Customer Reviews

The Survival Files: The Most Convincing Evidence Yet Compiled for the Survival of Your Soul

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This is an unusual and important book that really delivers on its subtitle: "The Most Convincing Evidence Yet Compiled For The Survival Of Your Soul." The core of the book consists of twenty-three historic and contemporary cases that seem to provide solid proof of the persistence of consciousness after physical death. I had read about a few of the cases before and they are some of the best that I have seen. Each provides evidence for the existence of information - unknown to anyone currently alive - that turns out to be completely accurate. Most of these cases have ben the subject of rigorous checking and detailed examinations and re-examinations.

The book uses an interesting format: a weekend-ling dialogue between an unnamed and perhaps imaginary "Old Man," who gradually imparts his learning and wisdom to a keen but critical acolyte.

The book is rounded out with dialogues on reincarnation and the nature of life after death. There are two appendices: "The Scientific Fallacy," in which the author urges researchers to stop wasting time on proving the proven, and instead to concentrate their efforts on the mechanisms and meaning involved in parapsychological phenomena, and "The Skeptical Quagmire," in which the author exposes some of the methods used to marginalize and even denigrate work in this field.

There is a small but effective list of websites, a bibliography and index. The only nitpicky point was the misspelling of Scott Rogo's name, which is not of any great importance. Except to other nitpickers.

There is a remarkable amount of information in this small book, and even if you know something about the evidence for survival, you will probably learn something new. And if the whole field is something that you've never much thought about, this is an ideal place to start.

I hope that this book is widely read: it's implications are stunning.

Highly recommended.

Subtitled "The Most Convincing Evidence Yet Compiled for the Survival of the Soul," this book offers a summary of 23 of the best cases from the annals of psychical research as evidence of survival of consciousness at death. The author takes on the role of a student as he learns about the cases while spending a weekend with an elderly mentor, well versed in psychical research, at a mountain retreat in the Appalachians.

The "old man" begins by relating some of the best known out-of-body and near-death experience cases, starting with the "Seattle shoe case," in which a patient told of having seen a beat-up tennis shoe a third-floor ledge of the hospital while she was being resuscitated on a floor below. After each case is summarized, a dialogue between mentor and student ensues as they discuss possible explanations for the phenomena, including the views of professional debunkers. They move from case to case, discussing one in which a comatose man recalled seeing his lost dentures removed by a nurse and placed in the drawer of a crash cart, as well as some extraordinary reports by children and blind people.

From OBEs and NDEs, the discussion moves to cases of spirit communication, including the famous newspaper tests with medium Gladys Osborne Leonard, the R101 disaster involving medium Eileen Garrett, and the strange case of the buried crosses investigated by researcher Hamlin Garland. Before they move from spirit communication to cases of past lives recalled, the old man explains how new scientific findings might account for some of the more confusing aspects concerning the phenomena. Among the past-life regression stories are the "Mission to Millboro," as reported by Marge Rieder, Ph.D. and one reported by Michael Newton, Ph.D. in which two patients relate the same past-life story from two different perspectives.

After the 23 cases are discussed, the student puts a number of "celestial" questions to his teacher, asking such things as what it feels like to die, how souls on the other side occupy themselves, and whether his individuality will be retained on the "other side." While emphasizing that he does not have all the answers, the old man responds based on what he has synthesized from the best available sources.

Overall, this is a very interesting, informative, and intriguing read. Even though I had read or heard about most of the 23 cases summarized, I had forgotten about some and found this to be a very good refresher. For the person new to psychical research, this book would be an excellent introduction as the various cases are definitely impressive. The author (or the "old man") has clearly explored the subject matter and knows how to respond to the debunkers in each case. He concludes with the comment that "scientists need to stop wasting time and resources on attempts to prove the already proven existence of psychic phenomena and concentrate more on determining how it works."
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The day I received Heaven Confirmed, I was busier than usual with business responsibilities and the accompaning paperwork. That evening, I took care of some essential personal errands that could not wait another day. By the time I returned home and had my first opportunity to sit down and take stock of the day, it was 10:30 p.m. Heaven confirmed was on the kitchen table and I decided to take a brief look at it. When I next checked the time, it was 3:30 a.m...well past my bedtime. I got ready for bed and lay there for a quarter of an hour, still considering various issues presented in the book. Although tired, I realized that my desire to continue reading the book had overwhelmed my need for sleep. When I finished reading the last page of the book, I could see the dawn beginning to peek around the window curtains! This is my testimony that Heaven Confirmed is a "Hard-To-Put-Down" book, as claimed on its cover, and well worth your time.

Mr. Allen has done a masterful job of selecting case studies and experiences from the vast record of mankind's search for spiritual meaning and evidence of our everlasting existence.

Heaven Confirmed is must reading for those of us in the "Baby Boom Generation" as we enter our retirement years, with the knowledge that our life on Earth inevitably must cease someday. The book offers the insight that will yield peace of mind for each of us as we continue on the creative and never-ending path ahead.

Before reading The Survival Files I would have considered myself an atheist or at least an agnostic. Reading The Survival Files, I found enough excellent evidence for the existence of a soul and its survival after death to open my mind to that possibility. This book is very well written and understandable. For anyone with an open mind, this book is a great place to start research into the possibility of continued life after death. One of the great values of The Survival Files is its well developed and extensive bibliography. I found several books in the bibliography that offered enough additional evidence of survival to convince me that I no longer have to live with the fear of the nothingness of death. I am not yet ready for death but when it comes, I expect to find an interesting and exciting process of reviewing my life and preparing for the next adventure in living. I owe a special thanks to Miles Allen for the thorough development and thoughtful and creative writing of this unique work.

For me, Heaven Confirmed does just that-it further confirmed my belief in an afterlife. It's very clear the author has done his research and presented a very compelling case. The doubter's will find it thought provoking and those with some belief will find it convincing. You be the judge, but don't miss this read.
I've bought a ten copies to give friends, and the response has been unanimously favorable. Everybody has been very impressed; some claiming they just couldn't put it down! I strongly recommend this book to believer's and doubter's alike.

This book is full of interesting and documented survival after death and out of body experiences. The reason it didn't get 5 stars is that I did not enjoy the writing method. The book is written in a folksy kind of way that for me just didn't work all that well. The information is top notch, I would have liked it to be a little more clinical and less like you were listening to a dialogue with your great uncle.

I was sad when I came to the end of Heaven Confirmed (now Survival Files). I was enjoying my visit with the main characters, and the stories were well researched and very encouraging. Looking forward to the sequel :)