Gateway to Atlantis: The Search for the Source of a Lost Civilization [Hardcover]

Andrew Collins (Author), David Rohl (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

A historian's investigation that may have solved one of humankind's greatest and most enduring mysteries: the location of the "Lost City" of Atlantis. More than 2,350 years ago Plato wrote of the fabulous island empire of Atlantis, which ruled the ocean as well as parts of the "opposite continent" - what we know today as the Americas - until the single "terrible day and night" that destroyed it in a storm of earthquakes and floods. For two millennia the fate of Atlantis has fascinated historians, philosophers, and explorers who have debated its reality and searched in vain for a kingdom shrouded in myth and legend. And now, after years of travel and research, Andrew Collins has gathered convincing evidence that may establish not only that Atlantis did indeed exist but also that remnants of it survive today. Collins's journey into the past follows the clues left by Plato, and they take him far beyond Crete and the Mediterranean, where scholars in recent times have located Atlantis. So do mummies in Egypt, Roman wreckage in the West Atlantic, the African features of great stone heads in Mexico, and the explosion of a comet 10,500 years ago. Collins's final destination will shock the experts and amaze all readers. "Acclaimed historian provides for the first time a clear argument for the civilization's existence and a pointer to its location." - The Express; "Probably the most substantial and well researched book on Atlantis since Ignatius Donnelly." - Colin Wilson, Daily Mail.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Proceeding from the adage that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, Collins navigates through the ancient and medieval references to Atlantis, of which not an iota of indisputable archaeological evidence has ever surfaced. He restrains credulousness in the text with conditional constructions and never imperatively claims that any particular detail proves Atlantis existed. Read the book on Collins' terms, and he proves an engaging conductor of an exegetical tour of Plato's writings about a civilization on an island in the Western Ocean that colonized bits of Europe but vanished when a natural catastrophe befell its homeland. Collins discounts the proposition that the 1500 B.C. eruption of Thera, which coincided with the decline of Minoan civilization, underlies the Atlantis story. Instead, he fields a blizzard of propositions; these, in a nutshell, propose that a Phoenician colony in Iberia might have had transoceanic contact with the Olmec and other Meso-American civilizations. Accept the what-if-ness of Collins' views, and his book may enamor imaginations sparked by the legend of lost Atlantis. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786708107
• ISBN-13: 978-0786708109
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most enjoyable work on a fascinating subject, October 30, 2000

By 

Vincent Lau - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gateway to Atlantis: The Search for the Source of a Lost Civilization (Hardcover)

The ever elusive Atlantis has never failed to arrest the imagination of many throughout the ages. In this latest and impressively researched work, Andrew Collins traverses the evidence available in order to unravel the 3 prime mysteries - whether Atlantis indeed once existed, its probable location in the modern world, and how it all came to an end.

Starting with Plato's Timaeus and Critias, Collins ploughs through a formidable mass of ancient and not-too-ancient literature to garner evidence about the lost land and its probable topography. He then applies the result with meticulous care (and with much erudite discussion in the process) to all the prime contenders for the location of Atlantis to determine which in fact is the most likely candidate for the legendary realm. He then seeks to corroborate the findings with legends from both sides of the Atlantic (in particular those from central America) as well as other more scientifically verifiable facts, such as information gleaned from ancient relics, the presence of tabacco in Egyptian mummies and some distinctive method for dyeing cotton. Having established the location of the lost Atlantis, the author completes his theory by examining the sort of catastrophe that brought about the end of the advanced civilisation there as well as the possible fate of those who managed to escape from it.

What makes this highly readable book doubly commendable is that the author has at all times followed the available evidence instead of making wild guesses and unsubstantiated propositions in order to advance his theories. Such a scholarly approach has made the discourse much more convincing than many other books written about lost civilisations. And if Collins's conclusions are not absolutely compelling, they nevertheless are very well argued and presented and warrant serious consideration by ancient historians. Besides, all those materials amassed by Collins for the book are already by themselves of great value to those interested in the subject. David Rohl's Introduction is also very illuminating and provides enlightening remarks about the methodology used by many alternative historians. A most enjoyable work on a fascinating subject. Highly recommended!

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by George Erikson, author of ATLANTIS IN AMERICA, February 19, 2001

By 

George Erikson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gateway to Atlantis: The Search for the Source of a Lost Civilization (Hardcover)

In this insightful reappraisal of the Atlantis myth Collins begins by telling us that it was not just Plato who wrote of Atlantis -- informing us that the Egyptians knew of more than one earlier rise and fall of civilization -- but that a contemporary historian, Theopompus, citing a different source, wrote of an immense continent with great cities that surrounded the outside world. Quite rightly, Collins dismisses small islands in the Mediterranean and the mid-Atlantic ridge as possible sights for the sunken continent, and he eventually concludes that the continent itself did not sink, although its coastal cities must have perished. Why? Because coastal cities of 11,500 years ago (the time given to the destruction of Atlantis by Plato) would have been built on land now 400 feet below the sea (at the end of the Pleistocene sea levels were 400-420 feet lower than at present. Where was Atlantis according to Collins? I want you to read the book. It is worth the Journey. And remember, much of the Caribbean is shallow shoal water that was once well above sea level.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the subject, March 14, 2002

By 

Frank Mclaughlin "frank mclaughlin" (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gateway to Atlantis: The Search for the Source of a Lost Civilization (Paperback)

There are two pathways to explore Atlantis. You can analyze what little empirical evidence exists or you can chase after the physic sources such as Edgar Cayce and Madame Blavatsky. This author stays entirely on the former path and has produced one of the most complete and intelligent books to examine this topic based on all the evidence that can be found. It is exceeded only by Hancock and Bauval's outstanding "Message of the Sphinx," which provides evidence for an ancient civilization by examining the writings and monuments of ancient Egypt. This book has no overlap with "Message" providing its own new insights from a different perspective.

He's done his homework, discussing Plato's writings and those of other ancient historians at length, including obscure sources for providing evidence of ancient catastrophe and contact between the Phoencians and possibly the Romans with the New World. He examines ancient Egyptian, Carthaginian, Phoencian, Greek, Mayan, Olmec, and Aztec sources. He discusses the linguistics of the word Atlantis and Antilia (ie, Antilles) and the exploration of the early Europeans such as Prince Henry the Navigator.

He concludes convincingly that an ancient civilization such as Atlantis was located in the Carribean, most likely Cuba (the Bahamas or Hispanola). The one criticism is that the narration is a bit dry, and some tangents are drawn out, making for tedious reading in places. This is a book for someone with a strong interest in finding a scientific basis for Atlantis.