PROPHETS OF DOOM
by Daniel Cohen
The Second Millennium is at hand. Aren't you just a wee bit anxious? Cohen claims that, deep down, you probably are but (probably) shouldn't be, since one of the oldest features of Western culture is the recurrent and (so far) always mistaken conviction (or sneaking suspicion) that the end of the world is nigh. The author deftly analyzes the attractions of this belief, amidst a wide-ranging discussion of omens, oracles, millennial movements, natural disasters, plagues (including AIDS), pyramidology, UFOs, mass extinction theories, and a skeptical history of prophecy and prognostication from the ancient sibyls to Jeanne Dixon and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. He barely mentions the Old Testament prophets or Asian practices; devotes an entire chapter to the life and writings of Nostradamus; and closes with a reassuring message to readers, plus a relatively hefty bibliography. Illustrations not seen. (Nonfiction. 12-15)