Nostradamus and Other Prophets and Seers: Prophecies and Secret Knowledge from Ancient Times to the Present Day

by Jo Durden-Smith

The ability to see into the future and to accurately predict events has fascinated and yet frightened man for thousands of years. As far back as 4000 BC, the Sumerians consulted sages who would pronounce on important matters and advise on courses of action.

In this riveting, illustrated account, the predictions of the most famous sages and seers from the dawn of civilization are looked at in detail. One of the best known of these visionaries was Nostradamus, and indeed his prophecies, in the form of the original cantos, are analyzed in this book.

Discover the prophecies that
• The French Revolution
• Pearl Harbor
• 9/11
• The Iraq War

Nostradamus and Other Prophets and Seers examines the role of astrology, alchemy, and arcane knowledge in prophecy. It tries to answer that age-old question of whether there is such a thing as 'secret knowledge', and whether it is possible for mere mortals to access it.

Genres: Nonfiction

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2005

About the author

Jo Durden Smith was a British author and a documentary film maker.
He was educated at Haileybury and Merton College, Oxford. He worked for World in Action, Granada TV's documentary team, where his rock films were made.
Subsequently he lived in New York, and then Moscow. He was a columnist for The Moscow Times, to 1997.

Reviews

[Aeron Ruazol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good brief survey of the development of prophecy and divination juxtaposed with the culture and history of the world.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It had a good blend of historical and cultural. It wasn’t super opinionated and it was interesting to read. Overall, if people are interested in prophecy, related items and history it’s for you. Now, I’m off down the rabbit hole looking up to read more about some of the items I read in this book.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and different.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains interesting information and is written clearly and concisely. The first section is dedicated to biblical and other prophets, as well as oracles such as the one at Delphi. It also contains a good section on alchemy and briefly explains how modern chemistry was developed from the processes of the alchemist. The later part is dedicated to Nostradamus; it gives an account of his life before he made his prophecies (what little is known of it) which leads into his making his predictions of the future. Nostradamus revealed his prophecies in quatrains that are cryptic and challenging to decipher. This book explains this to the reader and makes an attempt to clarify and simplify them for the lay person. It follows the prophecies throughout the ages and applies them to events that have happened in the past, drawing on several resources as its guide. It also makes an attempt to apply as yet unclear prophecies to possible events in our future. It concludes with a brief explanation as to why Nostradamus should not be considered a fraud, but instead a gifted scientist, as prophesies were not the only contribution he gave to this world. There's also some great illustrations throughout.