Nicholas Clapp Livres

Many a Western outlaw was destined for a violent life and an early grave. Kid Fraser was an exception, thanks to an odd pairing of La Violetta, a beguiling wire dancer, and a poet-prospector recently sprung (or escaped?) from a Utah insane asylum. But what really set the Kid on a better path was “the strumming of string” of his homemade violin. Decorated with doggerel and inked images, it mirrored his shift from would-be desperado to kindly frontier musician. Author Nicholas Clapp’s previous books have chronicled the desert West from the time of Indian shamans through the excitement of gold and silver rushes, cause for Death Valley historian Richard Lingenfelter to praise his “delightfully and visually captivating journey through the lively boom camps of the past.” Here now is the real-life story of Kid Fraser – the Montana Outlaw – who over a century ago made that same journey, roaming from Nevada’s Virginia City to Montana’s Bannack, and then on to Arizona’s Oatman and California’s Death Valley – to finally settle in Eureka, Nevada, where he was to bring grand opera to a desert town in the middle of nowhere.

No one thought that Ubar, the most fabled city of ancient Arabia, would ever be found-if it even existed. Buried in the desert without a trace, it had become known as "the Atlantis of the Sands." Many had searched for Ubar, including Lawrence of Arabia. Then in the 1980s, Nicholas Clapp, a documentary filmmaker and amateur archaeologist, stumbled on the legend of the lost city while poring over historical manuscripts. Filled with overwhelming curiosity, he led two expeditions to Arabia with a team that included space scientists and geologists. The discovery of Ubar was front-page news across the world and was heralded by Time as one of three major scientific events of the year.

For a thousand generations, desert shamans of the far West sought order in the stars and in the mysteries and wonder of their grand, if unforgiving landscape. When summoned, they doctored the stricken, be they stoic elders or frightened little children. They conjured rains. Taking leave of reality, they rode whirlwinds and soared in magical flight. They epitomized a native American ability "to relate to the land in ways beyond a Western way of thinking." They're gone now. But there remain telling accounts of how, day-to-day, they lived: how omens foretold a shaman's destiny, how he learned his craft, how he could exercise his power for both good and evil. How a shaman could travel to the land of the dead and (hopefully) return. Drawing on the lore of a dozen tribes, Old Magic conjures the year-to-year life of a shaman - a life of service to his people, a life fraught with torment and danger, a life often taking a man or woman to the edge of madness.

From the prologue - Whether by stagecoach or ankle express, frontier writer and rambler J. Ross Browne explored the nineteenth century West and penned droll accounts of visits to Virginia City. On his first, heading east from San Francisco, he crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains into the most barren, blasted and horribly desolate country that perhaps the light of heaven ever shone upon. Hed set foot in Territorial Utah, presently to become the Territory, and then the Silver State of Nevada.

Set in the 1890s, this book explores the overlooked Mojave Desert, a vast frontier that sparked a 25-year rush for gold and silver. It details the rapid emergence of towns like Randsburg and Goldfield, driven by the discovery of precious metals, and the subsequent rise and fall of these mining communities. The narrative is enriched with rare photographs and interpretive text, capturing the tumultuous essence of this last act of the Old West as miners flocked to sites such as the Yellow Aster and the Glory Hole, only to witness ghost towns emerge as resources dwindled.

Dávné město Ubár, legendárně bohaté a potrestané zkázou za své hříchy, bylo po staletí pohřbené v poušti Arabského poloostrova. Až v osmdesátých letech 20. století, díky fotografiím z vesmíru, bylo znovu objeveno. Autor, americký dokumentarista, na základě vlastních archeologických expedic rekonstruuje tisíciletý příběh města, které Lawrence z Arábie nazval „Atlantidou v píscích“. Ubár, kdysi centrum obchodu s kadidlem, se náhle a záhadně ztratil před vznikem islámu. Prorok Muhammad v koránu použil jeho zkázu jako varovný příklad. Město zůstávalo v ústních tradicích a fascinovalo archeology, až se stalo přeludem pouště. V devadesátých letech Clapp zorganizoval expedice, které spojily moderní technologie s tradičními archeologickými metodami a umožnily město najít a identifikovat. Autor se na svou práci připravil studiem pramenů a spoluprací s předními vědci, což mu umožnilo brilantně vylíčit napínavý příběh pátrání po Ubáru a oživit obraz staré Arábie. Ubár, proslulý svými sloupy, byl nakonec odhalen jako pozoruhodné opevněné město s artefakty starými čtyři tisíce let, čímž se potvrdila jeho existence.

Die Königin von Saba - Einer Legende auf der Spur - bk1245; Aufbau Verlag; Nicholas Clapp; pocket_book; 2004

Die geheimnisvolle Stadt Ubar kannte man lange Zeit als das "Atlantis der Wüste". Aber hat es die legendäre Stadt in Arabien wirklich gegeben, oder gehört sie in die märchenhafte Welt von "Tausendundeine Nacht"? Nicholas Clapp war von der Existenz Ubars überzeugt und hielt auch die Geschichte vom katastrophalen Untergang der Stadt für eine wahre Begebenheit. Also begann er zu suchen. Nach jahrelangem Quellenstudium, mehreren Expeditionen und einigen Rückschlägen fand er tatsächlich Ubar - begraben unter den Sandmassen der größten Wüste der Erde.