Reviewing previous theories about the site of Plato's city of Atlantis - some fantastic, some rational - this work offers a solution to the mystery that has baffled historians and archaeologists for centuries. That solution lies in the catastrophic destruction of a late-Bronze Age civilization close to the modern Turkish port of Izmir. The author takes readers on a journey between historical sources in Greece and Egypt, offering evidence of geological disaster in the Near East, focusing on the derivation of the word "atlas", and identifying Tantalus, founder of the Hittite kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, with the ruler of Atlantis.
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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
By katyn1940
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
By A Customer
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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