Fingerprints Of The Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization
by Graham Hancock
Our Price: $74.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Graham HancockEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1995-05-16
ISBN: 0517593483
Number of pages: 578
Publisher: Crown
Book Reviews of Fingerprints Of The Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization
Book Review: His main ideas are good, his supporting theories flawed
Summary: 3 Stars
I want to like Graham more than I do. He seems like a nice british chap, writes a good story and obviously has loads of passion. But like many oter books in this genre he leaves a lot of stones unturned that are right in front of him. Some examples:
Hancock loves to reference the Piri Reis map as conclusive evidence that ancient seafarers existed thousands of years ago and the infomation in the Piri Reis map is evidence of this. However the chinese were, 1 or 2 hundred years before the Piri Reis map was drawn up, exploring many corners of the globe, had a civilisation considered more advanced than europe at its time and had a very plausible explanation of why they would sail and map the southern seas including antarctica. Hancock fails to even bring the ancient chinese sea explorers into the picture, which is suprising because it tells another tale of suppressed information (the chinese destroyed much evidence of the explorations for political reasons much like evidence is covered over today in light of other theories) that he could relate to. Further have you ever seen a piece of the Piri Reis map depciting Antarctica? Its always another more contemporary map thats shown. I belive this is because the only remaining piece of the Piri Reis map remaining does not show the portion of antarctica.
An issue that bothers me is the theory of Antarctica being 'Atlantis'. Now the idea that Antarctica was in a different geographical location, had less ice in our recent past or was influenced by rapid earth crust displacement is a genuine argument. However to suggest it was the mythical 'Atlantis' doesn't make sense logically. It doesn't match up with Plato's description and it doesn't fit a logical location in comparison with the america's as a whole or a part of the america's. Its not a stretch of the imagination to believe south america and africa were trading for a long time and much evidence indicates this was in fact so. For the ancient greeks and egyptians to know of such a place likely means it was in the central america's not to the extreme far south of south america at antarctica. Ancient civilisations that really progressed somewhere tend to be in more fertile areas around the middle equatorial band and not to the extreme north and south of our planet. I wonder if Hancock simply pushes Antarctica because no one else does as rigorously and so he can get better access to covering that theory to himself. I.e it sells books to push it as an extreme theory.
Hancock also frequently discusses the ideas of a great event - a catastrophe but its all very rhetorical. He mentions earthquakes, floods and then goes on to show how the pyramids were build with advanced astronimical infrastructure. But he never really discusses meteor impacts, comet strikes or other theories relating to the disaster. Quite obviously if the pyramids were dynamic to a earthquake why would they house astronimical information? Graham doesn't do a good job and bring these pieces together. It feels like he's repeating other books. The history of early Pyramids is never discussed of course...always the Giza pyramids. None of these new age writers seem bothered to write about the failed pyramids attempts and how practice makes perfect. He still pushes the idea that large ramp was used for the pyramids and doesn't pick up on other theories of ramp making, the slopes that could be used in conjunction with rounded timber wheels that could be connected to stone blocks to roll them up the ramps. Japanese groups have done experiments to show how easily a small group of people can roll a 2 tonne stone block up the required ramp using semi circular pieces of fabricated timber that make the entire block like a cylinder. Its appaling to the reader to be rehashed ideas about the pyramid construction from 30 years ago. Hancock continually bounces around in time frames and never connects the dots, never discusses how trade and knowledge exchange could occur and how other evidence could in fact support him.
Geologically he contain his theory of antartica around crustal displacement. Now this sort of geological behaviour may be possible, but an event such as a comet or supernova influencing the earth 13,000 years ago is going to be complex. There's no reason why the author can't tie up a few of these theories together because I think it would make far more interesting reading and make his argument more bouyant. Eg a comet or supernova debris, or debris from a comet broken loose from a companion binary star or similar solar system/galaxy event slams into north america 13,000 years ago. At the time south america is quite advanced. Perhaps not advanced enough to make spacecraft but enough to know how to smelt metal,move large stone blocks and importantly run a society. It took us 20 years to put a man on the moon, take a country about 10 years to prepare for an olympic games so its no stretch to imagine a stone age culture developing sophisticated masonry skills over hundreds or thousands, or perhaps even hundreds of thousand years. So they had cities...its really no suprise. So they sailed, perhaps not around the globe, but certainly between south america and africa. They each exchanged knowledge. Thus similarities occur between south america and the rest of the world.
He also has another book 'Supernatural'. Hancock is game enough to go and do some ayahuasca in South America. He surely understands the power of these plant psychedelics and he should be game enough to try discussing the role of drugs in our ancient past with these books in more detail. While most of us are currently bound by legal laws regarding drugs, our past was not. Its impossible they didn't play a role in shaping out belief's and development given their power. I would like to see someone write a book that ties in our use of 'sacred plants' more succinctly. Hancock should condense 3 of his books underworld, supernatural and fingerprints into 1 book.
These books are not meant for strict scientific analysis though ultimately...to me they are more like updated Von Daniken books. Its a shame because Hancock is quite correct in saying the mainstream scientific community wont touch this stuff, thats very normal in professions and he's likely correct, like many others, that something devastating happened on earth 13,000 years ago. If Hancock explored more contemporary information that's out there he could do a better job because he could deepen the story into something truly thought provoking rather than rehasing old theories and ideas we've heard before. The rhetoric gets boring quick.
Summary of Fingerprints Of The Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization
The author of the best-selling The Sign and the Seal takes readers along on a quest for proof of the existence of an ancient advanced civilization--not Atlantis--that predates Egyptian, Hittite, and Chinese cultures. An irresistible mixture of historical detective work, hard science, and recent discoveries in ancient places.Black-and-white photographs.General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in General Books
The History of the Peloponnesian War: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)by Thucydides
Penguin Classics; Published: 1954-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
The Histories (Penguin Classics)by Herodotus
Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.67
Price in other shops:
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern Worldby David W. Anthony
Princeton University Press; Published: 2007-11-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops:
Fingerprints of the Godsby Graham Hancock
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1996-04-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Editionby Flavius Josephus
Hendrickson Publishers; Published: 1980-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Travels with Herodotus (Vintage International)by Ryszard Kapuscinski
Vintage; Published: 2008-06-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.87
Price in other shops:
Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Knowby Jennifer Van Sijll
Michael Wiese Productions; Published: 2005-08-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.96
Price in other shops:
The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the Worldby W. Cleon Skousen
Center for Constitutional Studies; Published: 2006-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.90
Price in other shops:
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor, Revised Editionby Susan Wise Bauer
Peace Hill Press; Published: 2006-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.86
Price in other shops:
The Landmark Herodotus: The Historiesby Herodotus
Pantheon; Published: 2007-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.98
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Ageby Charles H. Hapgood
Adventures Unlimited Press; Published: 1997-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.98
Price in other shops:
Twelfth Planet: Book I of the Earth Chronicles (The Earth Chronicles)by Zecharia Sitchin
Harper; Published: 2007-04-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
The Mars Mystery: The Secret Connection Between Earth and the Red Planetby Graham Hancock
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1999-06-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Chariots of the Godsby Erich von Daniken
Berkley Trade; Published: 1999-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.36
Price in other shops:
Forbidden History: Prehistoric Technologies, Extraterrestrial Intervention, and the Suppressed Origins of CivilizationBear & Company; Published: 2005-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
The Orion Mystery: Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramidsby Robert Bauval, Adrian Gilbert
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1995-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops:
Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenantby Graham Hancock
Touchstone; Published: 1993-07-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.38
Price in other shops:
Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilizationby Graham Hancock
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2003-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.67
Price in other shops:
The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankindby Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1997-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops:
Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankindby Graham Hancock
The Disinformation Company; Published: 2007-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.17
Price in other shops: