Meet Me in Atlantis: Across Three Continents in Search of the Legendary Sunken City

Mark Adams is an observer, one who becomes a participant. He admits to becoming contaminated with the virus that is Atlantis. Exposure first manifests as interest, and ends, as the title explains, a full blown obsession.This work reminded me of Jon Ronson, Will Storr and the grand dame of inquisitive minds Mary Roach. I enjoy all of these writers, they have nimble minds, an open attitude and they ask questions that I would have asked, along with many more intelligent ones. Although Mark Adam's journey has more in common with Joshua Foer (Moonwalking with Einstein) who observes his subjects, (world champion memory enthusiasts) becomes immersed in their strange world, and finally becomes a participating contributor.Mark Adams has done a great service to his subjects. He has cataloged what must be the definitive collection of theories, evidence and debate around the various schools of thought on the veracity of Plato's tale. The revelations around Plato and his world are some of the most interesting parts of this book. His overview of the theories and philosophy of that time, are accessible and encourage further reading.The author is always courteous and respectful to his subjects, displaying a great deal of affection and empathy for the various researchers and hobbyists, who have made it a life work to confirm the site of Atlantis. He does keep away from the more 'fringe' theorists, UFOs,Edgar Cayse etc getting short shrift. This despite the central part Atlantis played in many an occultists world view. Probably a smart strategy, sticking to theories that are supported by at least some testable evidence, will surely reduce the eye rolling, that this topic induces in rational minds.In summary, this is a well written, fascinating book, recommended

Very informative,however, not as funny as his book , Turn Right At Machu Picchu, .. Also at time gets a little bog down with the math question...I didn't realize that all we know about Atlantis comes to us from only one source, PLATO....But Mark Adams, presents a very fair argument for each of the top possible locations for Atlantis and why or why not they are the one... I clearly would recommend the book to anyone, .All and all a good and very informative book on the legend of Atlantis., Again I must say it is not as funny as Turn Right At Machu Picchu. I have still not made up my mind if it really needed all the math.. I understood the Pythagorean theories, I understood why some was important to understand the problems with Atlantis, but near the end I felt one should be a math major at MIT to really enjoy the book...Hence the 4 stars and not 5 stars.

Well researched and written narrative of the author's adventures in seeking the lost city of Atlantis. Mark Adams is entertaining at the same time he is thorough in his reporting. He introduces the reader to a wonderful cast of characters who have analyzed Plato's writings as well as other Ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians to develop their theories on the location and circumstances around Atlantis. Many have made it their life mission to find the lost city. A great way to learn more about Portugal, Spain, Malta, Greece, Morocco, the Antarctic, and other wonderful places. Fasten your seat belt and have a great time!

I absolutely adore this book. While it does dive into the lives of the people who believe in and search for Atlantis, what really got to me was a new way of looking at historical texts and epics. No, the book does not conclude that there is an underwater city that once was home to a super-race of aliens. But it does provide plenty of evidence to suggest that many of the stories, epics, and legends that come to us from ancient history have truth to them. It also suggests that there are just tons and tons of places and cultures still waiting to be uncovered--many below the shoreline.

I've "known" that Atlantis was on Santorini for many years, though I didn't know much about the Atlantis legends in general; and I was curious to know the latest research and opinions. This book provides a personal analysis and stories of the various possibilities from never-existed through all the reasonable and unreasonable candidates and explanations. He describes the source material, the personalities of the various credible and not-so-credible players, the questions, the impossibilities, the various kinds of analysis of data that have been used.I really appreciate an author on a question such as this that don't have certainty or there own agenda, and present all the evidence with all the nuances. However, to be honest; I'm disappointed that it might well not be Santorini and also miss the loss of certainty... but a wonderful read nonetheless.

Just terrific. Mark Adams tackles this confounding and enduring mystery with great humor and a lively open mind. His quest for the truth about Atlantis becomes a journey and along the way he introduces us to the most fascinating theories about Atlantis and visits the most likely locations for the lost civilization. He enlists the help of a colorful group of experts and academics, each with their own strongly held beliefs (and disbeliefs) about Atlantis. His portraits of these people, and his own joy in these encounters, are the primary pleasures of the book. Adams is able to tie up all of the crazy threads around the Atlantis myth into a satisfying conclusion that I won’t reveal, but I loved this book.

Well researched certainly, but dry as dust and a long slog to get through. If you want to be reminded of your high school history textbooks that you fell asleep reading, this is the book for you. I loved "Turn Right at Machu Picchu", but how could a book on Atlantis be so dull? Let me amend that--the research is thorough and interesting up to a point, but there were just too many minute details and names to hold my interest. The bottom line is "everyone's theory is right and everyone's theory is wrong". Those who said the book is funny must be on some very strong doses of drugs. They make it sound like a laugh riot, but it most certainly is not.

I held off on buying this book for a while because the cover looked a bit wacky. Couldn't have been more wrong about it and it turned out to be the best serious take on Atlantis I have read so far. The sheer amount of antlantologists and experts interviewed, theories and topics researched was the most surprising aspect of this book. Mark Adam's sane, commonsense, sceptical, yet open minded research is an island in an ocean of crackpot idiots (before reading this I had read Atlantis Ireland). Whilst I didn't completely agree with the conclusion I would recommend this as the best introduction there is to the myths and realities present in the Atlantis tale.

I've read a stack of books on Atlantis over the years, mostly out of curiosity to see what crazy idea comes up next.This is different though. The author takes a very objective view on the least kooky theories out there and travels all over the place to try and figure out where the truth lies.It was well worth the time reading this book. I really enjoyed it.

Good alternative read!

Masterpiece of a serious reality treasure hunt for AtlantisContrary to what most people think, it is not obvious that Atlantis was an invention by Plato. So, Mark Adams did the right thing and just started reading and travelling through world and history, hunting for clues, for possible Atlantis locations and for professional as well as amateur experts who could bring him closer to the truth. Since Mark Adams is open-minded and unprejudiced on the one hand side and on the other hand side armed with a very reasonable skepticism and -- above all -- with a good sense of humour, this book turns out to be an enjoyable and interesting trip. It reads almost like Dan Brown's Robert Langdon hunting for the secrets of history -- only this time, it is real: The clues are real, the possible locations are real, the informants are real, maybe even Atlantis turns out to be real?The number of experts and amateurs on Atlantis, Plato, Pythagoras, mathematics, oceanography, vulcanology, history, archaeology, mythology, geophysics, and many other disciplines is enormous. Every time you think, that it would be nice if Mark Adams followed a track and visited a certain expert on a certain topic, he really follows this track in the very next chapter! This is a real search, no journalistic fake. We have to be very thankful to Mark Adams that he did this extensive journey acting on behalf of all of us who are interested in the opinions of all these experts.Having obviously read a lot, and then talking to all these skeptics and searchers, Mark Adams piles up a huge amount of knowledge about Atlantis and possible interpretations, so that even I could still learn something here. But what is more, we also get to know the personalities of all these experts and amateurs, their motivations, their characters and their flaws. Mark Adams is a very good observer and able to ask the right questions in the right moment, and his interviews sometimes turn out to be excellent art pieces of literature as well as of psychology, and show a good sense of humour. This is surely "the" book of our generation of Atlantis research and thus also a historically valuable work!Only in the very last chapter the limits of Mark Adams become clear. He piled up a lot of valuable information about Atlantis, yet he did not think deeply into the topic. In a liberating jump into a simplistic solution, he falls for the idea that since the cosmology in Timaeus is full of Pythagorean numbers, the numbers in the Atlantis account have to be Pythagorean, too. No one could ever show this convincingly, there are no such regularities, beginning with "one, two, three" at the beginning, where -- obviously -- "four" is missing to the full Tetractys. Besides the fact, that all Pythagorean numbers in the cosmology are not meant to be symbolic, but real, which would be the only valid assumption for Pythagorean numbers in case of Atlantis, too.So, Mark Adams simply declares all numbers in the Atlantis account to be invented by Plato, as well as the perfect concentric ring structure, and in an act of ludicrous desperation, Mark Adams thinks that all the characteristic features defining Atlantis could be found everywhere and thus are not of any importance. Mark Adams even has bought the idea that the Greek word "nesos" (island) simply could mean anything. On the basis of this iconoclastic approach, Mark Adams declares Atlantis to be a fictional story, with only a small kernel of truth which bears no importance. It does not matter any more, if this kernel is real or invented. This historical kernel clearly does not deserve the name "Atlantis". Mark Adams's hypothesis is basically an invention hypothesis.The reason for this failure is easy to see: Mark Adams's competence is overstrained, he has no clear idea how Plato constructed his so-called "Platonic Myths". Instead of a desperate iconoclasm he better had tried with historical criticism, which he himself reports to be mentioned (under another name) by Juan Villarias-Robles (p. 77 f.). He should have also better considered the words of K.T. Frost: "The whole description of the Athenian state in these dialogues seems much more fictitious than that of Atlantis itself." (p. 196) And he should have better not fallen into the traps of catastrophism, mythology, Neoplatonic symbolism and Pythagorean number games. With his simplistic solution, Mark Adams could also declare Egypt to be a mostly fictitious invention by Herodotus with only a small and unimportant historical kernel located in -- for example -- India.Yet, we have to be fair: For a journalist and writer who did not work on the topic for decades, it is an achievement to have a clearly voiced opinion on Atlantis; most journalists like to hide behind nebulous statements, or declare Atlantis simply to be a full invention. Even more important than its end is Mark Adams's book itself: Having read so much, having travelled through all these locations, and having interviewed all these persons is quite a feat and a valuable present to all interested in Plato's Atlantis. This book is surely one of the best recommendations to all who want to get a glimpse into Atlantis research -- with the everlasting caveat: You should read more than one book about Atlantis.(c) 2015 Thorwald C. Franke[...]We have to correct some minor mistakes:pp. 13 f. Contrary to what most people think, there was no rivalry and no fundamental opposition between Plato and Aristotle. Only certain disagreements.p. 20 "inscribed in Egyptian temples": Not true. Plato talks only of texts which can be "taken at hand" (Timaeus 24a), i.e. papyri. There could have been inscriptions, too, but Plato does not talk of them.pp. 86 ff. "the Nazis": Not true. Only certain National Socialists were interested in Atlantis, among them Heinrich Himmler, but Atlantis was never part of the general NS ideology. Adolf Hitler even mocked Atlantis searchers, and the tape records heavy laughter in the NS party audience.p. 172 Plato favoured the military state Sparta: Not true even in a double sense. Before Plato changed his mind on politics in the Laws, he favoured a "closed" society in the Republic. After Plato changed his mind in the Laws, he favoured a more "open" society, and liked the Spartan principle of a constitutional "balance of power".p. 182 "Thorwald Franke believes Sicily was the original inspiration for Atlantis". Not exactly true, if strictly speaking. Thorwald Franke is convinced that Sicily really was Atlantis, and he is still elaborating this idea.p. 195 Papamarinopoulos: "In the Republic Plato presents an imaginary Athens". Not true, the imaginary state in the Republic is not related to Athens.p. 215 Elizabeth Wayland Barber: Information can be passed down "orally and faithfully for up to thousands of years". Surely not true, except for very very crude kernels of truth, yet never for detailed stories.p. 277 Plato knew the circular harbour of Carthage: Not true, this harbour most certainly was built only after Plato's death.Index: At least two mentions of Aristotle are missing: pp. 174 f., p. 178.

A thoughtful and enjoyable stroll through the various theories of whether Atlantis really existed and if so where.