The Path of the Pole [Paperback]

Charles Hapgood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Hapgood's tour de force is back in print! This riveting account of how Earth's poles have flipped positions many times is the culmination of Hapgood's extensive research of Antarctica, ancient maps and the geological record. This amazing book discusses the various pole shifts in Earth's history-occurring when Earth's crust slips in the inner core-and gives evidence for each one. It also predicts future pole shifts: a planetary alignment will cause the next one on May 5, 2000! Packed with illustrations, this book is the reference other books on the subject cite over and over again. With millennium madness in full swing, this is just the book to generate even more excitement at the unknown possibilities.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Hapgood, who is now deceased, was a distinguished author (Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, Adventures Unlimited) and researcher.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Pr; 1st Printing edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932813712
• ISBN-13: 978-0932813718
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

174 of 182 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars In Print AT LAST! October 10, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

At last Charles Hapgood's book on earth crust displacement is available for everyone to read. The book, which has been out of print for nearly two decades, is the fundamental statement of his theory. Having corresponded with Hapgood for the last five years of his life I know how pleased he would be to see his book back in print. Also, having read the nearly two hundred pages of correspondence between Albert Einstein and Hapgood, I can say that most of the issues the two men discussed are contained in PATH OF THE POLE.

However, the description of the book given here is way off base. Hapgood NEVER predicted another earth crust displacement in the year 2000. This is NOT his theory. In his last letter to me, just weeks before he was killed in an automobile accident, he did write that he thought another crustal displacement would occur but not for THOUSANDS of years. Charles would also object to the new subtitle (Cataclysmic Poleshift Geology). First of all, Hapgood thought that each earth crust displacement took as much as 5,000 years to complete (a point upon which we disagreed) so his theory wasn't "cataclysmic" in the sense that the word is used today. Nor would Hapgood have used the term 'poleshift' because it confuses the reader into thinking that the earth's axis is altered (it is only the outer shell of the earth's mass that is shifted in Hapgood's theory).

Many people will argue that this book is out of date and that advances in geology have made it obsolete. NOT true. The issues that Hapgood covers, such as the geography of the ice ages and the sudden demise of millions of animals during the late Pleistocene remain persistant UNEXPLAINED problems in science.

Aside from the misrepresentations (possibly misunderstandings) in the publisher's book blurb this is still the key book to read first on earth crust displacement. I believe that WHEN THE SKY FELL: IN SEARCH OF ATLANTIS advances Hapgood's theory into new areas of investigation (origins of agriculture, Atlantis, the sun-deluge and the lost island paradise motif in world mythology, etc.) but any serious investigation of the topic must begin with PATH OF THE POLE. Readers of this book should also acquire MAPS OF THE ANCIENT SEA KINGS which Hapgood thought of as a companion book.

103 of 107 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The book to read first on Pole Shift May 14, 2000

By Theresa Welsh

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've read the Flem-Ath book (see previous review from Rand Flem-Ath) on the search for Altlantis, and Graham Hancock's excellent book, Fingerprint of the Gods, and both books begin with Hapgood. His ideas on crustal displacement have been adopted by the "alternate history" writers and sometimes sensationalized. The back page of the copy of Path of the Pole which I got from Amazon quotes Richard Noone, author of one of those sensational books, and actually says "A planetary alignment on May 5, 2000 is predicted to cause the next pole shift -- are you ready?" This is total nonsense and a disservice to the meticulously researched book that Hapgood wrote. Hapgood felt these processes took place over thousands of years, which in his mind was "rapid." The geologists of his time were adherents of uniformitarianism and suggesting earth changes could happen in thousands, not millions, of years was heresy.

Rand and Rose Flem-Ath build on Hapgood in their book, When the Sky Fell: The Search for Atlantis, and after reading Rand's note above, I feel better about their book knowing they were in touch with Charles Hapgood. Clearly these ideas are still not mainstream and it remains to be seen when Hapgood will get the recognition he deserves. Meanwhile, before you believe all the writers of "catastrophe" books, read the original. Path of the Pole is basically an academic book, not always an easy read. Hapgood presents mountains of evidence and much of it is highly technical. But if you seriously want to know what "pole shift" is all about, then you must read Path of the Pole.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important books of our time February 8, 2002

By Mark H. Gaffney

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I will try and keep this short. All of Charles Hapgood's books are seminal works. He remains one of the most original and brilliant thinkers of the 20th century. He was also a very fine writer. His work is constantly cited by others. But don't settle for secondary sources. Read and study everything Hapgood wrote. Start with his first book on crustal displacement, EARTH'S SHIFTING CRUST. Then read THE PATH OF THE POLE. And don't miss his MAPS OF THE ANCIENT SEA KINGS. Albert Einstein was convinced that Hapgood's theory of crustal displacement was correct. The fact that Hapgood couldn't explain the mechanism does not detract from his contribution; just as Newton's work on gravity is not diminished by his inability to explain what gravity actually is. Time will prove Hapgood correct on just about everything. Perhaps the mechanism for the crustal shifts will turn out to be a periodic earth rendezvous with a nemesis, a planet X, or a periodic close encounter with a comet ...we shall see! Enjoy!