Customer Reviews
A cracking good read, if not entirely convincing - By: S. Gerhand, 25 Oct 2008 
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. What it says seems to make sense on an intuitive level. I seem to be alonein not being entirely convinced by his arguements. I think particularly where he tries to relate things to evolutionary theory. An evolutionary process, rather like the biological one, using mechanisms similar to natural selection, certainly occurs. But these two processes are not identical, & I think the two get mixed upin here. However, maybe it's me that's mixed up.
The kind of book I would read more than once, if there were not so many other books out there waiting to be read.
The only history of the world you'll need to know... - By: Simon Kwong, 12 Apr 2008 Truly eye opening stuff, if the genesisin the bible deals with the "why" (as is the case with religion) then this is the history behind it. An all encompassing history of the world that'll make you see thingsin a new light, how sad & messed up humans have become, & what needs to happen to save our race. Very compelling read, though sometimes it dips a little too much into the spiritual side of things & may come across as biased rather than pure research. They should make this compulsory reading at schools instead of nonsense such as creation theory.
A life-changing read - By: Paul Francis, 02 Feb 2008 
This is one of the very best books that I have ever read. Whilst I don't always agree with everything he says, & there is a sense at times that he is selecting the evidence to fit his theories, the overall arguments of the book just feel profoundly right. It is like having something confirmed that you knew was right at some deep, almost unconscious level. The world seems very different afterwards. Fantastic stuff, & hugely readable. A must-read book.
"The Fall" is an important book - By: Malcolm Hollick, 19 Nov 2007 This is an important book which deserves to be read widely.
If we are to overcome the present crisis of civilization, it is vital that we understand its deep causes, & find ways to negate them. The Fall by Steve Taylor is a significant stepin that direction. There can be no doubt that humanity has created its own predicament, & that we need look no further than our own behaviour to see how. The big questions, however, are why we continue to actin such foolish & destructive ways, & how can we change those waysin the short time remaining before disaster strikes. Solutions based on expert knowledgein fields such as economics, law & technology do not cut deep enough. The root causes liein the human psyche, & it is there we must look for answers.
The evidence now seems overwhelming that, following the last Ice Age, human society was peaceful, non-acquisitive, egalitarian & closely connected with the Spirit of nature. Then, about 6000 years ago, the majority of humanity switched from what Riane Eisler called Partnership cultures to the violent, hierarchical, acquisitive, disconnected Dominator cultures that still persist today. It is almost certainly no accident that this switch coincided with a severe drying of the climate right across north Africa, southern Europe, the middle East & Asia - a region that Steve Taylor calls Saharasia. He documents this casein meticulous detail, including much evidence from modern indigenous societies that escaped what he terms The Fall.
Taylor argues that the survival challenges presented by increasing aridity stimulated intellectual ability & technical creativity. This was accompanied by an enhanced awareness of our own individuality or,in other words, a great explosion of ego consciousness. Less beneficial side-effects included existential loneliness & fear of death, a loss of connection with nature, & the distracting mind-chatter with which we're all too familiar.
As we became focused more inwardly, so our outward focus on our community & environment weakened. And as we separated from nature, we lost our ability to empathize with other beings, including other humans. In our efforts to escape the fear of death, we began to acquire goods & seek status. Thesein turn led to oppression of other peoples, gender inequality, mistreatment of children & nature, & dissociation from our bodies & sexuality. Paradoxically, it also led to war & an increased risk of violent death!
The broad outlines of this account were familiar to me, although Taylor included welcome details. Also familiar was the story of the `First Wave' of recovery represented by the rise of spiritual traditions such as Buddhism & Taoism. What was less familiar was Steve Taylor's powerful depiction of the upsurge of the Second Wave of new consciousness beginningin the mid-18th century. This has pushed the pendulum backin many ways, leading to the abolition of slavery, emancipation of women, human rights, animal rights, social security, the environmental movement, & more. It is all too easy to lose sight of the sheer scale of this counter-movement amongst the doom & gloom of the daily news. However, as Taylor recognises, despite its rapid growth, this movement is still too weak to challenge seriously the dominant `fallen' culture, as he calls it.
Ultimately, however, Taylor brings a message of hope. He challenges us all to transcend the ego & integrate the intellectual brilliance it has given us with the intense connectedness & aliveness that spiritual practices can bring us. He challenges us to make a difference to the world by transforming ourselves through meditation & the pragmatic activities of service, living lightly & promoting social change. He presents a vision of a possible futurein which there is "no war ..., male domination & social inequality, no shame of sex or the body, & no domination of other species & the natural world."
In many ways, Steve Taylor's message is similar to my ownin The Science of Oneness, although our paths to this point are very different. More recently, however, I find myself asking if there are still deeper causes, & a wider choice of transformative actions. To Steve Taylor's promotion of the meditative path, I would add the transformative potential of resurgent shamanism, the nature mysticism of `deep ecology', a plethora of `New Age' spiritual paths, & myriad new healing therapies.
With regard to the last, I'm currently exploring the role of traumain human affairs, & believe this may be another root cause of our problems. The desiccation 6000 years ago would have caused severe trauma to those ancient peoples. Desperate for food & water they would have readily become aggressive to their neighbours, thus adding the trauma of violence to the scene. Once begun, such violence would have been self-perpetuating as the trauma was passed from generation to generation. We need look no further than recent history to see how this works. Traumatised veterans of the First & Second World Wars, Viet Nam, & now Iraq havein turn traumatised their families & children. Such traumas echo down the generations as we've seenin Northern Ireland, Kosovo & many other trouble spots. And we're busy creating more traumas today, not only through war, butin many other ways as well. I would argue that the prevention & healing of trauma is a vital transformative action.
Writtenin clear, lucid prose, this book is easy to read & Taylor's sources are well referenced for those who want to dig deeper. I strongly recommend it.
Malcolm Hollick
(Author of The Science of Oneness: A worldview for the twenty-first century)
excellent book - By: Susan Martin, 27 Oct 2007 This is one of the most outstanding & fascintating books I have ever read. I can see that Eckhart Tolle's book 'the power of now' is based on it.Absolutely fantastic, a must read.
