Lost Civilizations & Secrets of the Past (Exposed, Uncovered, & Declassified) [ペーパーバック]

This book is a collection of 15 original essays by 16 "unofficial" archaeologists (see list at end of this review). I've read works by several of these authors, previously. The basic premise behind their works is that official archaeologists (and those in related disciplines) have some explaining to do. Officialdom simply dismisses some evidence out of hand, causing a distortion in the official historical record.

Now to be fair to the archeologists, some of the "evidence" is poor and some of the conclusions reached by "alternative" researchers simply do not hold up. Both camps make good points. But there is a strong "Not invented here" streak in the orthodoxy, and I think that's because it's uncomfortable to change established views in light of new evidence or, for that matter, old evidence.

The main value of this book is the curious reader can read the views of 16 leading "alternative" researchers without having to read 16 books. That said, I find only a few of these authors to be tedious (the presented essays, however, are not tedious; I am referring to reading book length works). Others, such as Erich von Daniken, are always a good read.

This work covers a wide range of subjects, from the pyramids to archeological scandals. One author even covers the idea of ancient nuclear weapons and raises some very hard to answer questions from the evidence.

In this book, Philip Coppens provides his theories on Atlantis. I've read (and enjoyed) Coppens before, and respect his work and his attitude toward examining the unexplained. His take on Atlantis is the first one that ever made sense to me. Normally, I will not read anything on Atlantis because of how poorly that's been done by others. When I saw Coppens' name on this piece, I read it and was duly impressed.

You may not agree with the conclusions some of these authors reach. I know I don't. But agreement isn't a necessary element for enjoying a discussion now, is it? It's also probable that you've always suspected a particular conclusion in the orthodoxy does not pass the smell test, and one (or more) of these essays will strike a chord with you. I know that's the case with me.

If you're tired of the same old weather, sports, politics topics that dominate what pass for "conversations" today, consider buying a couple of copies of this book to circulate among your friends. Then get together for a lively discussion of the implications of, for example, what Scott Alan Roberts was talking about in his essay. That kind of intellectual stimulation has many benefits including, researchers tell us, a degree of protection from dementia.

The fifteen essays take up 233 pages. They are edited, but the author's personality and style come through. The book is indexed, which pleasantly surprised me. I've decided not to include, in this review, biographical information on the authors. The book has this information, (9 pages).

The contributing authors/essayists:

William Bramley
Thomas G. Brophy, PhD
Patrick Chouinard
Philip Coppens
Erich von Daniken
Larry Flaxman
Adrian Gilbert
Micah Hanks
Marie D. Jones
Frank Joseph
Nick Redfern
Steven Sora
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Scott Alan Roberts
Freddy Silva
Paul von Ward.

NOTE: As a preface to this review, I want to make my position clear on the subjects covered. I consider myself an open-minded skeptic. I neither endorse nor condemn the material in this book. It's true that the Scientific Establishment often snidely spits dialectical pot shots at dissident scholars & writers engaged in the alternative reality genre. Some of the subjects are more complelling than others, but mutual respect should be the norm, not personal attack. On the other hand, alternative writers should stick with the scientific method rather than engage in unprovable, "intuitive" flights of fancy--otherwise their work runs the risk of being legitimately classified as fantasy, rather than reality. Science should not be used as ideology--and this applies to both sides of the issue.

LOST CIVILIZATIONS is an excellent anthology of the "ancient mystery" & "alien conspiracy" genre. It features among the best & well-known authors in the field--von Daniken, Phillip Coppens, Nick Redfern, etc. Each chapter is composed by one of the featured authors & presents individual views on a wide range of inter-connected core theories & speculation. Each & every segment is fully engaging, replete with original insights & thought-provoking information. I had that positive feeling of looking forward to each chapter.

In the first chapter "Archaeological Scandals", writer Frank Joesph presents some very interesting insights into various artifacts that legitimately support the idea that North America was not only "discovered" before Columbus, but was civilized aeons before that. One artifact is The Kensington Rune Stone which has an interesting provenace no matter how you look at it. Frank does engage in what I call "The Blame Game" in terms of deriding Establishment Science for trying to bury (pun sort of intended) possible archaeological evidence that poses a challenge to the status quo. Usually I'd take exception to this, but since this is the central theme of the chapter, I didn't let it factor into the review. It explains a lot of what I was alluding to in the preface above.

In his chapter "Paradises Lost," Oberon Zell describes the various land masses & civilizations that may have perished through the countless year's of Earth's existence(hence the plural Paradis"ES" Lost). I can't exactly say why, but I was fascinated by the author's description of Doggerland & its fate (a threat still very much on the climate change agenda for islands & coastal populations.) Perhaps it's because Doggerland's existence is less contentious than that of, say, Atlantis? Maybe I farmed there in another life? Zell also describes the Tiahuancan Empire, a very "hot" subject today.

The following chapter is "The Cosmology of the Afterlife: Hamlet's Mill, the Star-Strewn Path, and the End of Days" by Adrian G. Gilbert. Gilbert expertly describes what "Hamlet's Mill" refers to, so I leave that up to readers to discover for themselves. He also competently explains the connection of the Maya Long Count Calendar & its' relationship to astronomical precession. Gilbert explains these things in a very reader friendly manner (meaning that even I could understand them.) I really liked the idea of the metaphorical "Maelstrom" just off the Norwegian coast.

I'll wrap this up with a brief look at Nick Redfern's provacative contribution, "From the Pyramids to the Pentagon: The U.S. Government and Ancient Mysteries." I've reviewed Redfern's previous work, so the quality of the author's segment here came as no surprise. In something like 14 pages Redfern presents a virtual smorgasbord of tantalizing ideas ranging from The Spear of Christ to the possibility that the Pyramid blocks were somehow levitated into place. This author's star is definitely on the ascent.

LOST CIVILZATIONS is a keeper.

Lost Civilizations and Secrets of the Past-Exposed,
Uncovered and De-classified is a compendium of
anecdotal and scientific research aimed at explaining
important evolutionary trends and defining historical
events on our planet. For instance, the Ice Age ended
10,500 years ago at the same time a comet hit the Bahamas.
Sea levels rose 400 feet and people passed down legends
of lost continents. During the Great Ice Age, water was
locked in continent-spanning ice sheets. Sea levels
fell 400 feet. Resultingly, the Persian Gulf was dry
land up to the modern day Straits of Hormuz.

There are interesting stories of lost continents.
Mu is sandwiched between California and Asia;
whereas, Atlantis is somewhere between Florida
and Africa. Dr. Juris Zarins has done extensive
research which has lead him to believe that the
Garden of Eden is under the waters of the
Persian Gulf. Wolter discover unequivocal proof
that the Norse explorers were in the American
mid-west 130 years prior to Columbus.

In June, 1949, a pilot flew to fifteen thousand
feet of Mount Ararat. The chief photographer on
the aircraft saw a 500 foot man-made object
protruding from the southwest edge of Mount Ararat.
Astoundingly, the 3 pyramids of Giza are arranged
in a Pythagorean triangle; such that, the sides are
in a 3-4-5 ratio. The distance of the Great Pyramid
from the earth's center is exactly the same
as the distance to the North Pole.

The British astronomer Gerald Hawkins fed a total
of 7140 different combinations into a software
program. He wanted to find out which combinations
occurred as outlier points and therefore perfectly
random. Stonehenge turned out to be the only
planetary and interstellar observatory. There still
remain over 40 ways of looking at this matter which
indicates clearly that Stonehenge was a definitive
astronomical reference point. The implication is
that the reference point may be for an other-worldly
purpose. Mike Saunders found that the Stonehenge
is actually a scaled-down version of our solar system.

Lost Civilizations and Secrets of the Past-Exposed,
Uncovered and De-classified is a fascinating work
which attempts to explain the mysteries of our earth
science and other phenomena passed down through
the centuries. Some of the research conclusions make
a lot of sense. Others must stand the passage of
time and more advanced technologies to prove some
of the claims advanced in this book.

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