The Atlantis Blueprint: Unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of a Long-Lost Civilization

This is a classic on the search for Atlantis as good as Atlantis to the Sphinx but would have liked a follow up on the Antarctica site. I'd recommend Atlantis & Its Fate In The Postdiluvian World: A Possible Site For Plato's Atlantis by Kodiak Island by Michael Szymczyk as a follow up read to this, he found a site off Kodiak Island with a Poseidon monument the size of Mount Rushmore under water and the shoreline of Kodiak during the Younger Dryas (10,000 BC) matches that of the Kircher Map for Atlantis, and he links it to a possible site around that time with increased Denisovian DNA in the people there.

Put briefly, the premise of this book is that an advanced civilization existed in distant prehistory, sometime around 10,000 - 12,000 B.C. Its cultural center was located on what is now the continent of Antarctica and was wiped out due to a global cataclysm: a shift in the earth's pole, from a former North Pole in the Hudson Bay in Canada to the current North Pole location in the Arctic. This pole shift brought tremendous upheaval and resulted in sheets of ice covering Antarctica. These ice sheets prevent today's researchers and explorers from uncovering the strongest evidence of its existence.The inhabitants of this civilization were technically advanced, particularly in the area of geology and possibly in other areas as well, including acoustics. In terms of geology they were able to figure out that even earlier pole shifts had occurred and, the authors surmise, were able to predict that there was another one coming that was going to wipe out most of what they had come to build. They had two goals: to create as permanent a memorial as possible to their existence and to pass along their knowledge to subsequent cultures. This memorial would encode a message to a future, advanced civilization that it, too, should be aware of the existence of pole shifts.Wilson and Flem-Ath postulate that this ancient civilization accomplished its first goal -- memorializing their civilization -- by creating a huge network of "markers" at meaningful locations around the globe. Giza was chosen as the prime meridian, partly due to its being the geological "center of mass" of the continental array of the time. The global survey resulted in markers being placed all of the globe, at regular intervals of degrees of latitude and with orientations that pointed to the pre-shift pole location and/or to the post-shift location. Through this means they knew that a future advanced civilization -- one that also had knowledge of the earth's dimensions and poles -- would be able to interpret their message. The Great Pyramid of Giza, as the monument located at the center of world mass and on the then-prime meridian, provided the most carefully coded clues based on its dimensions and design.As the people of this culture came into contact with the other, less advanced cultures of the time, they made a powerful impression. They were often considered to be gods or angels. As a result, their influence is expressed in a miriad of ways: as Mayan gods, angels in the Book of Enoch, Egyptian gods, etc. In addition, the sites they marked in their survey came to be considered sacred sites. This resulted in sacred temples, shrines, and buildings being erected."The Atlantis Blueprint" presents a remarkable overview of how sacred sites all over the world -- from Stonehenge to Easter Island -- fit into the scheme created by the lost civilization. It even shows how it has become possible to actually predict where an ancient site *should* be located, based on the blueprint, and how certain sites came to be discovered based on it. (This latter point was to me the most compelling part of the authors' presentation, since the truest test of any theory is its ability to not only explain past phenomena, but to *predict* future phenomena. Wilson and Flem-Ath's concept of the site markers provides a straightforward way to test their ideas -- if their techniques can be applied to areas of the globe where historical sacred sites have not yet been uncovered, and this results in the discovery of sites at those locations, then it adds tremendous weight to their ideas. And, indeed, this is just what happens.)The book is entertaining and engrossing. It also provides an excellent starting point for exploring various other theories about the possible existence of this civilization, including the books by Charles Hapgood, Andrew Collins, Graham Hancock, and Robert Bauval. In some instances, Flem-Ath and Wilson provide elegant summaries of these authors' theories. (Based on this book I myself have now decided to read books by Hancock and Bauval as well as more about the Book of Enoch, the Templars, and the Mayans.)Some points I would like to make in addition:The book does not propose that Antarctica itself took a "voyage", or that any islands sank into the sea, but rather that the longitude of Antarctica shifted and thereby radically altered its climate.In addition, Wilson and Flem-Ath do *not* claim that the advanced civilization actually built all of the sacred monument that exist at these important latitude locations. Instead they believe that the local inhabitants were responsible for the monuments, viewing the locations as sacred due to the fact that the revered "gods" had placed markers on them.Also, you will notice that I have avoided using the term "Atlantis" to refer to this ancient civilization, since I think many readers may find the Atlantis association too "New Age" for comfort. Perhaps these people did refer to their home city as Atlantis, or maybe it was Plato who is more responsible for the name, but whatever the case, for me it is the possible existence of this civilization that is most important.Finally, some readers might find it more helpful to read the Appendices *first*, then the main portion of the book. The Appendices provide some nice summaries of Wilson and Flem-Ath's theories that I probably would have liked having under my belt before I began the book.Highly recommended to those with open minds and inquisitive natures.

I haven't read all of Colin Wilson's books - I think he's written more than 70, so this review may not be indicative of his general method, but I think it is. I've read reviews on several and have read The Occult and Mysteries and this one.He mainly brings to the reader's attention many other sometimes obscure writers and other expert sources of information concerning the topic at hand which in this case is very broad indeed. I was disappointed, and maybe its only that I'm getting fairly old and am not as good at reading between the lines as I once was, but he doesn't actually bring the "blueprint" to life in a specific manner - such as: ",...and as can now be seen without equivocation nor a single legitiment doubt, that the ruins of Atlantis are located at these coordinates (and list a specific place) , and that its inhabitants were of an order of mentality notably removed and altogther more instinctual and intuitive from modern day humans, and this great city was destroyed in a global catastrophy (and list a specific year and reason)..." I don't think that happened.So, this book is not an actual blueprint, but rather a collection of historican facts and educated opinions concerning sacred geometry, geodetics, geography, astronomy, megaliths, myths and history which may tend to lend credence towards the reality of Atlantis.

The authors are trying to prove the theory behind Charles Hapgood's statement regarding our past: that civilization is almost 100,000 years old and that our own civilization is not the first to occupy this planet (and probably it won't be the last). From the first chapter, where you will have a lot of information of how Hapgood came to his conclusions (Plato's writing, ancient maps - Piri Reis & Philip Buache & Oronteus Finnaeus, Wegener Hypothesis, Milankovitch climate theory, or even coral studies by Chinese professor Ting Ying Ma from University of Fukien), you will be simply hooked by this book (it's probably worth mentioning at this point that Hapgood himself suggested the "Rock of St Peter and St Paul archipelago" are what's left of the possible location of Atlantis).You will also get a detailed explanation of how Rand Flem-Ath started his own research into Atlantis myth and his first comparison of Athanasius Kircher map of Atlantis (1665) with the modern map of Antarctica (when shown free of ice). The other revelation for him, was finding a map showing view of the world as seen from Antarctica (issued by Naval Support Force in Antarctica) that showed Antarctica as the navel of the world, surrounded by the "world ocean". Suddenly the words of Plato started to make sense ("the whole opposite continent"), for Antarctica was the centre and all continents were all around it, looking like one large land mass (seen from Antarctica, the world has only one true ocean - just as Plato said). By that time he was already obsessed with Atlantis.Some of the chapters, such as "The Giza Prime Meridian" are truly fascinating and should be read by anybody who doubts that an advanced civilization existed in the past. Building the Great Pyramid in that specific location is not coincidental as you have to know: geography (obviously that would include map making), Earth's circumference and polar radius, be aware of planet's flattening at the poles and equatorial bulge, overall land mass -> to be able to achieve something precise like that (and I'm just talking about location of the monument, not how it was build). This chapter offers a lot of information about of how the location of the Great Pyramid at Giza (centre of the land mass of the whole world) is connected with the location of various different sites/cities around the world (such as Baalbek, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Nineveh, Babylon, Tiahuanaco, Lhasa and many more). As the author Rand Flem-Ath, is saying: "Sites whose latitude and longitude looked unpromising, because they seemed "too complicated (with too many decimals) now began to fall into simple round figures".To be honest, after reading that chapter, it is truly a shame that Greenwich is the Prime Meridian and not a point at which the Great Pyramid is standing (am I the only one who thinks that?), because maybe in this case more Egyptologists/Archaeologists would be interested in those various "coincidences". On the other hand I have the feeling that they probably wouldn't, as it would shakes the foundation of some of their own theories and believes (at this point Kuhn theory proposed in "The Structure of the Scientific Revolution" comes to mind).I don't want to repeat information from other reviews, but this is a fascinating book that discusses theories (and stories) of people such as: Schwaller de Lubicz, Arthur Posnansky, John Anthony West, Robert Schoch, Andrew Collins, Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, Henry Lincoln (Rennes-le-Chateau mystery and its connection with Templars), Hartwig Hausdorf (pyramids of China), Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight, Anthony Aveni, Harrison & Jack Fawcett (amazing story here; I wonder if there has been any progress with finding some of those cities), and obviously Charles Hapgood. In fact one of the first chapter will give you a perfect overview of most o them.Should you read it? I would say if you have already read other work of Rand Flem-Ath (especially "When the Sky Fell: In Search Of Atlantis") or Colin Wilson, and you are very familiar with the work of other authors mentioned above - you probably won't find a lot of new material here. I admit that both authors do raise several interesting ideas, but some of them have been covered more extensively in other books. The book discussing such numerous subjects could also use a little bit more photos and drawings - as there are only 8 pages of photos - which to be honest is really not a lot, but maybe that's just me (Appendix, Notes and Bibliography are great though). However if you are new to those ideas/views, I can strongly recommend reading it, as it simply gives you a lot of information about all those theories in one perfect package.Note about |Thomas Kuhn theory: he proposed that once scientists become comfortably settled with a certain theory (paradigm) they develop an emotional attachment to it, and if anyone challenges it they become defensive (remaining totally convinced that their irritation is the annoyance of a reasonable man in the face of time wasting absurdities). I think that sums up beautifully one of the points of why some of Egyptologist/Historians/Archaeologists are closed minded to the new ideas, and why they prefer to keep an existing status quo (this of course, is not the only reason for that - but I would say it's one of the main ones).

I enjoyed reading this, and I always find Colin Wilson one of the more rational and level-headed of the alternative archaeologists, but to be honest I didn't find the thesis of this book particularly convincing.The basic premise, that there are latitudes and longitudes on the earth that are 'sacred' and where monuments like the pyramids are located, and that this 'blueprint' can be used to predict where more ancient buildings can be found, seemed very thin to me. Torturing the data to find 'correlations' isn't something that works for me as a methodology.And the whole book relies on the old crustal displacement theory. This staple of many an 'alternative archeology' book has much evidence disproving it, despite the fact that Einstein was a fan of it - research has moved on since then.Still, if you like this kind of thing it might be of some interest - just do your fact checking as you go and don't just 'believe' it.

I began this book with high hopes. The premise seemed intriguing; the authors claimed to offer evidence that human civilisation was far older than previously imagined, and was also much more advanced.The first couple of chapters prove to be an interesting little journey through the life of the late Charles Hapgood. However rather quickly the narrative style becomes somewhat jaunting, as the prose alternates between the two authors who opt to identify themselves to the reader by narrating from the 1st and 3rd person perspectives respectively. This technique seems unnecessarily confusing, and surely attributing sections or chapters to each author would have been less disruptive to the narrative flow. Despite this, the prose itself is composed competently enough and is reasonably enjoyable.But my oh my, how the content is laughably absurd. Like a foundation of sand, debunked geological theories are stacked one upon the other to form a "scientific" basis for the book's many preposterous claims. Various quacks and historical con-men are wheeled out and revered as sages. Confirmation bias is rife as patterns are imagined between various historical sites spanning thousands of kilometers and thousands of years. Fibonacci spirals are everywhere it seems and even point to hypothetical desert treasure. Wild speculation mushrooms from every historical anomaly. The scientific method is tossed aside and any logical challenge is dodged with conspiratorial mutterings.After the entertainment and promise of the initial couple of chapters, the wheels began to fall off as the writing became more tangential and seemingly directionless. I got to page 134, but when the authors started referencing a guy rambling on about space visitors mining Earth for precious minerals, I decided that this was one for the charity shop.

I have read a good few books on the subject of "Atlantis" and related matters but have usually ended up feeling that something was missing. For many people the name "Atlantis" relates to a purported landmass, now lost, anywhere between the coast of Portugal right down to & including, Antarctica. The Atlantis Blueprint takes a slightly different perspective and thinks of Atlantis as relating to an advanced civilisation that existed in deep antiquity, long before such advanced society was thought to have existed according to conventional theory. The authors present a deep and methodical study regarding the placement of some very ancient monuments, previously thought of as unconnected. By the time I finished reading "The Atlantis Blueprint" the missing ingredient of previous books had been identified: Hard facts & strong maths. I truly feel that the authors have contributed something genuinely new to this field of research and it is something that will be difficult to debunk. Highly recommended.

As usual Colin Wilson has produced an intriguing and well-written book which is worth investigating for anyone wanting to explore the areas of knowledge not produced by the 'main media'.Sadly Colin is no longer with is but was an exceptional talent who left an amazing legacy of books. I encourage anyone with an open and enquiring mind to read his works.