A comprehensive critical biography of the legendary sixteenth-century astrologer examines the allure of the man and his ideas and clarifies his many famous predictions, such as Hitler's reign of terror and Watergate.

Robert wants to be a star in the movies. He has invented a system with his computer that could put the old stars back on the screen, alongside him. He has the script and the money, but Hollywood isn't keen. Could the perfect partnership lie with Ernest Fudgepacker of Fudgepacker's Emporium?

Who was Nostradamus, and what faith should we place in his predictions? This book gives objective answers. It reveals that Michel de Nostredame, a 16th-century French doctor, was more Renaissance man than arcane magician - and that his prognostications can be compellingly astute. In this edition all of the cryptic short verses of Nostradamus's Centuries appear in the original French, with new translations. Uncanny prophecies such as those of the French Revolution and the rise of Hitler are examined in detail. Here too are interpretations of the many verses believed to augur future events.Editor Ned Halley works in fields of journalism as diverse as medicine, wine and business. He takes a Plain English approach to 'a subject far too often wreathed in language that seems calculated to obscure, rather than to demonstrate, the truth'.

For the last 500 years the predictions of sixteenth-century physician and prophet Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, have been endlessly interpreted. Scholars and skeptics have hotly debated whether the 946 "quatrains" he wrote foretold everything from the discovery of electricity to the birth of Adolph Hitler, the death of Princess Diana and the attack on the World Trade Center. But while much has been written about Nostradamus's predictions and their validity, little is known of the man. This definitive biography by bestselling historian Ian Wilson reveals the man behind the legend for the first time. Tracing Nostradamus's life from his early years to his skillful treatment of Black Plague sufferers, his flight from agents of the Spanish Inquisition, and his career as an advisor to the king of France, Nostradamus separates fact from fiction and reveals a complex figure who, whether or not he could see future events, was indelibly marked by those of his own time.

The renowned prophet Nostradamus (Michel de Nostradame) was born on December 14, 1503 in St. Remy, Provence, France. Nostradamus came from a long line of Jewish doctors and scholars. His family had converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1502, as a result of persecution on the ascension of Louis the XII. After a classical education he studied medicine, herbalism and astrology. During Nostradamus' lifetime the Black Death (today known as the bubonic plague) wiped out over a quarter of Europe. It is no wonder that a sense of apocalyptic terror fills Nostradamus' quatrains. Nostradamus had the visions which he later recorded in verse while staring into water or flame late at night, sometimes aided by herbal stimulants, while sitting on a brass tripod. The resulting quatrains (four line verses) are oblique and elliptical, and use puns, anagrams and allegorical imagery. Most of the quatrains are open to multiple interpretations, and some make no sense whatsoever. Some of them are chilling, literal descriptions of events, giving specific or near-specific names, geographic locations, astrological configurations, and sometimes actual dates. It is this quality of both vagueness and specificity which allows each new generation to reinterpret Nostradamus. Nostradamus is said to have predicted his own death. When his assistant wished him goodnight on July 1, 1566, Nostradamus reputedly pronounced, "You will not find me alive at sunrise." He was found dead on July 2, 1566.

James Randi, magician and psychic investigator, sets out to expose the world of the paranormal, exploring the myths of the occult and uncovering a few psychic tricksters in the process. The book is published to tie in with an ITV series in which Randi invites psychics to demonstrate their feats.