Product Description

The phenomenal bestseller, with more than 500,000 copies sold worldwide, now with a new epilogue from the author--The Chalice and the Blade has inspired a generation of women and men to envision a truly egalitarian society by exploring the legacy of the peaceful, goddess-worshipping cultures from our prehistoric past.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18489 in Books
• Published on: 1988-09-01
• Released on: 1988-09-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.com Review
Some books are like revelations, they open the spirit to unimaginable possibilities. The Chalice and the Blade is one of those magnificent key books that can transform us and...initiate fundamental changes in the world. With the most passionate eloquence, Riane Eisler proves that the dream of peace is not an impossible utopia. -- Isabelle Allende, author of The House of the Spirits

From Publishers Weekly
Women played leading roles in the first Christian communities; Jesus' teachings had a feminist bent; ancient Hebrews worshipped the prehistoric goddess-mother well into monarchic times; and Nazis, with their system of male dominance, were a direct throwback to the Indo-European or Aryan invaders whom they crudely imitated. These controversial ideas and findings suggest the thrust of Eisler's highly readable synthesis. She convincingly documents the global shift from egalitarian to patriarchal societies, interweaving new archeological evidence and feminist scholarship. In her scenario, as womenonce veneratedwere degraded to pawns controlled by men, social cooperation gave way to reliance on violence, hierarchy and authoritarianism. The book, despite its jargon, is an important contribution to social history. Eisler wrote The Equal Rights Handbook.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this first of a projected three-book series, Eisler covers terrain also described by Marilyn French in Beyond Power ( LJ 6/1/85) and Gerda Lerner in The Creation of Patriarchy ( LJ 7/86). In prehistorical times, Eisler argues, women and men lived together in egalitarian communities devoted to nurturance; with the imposition of male domination, female values gave way to creeds of hierarchy, aggression, power, obedience. Eisler, a futurist, posits a new society based on the recovery of more humane values. She gives us a broader reach of time than Lerner, and she does not swamp her outline in detail as French did. An imaginative and persuasive work, Eisler's effort is undermined by jargon; her view of the future is exceedingly optimistic. For a select audience. Cynthia Harrison, American Historical Assn., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

life changing
I originally read this book several years ago and it transformed my view of the world. It woke me up to the idea that the chaos and brutality of the present world haven't always existed, and did not have to exist. The evidence that Eisler presents for the existence of prehistoric partnership societies is compelling. The only possible area where the book isn't so convincing is its search for the causes of patriarchy and violence. Steve Taylor's recent book The Fall goes very deeply into the psychological roots of these problems and The Fall: The Evidence for a Golden Age, 6,000 years of Insanity and the Dawning of a New Era presents a very inspiring view of the human race's possible future.

very disappointed
I ordered the book at the beginning of February. To this day, I have not received it, however, a credit was issued for what I paid. I will hesitate to order anything else from them.

The Chalice and the Blade
This is a scholarly and insightful book about the origins of our culture, in particular the impact that the subjugation of women has had on both women and men, and how this world view, though thousands of years old, was not always held. It brings out the fact that art and invention have not been developed in a linear fashion, but have had many advances and setbacks, particularly after periods of war. Its also very readable and easy to understand. Highly reccommended.