The end of the world is nigh; or perhaps not. Gregg Braden postulates that those apocalyptic predictions of doom by seers and soothsayers slated for the millennium are merely one of a range of possible futures humanity can control. His logic is flawed and his reasoning idiosyncratic. Yet the book contains interesting ideas that make it worthy of critical consideration.

Braden, a lecturer and a guide to sacred sites around the world, believes that what he calls the science of prophecy and the sophisticated technology of prayer can now be harnessed and understood using the language of quantum physics. In the same way that scientists can show the existence of many potential outcomes for any atomic event, the author - a self-styled guru - maintains that if enough people engage in active prayer then the world can choose peace, not conflict. This is the Isaiah effect.

Much of the wisdom needed to access this power over events, according to this thesis, is contained in ancient Essene texts. Principal among these is the Isaiah scroll, one of two books by the prophet determined, Braden claims, to have been written hundreds of years earlier than any other texts discovered to date in the Holy Land. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their translation provides Braden with what he calls the magic key to our power to use thoughts, emotions and particularly feelings to steer fate in a positive direction.