Old Souls

Compelling Evidence from Children Who Remember Past Lives

By: Tom Shroder

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

All across the globe, small children spontaneously speak of previous lives, beg to be taken "home", pine for mothers and husbands and mistresses from another life, and know things that there seems to be no normal way for them to know. From the moment these children can talk, they speak of people and events from the past - not vague stories of centuries ago, but details of specific, identifiable individuals who may have died just months, weeks, or even hours before the birth of the child in question.

For 37 years, Dr. Ian Stevenson has traveled the world from Lebanon to suburban Virginia investigating and documenting more than 2000 of these past life memory cases. Now, his essentially unknown work is being brought to the mainstream by Tom Shroder, the first journalist to have the privilege of accompanying Dr. Stevenson in his fieldwork. Shroder follows Stevenson into the lives of children and families touched by this phenomenon, changing from skeptic to believer as he comes face-to-face with concrete evidence he cannot discount in this spellbinding and true story.

©1999 Tom Shroder (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Engrossing...The journalistic objectivity Shroder brings to his material makes this an exceptionally valuable treatment of an often disparaged subject." ( Publishers Weekly)

Misleading

If I wanted to read a debunking book, I would have bought one that was honest about what it was, I wouldn't have purchased a book called Old Souls that spent the ENTIRE book being condescending and, frankly, stupid about the subject, to the point of trying to ridicule and shame a renowned and respected expert such as Dr Brian Weiss. This insufferable jerk needs, at the VERY least, to change the title of this book to reflect what the reader is actually getting "I Look Down At The Millions Of People World-wide Who Are Stupid Enough To Believe In Reincarnation" would be a strongly recommended title for this book. If you want to spend several hours of THIS life that you can never get back enduring this pompous exploration into just how "gullible and stupid" so many people are, this is the book for you. As for me, I'm getting my money back, then I'm going to write a GOOD book about reincarnation and I think I'll call it "For People Who Are Too Smart To Buy Into New Age That's Actually called Centuries Old BS", to complete the cycle of bait and switch started by this author. This book deserves NO stars, but I was forced to give at least one. I wish I could give it negative five stars.

Poorly performed, poorly researched

Struggled to finish, narrator whines, basic misunderstanding of research principles. Uses experience as proof of experience, coincidence as proof of design.

I Felt Like the Book Would Never End

I felt like the author kept repeating himself over and over with each reincarnation case he examined. This book could have been cut by 3/4 and the story would have been a more compelling one.

made it to chapter 4 and gave up.

not at all as described. still hasnt gotten to what was described mid chapter 4.

The best book on reincarnation I’ve read so far!!

I love the skepticism that the author keeps with him throughout the book. His resistance to accepting this notion of reincarnation seems so relatable and it really lends credibility to his research. This is a fascinating book.

This book concentrates on the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson

This book concentrates on the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson, who devoted his time to interviewing children from mainly Beruit,Lebanon, various parts of India and the US, who speak about a past life experience.Tom Shroder, A skeptic journalist, got an invitation to accompany Dr. Stevenson on his last trip to witness some of these interviews. Overall, the book is interesting and was worth reading. I would give it a 3-1/2 stars but you can’t do 1/2 stars on this site.

Not what expected. For beginner in esp.

More of a book about other books and studies. Author seems to be attempting to talk reader into believing in reincarnation. I have read or heard of most of the things he discusses. Research is well done but it was dull for myself as I am always interested in new information. Intention was good but this is more for those who are trying to decide if they believe in reincarnation or who want facts to argue that reincarnation is real.

A must read for the reincarnation skeptic

I am thankful for Tom Schroder's investigative reporting into the work of life's work of Ian Stevenson into children's past lives. I must admit that this books should be read after reading Stevenson's work Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation and also peer reviews of his work.
Death and Personal Survival: The Evidence for Life After Death

Schroder provides real insight into the tireless work of Stevenson. He demonstrates how diligent approached his work, and that he approached it with great humility and curiosity.

This brings a human perspective to what I consider to be most import scientific discovery of modern times - reincarnation.

Wanted to like it more

Account of travels with Ian Stevenson was somewhat interesting but was hoping to have more facts and less anecdotes.

Don’t waste your time

It is basically just a story of traveling. Well written, but nothing like what I was anticipating.