The Lost Book of Nostradamus

The Lost Book of Nostradamus is a difficult program to review because if one does not find the subject matter completely viable, a bias might inadvertently hinder the final evaluation. For the sake of full disclosure, let it be known that this reviewer does not believe in the prophecies foretold by the 16^th century man. With that said, the program does provide an interesting look into the recently discovered “lost book” of Nostradamus, allegedly containing the exact date of the end of the world and prophesizing modern events like the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the trials and tribulations affecting the Catholic church and many other events that happened in the last 100 years.

Whether these are true, or simple water color paintings shaped in the minds of the viewers to hold some sort of significance in today’s world is really in the mind of the beholder, yet The History Channel’s special takes a clever approach to present the viewer with one side of the issue and let the audience make their own decisions. Still, this approach is troubling because there is only one side presented throughout the two hour special. The producers decided to not including any dissenting members of the community refuting claims that the book was authored by Nostradamus. Mention is made to the fact that he might not have drawn the watercolor paintings inside, but it is firmly held that he did write the background text on which they are based. What the show ends up is a decidedly one-sided affair, which is disappointing.

The big hook of the special is the revelation of the date in which modern society will meet its end when a collection of cosmic events and constellations lining up will signal the end of human activity as we know it. Unfortunately the baiting of the audience is done far too often throughout the runtime, with each commercial break repeating the same thing over and over again, with the revelation being made two minutes from the end of the special.

Frankly, the special could have been trimmed down to an hour, chocked full of information, and still proved the same point. There’s too much exposition on lesser watercolors and how they relate today than focusing on the bigger ones (like a burning tower symbolizing the World Trade Center) or how an eight-spoke wheel and fire under a stick can symbolize the end of the world.

For fans of the prophesier The Lost Book of Nostradamus indulges them from beginning to end, but for more skeptical audience members, the information is harder to grasp and even harder when the opposing side is not represented during the course of the show.