Customer Reviews

The Atlantis Secret: A Complete Decoding of Plato's Lost Continent

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Alan Alford has created an intellectual paradigm shift of such domino falling proportions with his books that it will probably take a decade at the absolute least before WHEN THE GODS CAME DOWN alone becomes recognized (or ignored) for the incredible service to world culture it is. THE ATLANTIS SECRET, focusing on the myth makying power of the ancient stories of Atlantis, builds upon this foundation brilliantly.

We can read all of the New Age book work, New Perspective Archaeology, Popular Psychology and much of the scientific innovative literature so popular today in one or more of three contexts: the socio-economic (regarding cultural trends and publishing houses), the cultural/psychological reaction to technology and the Information Society, and one powerful other. That third one is simple, and is the unifying belief, stated or unconscious, of every author: regardless of the specific message of the individual book, we are witnessing the dawning of a future world where all our existential questions of spirituality, communication and those of the multi-discplinary sciences meld into one unified linguistical system of an answer. Alan Alford reveals in all of his books that that grand idea, generating such spiritual hopes for the future of the human species, is the mental architecture upon which the past 6000-plus years of human civilization is already based.

In THE PHOENIX SOLUTION, Alford took a radical approach to the decoding of Egyptian religion and mythology to reveal its scientific underpinnings in a way unlike literally anyone before him. He said that the foundation of Egyptological thought and religion lay in their scientific theory of the evolutionary growth process of our entire solar system. Much of the foundational myths, gods and goddesses, he showed, symbolize the theorized outer planets of eons past and their process of raining meteoric bits of proto-life onto our Earth upon their explosion; effectively "seeding" our planet with the beginnings of new life unlike ever before. This foundational solar system-view, not just world view, generated the entire religious philosophy, scientific study, cultural practices and art of the culture for more than three thousand years.

WHEN THE GODS CAME DOWN is Alan Alford's masterpiece in my opinion. Building on the Egyptological revelations of PHOENIX SOLUTION, he showed in the most remarkable scientific, archaeological and literary fashion how this foundational concept of the evolution of our entire solar system is the generating principle behind not just Egyptian religion but ALL ancient myth and religion; from that of Sumer to Babylon; Memphis to Peking; Athens to Jerusalem. He then showed how the great teachers of every age, like Socrates, Plato, and (yes) Jesus, were lauded as such because they knew, mastered and shared this foundational concept of truth in the context of its specfic cultural, linguistic and psycho-mythic implications--though they still did so in such a way that only the most knowledgeable and spritually initiated would fully grasp its implications. In short, Alford reveals the one sublime, ancient religion UNDERNEATH the many modern world religions as we have come to know them, in their "dumbed down" form; from Christian fundamentalism to Ancient Astronaut/Extraterrestrial fundamentalism. In so doing, he reaffirms the majesty and metaphorical human truth within them all.

With THE ATLANTIS SECRET, however, he takes this paradigm-shifting theory and focuses it, like a laser, onto the mind of Plato. In so doing he reveals what may be the greatest theory explaining what Plato was actually trying to tell the world in the TIMAEUS that we have yet heard. Through which, he reveals what may be the actual anthropological/scientific foundation for the entire philosohpical history of ancient Greece--and, by default, our modern world.

My test for the far reaching influence and power of any theorist--particularly of the wannabe revolutionary kind--is three-fold. One, their theory must be completely plausible; i.e. not needing simple revolt from detractors and complimentary but poorly explained aspects of ITSELF to proclaim and rationalize its essential relevance. Two, it must have the ability to completely encapsulate the foundational principles, concepts and findings of the other competitive theories as a part of its own. And third, perhaps most important of all, it has to excite me. There may be things my mind will not be strong enough, educated enough, mutil-lingual enough or quick enough to pick up, but you cannot fool my heart.

THE ALTANTIS SECRET, far from being out of print, continues to catch the attention of highly regarded academics for a reason: it passes all of these tests equally well, in a way that will change those who revere the achievements of ancient Greece forever.

Not everyone is ready for a book like this. It answers more questions than it raises. You will probably have to read it twice to fully grasp it all. But try reading it, and looking at anything regarding culture, religion, the spirit and scientific news the same. I cannot recommend it enough.

The author of this book has revealed to the reader a new light on the myth of Atlantis. Reading the previous review I was disappointed to see how D. Hill felt.

Much like the scriptures in ancient mythology to the Biblical Canon, mankind has taken it upon themselves to analyze every line of this literature and take every word literally. Alan Alford attempts a new approach, explaining that Atlantis may in fact not be a real island but instead a story and only a story (I do not wish to spoil the material to the potential buyer).
A. Alford continues on attacking alternative and orthodox beliefs (and research) of Atlantis, claiming the individuals to only take Plato's writings on the location and size of the island while also ignoring the war and the mythology of the people during the time.

For the mythical island seeker, I would highly recommend this book. It is not a disappointment as D. Hill claims it to be.

The Atlantis Secret is still in print and prospective purchasers should not be put off by the misinformation in the first review.
My first review of this book back in 2001 read:
"As usual, an excellent piece of work! Frustrating because once again you demonstrate what should be blatantly obvious to all of us, yet we have remained blind to the facts. The Atlantis Secret was a little different in one respect though - this time I was unsure of the final outcome until the very end, I spent my time saying "yes he is", "no he's not"! It was also nice to be taken through Greek mythology with such ease - you have clarified much that confused me years ago when I first read Plato and Socrates. I am sure that your series of books will one day be classified as groundbreaking classics."
I stand by these words.
Interestingly, Mr Alford does indeed "pile fact upon fact" hence the rather helpful summaries at the end of each chapter, a tool that is used to good effect throughout all Mr Alfords works.
Mr Alford also makes it very clear on several occasions that Plato intended his story to be taken as "truth" but in a mythological/spiritual sense in the same way that religions use parables to demonstrate spiritual "truths" but not factual truths.
The following quote is from the official website: "In this way, Plato's story of Atlantis may be seen as a `true story'. For the ancients sages believed that the myth of creation was an absolutely true account of how the Universe had been brought into being."
Contrary to the views of DHill, Mr Alford does spend a considerable amount of time and effort researching his material as The Atlantis Secret demonstrates through his thorough knowledge of the works of Plato and others of that ilk.
I highly recommend reading The Atlantis Secret to all who are interested in a comprehensive and alternative view of Atlantis. In my opinion, not to be missed!

I am sure this fascinating book is a very valuable contribution to the vexed question of Atlantis; if Alan Alford is right about Atlantis being a metaphor for a creation myth, we may ask what use is this other than it was Plato's rather imaginative idea? If it conceals a truth, how can we possibly know? Where would this deeper "knowledge" have come from, if not from direct witness of the fact? If as Alan Alford suggests, it was a deduction from empirical evidence this seems very unlikely when those societies did very little empirical deduction but seem to have based their beliefs on magical associations. Where would such knowledge have come from? Also, what was the golden race of men that Plato seemed to be so sure of? are there deeper mysteries concealed in this enigma?

The idea that Alan's work is not thoroughly researched is absurd or even fatuous. In this book and others he shows that he has covered a huge amount of ground. He is absolutely not a new-age fantasist. His ideas may be unusual but they are well-argued, well-grounded, and may even be ground-breaking. For academics to support his work publicly is a clear indication that he has solid ground beneath his feet, and personally I found the book not only clear, thought-provoking and involving to read, but cogent and detailed, and approaching the subject from a refreshingly new angle, that is potentially mind-opening. Plato's association with mystical ideas belies that fact that an important part of the argument is that Plato intended the story to be true in a mythical sense, because ancient myths were generally regarded as being true accounts of the origins of the cosmos! By the way, I believe this book is not out of print as one other reviewer has mentioned.

I feel sure that Alan Alford is looking in the right direction; maybe Plato did know something but learnt it from Pythagoras, who perhaps gained it from Egypt. On an intuitive level I found this interpretation of underworld birth of planet-gods fascinating. Firstly, it provides an integrated understanding of religious myth, and thus
prevents our minds from being fogged by the dogmatic assertions of quasi-religious cults. Secondly, as the author says at the end of the book, he believes that Plato's works contain a secret message. Atlantis being a metaphor for a creation myth does seem very plausible and certainly the evidence is now there clearly, thanks to this book, which may even hold an intuitive key to something far more profound.
I hope you will read it and see for yourself!

A great disappointment. The author of this book did next to no research on this book, merely expresses his opinions, and still manages to drone on for some four hundred tiresome pages. His thesis is essentially this: Plato never meant for his story of Atlantis to be intrepreted as truth (even though, in his dialogues, he does say several times that it is true), and that Atlantis and the mythical underworld, Hades, are one in the same. This would be interesting, could even be interpreted as a new look, but the author does such a poor job of making his case, even in this thick tome, that everything on these pages gradually becomes suspect. Rather than fact piled up upon more fact to make a stronger case, opinion is piled on top of more opinions. The bombastic tone of this book becomes evermore irritating (you will get tired of the author's constant suggestion to 'see his earlier works'), and believe it or not, at the end of each chapter, there are summaries about the chapter's 'ground-breaking' contents. This would be useful in a good book about Atlantis, it comes across as popmous and self-serving in this one.

Professor Christopher Gill also lends his learned talents in the introduction that praises this book (it's respectable for a scholar to appear in any book decrying Atlantis), although this book caters towards the fantastic in such a bad way that one wonders why any academic would want to be associated with it at all. Disecting Plato word for word might be a good exercise, but this author is not the one to do it. Alan Alford is the Rush Limbaugh of the pseudo-archeology set, and, if this book is any indication of his other books, there is no reason at all to 'see his earlier works.' This book is justifiably out of print at the moment. My edition has a nice cover and, at four hundred some pages, something in there must make sense, so I will hold onto it. If you can't find a copy, just imagine your worst college professor, a stalled elevator, him trying to tell you all his theories, and there you will have this book.

A most thought-provoking and interesting read. I found Alan Alford's hypothesis to be very plausible and well-written. I think Christopher Gill's Foreword was spot on. I would also like to point out that 'The Atlantis Secret' is not out-of-print, as D. Hill claims but should be readily available.

Alan does it again! The Atlantis Secret is once again an amazing product of the mind and exhaustive research of Mr. Alford. His ability to convey information that detracts from conventional thought is not only genius but also ground breaking. This book is a great asset to the library to anyone interested in Atlantis and I highly recommend it! It should also be happily noted that this book is still available for purchase. This book will truly turn a reader into a fan of Mr. Alford and encourage them to explore his other wonderful books!

The author of this book has revealed to the reader a new light on the myth of Atlantis.

Much like the scriptures in ancient mythology to the Biblical Canon, mankind has taken it upon themselves to analyze every line of this literature and take every word literally. Alan Alford attempts a new approach, explaining that Atlantis may in fact not be a real island but instead a story and only a story (I do not wish to spoil the material to the potential buyer).
A. Alford continues on attacking alternative and orthodox beliefs (and research) of Atlantis, claiming the individuals to only take Plato's writings on the location and size of the island while also ignoring the war and the mythology of the people during the time.

For the mythical island seeker, I would highly recommend this book.

As has been mentioned by others here, Dhill757 suggests that The Atlantis Secret is NOT available. [...]

Re: the contention that Alford supplied no new research. Historically, the average Alford book has 50 PAGES (that's PAGES) of bibliography/footnotes. In fact, there is also information IN the footnotes themselves that basically make them readable in their own right. The Atlantis Secret also has 50 PAGES of biblio/footnotes.

The symbolic interpretation of Greek "mythology" (Alford thoroughly covers the whole concept of myth) as being related to meteorites (or exploded planets) is quite convincing based on the plethora of evidence for it.

When Alford suggests seeing his earlier works it is only to offer a more thorough view of the meteoritic symbolism used in ancient cultures. IOW, one need not read any of his earlier works to understand the thrust of the Atlantis Secret.

As far as some thinking that Alford is the Rush Limbaugh of the pseudo-archeological set, based on the what Alford has undertaken (mythology AND religion), he would have been hard pressed to pick a more difficult subject area to make headway within. We're on delicate ground here based on the subject matter but Alford proposes a very satisfying and unifying approach to our ancestors' belief systems. For no other reason than that, The Atlantis Secret is a very useful piece of research.