Rating: 
Summary: Save your money
Review: I bought this book thinking that I would find out some great secrects about the "Tomb" or maybe even a major political conspiracy or two.....but no. I kept reading & reading & reading (I even skippen about 50 pages of worthless, extremely boring history about Yale)& never got to anything really juicy. If you REALLY want to read it, borrow it from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Secret and Nothing hidden here--So What!
Review: I found myself reflecting on what a former English professor of mine once said that "if you find yourself saying one too many so whats, then the piece you are reading isn't worth it." I found Alexandra Robbin's Secret Of The Tomb fell into this category. Her accounts of those she interviewed as well those she felt benefitted from Yale's secret society is nothing new to many of us. I felt she had not broken through the "wall of confidentiality" from those she interviewed. That is why she spent so much time on boring history from the 1700-1800's and William Russell and his admiration of a German secret society. What makes me laugh the most about Robbin's accounts of the Skull and Bones is, as a Yale graduate and member of a secret society herself, she has benefitted from Yale's elitist entitlement to power and prestige. You are better off just reading the summary of the book as it appeared on MSNBC. But then again--So What!
Rating:
Summary: Lipgloss
Review: I really enjoyed reading a used copy of "The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush" I purchased through amazon. It is fishy that there are so few used copies of this great work available. Anyway the author, Webster Tarpley, got me interested in the Order of Skull and Bones that he described as an anti-Christian, satanic cult.I have read everything I could get my hands on about Skull and Bones since then, including many internet articles of varying quality. So naturally I wanted a copy of "Secrets of the Tomb". I feel that "Secrets" glosses over the story of this strange cult. The fact that the author is a fully indoctrinated member of a similar cult is probably part of the problem. It could well be that she has been picked by "Bones" to do this fluff job to throw people off their trail of corruption. Personally I think the Brotherhood of Death is an evil organization and this book did little to change my mind. What other example do we need than that Skull and Bones members were instrumental in bringing Adolf Hitler and the Nazi's to power in Germany. Unfortunately much of the book is just detailed description of the immature antics of the children of rich heirs who used Yale as an adult daycare. ... They are never given a chance to grow up and face the world on their own two feet. This cult is just part of the social and financial umbilical cord which sustains their immaturity even into places of power, like the White House. Is it any wonder that out of their inexperience and sheltered upbringing they make drastic mistakes, fouling the economy, starting wars, etc. One example of gloss is this book's standard recitation of the story of George H.W. Bush's avenger plane crash. Webster Tarpley does a thorough job of dispensing this myth of George H.W. Bush as a hero, using the testimony of another aviator to show that it is more likely that Bush's cowardly abandonment of his plane lead to the un-necessary deaths of his crew. In a way I regret buying this book because the money did not really serve a good journalistic purpose. It did provide some useful background information but I would recommend that people interested in this topic read some of the other works available through amazon, including a used copy Tarpley's work if they can find a one.
Rating: 
Summary: Alexandra Robbin's Rise to the Top
Review: Alexandra Robbins' book is magnificent and it clearly shows she's part of a new generation of writers whose going to have a major impact on this nation in the years to come. She does a great job in exposing how powerful of an organization Skull and Bones is and how something small can affect the larger picture. The members of Congress, CIA, FBI, and other governmental departments and even the President himself are now going to be running scared because they're going to be held accountible to the American people. The book is well written and easy to follow. Alex is not only a role model for me, but for the rest of those who have dreams and goals to be the best they can be.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical Establishment hack history
Review: Much of this book covers the history of Yale and its societies and student life. How the university was founded, how the students interacted with each other in the 1700's, the different literary and other societies that cropped up and disappeared and eventually the appearance of the secret senior societies, of which Skull and Bones is the oldest and best known is covered. The author then describes the properties owned by the Skull and Bones(Deer Island, the tomb) and the impressions of Bonesmen and others of these places. She also supplies maps of the island and the inside of the tomb, as well as descriptions of the rooms in the tomb. There is also more information about tapping(recruiting) candidates, the initiation and the life of the Knights(Bonesmen when they are still in college).
This takes up about three quarters of the book. The last quarter describes the extensive network that Bones has set up and how successful it has been. It goes without saying that neither Bush could have become President based upon leadership skills, oratory ability or character. After going over thirty pages showing how Skull and Boneheads help each other out with financial aid and political or business appointments, and were in influential posts in the government, finance, media, etc., the author admits that there is an extensive network to be used if one seeks it out. The finally summary, however, left a very bad taste in this barbarian's mouth. The author states that talk about the power of Bones is just the attempt of feeble-minded people to try to make sense of the world. The fact that there is a power structure in any social organization, meaning that certain people make decisions that affect the lives of others is an undisputeable fact. The author is very aware of this and is just reenacting one of her own secret society experiences. After being accepted by her secret society, having a lavish dinner with accompanying drinks and hours hobknobing with society alumni, she and her cohorts retreated to a pizza parlor, gathered together in the dance floor and shouted, "We're in, you're not, we're in, you're not!" Seeing that she still retains this attitude and has not matured over the past few years, this reviewer wishes that the door at her 'tomb' had slammed on her neck that fateful evening!
Rating:
Summary: Not very enlightening
Review: While I wasn't looking for this book to reveal major secrets and conspiracies, the cover and introduction lead one to believe that's exactly what would happen. If that's what you're looking for, try looking elsewhere. The author extends hardly more effort in this book than she likely did for term papers at Yale. You can't get through a few pages without long verbatim quotes from other sources, which becomes annoying. Finally, at the end, after dispelling the "myth" (which she never adequately sets down) of Skull & Bones, she proposes that people believe in it because they "need" to believe. I found that more than patronizing. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money and your time, pass this fluff up...
Review: 99 pages before the author introduces the initiation into the order, and painful ones at that. I fell asleep twice slogging through the pages detailing Yales' tercentennial celebration, after being comatized by intro-to-the-intro-of-concept-of-introducing secret societies. And oh by the way, this paper weight devotes about three sentences to a possible origin explanation, claiming "not even the Bonesman really know." If I could, I would return the book based on false advertising.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Beef?
Review: Man alive this book is just lacking in fine details. If you really want to now about the Skull and Bones there are much better books out there. Just one persons opinion here, but do yourself a favor and look at the other authors that write books on this subject.
Rating:
Summary: could have been more readable, more juicy
Review: This book seemed intriguing, and promised secrets, but left me feeling unfulfilled. The writing dragged, and made the few facts i learned uninteresting. Basically bonesman helped each other out in Washington with job connections, but it seems that you need connections for most jobs, especially in Washington, whether through fraternities, sororities, alumni, friends, whatever. The book has a nice cover, but inside could use either more exciting prose or a more exciting story.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and fascinating
Review: Secrets of the Tomb is absolutely fascinating. I read the entire book in one evening -- I couldn't put it down! It was amazing how quickly I forgot that up until this book, most of what Alexandra Robbins describes were tightly held secrets, shrouded in false myths. Robbins not only did a great job of gathering the data, she seamlessly weaved it together in a way that made it feel very accessible -- dare I say normal! Secrets of the Tomb sheds light on topics that will interest a broad range of readers -- history of our nation's oldest universities, classism and sexism, deception and mystery, power and politics, and the need to affiliate and belong. This is more than a remarkable work of investigative journalism, it's a great book that's fun to read and highly stimulating.
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