Rating: 
Summary: See also their website!
Review: The crustal displacement idea originated with Charles Hapgood, author of "Path of the Pole" and "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings". It remains invalid, but the Flem-Aths attribute it to a supposed overburden of ice at the poles. I may have missed something, but it would appear that the periodicity of the supposed shift would be determined by whether the ice could accumulate on land at both poles. This would obviously be a rare event, given the large amount of the Earth's surface that is covered with water.The Flem-Aths attempt to make what is at its heart a catastrophic event into another uniformitarian fantasy. It is clear that they worked hard at this, but in that area the book is a failure. The book also fails to convince that Atlantis was located in Antarctica. This idea is basically ridiculous, although it probably drove the sales. What is interesting is the various pieces of evidence showing that Antarctica has been iced over for less than 3 million years, rather than the 50 million or so formerly claimed by Lyell's followers. Another mark against the Flem-Aths is their devotion to the idea that humans cause global warming. This is a failing found in other fringe researchers such as Art Bell, Whitney Strieber, Linda Moulton Howe, as well as alleged scientists operating on grants from governments around the world. Hapgood's claim that medieval maps -- there are no surviving ancient maps -- show Antarctica ice free is addressed by Robert Schoch ("Voices of the Rocks", pp 102-106). The best that can be expected from such maps is that they show Antarctica ice free much more recently than 12,000 years ago, an idea that none of these researchers would accept. There are runic writing systems found in Europe's caves and going back much further than this, and they remain mysterious and unread. To believe that 12,000 year old maps have been preserved through faithful transcriptions is just beyond credibility. This book is still worthwhile buying and reading for what it can inspire regarding a possible human presence in Antarctica and its submerged continental shelf, and the possible role it played in the peopling of the Americas. See "Voices of the Rocks" by Robert Schoch, "Plato Prehistorian" by Mary Settegast, "The Ancient Mariners" by Lionel Casson, "Noah's Flood" by Walter C. Pitman and William B. F. Ryan, "The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age" by Richard Rudgley, "Catastrophe: A Quest for the Origins of the Modern World" by David Keys, and "Mysteries of the Sphinx" (VHS video).
Rating: 
Summary: Chilly Atlantis very improbable
Review: The Flem-Aths have done considerable research but their conclusion
that Antarctica was the site of Atlantis will prove wildly wrong. They
have relied too heavily on Charles Hapgood's maps and theories such as
the Piri Reis map which reveals and ice-free coastline on Antarctica
and on the doubtful theory of crust displacement. Even if Hapgood's
improbable belief that Antarctica lay 2,000 miles closer to the
equator 11,5000 years ago could be proven, Antarctica still could not
have supported a climate such as that found in Plato's description of
Atlantis -- only the central regions of the Americas could have
provided such riches in a then very cold world. Further, there is no
evidence of a superior civilization in Antarctica, but at the center
of the Americas, a land that creatively connects the great ocean
currents, there lie the most enigmatic relics of a great civilization
-- the almost perfectly spherical stone spheres of Costa Rica.
Rating:
Summary: Chilly Atlantis very improbable
Review: The Flem-Aths have done considerable research but their conclusionthat Antarctica was the site of Atlantis will prove wildly wrong. Theyhave relied too heavily on Charles Hapgood's maps and theories such asthe Piri Reis map which reveals and ice-free coastline on Antarcticaand on the doubtful theory of crust displacement. Even if Hapgood'simprobable belief that Antarctica lay 2,000 miles closer to theequator 11,5000 years ago could be proven, Antarctica still could nothave supported a climate such as that found in Plato's description ofAtlantis -- only the central regions of the Americas could haveprovided such riches in a then very cold world. Further, there is noevidence of a superior civilization in Antarctica, but at the centerof the Americas, a land that creatively connects the great oceancurrents, there lie the most enigmatic relics of a great civilization-- the almost perfectly spherical stone spheres of Costa Rica.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly argued, badly written, but nevertheless interesting
Review: The Flem-Aths seem to be entirely innocent of the concept that they need to prove, or least cogently argue, that there was an Atlantis, that there is such a thing as "earth crust displacement," and that the latter explains the demise of the former. Instead of arguing their case, they simply assume the truth of their premise and then argue that it explains such things as the numerous flood legends known to so many cultures around the world. Not only is the book poorly argued, it is very badly organized. It is as though facts and stories, many of which are utterly irrelevant to the argument, have been put in a blender, well mixed, and then poured out onto the pages of the book. Along with the appalling lack of forensic rigor, there is also some outright intellectual dishonesty. Noted 19th century scientist Georges Cuvier is quoted commenting upon the "breaking to pieces and overturning of the strata, which happened in former catastrophes", which catastrophes "have perhaps moved and overturned to a great depth the entire outer crust of the globe . . ." Cuvier was apparantly commenting on what is today known to geologists as overthrust, a phenomenon in which earlier strata overlie later strata. Overthrust is completely unrelated to the theory of "earth crust displacement", which was first hypothesized by Charles Hapgood in the 1960s. Yet the Flem-Aths write of "Cuvier's theory of an earth crust displacement" more than once in the paragraphs following the quoted material. I could cite several more examples of the Flem-Aths playing fast and loose with their authorities and references. The Flem-Aths recount the flood legends of several native American peoples; several of these legends bear a striking resemblance to the Genesis flood story. Interestingly, the Flem-Aths completely fail to comment on the similarity. In fact, there are many more flood legends than the few recounted by the Flem-Aths. Anthropologists have collected 59 from North American Indians, 46 from central and South America, 31 from Europe, 17 from the middle east, 23 from Asia, 37 from the south sea islands, and 7 from Africa. The written symbol for ship in the Chinese language is made up of a boat with 8 mouths, symbolizing the 8 people who escaped in the Ark. In addition to the Atlantis Myth, the Greeks had a tradition that Zeus destroyed the world by inundation, sparing one man. Ovid's metamorphosis contains the Roman flood tradition, in which Jupiter destroys the human race with a flood because of its wickedness. And, of course, there is the Gilgamesh epic, which so closely tracks the Genesis flood story that some scholars have suggested that Moses cribbed from Gilgamesh. Despite this abundant evidence of a world-wide flood, which evidence the Flem-Aths endorse as supporting their Atlantis theory, they refer to those who believe in the Genesis account as "religious fanatics." Most of the other interesting material in the book also supports the Genesis account. For example the Piri Re'is map, showing the ice free coastline of Antartica, dovetails with creationist models of a very warm post-flood ocean. After the flood, the oceans were warmer and the land colder than they are today. Over the course of hundreds of years, the ice receded on land and formed in the oceans at the poles. The short ice aged that followed the flood also coincided with wetter climates in subtropical areas. Thus, when Egypt was settled, it had a much wetter climate than it does today, which accounts for the water erosion of the Sphinx observed by Schwaller de Lubicz. The Egyptologists are not wrong about the age of the Sphinx. Rather, the geolgogists are wrong about how recently the climate became arid and desertlike. Was there an Atlantis? I would not be surprised. The myth is likely based upon some historical fact. What is interesting, however, is not whether there was an Atlantis, but how people like the Flem-Aths can marshal evidence supporting the Genesis flood account without realizing the implications of their work.
Rating: 
Summary: Rand Flem-Ath gives a brief summary.
Review: The legend of Atlantis was first recorded by the Greek philosopher Plato. He relates how his ancestor Solon, the famous Athenian law-giver, received the legend from one of the most learned of the Egyptian priests. This priest (relying upon ancient sacred records) descibed Atlantis as a high altitude, mountainous island continent in the 'real ocean.' This description makes perfect sense when we view the world's geography from Antarctica. Antarctica is a high altitude, mountainous, island continent in the middle of what oceanographers call the 'World Ocean.' Ancient maps depict the actual shape of parts of Antarctica that are today under ice. One of these maps, Kircher's 1665 map of Atlantis, is an amazingly accurate map of Antarctica without its ice. The common assumption is that Antarctica has been under ice for millions of years and therefore the idea that people might have once lived on this island continent is absurd. But a little thought on the matter sheds doubt upon this assumption. We know that every place on the earth's surface has a corresponding spot on the opposite side of the globe. The North Pole is on the opposite side of the globe to the South Pole. New Zealand is almost on the opposite side of the globe to England. There is even an island off the south coast of New Zealand called "Antipodes" which is very near to being opposite to London. In each case, the climate is similar - New Zealand is temperate and so is England. We don't find cases where one area is polar and the opposite side of the globe is temperate. Lesser Antarctica (about half the size of the USA) is on the opposite side of the globe to Alaska, Siberia, Canada's Yukon and the former land bridge known as 'Beringa.' Extensive scientific studies by Russian, American and Canadian scholars in various disciplines prove the existence of a wide variety of animals that lived in the far north before 9,600 B.C. These include not only the famous mammoths but also antelope, deer, saber-toothed tigers and lions. To support such a wide range of animals the climate must have been warmer before 9,600 B.C. than it is today. If the Siberia/Alaska/Beringa region could support temperate adapted animals before 9,600 B.C. then it follows then that people and animals could have lived on the opposite side of the planet to this region (Lesser Antarctica). To explain how the climate changed, how the ice sheets were formed, the sudden rise of agriculture, massive extinctions, the sudden influx of people into America after 9,600 B.C., as well as the ancient maps from the ice age, we use the theory of earth crust displacement as developed by Charles Hapgood. This is the theory that makes the most sense of the violent earthquakes and floods that Plato tells us destroyed Atlantis. We corresponded with Hapgood for the last five years of his life (he died in late 1982) and in his first letter to us (3 August 1977) he responded to a paper we had written for him by saying that it "...was the FIRST truly scientific exploration of my work that has every been done." Having recently read the nearly 200 pages of correspondence between Hapgood and Albert Einstein we understand why Einstein was so enthusiastic about the earth crust displacement theory. On 8 May 1953, after a series of letters had been exchanged, Einstein wrote to Hapgood: "I find your arguments very impressive and have the impression that your hypothesis is correct." Einstein went on to write a foreword to Hapgood's EARTH'S SHIFTING CRUST, re-released this month as PATH OF THE POLE. We have assembled numerous myths from around the world about an island paradise that was destroyed by a great flood. In the Pacific Northwest, for instance, the native people of Washington state and British Columbia known as the "Okanagan" relate their myth of 'Sumah-tumi-whoo-lah'. This mythical island "in the middle of the ocean" was destroyed by a great flood. The Okanagan people believe that some of their ancestors escaped the sinking island in a boat that eventually landed on a mountain top in present-day Washington state. They arrived from what we call the "Pacific Ocean." In ancient Mexico, "Atzlan" was the mythical island of the Aztecs. Like Sumah-tumi-whoo-lah it was associated with 'whiteness' and was also destroyed in a great flood. Other myths from ancient India, Iraq, Iran and South America tell similar myths. In the Zend-Vesta of ancient Iran, one of the oldest written records in the world, the island paradise of 'Airyana Vaejo' was said to be at the earth's pole and was destroyed by a great blizzard accompanied by a flood. In each of these paradise myths an island paradise is destroyed by a great flood from which a small party of people survive in ships that land on mountain tops. Even if Plato had never written about Atlantis we would still have the basic story encoded in world mythology and our quest might go under a name other than "Atlantis." The thing that distinguishes Plato's account of Atlantis from the other mythological tales is the matter of fact way in which the story unfolds with natural forces like earthquakes and floods playing the role usually attributed to gods. The 'most learned of the Egyptian priests' gives incredible details about the lost land: its size (larger than 'Libya' and 'Asia' in modern terms this makes Atlantis larger than the United States), its high altitude (Antarctica is the highest continent on our planet) and the fact that it resides in the 'real ocean' a body of water that surrounds the globe. It is impossible in a short review (under 1000 words) like this to list all the reasons why we believe that Antarctica was Atlantis before the last displacement. We are perfectly serious in our desire to see our theory tested with an expedition to Antarctica to uncover what yet might remain of a once advanced civilisation that perished WHEN THE SKY FELL.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read book!
Review: This book gives the most interesting theory about Atlantis I have ever read about. Atlantis in Antartica? Very convincing!
Rating:
Summary: if you believe this........
Review: Utter nonsense. Don't waste your money or your eyesight.
Rating:
Summary: Uncertain certainties
Review: When William Ryan and Walter Pitman first presented their theory of the Black Sea as a fresh water lake invaded by the salt water of the Mediterranean in a cataclismic event 7,600 years ago, they were laughed at by the scientific establishment to which they belong as marine geologists. Today, their theory is accepted as the most probable scenario that explains the peculiarities of the Black Sea and might also explain the insistence of so many peoples on the legend of a Flood. Less than twenty years ago it was taught in schools that Cro-Magnon had killed Neanderthal in a racist war for control of the planet, but today we are told, with the same certainty and by the same people, that both groups coexisted for millenia and that the causes behind Neanderthal's disappearance are unclear. Recently, the Clovis mind-set of anthropologists and archaeologists in the Americas was shattered by discoveries in Chile of human habitation 12,000 years ago, long before Clovis in New Mexico. So, everything about dates in the Americas, dates set in stone for the die hard crowd of scientists, had to be revised, although most books still carry the Clovis date because the shattering information is quite recent. Now this book "When the Sky Fell" about a new idea regarding Ice Ages and the possibility that another legend may be based in truth is so poisonously criticized by some reviewers, that I can't help remembering all those times when the so much vaunted "real" science was wrong. The Java Man comes to mind, and Troy, and the fact that Mayans didn't know the wheel (wrong: they did). Examples are many. Science is good and necessary. But scientists are fallible, too. The Flem-Ath's book proposes an elegant, novel idea that deserves a hearing, not a summary dismissal. It is quite disturbing to read reviews such as one where the reader states that everything regarding earth crust displacement is garbage and has been proven to be so, and then consult a geology textbook for college and find the candid assertion that we really don't know "exactly" the composition of the planet beyond the crust. Science can defend itself with the facts and doesn't need self-appointed champions to foolishly charge against anybody who dares have a different opinion or propose a new theory. Besides, the Flem-Aths are not attacking anyone. They are saying "this is what our investigation has led us to believe." They may be wrong, in which case they are in good company with all those scientists who gave us perfect dates for the peopling of the Americas; certainty regarding the Mayan ignorance about the wheel; certainty about the Flood being nothing but the overflowing of the Tigris-Euphrates basin; certainty about Neanderthal; certainty about the poles never shifting; certainty about catastrophes not playing a significant role in evolution... So many certainties that must be changed later on.
Rating: 
Summary: It asks some very interesting questions...
Review: While I may not be too sure of an advanced civilization known as Atlantis the book does ask some things that interest me, such as: Where did the maps that that show PRE-Ice Age Earth come from? How did big mammals end up freezing to death WHEN such animals would have NEVER even been in such an environment? (And, frankly, how do you flash-freeze such large animals?)
While you might not like the answers, I like the fact that they don't ONCE talk about aliens. I'm sick of aliens. Ancient man was as smart IF not smarter than current man. They did a lot if not more than modern man and without computers, atomic power and pet rocks.
Rating:
Summary: Was it Antarctica?
Review: While I was a little disappointed that they did not try very hard to prove the existence of Atlantis, their idea of earth crust displacement is nonetheless interesting. The North Pole has been in southern Alaska, the Hudson Bay, and north of Scandinavia in the last Ice Age, according to this book. There is ample evidence for that. The little evidence for Atlantis that they do show does not point to Antarctica. South America fits all of Plato's criteria, as does Ice Age Indonesia. The only evidence for Antarctica is a bunch of references to the southern hemisphere and a continent opposite the Mediterranean, but that could be South America. Technological civilization could not have arisen in Antarctica, even when the South Pole was off the coast, any more than it could arise in northern Canada today. I think it should have been marketed as a book on ice ages rather than a book on Atlantis.
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