Episode Notes

In this episode we discuss a couple of Mr. Hancock's previous works as well as his upcoming new title.

Hi, welcome to conversations with Cassi. As always I'm Cassi, the host of the show.

We hope you've had a good week. We hope that you have fed curiosity and that you have learned something new. If you haven't, hopefully you will during the episode.

This morning, as is usual, in my email, I had book suggestions from Amazon. I, usually, end up just deleting the emails, they either don't have books that I would read, or it's books I already actually own. However, this morning, the list was much more intriguing than usual. The top book, which, got my interest, right off the bat, was a brand, new neanderthal book. This book seems like a very good update of our current understanding, and information, regarding neanderthal, and his place, in the story of us. So, I clicked the link to check out all the details about the book.

Now,  if I find a book that I like I, usually, tend to do my best, to just grab it up, that being said, if, I find a book, that's of great interest to me, and what I mean, by that, is a book that I feel I will either read multiple times, or after, reading I will reference multiple times, then, I prefer to have the copy or a copy in hardback.

I will confess, there are certain titles, that, I do have in multiple formats; either, I have an e-version and a paperback, or hardback, or I have both, hardback and paperback versions. There's probably a few I have all three for and this is why, if I'm going to use a book, regularly, or extensively, I feel like hardback holds up better. The cover, the bindings, and the pages are all more durable than in paperback.

So, that being said, I felt that this Neanderthal book would be one that I would prefer in hardback, for those reasons. The link took me to the paperback option, for amazon.com, it also gave me tabs to check out the Kindle option, or the hard back option. Naturally, I clicked on the hardback option, and much to my dismay, I discovered that, at least via Amazon, the hardback is available on the other side of the pond, but, this side, of the pond, gets the paperback. Now to make that, even, a little more discriminatory than it already is, the publisher is PBS, an American company.

Thank you, PBS, for not letting me have the hardback. Yes, I actually am being a little bratty, cause, yes, I can actually order it, via Amazon, from the UK, the point is I shouldn't have to.

I will probably end up buying the paperback, at least, to get my hands on it, read it, see if it's as good as I'm hoping it is, and, maybe, by then the hardback will be an option, on this side of the pond, or I won’t mind waiting, so, I'll go ahead and order it from the other side of the pond.

Also, in the same email was a book that I'm excited about, that I've been waiting for. But, that no, I will not pre-order from Amazon. Why? Here's a tidbit, if you haven't pre-ordered books from Amazon (or another shipping/online seller). Amazon used to be great, in that, if you pre-ordered a book, from Amazon, based on their 2-day shipping, they would ship your book 2 days prior to the release date, so, that you can get it on the release date. However, due to the tyrant JK Rowling this all changed, in the height of Harry Potter fame. See, sometimes, what would happen, is certain addresses are close enough to Amazon that they might get their books the day before the release date, big boo hoo JK. Now,  I don't remember which year, four, five or six that a huge fan, I believe, a young lady, was lucky enough to get her book a day early, and she promptly, devoured the book and posted about how good it was. And, yes, JK people can read your books in a night or a day, I have! But, JK had a huge huge fit, that HER books were being leaked, unfortunately, for the world, that one, single woman had so much power that she got the rules changed. Amazon wasn't the only company that would ship the books, prior to the release date, so, that the pre-orders got their books, in the mail, on the release date. That's the whole point of pre-ordering, to have your book the day it comes out, without having to make sure that you get to the bookstore. Or in the case of Harry Potter, that you have to go stand in line to get your copy, and hope that they have enough copies, when you show up. Now pre-order books don't even get put in the mail until the day of, or the day after the release date. Why anyone still pre-orders books after Ms. Rowling little temper tantrum, like a toddler, I have no idea. I, honestly, had forgotten about that whole tantrum, so, when a book, that's actually the sequel to one of my favorite books, the book that really opened the door to me, as far as, not studying history in a vacuum, I pre-ordered it, to have it the day it was released, without effort. And was sorely disappointed that it was not even shipped until the day after, so this time, I will simply, drive to Barnes & Noble and by it on release day!

I'll be honest, I was an ideal student, an honor student, I loved the classroom and lecture hall. I soaked up all the information that teachers could give, me about the topics that interested me, so, yes, I went to University, and I took approved, accredited courses for history, and anthropology, and cultural anthropology. I was a prime, pristine, future prospect for the field; and Egypt was what grabbed my attention, initially. The problem was, I, already, had questions about certain aspects of Egyptian history; primarily, I've always had an issue with the pyramids being solely, exclusively, tombs for 4th Dynasty pharaohs, yet, having been discovered so empty and blank.

So, I chose not to pursue a professional career in Egyptology, because, having been educated in the field, I understood the hierarchy and politics, and I knew I would end my career before it started, by speaking my mind, and refusing to agree to things that I didn't agree with.

After moving on, as a huge book lover, and a curious mind, I happened across a book by Mr. Graham Hancock, The Sign and The Seal. This book detailed Mr. Hancock's search for the lost Ark of the Covenant. Mr. Hancock, by education and profession, was a journalist.  The he chose to pursue independent research of things that interested him. Mr. Hancock had written about the poverty in and around Ethiopia and that region of Africa, apparently, during field research, he learned about a local belief, that the Ark of the Covenant was located in Ethiopia. So, off he went, in search of the truth. I devoured the book. I loved it.   Mr Hancock’s style of writing, and his method of research, both, gained my respect.

Later, I came across his work, Fingerprints of the Gods.

As some of you may know, I have suggested Fingerprints of the Gods as in introduction, to a much broader approach, in studying human history; and this is why, Mr Hancock did something in that book that is not done in textbooks, or in the classroom.  He looked at various ancient civilizations, and when he found similarities, he analyzed them to see, if, it was pure coincidence, as textbooks and professors tell us, or if there was more to the story. Looking at his approach, with an open mind, it is very evident that he was on to something, something important.

Once Mr Hancock opened that door for me, it was like the Wardrobe and I entered intellectual Narnia!

One of the things that I respect about Mr. Hancock's work, is his willingness to share his sources, so, you are free to seek out the original documents, or translations, or footnotes, abstracts, whatever, and read and decide for yourself, if what he concludes makes sense. Fingerprints of the Gods is now an older title, but, it's still very relevant, and a great starting point for someone on the journey. Not to be disappointed, or left wandering the desert on your own, a few years ago, Mr Hancock released a sequel, to Fingerprints of the Gods, titled Magicians of the Gods.

In the sequel, Mr. Hancock expands his research, and includes new discoveries, and recent advancements, in analyzing old discoveries. And this sequel is what I pre-ordered from Amazon, and was disappointed in the fact, that Amazon did not even ship it to me, until the day after its release.  However, once I did finally received my copy, I devoured it! Mr. Hancock did not disappoint in his new title.

And that brings me to why I am discussing Mr. Hancock with you today, in our first episode, for April.

The next work, in this line of research, comes out, here, in the states on the 23rd. I think the UK gets it a couple weeks earlier. Either way, this gives you time to read both books, hopefully, before, the new one comes out, or at least, gets you working on the first two, so you can roll right into the third one after, it's released, but still new.

I will say I am excited for the new book come out. for two reasons;  first, I'm excited to see what new insight, and research, and sources he has, secondly, in his first two works, he focuses on the Middle East, and meso- and South America, however, this work, focuses on North America. and I think that’s awesome!

North America had first and foremost, at the time of European exploration, hundreds Nations already permanently settled, on the land. These nations were incredibly diverse; different languages, different lifestyles,some that were hunters, others that were agricultural, some were very aggressive, constantly warring with other nations, some had formed confederations among their Nations, and they all had very, rich, and extensive histories in their oral traditions. In addition to this, as Europeans moved into North America and set up homes and cities and various other permanence, they actually encountered sites and relics and other physical evidence of past civilizations; some of which, even those Nations that we now call indigenous or original, claim, were older than them and came before them, and we've never, truly shined any  spotlight on this rich history, to figure it out, to understand it, to gain from it.

So, I'm really hoping in his new work that, he does highlight a lot of new information and resources.

And I wanted to share the news and my excitement with you. And hopefully, this will be a new part of the path that we can actually walk together, which also makes me incredibly excited. So, I hope that this has sparked your interest to check out the two books, already out and look forward to the third book coming out this month. I hope it has given you reason to dust off your curiosity and broaden your horizons and learn something new about the amazing wonderful and much richer Story of Us.

If you grab these books by all means please share your thoughts and feedback with us. We would love to hear from you. As always you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the blog, Random Thought Provocateur on Blogger.

Thank you for joining us. I hope you have a great day, until next time this is Cassi, bye!

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