Rating: 
Summary: Tour de force in search of an editor
Review: As another reviewer here noted, the intellectual content of this book is overwhelming, but the presentation is obscure at best. Santillana and von Dechend make a very compelling case for common knowledge of complex astronomy among primitive peoples worldwide, and that this understanding was transmitted through myth. For example, they demonstrate very convincingly that virtually all primitive cultures understood the precession of the equinox. Unfortunately all the references to myth-systems will keep all but the most well-read ethnologists either baffled or thumbing through the extensive appendices. This book would benefit immensely from a thorough editing job.
Rating: 
Summary: Erudition at it's finest
Review: Books are the modern repository of information. But in antiquity, it was the memory or rhetoric of a learned person. This book discusses one ancient subject which was passed on orally from generation to generation, but which only made it to currently read matter in obliquities, hence the title, named after the character from the Shakespeare play of the same name. It turns out that that story outline has been around since pre-history and has as its' purpose the transmission of the knowledge of precession, which is the regular wobble of the axis of the earth, causing our planet to move its' annual spring equinox to a differant Astronomical House every so often and which takes over 25000 years to cycle back to the first House. A knowledge of precession is the backbone of astrology and it's attendant "scientific" kin, astronomy, as well cosmology and cosmonogy, among other disciplines. But this exceedingly robust tome uses precession as a background to fire volly after volly at many targets and does so in the most erudite and spot-on manner imaginable; the breadth of the language used being delightfully lilting and requiring a keen mind and might perhaps force you to hit the encyclopedia time and again in order to keep up. The scope of the book is certainly above anything else I have ever read, and it stands as a monument to the scholarly method and to pure critical scientific endeavor. Will most likely alter your thinking pattern for good. Quite a read!
Rating:
Summary: A work of extraordinarily detailed research.
Review: De Santillana and Von Deschend have pieced together an amazing amount of data into an erudite and convincing piece of archaeo-astronomy. Their crusade in comparative mythology leads the reader to an understanding of ancient world myths way outside the mainstream of interpretation. I highly recommend Hamlet's Mill to anyone who is remotely serious about understanding and interpreting ancient myths, as well as grasping some of the more obscure Platonic concepts. It concludes with a dissertation that considers the differences between the current scientific observance of 'eternal progress', whereby humans endevour to master Nature, and the ancient scientific observance of 'eternal cycles', whereby humans endevoured to be one with Nature.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting compendium, flawed synthesis
Review: Hamlet's Mill is a lot of fun, but it is unfortunately flawed by the authors' insistence on seeing disparate myths as a coherent story rather than a set of stories that were created at different times and places and later became incorporated into more elaborate constructs. The "Hamlet story" seems to be a blend, or should I say blends, of very archaic myths concerning such things as a cosmic snake and a world tree, shamanistic beliefs in rebirth, renewal, and return, Middle Eastern astronomical musings on the wanderings of the ecliptic, and an early Indo-European myth of murder and a beer brewing vat that somehow turned into an ocean brewing vat. This last story underwent some remarkable transformations. Taken to India, it lost its beery associations and became a story about the churning of the Sea of Milk, though not before giving rise to a Taiwanese tale of a salt mill in the ocean. Taken to Scandinavia, it turned into a remarkable poetic essay on geological uniformism and a world mill that grinds out both fertile soil and sea salt, and from there into a Finnish tale about what seems to be a late Medieval mechanical gizmo of cranks and cogwheels. Taken to Britain, it finally turned into the Holy Grail.The fact that these different stories came from such diverse backgrounds is significant, because it raises a cautionary flag against trying to read too much into the fact that the same "story" can contain such diverse furniture as a wicked uncle, a starry sandal lost while crossing a stream, a dragon guarding an eastern tree, a fatal fall of snow and hail in a mountain pass, and a ship ferrying a set of cosmic weights and measures from Canopus to the ancient Uruk of Gilgamish. Hamlet's Mill is more of a starting point than a solution. At one point, the authors observe that, as soon as classical Greece comes into view, scholars have a way of thinking that everything is "explained", but then they themselves proceed to make the same mistake with regard to Mesopotamia. But, that much being said, Hamlet's Mill does introduce the reader to some fascinating strands of mythology.
Rating:
Summary: Myth and Man: A Cosmic Connection
Review: I first was alerted to this book through the less than scientific book, The Global Superstorm, by Bell and Strieber. Thier comments on this book sparked my intrests, not from the rather outlandish conclusions that Bell & Strieber drew from it, but from the idea that myth may contain astronomic data encoded in metaphor. I was able to track down the book, and I must say, it is an involved and scholary look at the transmission of human knowledge through the ages and across cultures. The book is well researched and documented and a must have for anybody looking to increase his/her understanding of the deep-human condition. While this book is not strictly speaking a lay-persons idea of an easy read <many key quotes are in latin/french/or german>, it is a great asset on the library shelf, with a much deserved spot next to Cambel and Frazier. If myth is your thing, buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Myth and Man: A Cosmic Connection
Review: I first was alerted to this book through the less than scientific book, The Global Superstorm, by Bell and Strieber. Thier comments on this book sparked my intrests, not from the rather outlandish conclusions that Bell & Strieber drew from it, but from the idea that myth may contain astronomic data encoded in metaphor. I was able to track down the book, and I must say, it is an involved and scholary look at the transmission of human knowledge through the ages and across cultures. The book is well researched and documented and a must have for anybody looking to increase his/her understanding of the deep-human condition. While this book is not strictly speaking a lay-persons idea of an easy read <many key quotes are in latin/french/or german>, it is a great asset on the library shelf, with a much deserved spot next to Cambel and Frazier. If myth is your thing, buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing treatment of mythology as coded archaic astronomy.
Review: I found this book to be an amazing analysis of world mythological systems. The authors are two historians of science that make a convincing argument (in my opinion) that myths and mythical stories are, in fact, how archaic astronomy had been past from generation to generation. They
reinterperet catastrophic mythical events as reference to the precession of the equinoxes. Mythical personage (Gods, Titans, Dragons, Heroes etc.) from China to Ancient Egypt to Greece to Meso-America are shown to be, in fact, referencing constellations and their positions as these changed due to the precession of Earth's axis over centuries.
Moreover, the authors discuss myths from linguistically, culturally, temporally distinct societies and show the astonishing commonality of names, events, and motifs. They make a cogent argument that the knowledge base of archaic people was far deeper and wider; that the archaic people have had empirical knowledge of the precession of equinoxes-a knowledge that requires at least a couple of hundred years of continuous observation to arrive at-and that they encoded their knowledge in the language of myths. This was knowledge for the elect and unlike our contemporary sciences it was not for everyone. In addition, the authors claim that these myths are tatters of an archaic World-View that placed man in an orderely universe of change. A world view whose echoes may still be heard in the Illiad & Odyssey, Shahnameh,Timeaus, Mahabaharata, and Nihon-gi.
It is remarkable that this book, first published in 1968, has not made any waves in those circles that value such
understanding. It is also remarkable that how much more convincing the author's arguments have become in the light of the discovires chronicled by E. C. Krupp in his marvelous
volume "Echoes of the Ancient Skies".
I shall never again look at the myths in the way I used to
look at before reading this book, i.e. as just-so stories.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for content, loses a star for delivery
Review: I have to agree with another reviewer here. This book is desperate for a new editor. Far too much information is listed in an "appendix" format, while the bulk of the theories presented come across confusing and disjointed. However, the scholarship is top notch. This is one of those works which was scoffed at for years until being accepted as "common knowledge" today. The basic premise involves the transmission through ancient myths of astronomical knowledge. The fascinating thing is that this astronomical knowledge is spread all over the world through hundreds of cultures. A full understanding of the workings of Precession of the Equinoxes is the main focus here, which is incredible when you consider that the precessional cycle covers a period of approximately 25725 years. The calculations necessary to chart precession should be nearly impossible for ancient people to accomplish, particularly since we've been told for years that they were barely able to feed themselves, much less have the time or patience to develop such an exacting observational science. The symbolism of myth is a direct correlation with the movements of the stars and planets, as well as a description of the workings of the Earth's wobbly axis, according to the authors. After reading this work, one line of questioning always comes to mind: How is it that peoples separated by thousands of miles and an equal number of languages always seem to refer to astronomical pheonomena by the SAME names? The Zodiac constellations are represented by the same animals the world over... how is this possible? The constellations certainly don't look like much to the casual observer or even those who were more-than-casual. How did the ancients reach the same observations if they had no contact with each other? The book doesn't answer this question, but it stares every reader in the face. The theory here is very satisfying to those who refuse to believe that ancient peoples were nothing more than savages. The scholarship is superior to most of the "alternative" historical works currently in print as well. The ideas rate 5 stars, but because of the jumbled delivery I am forced to remove a star. This is not light reading; be prepared to work hard to capture the ides presented. It's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: i've read it 3 times and still refer to it often
Review: I must admit, this book is DEEP. The first time I read Hamlet's Mill, I was confused, but my interest was sparked. The second time, I sat in awe as I mentally organized the content. The third time, I got it. This book is not for the casual reader, but for one that is ready for a shift in his way of thinking about astronomy, history and mythology. Hamlet's Mill focuses on the symbolism of Old World mythology and the transmission of knowledge through archaic language. Refering to mythologies from Sumer, Egypt, China, Japan, Iceland and MesoAmerica, it is an indespenseable addition to anyones library interested in the transmission of knowledge through symbolism. Although not organized in a very systematic way, it is by far the most comprehensive book so far written on such subjects. Main themes include the Precession of the Equinoxes, gods as constellations, World Tree as Earth's axis, Deluge as the shifting of the visible sky and much, much more. The info along with the fairly new science of Archeoastronomy should, and one day will, bring about a paradigm in thought about the notions of early civilizations and their knowledge of the heavens in realation to man on Earth.
Rating:
Summary: Intense....
Review: I noticed someone else already mentioned re-reading this book, I have been 'working on it' for a long time, originally recommended to me by a professor whom I consider to be a genious, it is very difficult, and I found myself taking notes in order to fully comprehend and draw out all of the connections being made, I have a high respect for this book, and will continue to read it for a long time, it is very informational, interesting, and belongs on every thinker's shelf.
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