Essential book to understanding Hughes, his empire, his paranoia and his bizarre final years in isolation. Also a must-read for info on Robert Maheu and Richard Nixon.

Michael Drosnin did an excellent job of deciphering all the memos that Howard Hughes exchanged with Robert Maheu (his chief of Las Vegas operations) and writing a cohesive story. He also interviewed many associates to obtain a true picture of what went on with Howard Hughes during his many years of self-imposed exile. I found it to be the most interesting and revealing book about Hughes that I have ever read. I worked for one of his companies for 30 years and I would highly recommend this book.

This was a very informational and interesting book. I would recomend for everyone interested in biblical history to read this book. Even though it has to do with the Torah, any Christian could also read it. The Bible Code is very accurate and could be used in a protective way. It cannot tell the future, but can help us find out what lay ahead in our lives. I liked this book better than any other I read.

assasinatio

There is an atmosphere of excitement about this book which is contagious. It does not contain a single boring page.

God is Good, and this a mathematical confirmation. From my see point, like Analist System and Fisical, this Code is Real True.

This book proves that anyone can predict the future after it happens. As is the case he accurately predicts the World Trade Center attack after the fact. His so called prediction of the demise of the dinosaurs is a complete fabrication and lie as is the rest of the scientific ideal of evolution. Anyone who reads and understands the bible knows the God created ALL creatures on earth including dinosaurs, look for dragon or behemoth in the bible. Mr. Drosnin should start reading and believing in the bible and the salvation of Jesus Christ rather than his silly fabricated code, only then does he stand a chance to be saved.
Someone please forward this to Mr. Drosnin.

OK. Let's examine the facts: [A] The original mathematician who co-authored the paper which "inspired" the book has distanced himself from the book because of Drosnin's loose mixing of statistically significant finds with those not significant (look up the related story at CNN.COM) [B] Most English speakers don't understand the flexibility with which Hebrew words can be interpreted. Written Hebrew lacks the vowel sounds which make for a significant factor in "finding" encoded words. You could probably find instructions for changing a flat tire if you looked hard enough. [C] According to at least one Hebrew speaking person I know of who read the book, Drosnin took liberties with the sounds of the words. If a word sounded close enough to the real thing, it was good enough for a "prophesy". You increase your chance of finding, for example, "assassin" if you allow "asasin", "azazin", "assashin", etc. to count. Unless you speak Hebrew, examples in the book show only correct English spelling, not the "near matches" of the Hebrew version. [D] The claims that "prophesies" cannot be found in other works is bogus. Maybe specific phrases were not found in the Hebrew translation of "War and Peace", but I myself using a simple Pascal program have found several examples as "astonishing" as anything Drosnin presents in his work in an English segment of War & Peace (without the benefit of the Hebrew language's flexibility). (examples: The words "innews" "goat" and "clone" within four lines of each other; "Sadat", "asasins" and "dead" in the same general area -- Sadat was killed by multiple assassins. Spooky, huh? Again I only searched the first few thousand letters of W&P, not the whole book). Also, an australian combinatorics expert has found many examples of "predications" of assassinations in Melville's "Moby Dick" (see his page at http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/dilugim/moby.html). This is in answer to Drosnin's direct challenge for someone to find any prediction of an assassination in Moby Dick, given in a Newsweek interview (June 9, 1997). [E] In interviews I've seen with Drosnin he says that the code can't be used to predict the future, but at other times he claims to have predicted the future and warned the Prime Minister of Israel, etc. He's not consistant. (Look up the cyberchat with Drosnin, again at CNN.com). [F] The original paper on the Bible code only used the first five books of the Bible which are traditionally agreed upon to be written by the same author. Drosnin sites many examples throughout the Bible. The entire Bible was written over a span of centuries by many authors. Did they all agree on a code? Also, if the author of, for example, the books of Kings & Chronicles were sophisticated enough to put in a code which could only be decyphered by computer, why did they recount the measurements of a "molten sea" in two different places which, if you do the math, imply that pi = 3 (I Kings vii, 23 and 2 Chronicles iv,2). [G] If this Bible Code is true, then it's the greatest discovery ever in the history of man, not just the subject of a book that will be discussed for a while then eventually retired to the "bargain table" at the warehouse bookstores. How many books have been written about the discovery of the atom? (Answer: innumerable) How many books have been written about the Bible Code? (Answer: 1) Conclusion, Michael Drosnin has given us something interesting to talk about, but it must be analyzed rationally. When this controversy came up I remembered reading Drosnin's book about Howard Hughs and that I had enjoyed it. I hope the fallout from this "quack" work does not stiffle a bonafied talent.

Fantastically interesting, inordinantly valuable as a scientific tool, and a crisp, cool read.

If you read just one book this summer, besides "Catcher in the Rye," read this.

And it's all true, regarding, at least, the predictions I have made using the software I purchased after reading the book.

True, math experts have checked out the "Bible Code math" and it indeed does check out, but ultimately, this author has not predicted any future events. Ok, on the cover it says "TOWER" "TWIN" and "PLANE". Indeed that was found in the code, but AFTER THE FACT. If prediciton was possible, if psychics were real, if ANY fortune telling was real, someone would come forward BEFORE something happens, but no one ever does. This book is interesting, but complete nonsense.

I bought this book expecting a serious and scholarly treatment of the subject matter. While the explication of techniques in deciphering messages is interesting, the discussion following each message is highly politicized. As the reader progresses through the chapters, we "discover" that left wing Israeli politicians and Yasser Arafat are sympathetic characters, and Surprise!: there is even a long section claiming the Bible codes prove that the US Supreme Court stole the election from "President Gore".

I have continued to look into Bible codes and have discovered that there are ways in which one's own personal biases can affect the message. Don't waste your money on this jokebook.

In this review, I don't particularly care to pass judgment on the validity of the book's thesis (that's for you and your friendly neighborhood mathematician and religious scholar to decide), and would rather appreciate this book for what it's worth. Whether you agree with Drosnin's argument or not, Bible Code II is indeed a twist from the norm.

In addition to thorough discussion of Drosnin's recent bible code "discoveries," perhaps more interestingly the book provides a glimpse at the author's own internal struggles with his atheist beliefs, and how the existence of the codes can fit into his world view. Indeed, it is this inner conflict that drives Drosnin to continue his quest for answers.

My imagination was especially piqued reading about the interactions that Drosnin had with world leaders, top scientists, and the like. Bible Code II reads like an intense mystery novel with a dash of Indiana Jones thrown into the mix... as long as you keep an open mind, the book is fascinating.

All and all, the book reads pretty quick and is easy to get into. Unfortunately, towards the middle, a few of the chapters can get kind of slow, especially as we hold the hand of Drosnin as he searches for "proof." It grows tiresome re-reading, over and over again, "I've finally found proof."

Drosnin also contrives an interesting comparison of his work to the current scientific paradigm, and argues that the bible codes are frequently rejected because they are at odds with current scientific understanding. These thought provoking remarks based on the philosophy of Thomas Kuhn and his ground breaking work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, are well placed. I am also reminded of the philosopher of science, Paul Feyerabend, who argues that our culture presents "science" as way too much of a monolith.

Regardless of whether the theory proposed by Bible Code II is fact or fiction, at least Drosnin was thinking outside of the box. I invite other readers who like something different to take a glimpse at the world from a unique angle... expand your horizons by taking a breath of fresh (perhaps mathematically incorrect) air.

What is a product of a religious and narrow-minded writer? You know the answer. The book has only two objectives--one is to destroy The Bible Code--another is to blindly warship Bible. Don't waste your money for this. Unless, you warship your Bible like this writer.

I read this book BEFORE 'The Bible Code'and it made me want to read the original.This is the only book I ever threw in the garbage the second I read the last word. I don't need to be preached to at my age. This guy is just another big mouth preaching about God and the bible. All Stanton knows how to say is 'they left out the vowels'-give me a break. I will be reading The Bible Code soon. It may be another Chariot of the Gods but I bet it won't preach to me. Save your money.

Puts the Bible Code in its place-the fireplace, that is! He first effectively exposes the flaws, and there are MANY, and then offers a most interesting speculation as to what the authors of the Bible Code really set out to do. From there he outlines the way to true faith in Jesus. If you enjoyed reading the Bible Code you will enjoy this much more! You will also kick yourself for spending money on the Bible Code while you are phoning your friends now armed with the truth.