Product Description

In this work the author embarks on a quest for the whereabouts, nature and few surviving traces of a lost civilization that was destroyed long ago and obliterated from human memory long before any of the cultures of historical antiquity rose to prominence. While Hancock does not believe that this civilization was Atlantis, he taps into the same current of human yearning that has made the Atlantis myth such a powerful one, and mixes intellectual adventure with exacting physical exploration of dramatic and sometimes dangerous locations in his pursuit of the tantalizing hints and scraps of evidence that point to a great and unsolved mystery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58411 in Books
• Published on: 1996-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Never mind Y2K; it's 2012 we need to worry about
This book is fantastic. Not for those with closed minds, to be sure, but for anyone with an interest in the pyramids, Atlantis, the Incas or the Aztecs or who finds the idea that Western science knows the answers depressing this is essential reading. I have read and re-read this book a dozen times and still have no idea how much of Hancock's theory I believe. But at the end of the day, it's intriguing and, dare I say it, entertaining.

The book opens with mediaeval maps which accurately depict the coastline of Antartica, despite the fact that it's been under miles of ice since the dawn of history. Rattling through flood myths which are pretty much identical all over the world, the mysteries of the lines on the Nazca plain, harbours built miles from the coast, pyramids that we could not build today, the precession of the equinoxes and much more Hancock reaches his conclusion in breathless style. (I would say that the conclusion is startling, but you do pretty much see where he's headed from the off.)

Some people will dismiss the whole book as bunkum, saying that you can twist the facts and suppositions to fit whatever theories you like. And they may well be right. But unlike other books which put the pyramids down to little green men from mars or magic, Hancock offers us a more convincing explanation. Even if you accept the 'conventional' ages of the pyramids, then I just cannot understand why the later ones are falling down while the oldest are still in pretty much perfect nick. The story of civilisations all over the world is that we get better at things as time goes on, not worse.

A fascinating and thought provoking read, with a sobering conclusion. Anyone for an end of the world party round at mine in 2012?

Interesting, but not totally convincing
Fingerprints of the Gods seems to be the type of book that is either loved or loathed, either convincing people utterly, or leaving them mocking its credibility. I don't particularly stand in either camp.

Although many of the theories are interesting, and even possible, they are probably not the answers to the mysteries highlighted and the questions asked. Just because there are flaws in accepted Egyptology, that does not mean that a race of super humans built the pyramids.

Hancock raises some very good points, and finds fascinating correlations in the themes of ancient myth. Unfortunately the conclusions he comes up with leave many more questions than you were faced with in the first place, and seem a bit too far fetched to be totally credible. His opinions may point to a different truth than that accepted by the close minded members of the archeological and scientific community, but in taking things too far into the extreme he will not be taken as a credible source by those he seeks to challenge.

The ideas put forward left me with the same feelings I have when reading conspiracy theory websites or books - it all seems possible, but when all weighed up after the event it just all seems too unlikely to wholly believe.

FOTG was definitely an interesting read, but rather than changing my life, as others have stated, it just changed the way I view ancient prehistory and the way it is perceived by modern scholars.

mind-expanding stuff, brilliant from cover to cover
I first saw Mr Hancock on a TV documentary. I found his theories on the alignment of the Giza pyramids with the Orion constallation fascinating. Shortly after, I saw another documentary which set out to disprove his theories. I was left with indecision.

Now that I have read this book, I understand why there is such a disinformation campaign surrounding his work. The powers-that-be simply don't want people to learn to think along these lines. It would upset the status quo.

Throughout this admittedly long but rivetting read, the author manages to provide the information for the reader to piece together for him/herself. The views and ideas expressed are mainly those of many other thinkers and specialists in their individual fields - over centuries! Graham Hancock keeps the reader absorbed, informed and enlightened with a totally entertaining mixture of travel writing and interesting explanations of many complex concepts in science, astronomy, and pre-history. It has provided me with a framework on which to place all my further understanding of this subject; the timescales, the places, the peoples all fall into place now.

It has also given me the courage to look objectively at our global heritage, free of the systematic indoctrination of school textbooks. This book is breathtaking in its scope, yet very accessible to anyone who wants to learn more about our origins and our present position in the scheme of things.

Highly recommended! 10 stars!