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Title: Underworld : The Mysterious Origins of Civilization by Graham Hancock ISBN: 1-4000-4612-2 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.86 (22 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Some brilliant ideas, some wild digressions
Comment: I am a fan of Graham Hancock, having fallen in love with his books on ancient civilizations. I was so eager to read UNDERWORLD that I sent away to Amazon.uk for it. What I received was an 800-page tome that stirred the mind as well as put me to sleep.
To summarize, Hancock theorizes that the end of the Great Ice Age ended with vast areas of precious real estate innundated by seawater. These often were coastal cities settled by civilized members of the Indus, Japanese, Maya and other cultural groups. The theory makes a great deal of sense, especially in light of the amazing findings a Russian submarine research vehicle has been finding off the coast of Cuba.
Surely, all combined, the vast, lost areas of Africa, South Ameerica, Asia and other continents could more than make up for a lost Atlantis. So, Hancock dives, searching for a lost civilization that all that traditional archeologists have ignored.
This is fine work, until Hancock gets bogged down with incredible details. We slog through a boring discussion of whether molars on Malta were Neolithic or not. We meander around India, never quite getting to the bottom of what lay between Ceylon and the mainland. Hancock swims over the famous Bimini Road in the Bahamas only to leave undecided whether the formation is natural or man-made.
To make matters worse, the usually fine photographs by Hancock's wife Santha Faiia are so murky and indistinct that it's impossible to make up one's own mind.
Hancock's done an impressive bit of scholarship here. And I'm glad he's dropped his previous pet notion that Antarctica was Atlantis that somehow "slipped" to the bottom of the planet. I only wish the book weren't so mired in trivia and digression. A good editor could have trimmed this book by more than half and produced an exciting, revealing work of nonfiction.
Rating: 2
Summary: 25% of what I expected..buy it on the bargain table!
Comment: I have read all of Graham Hancock's books more than a couple of times and his writings have turned me on to other topics and authors. This one is a dud....sorry. I even paid full opening day price. The beginning about the close of the last Ice Age, land mass change, rising water and early civilization was great. It gave me what I want from his books, to spark thought. Then, he dives deep into detail of the spoken texts of India, his travels, BBC 4 issues, learning to dive, tricky tides, ancient map makers, and more travel issues. Then it becomes 400 pages of endless speculations of sunken structures in Japan and the Far East...blah, blah, blah...you lost me. I like the idea but it is not worth 300+ pages...it should have been 50 pages with some thick facts. Fingerprints of the Gods was filled facts, I would read that again. Also, Graham if you are reading this, what is the deal with mentioning 20 places in the book over 4 pages and having a weak half page map with 2 cities listed on the map??? More detailed maps...I should not have to use my own reference maps of India.
Rating: 4
Summary: Discover "Lost" Cities/Monuments (Natural Wonders?)
Comment: Graham Hancock got my undivided attention with "Fingerprints of the Gods". He has won my continued interest by writing and researching ancient and mysterious civilizations. The "new" location of his research is underwater, off shore in the Meditarranean, India, and Asia, i.e., Taiwan and Japan. He *does* includes some references to fascinating "finds" in the Caribbean, the Bahamas and a recent site discovered near Cuba. His writing style is most engaging and so is the subject matter.
I enjoy his ability to include 1) solid scientific evidence to back up his theories, 2) diaries he kept while exploring underwater sites, 3) a photo journal of monuments and structures (whether natural or man-made is yet to be determined) by his wife, 4) descriptions of what he actually sees, 5) ancient maps of the "old world", and 6) "inundation" computerized maps (scietific but limited) of what the world would have been like *before* the flood which occured after the Ice Age. Graham Hancock does a phenomenal job of describing how he got started in this research and he does a superior investigative report supporting his main theory, that many civilizations/ancient cities were wiped out worldwide due to the floods that occurred approximately 11,000 years ago. He and his wife learned to dive just so they could view first hand, the objects of their theories and research.
Initially, I was impressed that this was a 700+ page book. I found the first three parts of the book fascinating reading, fairly easy to get through. However, by part 4, I was tired and slowing down. When I got to part 5, I had to force myself to finish the book. I am glad I did *not* give up. It was very much worth learning about stone monuments found near islands owned by Japan. The monuments are either natural, man-made, or both - as of yet, the "experts" are uncertain. Most astonishing are Graham Hancock's use of "inundation maps", maps developed by computers, from scientific data fed into them, such as, how high the water levels rose after the ice melted, etc. Today's computerized maps are compared to existing ancient maps, such as, "the 1424 Pizzagano chart", the results that are quite similar. For this alone, Graham Hancock deserves recognition by the scientific community and serious consideration for his theories. This is a highly recommended book, although in all honesty, it becomes tedious reading about half-way through. However, it is well worth finishing once you get started. I hope the US Public Broadcasting System (PBS) buys the "Underwater" UK TV film series of Graham Hancock's dives and searches - to view them would be awesome. Erika Borsos (erikab93)
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Title: Heaven's Mirror : Quest for the Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock ISBN: 0609804774 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 26 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Fingerprints of the Gods : The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock ISBN: 0517887290 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 02 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Message of the Sphinx : A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind by Robert Bauval, Graham Hancock ISBN: 0517888521 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 27 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Mars Mystery : The Secret Connection Between Earth and the Red Planet by Graham Hancock ISBN: 0609802232 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 07 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age by Charles H. Hapgood ISBN: 0932813429 Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Press Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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