When the Sky Fell: In Search of Atlantis (Mass Market Paperback)

by Rand Flem-Ath (Author), Rose Flem-Ath (Author) "On May 8, 1953, an elderly professor with a fondness for the violin sat down at his desk in Princeton, New Jersey, and wrote a..." (more)
Key Phrases: earth crust displacement, lost island paradise, wayward sun, North America, South America, Lesser Antarctica (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A landmark work." --Ottawa Citizen

"A great adventure into the realm of possibility." --Ocala Star-Banner

"An excellent book which is not only beautifully researched but extremely entertaining to read. Their theory on Atlantis will go down in the annals of this subject as one of the most convincing and imaginative. Well done for the first-class tour de force." --Robert G. Bauval, author of The Orion Mystery: Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids
-- Review

Review

"A landmark work." --Ottawa Citizen

"A great adventure into the realm of possibility." --Ocala Star-Banner

"An excellent book which is not only beautifully researched but extremely entertaining to read. Their theory on Atlantis will go down in the annals of this subject as one of the most convincing and imaginative. Well done for the first-class tour de force." --Robert G. Bauval, author of The Orion Mystery: Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312964013
• ISBN-13: 978-0312964016
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #647,983 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncertain certainties, January 27, 2000

By	Sergio Flores (Orange, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When William Ryan and Walter Pitman first presented their theory of the Black Sea as a fresh water lake invaded by the salt water of the Mediterranean in a cataclismic event 7,600 years ago, they were laughed at by the scientific establishment to which they belong as marine geologists. Today, their theory is accepted as the most probable scenario that explains the peculiarities of the Black Sea and might also explain the insistence of so many peoples on the legend of a Flood. Less than twenty years ago it was taught in schools that Cro-Magnon had killed Neanderthal in a racist war for control of the planet, but today we are told, with the same certainty and by the same people, that both groups coexisted for millenia and that the causes behind Neanderthal's disappearance are unclear. Recently, the Clovis mind-set of anthropologists and archaeologists in the Americas was shattered by discoveries in Chile of human habitation 12,000 years ago, long before Clovis in New Mexico. So, everything about dates in the Americas, dates set in stone for the die hard crowd of scientists, had to be revised, although most books still carry the Clovis date because the shattering information is quite recent. Now this book "When the Sky Fell" about a new idea regarding Ice Ages and the possibility that another legend may be based in truth is so poisonously criticized by some reviewers, that I can't help remembering all those times when the so much vaunted "real" science was wrong. The Java Man comes to mind, and Troy, and the fact that Mayans didn't know the wheel (wrong: they did). Examples are many. Science is good and necessary. But scientists are fallible, too. The Flem-Ath's book proposes an elegant, novel idea that deserves a hearing, not a summary dismissal. It is quite disturbing to read reviews such as one where the reader states that everything regarding earth crust displacement is garbage and has been proven to be so, and then consult a geology textbook for college and find the candid assertion that we really don't know "exactly" the composition of the planet beyond the crust. Science can defend itself with the facts and doesn't need self-appointed champions to foolishly charge against anybody who dares have a different opinion or propose a new theory. Besides, the Flem-Aths are not attacking anyone. They are saying "this is what our investigation has led us to believe." They may be wrong, in which case they are in good company with all those scientists who gave us perfect dates for the peopling of the Americas; certainty regarding the Mayan ignorance about the wheel; certainty about the Flood being nothing but the overflowing of the Tigris-Euphrates basin; certainty about Neanderthal; certainty about the poles never shifting; certainty about catastrophes not playing a significant role in evolution... So many certainties that must be changed later on.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I believe Atlantis has been found, May 17, 2000

By	"coconutcs" (USA) - See all my reviews

I believe that Flem-Ath has presented a convincing argument and has shown adequate proof for the possible location for the Lost City of Atlantis. He has shown how Plato's account fits perfectly and the author does not try to twist Plato's words as other authors have done to prove their theories. And you do have to take into consideration the ancients maps like the ones in Hapgoods book Maps of Ancient Sea Kings which show Atlantis. I have read other Atlantis stories and none fits like this one is presented. I have recommended it to my friends who have found Flem-Ath theories very believable over others like the theory of Santorini(near Crete). Santorini has too many holes as author Robert Sullivan admits to in his book Atlantis rising but still tries to prove it's Santorini. In Sullivan's book Plato's words are twisted to have Santorini fit. I truley believe Antarctica to be an excellent possibility. To Rose and Rand Flem-Ath excellent book! Now the question is when is the expedition for the excuvation going to take place. Remember Troy was once a myth due to the determination and research of the believers it was found and became a reality. Atlantis may be a myth today but to the beleivers it has already been found it's just a matter of time before tomorrow comes when it becomes a reality. We await for tomorrow to come.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last--A Theory About Atlantis That Actually Makes Sense, June 12, 2001

By	Cyrus Y. Barker "cybarker" (Elephant & Castle, London (I wish)) - See all my reviews

You've probably heard them all by now--Atlantis was really located in Africa, or in South America, or was actually the island of Thera . . . or some even more outlandish theory. Modern geological theories (assuming them to be correct, of course, which isn't necessarily the case) tells us that no large-sized land mass could ever have existed in the Atlantic Ocean. So where could a continent the size of Atlantis that was described as lying situated in the middle of the "world ocean" have gone? According to the authors, nowhere. It's still there, in plain sight. Atlantis is Antarctica!

If this is the first time that you've heard of this theory, you may be sceptical at first. But if you give this book a chance and approach it with an open mind, you'll quickly begin to see the logic behind the authors' theories--especially in the identity of such landmarks as the Pillars of Hercules and the World Ocean. Does an ancient, advanced civilization lie frozen beneath the Antarctic ice cap? We may never know (unless the current, bogus claims for global warming incredibly prove true and the ice cap melts, revealing what lies beneath it). But in the meantime, this book is fascinating reading and reflects true "thinking outside the box" about a topic that's been hashed and rehashed even since Ignatius Donnelly's book about Atlantis fist appeared in 1882.

If you have any interest at all in the topic of Atlantis, whether as history or merely a myth, you should read this book.