49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book as fascinating as Atlantis itself..., January 15, 2004
Any quick search either here at Amazon or in google about books dealing with Atlantis will show that there's a vast number of them out there. The reason i picked this one was that I'd previously read another book by this author (Synchronicity and you) which I found mindblowing.
I was rewarded beyond my expectations. "The Destruction of Atlantis" is nothing short of absolutely fascinating.
Frank Joseph takes all the latest research results available to us, especially those that have been aided by modern technology and combines them masterfully with geological data and -of course- mythology accounts to provide overwhelming evidence not only of the existence of Atlantis but of thorough details of its civilisation and the characteristics of its inhabitants.
But more impressively, the account on how Atlantis was destroyed is hair-raising. These days it's not more a scientific crime to utter the dreaded A-word. Well, not for the most openminded scientists out there. Atlantis is being again revisited and re-researched with a vengeance by a new generation of historians, geologists and astronomers, especially those that understand the concept of looking at mythology as a definitive account of history and not a collection of allegories.
The theory presented here in entirely convincing manner is that Atlantis was located where today's present day Canary Islands are and that it was devastated by the cataclysmic force of a cosmic storm. That included the raindown of asteroids very probably originating from the Taurides. An asteroid of massive size that fell in the Atlantic was responsible for global catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. Tsunamis that rose to 300-500 meters and oblitarated not only that island but most of the coastal civilisations of Greece and Egypt coupled with powerful chain-earthquakes and intense volcanic activity resulting in millions of dead and the freezing of those civilisations. This would then account for the up-to-now puzzling gaps we have about the Bronze age era.
Atlantis itself sank really in one day and night -as Plato had described in "Kriteas"- taking down with it one of the most compelling civilisations of those times.
Reading about such an event is at the very least humbling. Inevitably it makes you think about our current arrogance as a species and the parallels with the arrogance that the Atlanteans themselves had displayed are chilling.
Frank Joseph happens to be incredibly charismatic not only as a researcher but as an author as well. Normally, books dealing with such issues are not always easy to read. Many are riddled with heavy erudite overscholarly styles and dry language, but Joseph's language and descriptive style is a sheer treat.
He provides his own account of that macabrely monumental day when Atlantis went down already in the opening of the book complete with his version of the Atlanteans trying to flee only to be engulfed by behemoth walls of water or to boil alive from the volcanoes on the island spilling surreal amounts of lava into the sea.
He then goes on to detail about the latest data we have concerning the theory he puts forward. His inevitable listing of global myths commemorating a world-deluge is absolutely necessary as it concretely shows that the "allegory approach" of such accounts is naive. The first parts of this book are already capturing but even as you reach the middle and the end of it it only gets better and more intimidating.
The idea of a cosmic disaster of such a magnitude was, is and will remain one of the biggest threats humanity has to face. Recent evidence from the crashing of comet Levy-shoemaker have emphatically demonstrated the type of danger we are dealing with and how powerless we might be against it ultimately.
But coming back to Atlantis, this issue remains one of tremendous importance as it is eventually bound to change the dogmas about ancient history in a rather uncomfortable way for those who approach history in the dry monodimensional way it has been dealt with up to now. The legacy of that civilisation is seemingly haunting in a very interesting way. It dissapeared but never really died. Its implications remain as significant as hey could ever be.
A chilling, intimidating wonderfully researched and presented book and a must for anybody with interest in "alternative archaelogy" even if that term is beginning to lose the quotation marks by now. There's nothing "alternative" about the existence of Atlantis. Nor with other even more intimidating matters. Reality was never "alternative" but it's everfascinating...
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30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very well-researched book on Atlantis, April 13, 2003
This is a very good book on Atlantis. The primary new theories in this book say that the destruction occurred around 1200 b.c., rather than around 10,000 b.c., as in the lore, also that Atlantis was an island, rather than a continent (no two writers will ever agree on anything to do with Atlantis). I am unconvinced on those two counts, but much of the research the author has brought forward is really interesting. The book starts out fine and I couldn't put it down for the first hundred pages. There's a section where Atlantis and the Great Flood is examined through various ancient myths in the world where the book slows down a little, the material is helpful, but can't help but to be repetitive. And then, in the end, in the summary, it goes back to being more involving again. There's even a section in the Bible, in Revelations, that might be a reference to the destruction of Atlantis, under a different name. Also of note, that the fair-haired Guanche civilization once on the Canary Islands claimed to be descendents of Atlantis. It even touches on the recent underwater ruins discovered off the coast of Cuba. This book takes the topic of Atlantis seriously, without bias, and is a good reference book for people that want to look for the facts so far on the subject, not be flooded with a writer's own natural prejudices. Read it, between this book and certain others, somewhere probably lies a more complete story...
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
'A Bronze Age Atlantis?', September 8, 2002
By A Customer
Frank Joseph's new book presents a well reasoned if not always flawless arguement that Plato's Atlantis existed during the Late Bronze Age in archaeological terms , being destroyed ca.1200 B.C.. His choice of dates is not entirely unique. lt was first presented by the late Jurgen Spanuth in a series of books between 1956 and 1979. several other authors such as James Baily [ 'THE GODKINGS AND THE TITANS',1973 and 'SAILING TO PARADISE',1994],J.M.ALLEN ['ATLANTIS:THE ANDES SOLUTION',1999],Eberhard Zangger [THE FLOOD FROM HEAVEN; DECIPHERING THE ATLANTIS LEGEND 1992], and Peter James [THE SUNKEN KINGDOM,1995] all accept the chronology but dissagree on the location. (actually P. James is a chronological revisionist who would reduce the date to ca.925-950 B.C.,though for the same archaeological period.) Mr. Joseph tries his best to set Atlantis where Plato appears to put it - right outside Gibraltar. Some, however, feel that he meant directly across the ocean and so in the Caribbean or the Americas. Thus, while well argued his theory will not please those who already favor another location such as the Americas or Antarctica, for example. Nor is it liable to convince anyone who thinks the story to be purely allegorical. lt is an excellent introduction to the subject for those interested but uncommited to any particular hypothesis. The proportional reduction of Plato's dates and demensions may remind some readers of the Minoan-Atlantis theory but the author is at pains to distance himself from the latter.Their ten-fold reductions had little or no ancient backing, especially where the dates are concerned. And yet the years as months solution was cited by virtually every ancient writer who dealt with Egypt, whence the tale ostensibly came.Still, many today are skeptical of the idea, particulary those that require a distantly prehitoric Atlantis. The reduction in scale is plausible but will upset literalists and 'New Agers' seeking a Paleolithic super-civilization 12,000 years ago.To Joseph's credit Plato never said nor even implied that Atlantis was the progenitor of civilization, a basic assumption of many Atlantiists. As for the issue of the scale the unit he mentions, the aroura, was a primary unit of area amongst the Egyptians but was sometimes called a stadia because that was it's circumference. The Greek stadium was a unit of length. Thus the reduction was 1/4th Plato's literal scale but it wouldve' been an easy error to make.Only if Plato made up the whole story, as the critics contend, could he have transmitted it utterly free of mistakes. Even were it basicly historical Plato might well have intentionally altered details for his own reasons. He was a philosopher not a modern jounalist! l might have prefered a bit more detail on the context the author chose but that mightve' proved too technical for most readers.Those more into psychicly obtained information like the readings of Edgar Cayce will doubtless be dissappointed here, as they won't find any flying vehicles or 'power crystals'. Others may not accept the transoceanic diffusion aspect. I appreciated the latter, however, since Mr. Joseph does edit a magazine on the subject [ANCIENT AMERICAN]. So, if your mind is open where Atlantis is concerned l highly recommend the book.l'm glad to have it in my collection.
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