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47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
Poorly written, 6 Jan 2004
Having stumbled on a newspaper review of Genesis Unveiled I had very much looked forward to getting stuck into it, but the repetitive use of 'moreover, 'prosaic' and 'in my view' made for a difficult read.
When I say 'moreover' is used repetitively, I do mean repetitively - it is used on no less than 6 occasions on one pair of pages alone ( 179 & 180 if I recall correctly ) and there are multiple instances of multiple, consecutive use. In fact, there is hardly a page without it. As for 'in my view', well, the author is the author so we know that. An editor is credited by the author but a thesaurus would have been a much better bet. Basic errors such as these should have been trapped prior to publication.
The work itself contains a tremendous of amount of detailed, well researched information and proverbial 'nuggets' are plenty, so there can be no criticism of the contents but what should have been a good read wasn't.
Another reviewer has commented about 'lazy readers' but a book that is 'hard to read' is, by definition, poorly written - it's as simple as that. And the blame for that lies fairly and squarely on the author / editor.
Barely six months after first publication and a revised edition is already required, along with a change of editor. Please revisit this work, Mr Lawton - so much good, nay, excellent content does not deserve to be spoiled by poor presentation. And it is.
What a shame.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
A brilliant, brave and bold book, 10 Nov 2004
When you read an Ian Lawton book you are guaranteed three things:i) The highest quality research that more than meet sacademic standards
ii) Total honesty, a rare thing in a subject often full of half-truths and spin
iii) A bloody good read However, with Genesis, Lawton not only delivers his trademarks, but a book that will shake the way that you think about the ancient world, mythology, religion, spirituality and the future. Groundbreaking is a term that is bandied about a lot in the alternative history, but not many books ever deliver on that promise, Genesis does. Whilst I did not come away in total agreement with Lawton's views, the book is so convincing and authoritative that I had to reassess almost everything I read previously in this field and I'm still turning over the dozens of fascinating questions it raised. If you care about alternative history, mythology, the future of our species or just love some of the biggest mysteries of all-time; you'd be doing yourself a favour to read this book. It's fascinating, informed and challenging and will change the way you see things forever.
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10 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Mind-Shattering Stuff, 12 Nov 2004
I've read a lot of books on alternative history since I got in to the subject in 1996. Whilst most of them are intriguing, very few of them stand up to real scrutiny. I was a fan of Ian Lawton after reading Giza The Truth as he marked himself out as an author who not only did proper research but someone was not afraid to go against the grain and deflate a few overblown sacred cows.When the buzz started about Genesis I was worried that given the topics he was going to cover, it would not be as penetrating and refreshing as Giza. Boy was I wrong. Genesis is probably the most radical of the interpretations of the evidence around for a high culture existing in pre-history. However, it is also one of the most convincing, The type of civilisation outlined by Lawton not only fits the facts, it takes those facts and allies them with the interpretation of the past that have occurred across our global culture of myth and religion. Not only does he develop a real sense of what the culture was like, he develops some fascinating arguments about what may have been responsible for their removal from the established pages of history. The ramifications of his arguments are immense and have forced me to radically rethink many of my views on not only pre-history but the future of our own culture. This is not a book for people who like cosy answers to mysteries and who do not want to think. It is also not a book for a lazy reader. However, it is a mind-shattering book and one that anyone who thinks they know about history and pre-history should read.
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