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Rating: 
Summary: Cheap
Review: The reason for the word cheap is that this book contains a bunch of summaries from other books and little of the authors own thoughts.... I used to do this trick in 4th grade to get out of doing alot of work coming up with my own ideas... Im 17, my dad got me this book and I regret that he had to pay so much for it.... It contains a lot of information that is verry difficult to apprehend due to jumping from subject to subject... But basicaly this book contains the summary's of many books.... I would rather read a book focused on one subject, not a book that contains the opinions of many.... Overall it was Ok.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Job!
Review: I am an avid reader of ancient history and ancient theology and found Will's book, The Genesis Race', to be an informative example of what many see in the world relative to ancient writings. For the beginner, and the seasoned alike, this book brings forth the ideas and theories many of us are in search of. It is a great book to have on the shelf when others ask, 'What is our past?' Thanks Will, keep up the good work!
Rating: 
Summary: For beginners only!
Review: I'll make this real quick. This book is basically a re-hash of existing material written in greater depth by others, such as Zechariah Sitchin's series of books starting with the "12th Planet". This book really isn't even good enough for beginners on the subject, as the author jumps from subject to subject with little continuity. This is at best an appetizer for the main course.
Rating:
Summary: For beginners only!
Review: I'll make this real quick. This book is basically a re-hash of existing material written in greater depth by others, such as Zechariah Sitchin's series of books starting with the "12th Planet". This book really isn't even good enough for beginners on the subject, as the author jumps from subject to subject with little continuity. This is at best an appetizer for the main course.
Rating: 
Summary: Many directions leading to another view
Review: Not a new theory--that we are the result of extraterrestrial visitations at the dawn of civilization. Hart's story generally mirrors Zechariah Stitchin's and Erich von Danigan's beliefs. However, the book is anchored less in specific myths and takes a more thoughtful and general approach. Hart comes at the issue from many directions, contending that "cultural darwinism" does not explain the spotty, but nearly simultaneous,leaps toward civilization occuring in China, Mesopotamia, India and the New World. The Extraterrestrials, he believes, are basically like us, not ET. He says nothing regarding where they originate or why they came. He misses the obvious alternate theory, that "superior humans" who founded these civilizations are remnants (or returnees) of prior civilizations destroyed by cyclic cataclysms. A good book pulling together a lot of facts in a reasonably compact space.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking alternative history
Review: The author discusses the concept of myth, with reference to Sumeria, Babylon and Troy that turned out to have been real, and the Great Flood, a myth which is found in more than 200 cultures around the world and may be based on events during the end of the last ice age.He looks at ancient Sumeria, Mexico and Peru and discusses the advanced mathematics of these so-called primitive peoples. Ancient Egypt and Mohenjo Daro are also investigated, as is the sudden appearance of domesticated plants and animals. The sections on metallurgy, ice ages, cataclysms and the mysterious Civilization X are never less than gripping, as is his discussion of chronological cycles, the Maya calendar and our possible cosmic ancestry. Hart reaches the same conclusion as Von Daniken and Sitchin: humanity is the result of a genetic cloning experiment by an advanced race that lived among their creatures in ancient times. The Genesis Race provides fascinating reading and those who enjoy this book will also benefit from reading the works of Zecharia Sitchin.
Rating:
Summary: Bogus evidence
Review: This book is nothing original (Chariots of the Gods covered some of this before). The author really thinks he is going to be more impressive by quoting some actual scientific facts (like the number of genes we have as opposed to the number a fly has). He also picks on Darwin's theories and talks as if late 20thcentury conventional scientists completely turned against Darwin's theories. Realize this people. Darwin died over 120 yearsa ago. Of course some of the stuff he said about evolution wasn't going to be true. But a hell of a lot of it was. Many conventional scientists now realize Darwin was certainly partially right and furthermore disbelieving a couple of Darewin's many evolutionary theories doesn't mean a scientist is against evolution in general.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written, intriguing, imaginative, but fatally flawed
Review: This is a work of fiction and an entertaining one at that, for I did enjoy this book and the possibilities that it tried to present. Ultimately, however, it fails due to some specific errors. Many facts seem to have been borrowed from von Daniken and Sitchen, and entire paragraphs seem to have been paraphrased from these other authors. (Which one would never know unless one had read those specific books). The tenet of this book is that singular Yahweh-God (omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent) did create the universe, Earth, and life, but that advanced alien Elohim-gods (humanoid) genetically engineered homo sapiens sapiens. The author's interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2 is intriguing in this way, but it just doesn't make sense. The author treats writing, the wheel, domesticated animals, building of cities, channeling of water, and basic metallurgy as magic gifts from these Elohim-gods to the Sumerians (the first advanced civilization on Earth that we know of). But the author fails to take into account that much can happen over a period of 4,000+ years! He assumes that going from hunter-gatherer to city-building (with the other associated technologies) is too extraordinary to have come about on their own, so aliens MUST have helped them. Come on, it was 4000 years at least from the earliest discovered hunter-gatherer settlements to the Sumerians (based on modern archaeology). If you look back on our history just 200 years ago, no one would have dared believe what our civilization has achieved today. Walking on the Moon? Preposterous. 4000 years is not too long a time at all for hunter-gatherers to gradually discover brass, tin, iron, the wheel, animal domestication, and the like. These are very primitive technologies. If advanced aliens were involved, wouldn't they have given these humans more? If one is going to influence a primitive race, why stop with writing and agriculture? Why not give them TV and video games? After preaching up the fantastic qualities of the Sumerians, the author then proceeds to destroy them with the even-better Egyptians, which presumably came about from Sumerian emigrants? I don't know, but supposedly Egypt conquered Sumeria and absorbed it. If the Sumerians had help from the gods, I guess the Egyptian gods were more powerful. The problem with the story so far is that the author doesn't spend enough time with the Sumerians, which would have been the key to the book, and quickly jumps into the Egyptians, Mayans, Chinese, and so on. Von Daniken has already done Egyptian pyramidology and the like, we don't need more of it. I wanted concrete examples of fantastic things the Sumerians did, but ultimately, the author fails to convince. What cannot be done over a period of thousands of years? This is a recent book, November 2003, and yet the author does not seem to know some of the latest findings in Egyptology which pretty much put Von Daniken and the rest out of business. The Egyptians surely did not quarry, smoothen, move, and place 75-ton blocks. Absolutely impossible and ludicrous. We cannot do that even today. They discovered the secret of concrete and literally built their stones on-site. Scientists have proven that the blocks of the great pyramid were fashioned, not quarried, by using penetrating radar (or some other technology) to measure the consistency of the blocks. This showed extremely consistent material throughout, which one would not find in naturally occurring stone. It would also explain how the Egyptians were able to make their stones so smooth and fit so precisely. The great pyramid is made of concrete, folks. (I don't have references, just look this up on the Web, I saw it on Discovery Channel). This is how the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid in an estimated 20 years. That the author did not take this into consideration further shows that he borrowed most of his research from Von Daniken and Sitchin, which are not up to date. Yes, the Great Pyramid is also "amazingly" situated perfectly due north. Not really. It's a few degrees off true north, which means the Egyptians were using a particular star for due north (we know this from drawings the Egyptians made, and they documented this very much). That original star (not the north star that we know of today) has moved a certain amount in the interim and is no longer due north. By calculating that movement using modern astronomy, it shows that the great pyramid was situated at due north about 4600 years ago around 2600 B.C.(here I do have some references, read it up at http://www.metrum.org/measures/dimensions.htm). This date corresponds with archaeological dating methods. Modern science verifying archaeology and explaining the building technology. Why do we need aliens now? Another mistake the author makes is in presuming that Neanderthals were genetically inferior to humans. Recent studies have shown that Neanderthals are genetically identical to modern humans. Yes, they had some minor differences in appearance, but no more so than we have today. If these Elohim-gods really developed on another planet, were a million years ahead of humans, and travelled all the way here to Earth, why would they genetically engineer the hominids, give them some basic technology, and then abandon them? The author suggests that these aliens lived among the humans, interbred with them, and over time simply died off, leaving their offspring intermingled with humanity. This was perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book, and was intriguing, but again, the author failed to convince. Taking a few references out of the Bible is not enough. It is all complete speculation and heresay. So, in summary, I enjoyed the book as it piqued my interest in the pre-historic world, but it completely falls apart by even a well-read layman such as myself. I might have enjoyed the book better were it even remotely believable, but you don't need aliens to build a pyramid out of concrete, and you don't need aliens to invent the secrets of writing and farming. I cannot recommend it to any Christian friends since the author blasphemes God in a terrible way out of utter ignorance of the scripture ("Let US make man in our image" refers to the Triune God, the Trinity of Father/Son/Holy Spirit, not to a race of aliens). Almighty Yahweh-God created everything, but it's really the humanoid Elohim-gods who planted the Garden of Eden and created humans in their image? Not at all. Jahweh is "GOD" in whole, while Elohim reveres God's triune nature. The author is just showing his lack of understanding the scriptures. Genesis 2 is, in fact, describing Genesis 1 in more detail, from a new point of view. For more on this point, read Hugh Ross' book The Genesis Question, which was very helpful for me to quickly deduce the flaws in The Genesis Race. 3 stars for writing a work with entertainment value at best (and for tempting me to believe the possibilities).
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