- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd; 1st Edition edition (26 Oct 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224038109
- ISBN-13: 978-0224038102
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,084,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
This work suggests a solution to a mystery which has baffled scholars for nearly 2400 years - since Plato first wrote about Atlantis. It reviews previous theories and shows why they will not work. Atlantis could not have been in the Atlantic; nor was it the volcanic island of Santorini near Crete, as currently held. Through an analysis of the sources available to Plato, it becomes clear that the story of Atlantis came from western Turkey, where about 3400 years ago, a major Bronze Age city was devastated by an earthquake and submerged beneath a lake. The new theory also provides an explanation of how and why this event grew into the story of a "lost continent".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Much of this book is based on Plato's Timaeus and another part of Plato's work. 'Timaeus' was very popular in medieval times - more than most of Plato - and this fact was explained condescendingly by labelling medieval people as very silly. In fact it's a long account in 'catastrophist' mode, and makes perfect sense. PJ's solution is a kingdom or town now in Turkey, where some of the sites are huge mounds. The Atlantis legend had a long history, largely I suppose oral, and it's pleasing to find a claim to have pinned down the original disaster and its retellings and distortions. I give three stars on the principle of averaging - I'm not sure he's right.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Too much Atlantis writing is junk. This is not.
Rather than going off in search of the "whole opposite continent" and the "world ocean", James takes the 'radical' step of going to the source material. The keystone of his hypothesis is thus that as Plato was a philosopher, Atlantis should be considered as a philosophical entity, rather than a landmass.
The conclusion will disappoint Atlanteologists whose belief system needs a fantistical solution, rather than a solution (thus placing them in the same cage as the Roswellheads who cannot accept anything but a craft of extra-terrestrial origin (rather than a UFO)). And here lies the book's flaw - it does not give the Atlantis audience what it wants to read and would anyone who thinks Atlantis is hogwash be interested?
It is a pity that what is the most plausible concept is unlikely to receive as much attention as the utter tosh.
Rather than going off in search of the "whole opposite continent" and the "world ocean", James takes the 'radical' step of going to the source material. The keystone of his hypothesis is thus that as Plato was a philosopher, Atlantis should be considered as a philosophical entity, rather than a landmass.
The conclusion will disappoint Atlanteologists whose belief system needs a fantistical solution, rather than a solution (thus placing them in the same cage as the Roswellheads who cannot accept anything but a craft of extra-terrestrial origin (rather than a UFO)). And here lies the book's flaw - it does not give the Atlantis audience what it wants to read and would anyone who thinks Atlantis is hogwash be interested?
It is a pity that what is the most plausible concept is unlikely to receive as much attention as the utter tosh.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A worthwhile read. The subtitle 'The Atlantis Mystery Solved' is, I would guess, a publisher's addition. The book provides an excellent review of the Atlantic and Thera theories for Atlantis, including details of errors and oversights. The review of Plato, his context and thought (necessarily brief) is also very good. The conclusion; identifying Atlantis with Tantilis on the Turkish mainland, is interesting enough but not that convincing. Altogether, though, well argued and thought-provoking. Recommended.
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