From Atlantis to the Sphinx

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Summary: THOUGHTFUL AND EXCITING SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVE IDEAS
Review: Colin Wilson is both a prolific and talented writer, whose books always reflect a lot of serious research and thought. When I found a copy of From Atlantis to the Sphinx at a book sale, I grabbed it. But I soon found I was reading a summary of the views of the major alternative history writers, and I found myself skimming through material with which I was already familiar. He covers all my favorites -- Graham Hancock, Robery Bauval, John Anthony West, Zechariah Sitchen, Rand Flem-Ath, Cremo and Thompson, and such older luminaries as Velikoksky, Hapgood, Gurdjieff and many other authors who have put forth theories about the nature and history of mankind. Despite the rehash, Wilson's comments on these writers and their ideas make for interesting reading.

For instance, he does not buy into Sitchen's idea that our solar system contains the planet Nibiru from which the Gods of Sumer came to create mankind. But he accepts much of Sitchen's remarkable scholarship on the Sumerians. He is impressed with Hapgood's data on the shifting location of earth's poles and the evidence he gathered from old maps that there was once a highly developed civilization on earth that has been forgotten. Cremo and Thompson's classic Forbidden Archeology is an insightful and amazing read, as they pile up evidence over 1000 pages showing mankind may be millions of years old, and Wilson uses their examples. Wilson provides colorful "back stories" about these authors, since he has met many of them personally.

There is purpose to Wilson's long discourse on the ideas of other authors; he delivers the goods in the end when he gives up his own fascinating theory of ancient Egyptian society. Wilson's narrative leads us to see that mankind may once have had a different way of seeing reality, the same kind of seeing as the shaman exercising "magic" rituals. He invites us to consider the Collective Mind, consciousness acting in consort to achieve some end, much as birds move in a flock. Conscousness can be concentrated to build up power and this can be expended as a physical force. How did the ancient Egyptians move those giant blocks of stone to form the pyramids? Could they have used their own collective mental power?

It is fascinating to me to read of feats that should require a huge expenditure of power (like moving giant blocks of stone), but are somehow accomplished without any application of normal means of power generation. Consider the testimony of Douchan Gersi (an interesting author NOT mentioned by Wilson) who wrote about the "flying men" of Haiti who could dematerialize in one location and rematerialize in another. There was no technology involved. Did mankind once know how to use another kind of power, one based on group consciousness? We sometimes enter this consciousness, which we identify as "peak" experience, when we seem outside linear time, and reality somehow is altered.

Wilson is telling us that because our conscousness has evolved in a different direction from our remote ancestors, we fail to grasp how they accomplished tasks like building the pyramids. He does not see teams of sweating slaves, or ridiculously long ramps, or ancient fork lifts, but simply the collective power of human consciousness working for common purpose. Wilson, as usual, entertains while building a well-documented case for his own unique alternative view of human history.

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Summary: Rich in detail and thought-provoking, a masterful synthesis
Review: I read this book twice, once when it first came out and again more recently. The first time I read it I was familiar with some of the source material Wilson draws on. These parts of the book, at that time, were obviously not as engaging for me, nor, I suspect, will they be for others very familiar with the material. However, upon rereading it a couple years later I was again reminded of Wilson's masterful ability to draw together disparate sources of information to form a cohesive pattern. Of course, this involves speculation, but this type of inquiry always requires speculation, and Wilson manages to build a more cautious and convincing argument than many of his contemporaries. (That said, the reader must still be willing to be open-minded and entertain ideas that might not sit well, at least at first. If you have firmly made up your mind that, for example, there are no real mysteries surrounding the pyramids of Egypt or the sphinx and are unwilling to consider other opinions on the subject, then you probably won't be moved by much of this book.)

When drawing information from a variety of sources, it is likely that some of that information will later prove either incorrect or outdated. It is a testament to the cohesiveness of Wilson's argument that it does not rest on a single piece of evidence but is rather buttressed by a range of facts that each contribute to its strength. From reading some of the reviews below, I gather that often some of these "facts" don't sit well with all readers. This is reasonable (don't believe everything you read!); however, Wilson's style of thinking and researching make one less likely to discount his entire argument based on disagreement with parts of it. Furthermore, he is very adept at drawing his argument out over an entire book, reminding the reader along the way what the central themes are, before plunging back into the detailed information that forms the supports of his argument. What this results in is a stimulating, idea-filled journey that criss-crosses through numerous disciplines and over vast spans of time.

"From Atlantis to the Sphinx" in many ways forms a natural extension of Wilson's philosophy as expounded in his previous books. In this particular case, Wilson's ultimate aim - to demonstrate that ancient man had a different mode of thinking/perception/relationship to the natural world and the universe - is ultimately convincing for me because traces of this different mode still exist within us. If, by the time you're done with the book, you yourself aren't entirely convinced of this, I think you will still have found the journey worth the effort.

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Summary: A puzzling book definitly worth reading
Review: I was mostly skeptic about the book until an expedition organized by the Belgian Royal Museum in the Nile Valley dated a sculpted stone found in March 2001. Archeologically it was difficult to date because it was found in mud sediments of the 'Wild Nile' (Historical period during which the Nile had extreme flooding) but C14 dating made on organic fiber cast in the stones defined the object to be 13,000 to 10,000 years before present, making it Egypt's most ancient Rock art, in a period there was not supposed to be a civilisation. Full result of study has been published in Antiquity (Available on the web). This sheds a new light on Colin Wilson's book: there was a civilisation 8000 to 6000 years before the Pyramids. Further history will tell how accurate he was in his descriptions.

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Summary: Wilson delivers yet again...
Review: I was told in high school (and not only there) that a construction made of 6 million tons of building material (!!) and with building blocks that weigh anywhere from 10 to 20 tons each and having been lifted as high as 250 feet up was done merely by using 1000s of slaves and primitive cranes..That's how the Egyptian pyramids were supposedly built. Answering to another reviewer here, you would have to be spectacularly gullible to buy such nonsense.
But I'd rather get to the point. What Colin Wilson is is a self-educated man, a person for whom the term "bibliophile" is a tremendous understatement. His strength as a writer, as many have pointed out, lays in the fact that he takes the works and theories of other people and composes them into his own, weighing the pros and cons in the search for facts, for truth. In this process he remains as open minded as such a task demands and in my opinion this is the biggest credit of respect you can pay to your readers before anything else. Why would we need another "scientist" ruminating the "same ole-same ole" regardless of how absurd or unlikely his theory is just so he fits in with the "knowledge establishment"? No thanks..
What this books maintains is then nothing that other researchers havent theorised (if not actually PROVEN) before. It provides facts and theories about a maritime civilisation that predated the Egyptians by 1000s of years and which had either the technological know how or simply possesed a totally different thought that enabled them to achieve things that seem incomprehensible to us..According to all these researchers (and Wilson) this civilisation was widely destroyed by a natural disaster but survivors of it transfered their knowledge, or more accurately, their knowledge system, to subsequent civilisations, in this case the Egyptians, but also to the Mayas to name another.
It's no easy thing to summarise what "From Atlantis to..." proposes as it composes parts and aspects from so many theories. The fairest thing to do is to read the book and allow yourself to be exposed to what it suggests and judge for your own, allthough, it must be said, if you remain/are openminded what will more likely happen is you'll feel inspired to read much-much more on the subject.
I think that exactly for that fact alone this is a great book from Wilson, it is one that pushes you to open a closet that conventional archaelogists stubbornly consider sealed. Far from... It's also a book that reads through very comfortably considering its task and it is definately very comprehensive on anything it deals with. But then again, for the initiated Wilson readers this is nothing new.
I am Greek. And Greece is a country filled with ancient "miracles" too which are being explained away by mainstream science with theories that make me laugh. Recently i was up at the Delphi temple. I'd last been there as a kid and hadnt thought much by what i saw. Wilson's books have made me look at things with new eyes. It's not what you believe it's how you come to believe in what you believe. That's why this book and its bibliography as a whole are important.

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Summary: Classic Wilson
Review: The central idea of this book is getting a lot of attention lately, such as in "Fingerprints of the gods": did a highly developped and sea-faring nation exist before the beginning of our history, and can we explain some of the ancient mysteries such as the pyramids, the Piri Reis-map, the architecture of the Maya and their predecessors, and even Atlantis? It sounds so far fetched, yet if you listen to the arguments of researchers and writers such as Wilson, it's hard to stay sceptical. Now I would read anything that Colin Wilson writes, and this book is fine. But since I read it after "Fingerprints..." most of the surprise was gone... as this Wilson-book owes quite a bit to (amongst others) Graham Hancocks work. But leave it to Colin Wilson to come up with all sorts of new angles, writers I never heard about and very interesting ideas, so this book was defenitely worth while.

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Summary: An Alternative History Digest
Review: Though the title of the book implies that the book will be about Atlantis, there is very little actually about Plato's sunken continent in "From Atlantis to the Sphinx". Author Colin Wilson does suggest there was a lost civilization in ancient times (10,500 BC), but that's not where his emphasis is. No, Wilson is interested in human thinking, Egyptian thinking in particular. He's interested in the Sphinx. Why was it built? When was it built? How was it built? Could the erosion around it be from water instead of wind? If so, does that mean it was underwater at some point, in a worldwide flood, or does it mean that it was built at a time when Giza was more fertile, with a greater amount of rainfall? In a whirwind of archaeological, scientific and anecdotal evidence, Wilson sets out to prove that Egyptology and evolution (among other things) aren't quite the way they are potrayed in the textbooks.

Wilson dedicates the book to authors John West, Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock. Understandably so, he borrows a lot of evidence and anecdotes from their books, particularly Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods". In some parts, in almost sounds like a sneak preview or advertisement of "Fingerprints", treading the same ground in places (civilized man has been round longer than thought, there seems to have been a worldwide disaster at 10,500 BC according to mythology, etc). If you have Hancock's book, it probably isn't worth your while to get this.

Is "From Atlantis To the Sphinx" a poor man's "Fingerprints of the Gods", then? Not quite. Wilson draws from a variety of alternative history sources (Hapgood's "Maps of Ancient Sea Kings", Robert Bauval's "The Orion Mystery", Cremo's "Forbidden Archaeology", Zecharia Sitchins "Earth Chronicles", Santillana's "Hamlet's Mill", etc). In some ways this book is like an alternative history digest. I'd compare it more to Charles Berlitz' out-of-print "Mystery of Atlantis" (a summary of thought and theories about Atlantis) than to Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods".

In addition, Wilson draws conclusions of his own. He believes that man had different thought processes in ancient times, the rush of inspiration modern man has temporarily when he has an idea used to be constant. He suggests that ancient man used to be a "right-brained" thinker rather than a "left-brained" one, and could achieve a collective consciousness when needed (this, he suggests, helped the pyramids to be built). He concludes that religion and astrology played an important role in every human culture, even in "earlier forms of man" (like the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon), and that these helped collective consciousness to be possible, and helped push evolution forward. I take most of these conclusions with a grain of salt, but his evidence, anecdotes and reasoning certainly got me thinking. For the most part, it was a very interesting read.

For credibility's sake, Wilson frequently distances himself from what he calls "the lunatic fringe", i.e. the alternative history authors who jump to one too many (and often unbelievable) conclusions. For example, Erich von Daniken, author of "Chariots of the Gods" (which put forward the theory that civilization came from aliens), gets many a beating and debunking from Wilson within this book. Nor does Wilson include any "lunatic fringe" authors in his bibliography. Though he borrows evidence for his own ends from Zecharia Sitchin (who also believes civilization came from aliens), Wilson justifies this by saying that in spite of his beliefs, Sitchin is a fine translator of hieroglyphs. Despite this distancing, I don't think it's going to help convince skeptics, who'll find some of Wilson's conclusions just as incredible (particularly toward the end).

If you've read this book, and are looking for further reading regarding the prominence and origins of astrology, I recommend Jonathan Gray's fascinating book "The Sting of the Scorpion" (which, unfortunately, amazon.com doesn't stock). If you're looking for more reading on the topic of ancient civilizations, check out Jonathan Gray's "Dead Men's Secrets" which I think does a much better job of condensing alternative history and its evidence. Graham Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods" would be worth a look too.

"From Atlantis to the Sphinx" isn't the first alternative history book I'd reach for if I was curious, but it is a good overview of the many views and books there are out there, for those who can't get their hands on them all.

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Summary: not just about history
Review: Wilson has presented an interesting and plausible alternative account of the history of mankind on Earth, namely that humans have existed for much longer than orthodox academics are willing to believe, and that advanced civilizations had developed millennia before the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Most of this alternative view is based on ideas put forth previously by other researchers, and therefore if you have already read many other books on this topic you may not find a whole lot of new information here. Nevertheless, it is a decent summary of those previously proposed ideas, and thus this book serves as a good introduction to the subject. However, I feel that this summary may be too comprehensive - he tries to squeeze in so much information that it wasn't easy for me to remember everything he had said (especially all those people's names), and so the more I read the more I forgot, making it harder and harder to follow his writing.

But this book is not just about history. In fact, Wilson emphasizes that he doesn't care that much about exactly when or where those ancient civilizations started, per se. Instead, his ultimate objective is to see whether we can learn something from those ancient civilizations. He argues that prior to around 1,500 B.C., our ancestors were "right-brained" in that they had greater harmony with one another and with nature, were aware of various hidden powers of the mind, and possessed group consciousness. In contrast, modern man has become "left-brained", meaning that he tackles problems logically and analytically, which enabled the impressive technological advancements we achieved in the last 3,500 years. Wilson believes that right-brain abilities are still with us, but most of us do not take advantage of them. The author argues that inducing our right-brain consciousness can lead to good feelings and a sense of freedom, which can compensate for the anxiety and feeling of emptiness that left-brain consciousness often gives rise to.

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Summary: Excellent distillation of multiple theories
Review: Wilson has used his analytical talent to distill multiple theories into a highly readable and provocative summary of those who posit civilization(s) well before the Egyptians and Olmtecs (sp). The mystery of our past makes Ripperology pale in comparison.

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Summary: Entertaining nonsense from the carpet-bagging fringe
Review: Wilson's thesis here is not new and this is not a book for the gullible.

The theory is this: The world as we know it is not the first civilised society to have lived on terra firma. Atlantis was located in Antarctica (strange how there's no evidence other than some raggy old map found on a pirate ship). Some undisclosed catastrophe led to the abandonment of the continent and civilisation spread across the globe from this single initial starting point (strange how man has evolved and writing didn't just appear). Since then man has lost much of the knowledge amassed up that point. (Such as the power to talk to aliens???)

Wilson is a very good writer and this is more than just a rehash of the dishonest carpet-bagging tripe that that Graham Hancock trieds to pass off as serious research or new thinking. It's a very coherent and elegant trip through the thinking that lies behind this left-field school of thought. Wilson regales the reader with the evidence from Egypt which - he thinks - disproves the dirt-diggers (who, at least, have some hard facts behind them) and generally sets about amassing a wealth of evidence that there are things discovered in the ancient world that cannot be explained by modern science. One example is the tall stone jars of ancient Egypt. Wilson explains that these could not have been produced to such a height and with such intricate precision without the makers having access to very advanced sonic drills. Where did they get them? At this point, the mind boggles at what is about to come leaping from the next paragraph. Fortunately, Wilson isn't stupid and doesn't head off into the netherworld of aliens and stargates etc.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that these guys still have the self-respect to stand up and repeat themselves to an ever shrinking audience. But at least Wilson's pulp-fiction is interesting and entertaining ... as opposed to join-the-dots Hancock and his evidence-free cashflow & PR machine.

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Summary: Concise & Insightful! The Next Generation of it's kind.
Review: With the overwhelming amount of current research and information being publish on this subject in the last decade Colin Wilson has done a fantastic job. By collating and presenting ideas of authors and scholars in a coherent and linear fashion this book is entirely readable and understandable to all. (Especially those of us left brainers). However, his own ideas are as fresh and original as ever. Fantastic and insightful! This book sheds light on Humankind's history and possible future by synthesizing information on cultural roots, folklore, religion, hard science and their sociological affects. He gives credit where credit is due (i.e. Santillana, Hapgood, Hancock, Bauval, Flem-ath, West, etc) and has successfully written a book that can be called the Next Generation of it's kind.