During the 16th century, a Frenchman named Michel de Nostredame wrote a series of one thousand four-lined verses called quatrains. These quatrains were marketed as predictions about the future.
Over the four hundred and fifty years or so since Nostradamus's death, the belief in his powers of prophecy has grown. There are now millions of people worldwide who have an interest in this man as a prophet and what he foretold would come to pass.
Says the author, "This book re-examines the writings of Nostradamus. It challenges long-held beliefs and concludes that he was not able to see the future. This is achieved by looking at the earliest surviving copy of these verses and understanding what they relate to in reality. The book shows that Nostradamus used contemporary people and events as a major source of his quatrains. In addition to this, he used material found in a wide variety of works from the ancient world, the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages. His other prominent source was his knowledge of occultism. The book attempts to show Nostradamus's writings in their proper historical context by giving an explanation, in detail, for each of remaining 942 quatrains." Nostradamus: Killing the Myth offers a provocative look at this enigma of the Renaissance.
First-time author Mark Harrison grew up near York, England. He is currently working in Germany for a private school teaching business English for corporate clients. He is also an English oral examiner for Cambridge University. His second book is in the works.
Publisher's Website: http://sbpra.com/MarkHarrison

Mark Harrison is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He holds a PhD in Chinese Studies from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is co-editor of the Brill Taiwan Studies Series and an Expert Associate of the National Security College of the Australian National University. His work on Taiwan has appeared in the International Journal of Taiwan Studies, Thesis Eleven, in edited volumes such as Re-writing Culture in Taiwan and in other publications.