The Stargate Conspiracy [Hardcover]

It's written in an open-minded way - too open minded for some. The authors look at the evidence critically and conclude that many assertions that have become almost accepted as fact (eg there are signposts of an event that happened in 10,500BC) are unjustified. The authors are clearly fascinated by the very real mysteries of ancient Egypt, but scold those who jump to untenable conclusions about them. Good mix of mystery and logic.

Well researched (despite what some say), I found that I couldn't put it down.

At first blush, it appears that the authors have really done their homework. The book is strewn with endnotes giving the appearance not so much of scholarship but of corroborated investigation. Upon closer examination, however, one soon realises that this is pseudo-investigation of a high degree. A good number of the quotes are snippets of statements, often taken out of context, from the "key works" cited. What is more, the actual number of different sources is far fewer than the sheer number of endnotes would lead one to believe. Unfortunately, in critical moments (such as the unmasking of highly orchestrated CIA activities, or the explanation of the true sources of protofascist esoterism) the work is curiously lacking documentary evidence. Many of the sources used as documentation, however, are not primary sources for the point in question, but are two or more degrees removed from the persons and events described. In other fields of investigation this is know as "hearsay" and properly acknowledged as such, but not so with the authors here. In another instance, it is almost amusing that they criticise one of their sources for failing to reveal his real thesis until the end of one of his works, yet two-thirds of the way through their own tome, one is still wondering what the actual conspiracy is. In the absence of an incisive, syllogistic logic, it would appear that an emotional logic will do. Occam's Razor is the model of theorisation that has long withstood the test of time. It is, however, the test that Picknett & Prince fail most often. Where simple explanations of everyday psychology, the natural curiosity of human beings, or the mundane capacity of human beings to err, the zeitgeist of post-McCarthian America, the overzealousness of science toward anything fringe, or the like would have sufficed, we find (almost grotesque) machinations of singularly minded, borderline-sinister individuals whose most grievous shortcoming was that they happened to be in similar world-wide organisations at different times or, worse, they ended up someplace they didn't particularly want to be. (As a draft avoider many years ago I ended up in the military anyway, yet ironically enough in military intelligence - one of the arch-enemies in this book - so I suppose, I, too, am guilty of being part of this conspiracy, at least by association, for as the authors repeatedly imply: presence is proof of guilt.)

Whether there really is something to this alleged conspiracy, I suppose we shall never know. The authors in their rush to judgement have succeed in so clouding the issue that a good number of others will have an exciting, if not difficult, time sorting it all out ... or maybe not, for it could just be that there is not all that much here worth investigating. Based on the lack of actual substance in Picknett & Prince's work, this latter alternative may be the more viable.