The Mask of Nostradamus: The Prophecies of the World’s Most Famous Seer by James Randi (PDF)

Description

Nostradamus finally meets his match – internationally famous magician and debunker of New Age quackery – James Randi!The Mask of Nostradamus is the first in-depth biography of this intriguing sixteenth-century astrologer and physician whose book of prophecies, The Centuries, is claimed by many to have foretold the Great Fire of London, the French Revolution, the rise of Hitler, and other crucial historical events. In his superb study of Nostradamus’ life and times, Randi shows the extent to which contemporary beliefs in magic and astrology adulterated sixteenth-century science, and how Nostradamus used his skills as a physician and poet to become a cherished counselor to the courts of Europe. Finally, Randi exposes some of the tricks used by Nostradamus to make his prophecies seem authentic, and the rationalizations of his predictions by his followers through the centuries.Four hundred years after his death, Nostradamus continues to fascinate us. This is the first serious exploration of this complex figure whose fame still echoes in our own time.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). He began his career as a magician, as The Amazing Randi, but after retiring at age 60, he began investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims. Although often referred to as a “debunker,” Randi rejects that title owing to its perceived bias, instead describing himself as an “investigator.” He has written about the paranormal, skepticism, and the history of magic, and has published many books including Flim-Flam!, The Truth about Uri Geller, The Faith Healers, and The Mask of Nostradamus. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and was occasionally featured on the television program Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I read a library copy of this book and then bought my own from “amazon.com” years later. Michel de Nostradamus was a 16th Century fraud who is used by many later frauds in their scams. My sister told me a few years ago about seeing a TV show about Nostradamus’ prophecies. I told her that he actually predicted nothing. He is best-known for “Centuries” in which he wrote many vague quatrains (4-line verses) that can mean nearly anything and thus actually mean nothing. Frauds claim he predicted the 1666 Great Fire of London in 1555 in “Centuries”, but he was actually discussing English Catholic Queen Bloody Mary burning Protestsants in 1555. I know French, so I see the verse is badly mistranslated to try to make if predict the fire, e.g. it says “23 the 6s” not “66”. James Randi thouroughly refutes the mistaken notion that Nostradamus predicted events far after his time in this book. He also gives a biography of the notorious fake and tells about his time. He ends with a collection of end of the world prophecies over the centuries. If he ever writes a new edition of this book, he can include Nancy Lieder’s nonsensical 2003 End prediction, Harold Camping’s 2011 garbage and the 2012 Mayan calendar rubbish.

⭐I enjoyed the book very much right up to the eleventh chapter.The book is very well written, always fun to read, always engaging. It gives a lot of context information about Nostradamus, his background and the epoch he lived in. The information really helps to understand what was it like back then, and who Nostradamus really was. Thanks to that he becomes a real person, flesh and blood, and that is crucial when one deals with the most famous seer of all time.But then comes the eleventh chapter…I never read or heard a quatrain before. Actually my knowledge of Nostradamus was just some TV shows, with all the enthusiast proudly presenting best cases. But when one reads a quatrain himself, it is hard not to become disappointed. Is it really the rubbish all the people are talking about?At first I was really irritated that I wasted the money, and what is more important, my time on this. But then I realised that it was in fact necessary: to show me exactly what a big nonsense it is.The book is great, it is just the topic which is silly.

⭐James Randi’s book is a brilliant expose of a man whose work is taken way too seriously. His research is extensive, his arguments persuasive. I don’t see how any Nostradamus believer who reads this book can honestly say they still believe in this now-debunked scam artist. Kudos, Mr. Randi! Now, if only you could write a book on Gordon Michael Scallion….

⭐James Randi does a good job digging for facts. The amount of work and study that was put into this book must have taken a long time to put together. I enjoyed the book very much. James Randi is a truth seeker and a legend, all speculation put aside. I liked it.

⭐I cant believe all the 5 star reviews this book receives. Its is badly written, most of the book is about other things rather than Nostradamus and it is not an objective view.The thing I really cant believe is when reading this book the author will spend most of a chapter discussing totally irrelevant things and then have 1 paragraph about Nostradamus.Why are people giving this book great reviews, what am I missing here! I think the high reviews are because people are just glad of reading a book that discounts Nostadamus’s prophecies, but that doesn’t mean the book is a good one.I dont believe in his prophecies either but the book could have been so much better.

⭐The Mask of Nostradamus / 0-87975-830-9I am a huge fan of James Randi’s work in debunking various ‘psychic’ frauds who prey on innocent victims for fame and fortune, so it was a foregone conclusion that I would read “The Mask of Nostradamus”. However, I will admit up front that the work has some slight flaws, in my opinion.The largest criticism I can level is that if you’ve read any of Randi’s other works, a great deal of this book will seem like repeat material. Randi’s treatment of magic vs. science will be very familiar at this point and a repeat reader will likely not find this section useful. However, I do not suppose it is completely fair for me to criticize Randi for laying this important and useful foundation every time he begins another book on a new facet of mythology, so I should temper this criticism as simply a note of caution to the repeat Randi reader.My other criticism of the book is that I wish the layout had been different. I would have preferred that the detailed examination of prophecy and failure come first, followed by a look at the time period and events which combined to allow the prophet to flourish in spite of his failures. Instead, the book is organized the other way around with the “Life and Times of Nostradamus” material preceding the actual in-depth analysis of the actual prophecies. This approach will tend to discourage all but the most dedicated reader, since the “life and times” of the subject isn’t really the most interesting aspect of the story.Despite the issues of organization and repeat material, this book is still worth the purchase to the regular Randi reader or Nostradamus enthusiast. Randi carefully lays the groundwork of the world that allowed Nostradamus to flourish and provides a great deal of source material from the time period, including a comical exchange between the prophet and one of his clients who begs repeatedly over the course of several letters for the prophet to perhaps try to make his prophetic handwriting legible for he cannot read many of the prophecies at all! Randi also examines many of the prophet’s predictions, pointing out the vague lack of details and the failed predictions that had time limits attached to them – limits that have passed without the prophecy’s fulfillment. If looking for information on the debunking of the Nostradamus trend, this book will definitely deliver, if you are devoted enough to slog through the introductory chapters.~ Ana Mardoll

⭐The author points out some glaringly obvious faults with Nostradamus’ work, namely that the quatrains are ambiguous and suffer in their translation into English. He is also critical of other writers who have offered their interpretations of the quatrains since their work is poorly translated / researched. In essence, in the author’s opinion, the quatrains are useless as prophecies.In addition, he delves deeply into Nostradamus’ life and finds fault with the historical accounts of this self-procalimed seer. He also explores the society he lived in and his contemporaries. This extensive back story is merely an attempt to de-mystify Nostradamus and cast doubt upon the legitimacy of Nostradamus’ ability to foresee the future.However, this foray into history is overly protracted, moreso considering that the author only analyses a small number of the quatrains. It is also hardly surprising that there are inconsistencies within the historical records with regards to Nostradamus since these records are centuries old; yet the author tries to use these inconsistencies to cast Nostradamus in a poor light. I doubt that there exists a single historical figure who does not have conflicting or erroneous accounts written about them.The author has also cannabalised various sections from another one of his own books “James Randi: Psychic Investigator” and appears to quote verbatim entire sentences and possibly even entire paragraphs.Apart from these minor faults, the book is a damning indictment of Nostradmaus. If you have ever harboured doubts about his quatrains or you want a more balanced appraisal of his work, then this book is certainly for you. But, if you are an avid fan of the seer, then you may wish to stay clear of this contentious book.

⭐If you can get past the author’s style, it’s a book that is very well written. It’s key skill is that it makes you dislike both the hunter (Randi) and the quarry (Geller) in equal measure. Randi for his pomposity, and Geller for being such a fraud. Not a fraud in the sense that he isn’t a wonderful magician, but in the sense that he doesn’t admit it and claims to be truly supernatural, when it’s proven beyond doubt that he’s not at all.

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