Charles R. Pellegrino (born 1953) is an American writer, the author of several books related to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis, and Ghosts of Vesuvius. Pellegrino falsely claimed to have earned a PhD, and errors in his book The Last Train from Hiroshima (2010) prompted its publisher to withdraw it within a few months of publication.

Charles R. Pellegrino
Charles Pellegrino wearing a black print t-shirt, speaking into a microphone
Pellegrino in 2023
Born1953 (age 70–71)
Alma materLong Island University (BS, MS)
OccupationAuthor
Websitecharlespellegrino.com

Early life

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During the mid-1970s, Pellegrino earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Long Island University.[1]

Pellegrino claimed to have received a PhD in 1982 from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand;[1] the university denied that claim.[2][3][4][5] Pellegrino responded that the university had "stripped him of his Ph.D. because of a disagreement over evolutionary theory".[2] The New Zealand Herald reported that Pellegrino claimed his credentials had been restored by 1997.[4] The university investigated the matter, and in 2010, The New York Times reported that the university had never awarded him a PhD.[1]

Works

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The Last Train from Hiroshima

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In January 2010, Henry Holt published Pellegrino's The Last Train from Hiroshima, a look at the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima from the vantage of survivors.

The New York Times initially praised the book as "sober and authoritative" and as a "firm and compelling synthesis of earlier memoirs and archival material".[6] Nevertheless, a month later, the newspaper disputed claims made in Pellegrino's book regarding an accident with the atom bomb that resulted in the death of an American and the weakening of the weapon. Pellegrino conceded that he was misled and said that other editions of the book would be rewritten.[7]

In early March 2010, the publisher announced that it would no longer print or ship the book.[8] A revised edition, To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima, was released in August 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield.[9]

Bibliography

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Nonfiction

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  • Time Gate: Hurtling Backward Through History (1983)[10]
  • Darwin's Universe: Origins and Crises in the History of Life (with Jesse A. Stoff, 1983)[11]
  • Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon (with Joshua Stoff, 1985)[12]
  • Interstellar Travel and Communication (with James Powell, Isaac Asimov, et al., 1986)[13]
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic (with Jesse A. Stoff, 1988)[14]
  • Her Name, Titanic: Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship (1988)[15]
  • Unearthing Atlantis: An Archaeological Odyssey (1991)[16]
  • Return to Sodom and Gomorrah: Bible Stories from Archaeologists (1994)[17]
  • Ghosts of the Titanic (2000)[18]
  • Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections (2004)[19]
  • The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History (with Simcha Jacobovici, 2007)[20]
  • The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back Henry Holt, (2010)[21]
  • "Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy," (Foreword by Tom Dettweiler), John Wiley & Sons, N.J. (2012).
  • "The Californian Incident", Shoebox/Kindle, Canada (2013).
  • "StarTram: The New Race for Space". (with James Powell, George Maise) Shoebox/Kindle, Canada (2013).
  • To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima (2015)[22]

Fiction

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Filmography

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Re-released on October 1, 2002, as part of a 4-DVD set entitled Time Life's Lost Civilizations

References

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  1. ^ a b c Rich, Motoko (March 5, 2010). "University Rejects Pellegrino Claim in Degree Dispute". The New York Times. New York.
  2. ^ a b Rich, Motoko (March 1, 2010). "Publisher to Halt Printing of Disputed Hiroshima Book". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
  3. ^ Italie, Hillel (March 2, 2010). "Publisher halts book about bombing of Hiroshima". Yahoo News. New York: Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "University denies authors PhD claim". New Zealand Herald. March 2, 2010.
  5. ^ Schoenfeld, Gabriel (March 1, 2010). "A Career Too Good to Be True". Weekly Standard. Washington. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  6. ^ Dwight Garner (January 20, 2010). "After Atom Bombs' Shock, the Real Horrors Began Unfolding". The New York Times.
  7. ^ William J. Broad (February 20, 2010). "Doubts Raised on Book's Tale of Atom Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  8. ^ "Avatar director James Cameron defends Hiroshima author". BBC News. March 4, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  9. ^ "To Hell and Back | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  10. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Time Gate: Hurtling Backward Through History. Paperback ed. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8306-1863-5
  11. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. and Stoff, Jesse A. Darwin's Universe: Origins and Crises in the History of Life. 2d ed. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1986. ISBN 0-8306-2773-1
  12. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. and Stoff, Joshua. Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon. New York: Quill, 1999. ISBN 0-380-80261-9
  13. ^ Asimov, Pellegrino, Powell and others edited this work, which is a collection of papers from the American Association for the Advancement of Science May 1986 symposium, Interstellar Travel and Communication. See: "Bibliography." In Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski. Dyson Sphere. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0-671-54173-0
  14. ^ Stoff, Jesse A. and Pellegrino, Charles R. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic. 2d rev. ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. ISBN 0-06-092260-5
  15. ^ Pellgrino, Charles R. Her Name, Titanic: Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Robert Hale Ltd., 1990. ISBN 0-7090-4242-6
  16. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Unearthing Atlantis: An Archaeological Odyssey. New York: Vintage, 1993. ISBN 0-679-73407-4
  17. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Return to Sodom and Gomorrah: Bible Stories from Archaeologists. 2d paperback ed. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1995. ISBN 0-380-72633-5
  18. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Ghosts of the Titanic. New York: Avon, 2001. ISBN 0-380-72472-3
  19. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections. Paperback ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. ISBN 0-06-075100-2
  20. ^ Jacobovici, Simcha and Pellegrino, Charles R. The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History. Paperback ed. New York: HarperOne, 2008. ISBN 0-06-120534-6
  21. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2010. ISBN 0-8050-8796-6
  22. ^ "To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima". kirkusreviews.com. August 6, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  23. ^ Elizabeth Smith (2011). "Movies: About Lost Civilizations: Aegean – Legacy of Atlantis". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011.
  24. ^ "'Lost Civilizations' Uses Modern Ways to Tell Ancient Tales – Chicago Sun-Times | Encyclopedia.com".
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