Synopses & Reviews
Plato started it.
Plato was the one who first reported the existence of a vast island with immense mountains, verdant valleys and fruit "fair and wondrous and in infinite abundance." This magnificent Aegean Eden surrounded a capital of fabulous stone buildings, a busy, bustling heaven on earth.
And then, the Cataclysm. Panic spread across the island as Atlantis's volcano shook off its long dormancy. The mountain erupted, and the island was overwhelmed, engulfed. The sea smoothed over, and the continent and its occupants were gone forever.
Or were they?
Enter Robert Sullivan, who first rose to international prominence with his breakthrough research on Santa Claus. In Atlantis Rising, Sullivan reveals evidence even more startling than that contained in his myth-shattering Flight of the Reindeer: The True Story of Santa Claus and His Christmas Mission. Set upon his Atlantean quest by Amos S. Eno, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and lured further and further on by the mysterious oceanographer who calls himself "Atwater," Sullivan is able to separate historical truth from mere legend, fact from fiction, science from silliness. Delving into the historical record, then into secret files that have long been under lock and key at the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, he discovers rare transcripts, documents, maps and, incredibly, photographs. They are all here in Atlantis Rising, along with dozens of paintings by the renowned natural-history artist Glenn Wolff. It adds up to an astonishing tale and a powerful moral.
Atlantis lives.
Synopsis
From the creative team behind the bestselling "Flight of the Reindeer" comes a new amalgam of history, folklore, humor, and science. Combining fact, fiction, and everything in between, Sullivan skillfully renders a world in which the citizens of Atlantis live on among us. 100 color illustrations.
About the Author
Robert Sullivan, an assistant managing editor at Life, has written about the oceans for Sports Illustrated and other magazines. He is also an acclaimed Santalogist, and author of Flight of the Reindeer: The True Story of Santa Claus and His Christmas Mission. Frank McCourt has said that reading Sullivan is "like sitting by the fire with a lively and scholarly shanachie." Sullivan lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and daughter.
Table of Contents
Contents Preface
The Hermit by the Beach
In which we meet the mysterious Atwater, who possesses certain proofs that have gotten him in way over his head. Atwater sets us upon our quest.
Part One
Plato's Republic
In which the history of ancient, above-water Atlantis is detailed. We gaze upon a long-ago land of great grace, culture, beauty, genius and aspiration.
Part Two
Crimes and Punishment
In which we learn of the Atlanteans' descent into grasping, evil ways. The days before The Cataclysm were no less dramatic and volcanic than the eruption itself.
Part Three
Theories of Devolution
In which we trace the several stages of history's most remarkable back-to-the-womb story. The colonizing instincts of mermaids and mermen are analyzed.
Part Four
Eden Reborn
In which we ask: Who are they today? What is their nature? When did they leave the Atlantic? Where were they on the Night to Remember? How could it possibly be possible?
Afterword
Swimming Toward Tomorrow
In which we wrestle with a final question: What are these fantastic undersea creatures trying to tell us?