In this fascinating, exhaustively researched reexamination of the 'Pueblo Incident,' Robert Liston comes to a remarkable conclusion: the Pueblo was purposely surrendered in a secret mission planned by the National Security Agency. The operation was the subject of a total cover-up-from the White House, the Pentagon, Congress, and the American public. Liston states that: The Pueblo was controlled by NSA operatives planted aboard the ship without the knowledge of the Navy; and the Chinese and the Soviets were after information they were led to believe was on board the Pueblo-information that was vital to both for intelligence purposes But what was this deadly information? It was part of an NSA operation, in which a rigged U.S. code machine was secretly planted aboard the Pueblo to induce the North Koreans to capture and use the rigged code machine, thus permitting the U.S. to break the Soviet system of codes. The North Koreans used the machine to radio Vladivostok for instructions. The Soviet codes were broken almost immediately. Liston maintains the Pueblo surrender was the greatest intelligence coup of modern times, preventing a major U.S. defeat in the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, foiling Soviet plans to invade China in a potentially nuclear conflict, and leading directly to the rapprochement between China and the U.S. Because the Soviets knew their codes were broken, the KGB began a massive overhaul of their entire intelligence operation. To gain time for that, the Kremlin launched its policy of detente with the West. Liston masterfully organizes his material to expose the many inconsistencies in all previous accounts of the surrender, and carefully details the roles of the major players. Drawing on published accounts and interviews with crewmen and informants, Liston logically compiles the facts and details to reach a devastating conclusion. What emerges is not only an eye-opening revelation of the risks taken by the NSA in the power play of espionage, but a chilling portrait of an unimpeachable intelligence apparatus that threatens the very foundations of American democracy.

This guide to more than 2,500 Texas roadside markers features historical events; famous and infamous Texans; origins of towns, churches, and organizations; battles, skirmishes, and gunfights; and settlers, pioneers, Indians, and outlaws. With the most up-to-date records available, this sixth edition includes more than 100 new historical roadside markers with the actual inscriptions. Handy and simple to use, it lists alphabetically the hundreds of cities and towns nearest the markers and pinpoints each marker with specific highway and mileage information. With this book, travelers relive the tragedies and triumphs of Lone Star history.

'A brilliant and important book ... Five Stars!' Mark Dolan, talkRADIO 'An important new book' Daily Express An alternative history of the world that exposes some of the biggest lies ever told and how they've been used over time. Lincoln did not believe all men were created equal. The Aztecs were not slaughtered by the Spanish Conquistadors. And Churchill was not the man that people love to remember. In this fascinating new book, journalist and author Otto English takes ten great lies from history and shows how our present continues to be manipulated by the fabrications of the past. He looks at how so much of what we take to be historical fact is, in fact, fiction. From the myths of WW2 to the adventures of Columbus, and from the self-serving legends of 'great men' to the origins of curry - fake history is everywhere and used ever more to impact our modern world. Setting out to redress the balance, English tears apart the lies propagated by politicians and think tanks, the grand narratives spun by populists and the media, the stories on your friend's Facebook feed and the tales you were told in childhood. And, in doing so, reclaims the truth from those who have perverted it. Fake History exposes everything you weren't told in school and why you weren't taught it.

A follow-up to Helterbran's popular Why Flamingos Are Pink: ...and 250 other Things You Should Know, this entertaining volume identifies more of the surprising explanations for the facts, tales, and lore associated with day-to-day living and the world around us. Organized into seven categories, this book tells you why birds perched on power lines aren't electrocuted; the origins of such expressions as "swan song" and "willy nilly;" and the science behind such phenomena as ball lightning, blue glaciers, red tide, and thunder snow. More than a mere compendium of trivia, this book is a springboard for learners of all ages.

The revival of religious belief and practice in China over the past thirty years, after decades of severe repression, has attracted much attention by scholars. Social scientific studies of religion by mainland Chinese scholars has also increased in recent years, using theories and methods developed mainly outside China. Increasingly, mainland scholars are also debating whether theories and concepts developed in western societies are fully appropriate for the study of religion in Chinese societies. This volume presents a selection of papers by sociologists, anthropologists, and historians of religion on these themes. The chapters include rich field studies of particular religions and religious activities, along with theoretical and historical reflections by scholars inside and outside China on problems and opportunities in the revival of the social scientific study of religion in Chinese societies.

Ghosts seem to be found everywhere in Tennessee, from the bucolic small towns to the weathered historic districts of its metropolitan centers. Readers will encounter the spirits of the Battle of Shiloh, the Fiddlin' Snake Man of Johnson County, Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage, Hank Williams at Ryman Auditorium, and Elvis Presley at Graceland. Strange creatures are also featured, including Bigfoot, the famed Wampus Cat, and the legendary Bell Witch.

The Old Dominion has been one of the nation's most embattled states. Serving as center stage for both the American Revolution and the Civil War, it is also one of the most haunted. In addition to the sagas of the tragic spirits from these wars, this volume includes stories on the female stranger of Gadsby's Tavern in Alexandria, the mysterious stone showers in Newport, the ghost hound of the Blue Ridge, Mad Lucy of Williamsburg, and the spirits of native sons Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Many cycles predicting the "end of times" fi ll our modern dialog from the coming of the Millennium to 2012. Robin Robertson helps to clarify these prophesies and offers insight into the central issues of our challenges and their life-changing implications.
For eighteen hundred years, the prophecies in the "Book of Revelation" have captured the collective Western imagination. Saint John's rich imagery and the dramatic urgency of the looming disasters he predicts have both fascinated and frightened us with the apparent message that the end of time is near. Robin Robertson deciphers the mystical theology and visions of the prophets, seers, and shamans. His analysis incorporates the insights of modern mathematics and Chaos Theory, as well as his personal insights gained through his work as a Jungian therapist and teacher. Robertson holds a mirror to humanity's need to know Self and God. He explains that Saint John's vision foretells the massive change in consciousness that is happening in our time.
"At the End of Time" contains the 22 chapters from and reinterprets the message of The Book of Revelation in terms of the changes in human consciousness and its ability to adapt the symbolic language of our personal and collective unconscious. The author helps us to comprehend the meaning of such psychic intuitive understandings.
Roberston helps the reader face the deeper parts of his or her self--those parts that fear transformation, change, and death. Yet these are the very keys to experiencing a new dimension of ourselves and may be encouraged and utilized in a positive manner.

Storytelling is both an art form and a means of passing on significant elements of a culture--the history, the traditions, the humor, the pathos. It is a way of entertaining and being entertained. With this compilation of Texas--and Texanized--favorite myths and legends, award-winning tale teller Donna Ingham applies her own unmistakable voice to traverse her home state through such stories as:>"The Coming of the Bluebonnet"--an oft-collected Commanche myth about love and sacrifice and the origin of the Texas state flower>"The Story Behind the Story"--about two early cattlemen and the basis for an episode in Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove">"The Life and Times of Pecos Bill"--a selection of tales about this legendary folk hero>"Diamond Bill"--about an east Texas rattlesnake who fought in the Civil War>"Cupid Was a Mama's Boy"--a Texanized classic Greek myth >And much more!

The Secrets of Life series is written for everyone who, frankly, needs a spot of cheering up, and will provide conversation starters for years after reading! O'Connor's easy-going, conversational style brings an outsider's questioning eye to the great forces behind life. The second book in the four-part series debates the steps that led to us being so completely different to anything that had ever appeared before. If we really were just another kind of animal off the production line of life, then what were the revolutions that turbo-charged our abilities? How is it possible that we only arrived a fluttering of an eyelash ago compared to evolutionary time, yet we are now so completely dominant over everything else in life? Book Two also sets out to answer the questions around what we did that meant we could alter ourselves in an instant, and so avoid being stuck in an evolutionary niche like every other organism. Why, for example, was it such a huge step forward when we began to run? Why was the taming of fire arguably the most important thing we ever did? How did we manage to create the intelligence and insights that allowed us to make our own life decisions? Why was gossiping so critical? With the same writing approach that typified Book One, in How Did We Get To Be So Different? O'Connor sets out to answer these and other questions by summarising the views of the great biologists, anthropologists, and revolutionary theorists - and then adding some opinions of his own.. Example questions posed (and answered) in Book Two - How Did We Get To Be So Different? If we have a degree of control over our lives, then why were our rulers always so horrible- and why did we put up with them? Why do we copy each other so much, and yet we'd accept that others could be so unbelievably violent? How did fire make us so different? Where did the free will come from that let us override the drives of our animal pasts - something that no other organism had ever managed before in the long history of evolution? How did we develop language? Why was gossip so critical? How did printing and reading completely change our world?

In the summer of 1980, in Wiltshire, southern England, a group of three swirled circular patterns mysteriously appeared in farmer John Scull's fields of wheat and oats. Scull blamed Army helicopters. UFO enthusiasts credited flying saucers. A local meteorologist attributed them to whirlwinds. Each year thereafter, the circles continued to appear, in Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Oxfordshire - increasing in mystery and complexity as a social, religious, and scientific turmoil grew around them. Now manifesting in enormous and ornate "pictograms," the phenomenon continues to draw crowds of the curious and the faithful, not only to circles-prone fields of southern England, but to unsuspecting fields in such places as Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Romania, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. North American enthusiasts are now in the forefront of circles research - or "cerealogy" as it has come to be known - and every summer we spend tens of thousands of dollars and many hours in scientific and spiritual evaluation of circles here and abroad.
Science writer Jim Schnabel ventured into Wiltshire in search of the circles and an answer to their annual mystery. He soon became entranced, not merely by the odd swirled shapes in the fields, but by the human beings who flocked to them: plasma physicists and ritual magicians, dowsers and UFOlogists, New Age tourists and garrulous mediums, and the devoted "cereal" artists whose work lay behind it all.

-- Over 2,100 shipwrecks from the 16th century to the present; the most comprehensive listing now available
-- Arranged primarily by geographical section of the state. Within sections, wrecks are arranged chronologically
-- Extensive and heavily illustrated appendices offer a wealth of information on topics of interest to divers and researchers

The Secrets of Life series is written for everyone who, frankly, needs a spot of cheering up, and will provide conversation starters for years after reading! O'Connor's easy-going, conversational style brings an outsider's questioning eye to the great forces behind life. The third in the four-part series explains how game theory developed, and why it came to show us not only how humans arrive at their decisions, but why so much of the apparently bizarre behaviour of the natural world has the same mathematical logic to it. Instead of the confusion and chaos one might expect in life, O'Connor shows that there are profound reasons behind the choices organisms make when they interact, and how we humans refined this process through the addition of our intelligence and language skills. Starting with the mind-blowing new ways of thinking that Adam Smith opened the world's eyes to, the book progresses to the 20th century-and shows how there's a coherent rationale behind our thought processes-and how this was gradually revealed by scientists at a time when the very future of the world was at stake. As O'Connor unfolds the story in Why Do We All Behave In The Way We Do?, it becomes ever clearer how cooperation has evolved to be the critical force at every level of life. It was what built our world, and it would settle so deeply into the hardwiring of living things that it would eventually become instinctive and innate in us. Perhaps most pleasingly, game theory explains how the benefits of collaboration are bound to ratchet upwards-and how this will inevitably lead to ever-increasing levels of moral behaviour in our societies. It is so often an accepted fact that bad people will win. And yet, as Book Three so clearly explains, collaborative societies are bound to grow, that it's rational to forgive to overcome vendettas and feuds, and that nice folks will always win in life by coming second. Example questions posed (and answered) in Book Three - Why Do All We Behave In The Way We Do? What's Game Theory - and why is it so critical to understanding how to make the right decisions? Why, if humans are so convinced that most of us are bad, are we concerned about being fair in our lives? Why do we value trust so highly? What are the reasons for our surprising wish to care for each other? Why do we share things, even though we might not have to? How did a failed robbery explain human nature? Why can it be rational to be irrational? And why is life like a poker game?

Considered by many to be the magazine of record for ancient mysteries, future science, and unexplained anomalies, Atlantis Rising(R) provides some of the most astounding reading to be found anywhere. Pulled from the pages of Atlantis Rising(R), here is a collection of 30 concise and well-illustrated articles by world-class researchers like Philip Coppens, Robert Schoch, Frank Joseph, Steven Sora and many others who offer thought-provoking insights on some of today's most interesting, if least understood topics. Featuring: * New Vindication for James Churchward by Philip Coppens * Ancient Keys to the Future by Walter Cruttenden * The Legend of Markawasi by Robert M. Schoch * Mystery of the Montauk Monster by Steven Sora * Close Encounters of the Ball Lightning Kind by Frank Joseph * The Project Serpo Saga by Len Kasten * Places of the Builder Gods by Freddy Silva "In the articles collected for this book, we hope to show that many of the beliefs of our supposedly advanced society are a long way from knowledge - particularly in the areas of modern science, ancient history and today's conventional wisdom. If, in so doing, a few sacred paradigms are busted, we say, let the chips fall where they may!" - J. Douglas Kenyon, Editor & Publisher, Atlantis Rising