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The second of three volumes of John Neal's collected works.
"Ancient metrology - once the playground of Newton, but now largely
ignored even by archaeologists - ought to cease to be a pariah
subject and regain its place at the centre of the study of
antiquity. In the past, the widely attested variations in ancient
linear measurements have been put down to sloppiness on the part of
our ancestors. But Neal is able to show that such variations belong
to a logical, elegant and cohesive system partially based on
divisions of the Earth's surface at different points on the
longitudinal meridian." Professor Michael Vickers, University of
Oxford, review of Neal's work in Nature: International Weekly
Journal of Science. 2001.
One of the most sought-after criminals of the Depression era,
Ralph Fults began his career of crime at the improbable age of
fourteen. At nineteen he met Clyde Barrow in a Texas prison, and
the two men together founded what would later be known as the
Barrow gang. "Running with Bonnie and Clyde "is the story of
Fults's experiences in the Texas criminal underworld between the
years 1925 and 1935 and the gripping account of his involvement
with the Barrow gang, particularly its notorious duo, Bonnie and
Clyde.
Fults's "ten fast years" were both dramatic and violent. As an
adolescent he escaped numerous juvenile institutions and jails, was
shot by an Oklahoma police officer, and was brutalized by prison
guards. With Clyde, following their fateful meeting in 1930, he
robbed a bank to finance a prison raid. "After "the ambush of
Bonnie and Clyde, in 1934, he joined forces with Raymond Hamilton;
together the two robbed more banks and eluded countless posses
before Hamilton's capture and 1935 execution. One of the few
survivors among numerous associates who ended up shot, stabbed,
beaten to death, or executed, Fults was later able to reform
himself, believing that the only reason he was spared was to reveal
the darkest aspects of his past-and in so doing expose the
circumstances that propel youth into crime.
Author John Neal Phillips tells Fults's story in vivid and at
times raw detail, recounting bank robberies, killings, and prison
escapes, friendships, love affairs, and marriages. Dialogues based
on actual conversations amongst the participants enhance the
narrative's authenticity. Whereas in books and mms, Fults, Parker,
Barrow, and Hamilton have been romanticized or depicted as
one-dimensional, depraved characters, "Running with Bonnie and
Clyde "shows them as real people, products of social, political,
and economic forces that directed them into a life of crime and
bound them to it for eternity.
Although basing his account primarily on Fults's testimony,
Phillips substantiates that viewpoint with references to scores of
eyewitness interviews, police files and court documents, and
contemporary news accounts. An important contribution to criminal
and social history, "Running with Bonnie and Clyde "will be
fascinating reading for scholars and general readers alike.
The third of John Neale's books looking at Cornish rivers takes us
down the Fowey, from its source on Bodmin Moor to its estuary at
Fowey itself. Beginning near Brown Willy, the river soon flows near
the famous Jamaica Inn and on to Golitha Falls, passing age-old
slate caverns before turning abruptly to make its way toward
Lanhydrock House, Boconnoc House and Restormel Castle and on to
Lostwithiel with its ancient church, historic buildings and
fourteenth-century bridge. Soon the Fowey widens as it is joined by
Lerryn Creek and flows on to St Winnow and Golant before greeting
Bodinnick, Polruan and Fowey itself. Along the way we meet ghosts,
old characters, an oddball vicar and a star of the silver screen;
discover churches and old houses; learn of literary associations,
myths and legends; and unravel a mystery or two! The River Fowey is
the golden thread which weaves many facets of landscape and
seascape together as we explore one of Cornwall's magical rivers.
The 50-mile stretch of the River Tamar forms a unique county
boundary between the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The Tamar's
source is East Youlstone near Bude less than 4 miles from the north
Cornish coast. But instead of flowing northward into the Atlantic
Ocean it flows slowly south. through reed-fringed mudscapes passing
the towns of Launceston, Gunnislake, and Saltash before widening
out and eventually meeting the English Channel at Plymouth Sound.
In the sound the river merges with the rivers Tavy, Plym and Lynher
to form the Tamar Valley, an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The river has some 20 road crossings, including some medieval stone
bridges, and the famous Tamar Bridge, opened in 1961 which carries
the A38 and the Royal Albert Bridge built in 1859 by Brunel ,to
carry the railway from Devon into Cornwall. The natural wonders of
the environment contrast sharply with the manmade industrial relics
which are strewn along the middle reaches of the river. The cries
of the raven and the peregrine falcon echo around the site of
abandoned mines in which men toiled for more than two centuries.
The Tamar has always played an important role in the region's
economy with mineral extraction a key industry in the Tamar valley.
The Tamar has also served naval interests since 1691, when William
of Orange commissioned a new dockyard at the mouth of the river in
Devon.
The 'Exeter Ordinale' is a huge ordinal issued by John de
Grandisson, bishop of Exeter 1327-69], in 1337; it is edited on the
basis of manuscripts that belonged to, and were annotated by, the
bishop himself. The compilation marked an important point in
medieval study of the liturgy, and the 'Legenda' liturgical
readings for saints' days] which it contains are regarded as one of
the most important sources for the study of English medieval
hagiography, particularly for saints of English origin.
The first of three volumes of John Neal's collected works. "Not
only is the megalithic system largely ignored by archaeologists, it
is opposed - even by the numerate among their ranks. This position
is now untenable, as it can be shown that the megalithic yard
shared an origin with the Sumerian cubit. And the foot-measure used
in England - equivalent to a Greek foot - proves to have played a
pivotal role in the whole metrological system. It is ironic that
just as it is being thrown on the scrap heap of history, its
historical importance is beginning to be recognised." Professor
Michael Vickers, University of Oxford, review of Neal's work in
Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. 2001.
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