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The Essential Nostradamus Tarcher Cornerstone Editions [Paperback] Smoley, Richard

From his predictions about life and death in the Middle French court of Catherine de Medici to his uncannily suggestive preconceptions of World War II, Michel de Nostradamus has aroused continual fascinationand commercializationin the West Today, many search his elliptical centuriesor collected versesfor new truths about 911 and End Times, while supermarket tabloids routinely falsify and exploit his pronouncementsWhat is the difference between prophecy and prediction, and how has it led to a misuse of the ideas of Nostradamus, as well as those of other postbiblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the Weststretching back to the oracle at Delphiand how can Nostradamus be understood from this perspective? In The Essential Nostradamus, the highly regarded spiritual thinker and writer Richard Smoley provides a true sourcebook in the life and messages of one of historys most peculiar figuresThis volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamuss work Many commentators on Nostradamus take liberties in their translations, further confusing the matter of what the prophetic quatrains actually said In The Essential Nostradamus, Smoley presents a fresh, scholarly, and literal translation of Nostradamuss Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages historical references and accuracySmoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamuss key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writers eraelements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp An authoritative biographical essayhighlighting Nostradamuss separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticatorrounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western cultures most mysterious men