[.ca] Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization (ISBN 1400049512)

Discovering evidence of submerged ancient cities:
Graham Hancock continues his pursuit of uncovering lost civilizations, this time under the sea. He takes us on a journey through the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, Bay of Bengal and the Pacific Ocean around Indonesia, Japan and Taiwan by looking at underwater structures that might be of human origin. I'm pleased to note that the government of India has recently authenticated two of his discoveries off the coast of India. In both cases, these structures are dated between 9000 and 11 000 years before the current era, which supports the hypothesis of a great flood that submerged vast areas of up-to-then habitable land. What I really like about Hancock as author is that he also provides the orthodox view at the same time as his own theories. I cannot but agree with his statement, "There's something wrong with the underpinning of history." Hancock has indicated the most likely places for pre-flood civilizations with the help of Dr. Glen Milne of Durham University who is an expert on glaciation-induced changes in the sea level, and taking into account the plethora of flood-myths found amongst all cultures on all continents. Underworld is lavishly illustrated and well served by a thorough index and extensive bibliography. This interesting if overly detailed text will amply reward the reader who enjoyed Hancock's earlier titles like Keepers of Genesis and Fingerprints of the Gods.

Intriguing and Well-researched:
In "Underworld," Graham Hancock takes on the mythological story of The Flood. Tackled with the same attention to detail that he uses in his previous alternative archeology books, Hancock visits and describes underwater ruins and connects them with the mythological traditions of many cultures. He blasts the socks off of conventional archeological theory that says that civilization began only 6,000 years ago. The book is richly illustrated with beautiful photographs--both color and black and white--taken by his wife Santha Faiia. Although I enjoyed the descriptions of many previous cultures and the author's intriguing theories, "Underworld" does not grasp my imagination nor does it inflame my speculations the same way my favourite Graham Hancock book, "Fingerprints of the Gods" does. I also adore Santha Faiia's photographs in "Heaven's Mirror" much more than in this book, probably because so many of the illustrations in "Underworld" were taken underwater and so tend to be bluish. Nonetheless, as with any Hancock/Faiia book, I am amazed at the amount of thorough research it took to write the book, I like that they actually visit the places they write about, I love all the pictures, and I appreciate the book as a reference in writing my own books. Carole Chapman is the author of "When We Were Gods: Insights on Atlantis, Past Lives, Angelic Beings of Light and Spiritual Awakening," "The Golden Ones: From Atlantis to a New World," and "Blessed: A Quest for Atlantis in Egypt Leads to Apparitions of the Virgin Mary."