Anatolii Fomenko at the End of History

This chapter focuses on the iconoclastic mathematician Anatolii Fomenko and his New Chronology of world history. Fomenko gained notoriety and vast readership in the 1990s by allegedly proving, on the basis of astronomical data, that recorded human history began a mere one thousand years ago. Fomenko and his readers view official history as a series of cover-ups and reinventions by now-discredited historical authorities. It is a claim not wholly without merit, although readers may find reasons to doubt Fomenko's corrections too. New Chronology spoke directly to the driving questions that defined the era: questions about Russian identity between East and West, and questions about the shape and direction of historical time. Despite some apparent alignment with Russian nationalism, New Chronology offered no simple answers to either question, and therein lay its success. The essence of the seeking phenomenon was in the search, and New Chronology was a prominent signpost rather than a destination.