The book rediscovers two of the main seeds of Western Culture – the Exodus and the Odyssey, which are entwined within the book by both a common link with Egypt and a review of ancient chronology. They were both antecedents to the rise of Christianity, which is at the heart of Western Culture. It was inspired by a desire to understand the spiritual message of the Odyssey, which required both geographical and spiritual interpretations of the poem. Linked to this was a desire to understand the political context of the Trojan story, which required resolving the false hiatus in the archaeology of Troy. This resulted in a new paradigm for understanding ancient chronology, which revealed the stories behind the Exodus and the location of the Garden of Eden. Writing the book has been a long and eventful journey, longer than Odysseus’ 19 years away from home. The book is written in five parts: • Low Chronology - Based on the identification of Menophres with Thutmose III and of the Bubastite Portal’s reference to Shoshenq’s participation in the Battle of Qarqar, the Egyptian Third Intermediate Period is shortened by 120 years, with a pharaoh ruling from Tanis and subordinate kings at Bubastis and Thebes. • The Exodus - Using the Low Chronology and genealogical information and dates provided by the Bible, it is demonstrated that the story of the Exodus is a combination of two events, being the exodus of the Hyksos led by Abraham in 1406 BC following the eruption of Thera, and the exodus of the Atenist (Levite) priests led by Moses in about the first year of Tutankhamun - 1204 BC. The story of Abraham also reveals the location of the Garden of Eden in the heartland of the Levant. • Radiocarbon Dating – The process that created the dendrochronology-based radiocarbon calibration curve is demonstrated to be a flawed non-scientific process that relied upon circular arguments. • The Odyssey – By comparing the life and work of Archilochus to both the Odyssey and the Iliad, it is shown that Archilochus must have been the author of the Odyssey. The allegory within the Odyssey is also discussed to provide both geographical and spiritual interpretations of the poem. • Western Culture - The two main streams of Western Culture (Ancient Greece and Christianity) are shown to have had their foundations in the stories surrounding the Trojan War, the spiritual message of the Odyssey and the influences of Egypt on Greece and Judaism. It is shown how Greek and Jewish religions were fused to create the Gospels and contributed towards modern astrology.

This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

More than five hundred years after the fact, present-day writers still use hyperbolic adjectives to describe the “discovery” of the Americas. Columbus’s crossing of the Atlantic—and the age of exploration that ensued—dramatically and forever changed the early modern world. The societies, economies, cultures, arts, and burgeoning sciences of Europe were quickly transformed by the ongoing encounter with the New World. The meeting of the New and the Old Worlds, however, was more than a meeting of disparate civilizations. It was also a confluence of exciting and often surprising associations that continually created new interfaces between materials and knowledge. The Western and Eastern Hemispheres, brought together by sailing ships for the first time on a large scale, helped create the global landscape we take for granted today. Central to this formative moment in global history were New World plants. The agriculture of indigenous peoples mythically and materially shaped English society and, subsequently, its literature in new and startling ways. Sacred Seeds examines New World plants—tobacco, amaranth, guaiacum, and the prickly pear cactus—and their associated Native myths as they moved across the Atlantic and into English literature. Edward McLean Test reinstates the contributions of indigenous peoples to European society, charting an alternative cultural history that explores the associations and assemblages of transatlantic multiplicity rather than Eurocentric homogeny.

Details the processes of encounter and exchange between Europe and the cultures of the Americas and Africa since their discovery by Europeans five hundred years ago.

When did the British Government become the world's largest drugs pusher? What tree is frequently used to treat cancer? Which everyday condiment is the most widely traded spice on the planet?Plants are an indispensable part of our everyday life. From the coffee bush and grass for cattle which give us milk for our cappuccinos to the rubber tree which produces tyres for our cars, our lives are inextricably linked to the world of plants.Taking us on a chronological journey, Stephen Harris identifies fifty plants that have been key to the development of the Western world, discussing trade, politics, medicine, travel and chemistry along the way.Plants have provided paper and ink, chemicals that could kill or cure, vital sustenance and stimulants. Some, such as barley, have been staples from earliest times; others, such as oil palm, are newcomers to Western industry. Moreover, with time, uses change: beets, which have been used variously as a treatment for leprosy, source of sugar and animal feed, are now showing potential as biofuels. What may the future hold for mandrake or woad?We remain dependent on plants for our food, our fuel and our medicines. Their effects on our lives, as the stories in this wide-ranging and engaging book demonstrate, continue to be profound, and often unpredictable.