unlike similar books, this looks at each mystery or historical object or location even handly. No UFOs and government conspiracies. An excellent collection that all students of ancient history should have. It is also a good companion to some of the more fantastical "hidden" history books out there. For a more detailed look at his chapter on Noah's Flood, see The Genesis Question: Scientific Advances and the Accuracy of Genesis.

This book was alright, was impressed at first, but would not recommend to have as a daily reader to anyone. The information in the book we're so, so. However if you want actual information pick a book that actually has credible sourcing.