Rating: 
Summary: Wide generalizations
Review: There have been many attempts to prove the existence of astronomical knowledge among ancient civilizations. Most often, this knowledge is attributed to the Babylonians. As the renowned scholar Franz Cumont has pointed out:"That Babylon was the mother of astronomy, star-worship, and astrology, that thence these sciences and these beliefs spread over the world, is a fact already told us by the ancients... But the mistake of the Pan-Babylonists, whose wide generalizations rest on the narrowest and flimsiest of bases, lies in the fact that they have transferred to the nebulous origins of history, conceptions which were not developed at the beginning but quite at the end of the Babylonian civilization. This vast theology, founded upon the observation of the stars, which is assumed to have been built up thousands of years before our era, nay, before the Trojan War, and to have imposed itself on all still barbarous peoples as the expression of a mysterious wisdom, cannot have been in existence at this remote period, for the simple reason that the data on which it would have been founded, were as yet unkown. ("Astrology Among the Greeks and Romans", Kessinger Publishing, p.5)
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptionally refreshing
Review: This book is a must buy for anyone interested in the topic of ancient civilisations, and archaeo-astronomy. The author's arguments are profound, interesting and and totally understandable to anyone whom may be a new comer to this area of research. His theories and observations on the geodetic positioning of ancient sites around the world is refreshinly new in an area of investigation that I feel was beginning to go stale. The writing is first class, as we have come to expect from Mr Hancock, and this coupled with the many coloured and often breath taking photographs, and simple effective diagrams, make this the best book to date that the author has published. It not only helps the reader to understand the nature of the argument, but gives them an almost personal feel for the topic, as if they are traveling alongside Mr. Hancock and making these discoveries together.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This book solidifies Graham Hancock's theories of an ancient global culture. The book is well laid out, comprehensive, and fascinating from start to end. The photographs are stunning and help the reader follow the descriptions in the text. This is a must read for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of the true origins of humanity.
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Summary: Another Graham Slam!
Review: This book was a little surprising. The photography is outstanding and the text is equally challenging. If you are a closet Egyptologist like myself, you will enjoy this book thoroughly, especially if you are not used to seeing the actual photos of the places discussed in many other books. The author's research into Cambodia was the most startling as the tale of alignments and specific astronomical numbers begins to unfold. Mastery of precision and understanding of the stars is demonstrated here as well, although the accepted understanding of Cambodia is that there was no connection to Egypt. How then do we see the same technologies demonstrated in Cambodia and Egypt, right down to facial features on the statues and hieroglyphics? The author talks about Gnosticism toward the end of the book which castes a slight shadow of doubt as the book comes to an end as to what point of view the author is coming from. If you are a Christian, you will find these views challenging and in near perfect opposition to the accepted Christian belief. However, I found this reading educational and it doesn't take away from the book as a whole. Heaven's Mirror is a keeper and it is worth a couple readings. There is a great deal of thought and research that has gone into this book and it offers evidence that the ancients had a world wide master plan to literally build heaven on Earth. I don't know if this book is in hard back, but it definitely should be. Bravo Graham Hancock and Santha Faiia
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Summary: Where are the charts to keep track of all of these ideas?
Review: This book was interesting to read. His theories are infectious and at times you find yourself marvelling at all of the wonderful coincidences and halfway believing Mr. Hancock. Other times, he takes liberal use of supposition (even going so far as to suppose what Albert Einstein would have thought of one of his ideas) and he throws out so many ideas that he reminds me of a desperate defense attorney who throws out any idea to throw doubt on the prosecutor's case. Here, Mr. Hancock throws out any number of theories, including Atlantis; aliens (but never says it - but he leads you that way); Egyptians coming to Europe, Asia, South America and Polynesia; the use of magic or an unknown force to build ancient megaliths and more. I enjoyed the book but there are occassional bad photographs that mar the book - he refers to one picture two or three different times and the picture is not clear - the image has been worn too much over time. That would have been the perfect time for a traced outline of the picture, like he does at other times. Sometimes shadows obscure the images he would like us to see - the shadows make the pictures quite beautiful but the images are the point of the exercise. However, in general the quality of the pictures reminds me of those of National Geographic. Mr. Hancock poses so many theories that he is sorely in need of a chart in the back of his book so that we can quickly see some of the theories and how the data looks when compared across the board. However, in defense of his book, he quite freely admits that this is a work in progress and the research has barely begun. I would not consider this to be the final word from Mr. Hancock - rather, I would treat this as more of an interim report stating some of the interesting things he has found and a few theories that might help to explain them. I give this book "5 stars" because he writes about so many of the interesting ancient sites and, if nothing else, has thrown an interesting new light on them (Graham points out that most 'legitimate' researchers won't even come to Easter Island anymore for fear of being thought to be one of the 'crazy' researchers). I don't quite buy his theories, but I'm open to reading more of what he has to say. YOu may also see Mr. Hancock on TLC or Discovery Channel with entertaining documentaries that cover most of these same topics in a less thorough but highly entertaining manner.
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Summary: Hogwash of the worst kind
Review: This is about the closest you can come to publishing work that is plainly dishonest. I'm a financial economist and have to be able to back up everything I say in front of an audience. Hancock doesn't bother himself with such niceties. His adopted strategy seems to be that if he can get his theory on television, then the general public will be more likely to buy it and peer pressure will make people less willing to challenge the obvious absence of fact. Most people I know who bought the book, bought it for the pictures taken by his wife. In Heaven's Mirror, Hancock takes a well established theory and traipses around the world trying to find and publish even the most spurious evidence that fits. How can anyone be expected to believe that something earth shattering occurred 12,000 years ago when the evidence amounts to little more than a blustery text and a join-the-dots star map that is, at best, a dodgy fit. Isn't it strange how there are only a handful of sites cited as evidence. If he was right about a single origin of mankind, wouldn't there be a constellation of sites from around the world to back him up? Strangely, there are less than half a dozen. In my profession, this is known as data mining - a cardinal sin, and one which would consign the researcher to the intellectual rubbish bin. If Atlantis is your bag, then try Colin Wilson. He writes well and brings the story alive by looking at the long sweep of history and the anomalies about ancient civilisations that cannot be explained by mere co-incidence. Atlantis may be a load of hogwash, but at least he's entertaining.
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Summary: A new theory of Ancient Civilization which merits attention
Review: This is no mere picture book and Hancock is no Velikovsky. This book has a message of pivotal importance to all humans. It rolls back the horizon of human knowledge to unknown epochs, to a prior high-civilization with technological skills we may not even possess today. Hancock's claim is no less than that. He proves that the monumental layouts of ancient Tiwanaku, Gizeh and Ankor are actually based on star-patterns from 10,500 B.C. and that they contain the coded numbers of the earth's 26,000 year precessional zodiac cycle. Talk about ante-diluvian amnesia! If this theory is correct, then a high civilization existed at or before the 11th Millennium B.C., located in the equatorial regions, with the ability to travel world-wide, while most other humans were still in the stone age. One may ask why are there no inscriptions in stone from this civilization? That mystery may be resolved in due course. More importantly, I think this basic hypothesis is very plausible. With new dating techniques, we must now reevaluate the entire basis of pre-history which, until now, been based on stale eurocentric + mid-eastern cultural preconceptions limited to notions about ice caps and Cro-Magnons inexplicably leading to the rise of the Sumerians, Babylonians, through a series of Indus valley migrations. These findings will surely force the world's archeologists to reappraise those areas of the planet not covered by ice in the period 20,000 to 10,000 BC. I predict that the impact of this theory over the long term may mirror that of Darwin's Origin of the Species. Heaven's Mirror is a disturbing master-work in every respect. My sincere wish is that conventional archeologists should hold back from scorning Mr. Hancock. I ask them to open up to the new evidence with equanimity and address it with a scientific rather than emotive response.
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Summary: TURN BACK TO ANY SKY
Review: This is the book. The tomb of knowledge. Mr Hancock has compiled an amazing amount of information and presented it in an intellegent cohesive manner. Read this book! So much has been lost in terms of the truth about the evolution of the different, repeat different, human species on this planet. Find out how and even more so why the church single-handedly tried to destroy many of the great structures of the past. Only now; do we as a civilization have the technical knowledge to understand these structures and their real purpose. If you have a fully functioning brain, can understand english, and do not fear the truth this book should change your life.
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Summary: A simple choice
Review: This newest book by Hancock, like his previous work, presents the reader with a simple choice. Either the specialists in the conventional fields of Egyptology, Mayan studies, Aztec archaeology, Peruvian archaeology, Polynesian studies, Asian studies, astronomy, and so on have got it all wrong or Hancock has it all wrong. Because these two views of the human past are entirely incompatible: either humanity was in the midst of a relatively primitive (though not stupid or culturally vacant) Stone Age ca. 10,000 BC as the "orthodox" view holds, or there was actually a highly advanced global culture, as the "alternative" view holds. From the reviews in this site of this and Hancock's other books, there are clearly those who are convinced that the universities are staffed by incompetent idiots who are incapable of spotting something as glaringly obvious as the 12,000+-year-old high civilization detected by Hancock. If that is what you want to believe, you'll love this book. If, however, like me you don't think academic archaeologists are a bunch of numbskull cretins incapable of basic reasoning, assessment of evidence, and deduction, you will hate it. At its heart, there is more of the same argument already presented in Hancock's previous books, though more beautifully illustrated with magnificent photographs. But, as with Hancock's earlier work, it's really all a rehashing of century-old arguments about Atlantis, with a New Age spin and some pseudoscientific reasoning about astronomical alignments (which, it seems, override all other evidence from sites to which they can be applied). If you like this sort of "alternative" history penned by non-specialists, buy this book; if not, spare yourself the irritation of reading it.
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Summary: See Monuments To Life first, then buy all his tapes
Review: To really appreciate all of Mr. Hancock's materials, I recommend viewing the tape Monuments to Life, which is a lecture he gave at Leeds in 1996. In this tape he presents a wide range of his views, and shows his great insights to the ancient clues that surround us here on earth. One of Mr. Hancock's greatest assets is his contempt for the "stories" we have been told as facts through the years, and his replacement of far more plausible explanations. I would have to rate Mr. Handcock as a guide in the wilderness, and his insights provide a path to a far more acceptable presentation of the ancient world than any other single speaker. While I would assume they don't welcome him in Egypt, I welcome him with open arms, and mind, because he looks and reports what he finds, not what he feels will be accepted. NOTE: The next time you see pyramids with steps, don't think of them as being used to go up, think of them as being used to go down, and see if the picture makes more sense...
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