The Essential Nostradamus: Literal Translation, Historical Commentary, and Biography

What 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 post-biblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the West-stretching back to the oracle at Delphi-and 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 history's most peculiar figures.

This volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamus's 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translation of Nostradamus's Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages' historical references and accuracy.

Smoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamus's key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writer's era-elements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp. An authoritative biographical essay-highlighting Nostradamus's separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticator-rounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western culture's most mysterious men.

The prophecies of Nostradamus have ignited intense fascination throughout the West since they were first published in the sixteenth century. These enigmatic quatrains have gained special meaning for many during our current countdown to the year 2012. The relationship between Nostradamus's prophecies and the Mayan prophecy of 2012 is hotly debated over the Internet and is the focus of today's most popular television documentaries.

Now The Essential Nostradamus-the definitive literal translation of his key verses-is redesigned, reset, and repackaged in an affordable and beautifully produced Tarcher Cornerstone Edition. This volume features a brand-new afterword from translator/commentator Richard Smoley, critiquing the Nostradamus legacy in light of the Mayan prophecies about 2012. Smoley is one of today's most respected writers on esotericism, and his new afterword fully (and realistically) assesses the question of Nostradamus's prophecies in relation to 2012, engaging readers who are hungry to learn more and want help sorting fact from fiction.

Perfect for any who are curious, and for scholars and students who want to understand the real content of these haunting verses, The Essential Nostradamus is the key sourcebook of its kind.