Editorial Reviews
Review
“A treasure.” ―Joe Rogan on Graham Hancock
“A fascinating, alternative version of prehistory. America Before, detailed and wide-ranging, turns what was myth and legend into a new story of the past.” ―Daily Mail
Praise for Graham Hancock’s previous books:
“Hancock’s passionate, detailed prose transports us around the globe and across millennia in an accessible and direct manner.” ―New Dawn Magazine
“Ingenious.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“I’m deeply immersed still in Hancock’s “Magicians of the Gods.” I do so recommend this book. Hancock is an enchanting writer, and such a curious and thoughtful and intuitive investigator of the mysteries of lost civilizations and archaeological mysteries.” ―Anne Rice, NYT bestselling author of The Vampire Chronicles
“Hancock does a magnificent job of proving beyond reasonable doubt that an advanced civilization, which flourished during the Ice Age, was destroyed in global cataclysms between 12,800 and 11,600 years ago.” ―Atlantis Rising on Magicians of the Gods
“A reading experience of pure gold…History buffs, Bible scholars, anyone who likes a great intellectual detective yarn will plunge into The Sign and the Seal and not come up for air until the end.” ―Seattle Times on The Sign and the Seal
“Intriguing and entertaining and sturdy enough to give a long pause for thought.” ―Kirkus Reviews on Fingerprints of the Gods
“Readers will hugely enjoy their quest in these pages of inspired storytelling.”-The Times of London
Amazon Customer –
If you enjoy thick books with plenty of diagrams and pictures this is a book for you. It’s a very interesting book tons of details on the subjects I recommend this book to everyone even if your against his views and ideas I think it’s worth a read. All he does is put the evidence in front of you and let’s you decide what you think about the connections. I don’t get the hate he gets he definitely shows his passion for the Ancient world.
Daniel Martin Sweeney –
As a follower of Hancock’s research I see where he was going with this book. I gave it five stars because it’s a necessary piece of the puzzle. If it’s the first book by Hancock you’ve read ancient earthen mounds might not be the spectacular attention grabber. In context with his overall research it’s a mind blower and somewhat haunting. There is more to the ancient mounds than just huge piles of dirt. The fact humans survived the cataclysm proposed in this book is a testament to our species. I objectively defend what has been called Graham’s “pseudoscience” in that he does not claim he has all the answers. I think he has been fair with his criticism of the mainstream and he will admit when he’s wrong. His irritation is when the mainstream disregards any valid opposing views in order to maintain their own status for whatever reasons. I think he is narrowing down his quest with this book. Whatever the lost civilization was it had advanced scientific capability. Maybe the truth is so disturbing that it’s being purposely hidden. Maybe not. Thanks to Graham Hancock for doing his part to help us find the truth about our remote past. Hancock does not believe in the theory but I wouldn’t discard the ancient astronaut theory yet. I’m not taking it hook, line and sinker but after reading this book and all the research Graham has done all over the world and still searching….keep that theory in the files. Nature claims most things man makes relatively quickly so that’s another factor. Aside from structures such as the Great Pyramid of Giza etc. I enjoyed this book. The color photographs are beautiful. A nice touch. The appendices are very useful. Text is easy to read and chapters are broken up well for us attention challenged readers. I think if you read this book to the end you will feel a lot closer to who we are as humans what our ancestors endured to get to this point.
Xel Nella –
A truly amazing book. Hancock presents a multi-faceted argument that an advanced civilization existed in North America before the last ice age. This is not a “new age” quasi-scientific book based on somebody’s personal beliefs. Instead, this is a book full of comprehensive scientific data weaved together with logic that sometimes leaves the reader breathless. His writing is clear and his logic nearly foolproof. I learned a lot I didn’t know in this book (and I think I know a lot!). Most interesting to me was his presentation about North American Indian mounds (especially Serpent Mound), the DNA history of tribes from the Amazon, similarities in the religious beliefs about death between Egypt and Mississippian cultures, ancient pre-Columbian maps that show the world before the last ice age, and (most startling) the fact that comet fragments resulted in a mass extinction event 12,800 years ago starting the epoch now known as the Younger Dryas. All fascinating.He uses numerous illustrations and diagrams to make his points and develop his thesis. His research is based on his own personal experience of visiting and photographing numerous sites relevant to his archaeoastronomy evidence. He interviews numerous scientists and archeologists bringing a sense of realism and objectivity to his analyzes. It is a long book because because of the completeness of the data he presents.In summary, a well written, researched book on a fascinating subject. I highly recommend this book.
aggiereader –
First, I want to say that I absolutely believe the premise of this book: there is a forgotten ancient civilization that taught all the other civilizations we know of such as mayas, incas, egyptians, etc.This was a belief that awakened when I wondered how come there are pyramids in all cultures? How did they all come up with the same shape if they didn’t know each other?So I was already biased to like the content of the book. I enjoyed reading it but it was hard to stay engaged. Mr Hancock is brave to ask the hard questions and for making the reader question their indoctrination, but he is not capable of keeping the reader engaged. I compare it to a movie, there are some dull moments and some that you can’t miss.Moreover the passive aggressive tone he uses to refer to the archeologists that ridicule him gets distracting.Overall I don’t regret reading this book and I would recommend it to people, but I certainly don’t think I will read anything else by him.
A. Robinson –
This book by Graham Hancock, is just a continuation of his other book, THE FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS, and just like that book, his logic and his research is way above average. There is one exception though, and that is his discussion of the VINE OF THE DEAD. There is nothing scientific or logical about his claims of what ayahuasca can do, other than ayahuasca can make you hallucinate, and his arbitrary connection of ayahausca to the existence of a soul is not at all credible. Graham goes on to say it is unscientific to claim there is no such thing as a soul, but in reality the only logically proper thing to do when presented with a claim made in a complete absence of evidence, is to deny the claim, and there has absolutely never been any evidence of a soul existing outside of the fairytales told of one existing, but considering what excellent work Graham has done with this book, FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS, that mistake is easily forgivable.
Kayla –
Great
I bought this as a gift for my boyfriend. He loves it and finds it very interesting. He wanted more from the author.
philip rogers –
Good book
Excellent, thought provoking ideas from a man who knows what he’s talking about.Well worth a read.
Jose D. Rodriguez –
If you like the Netflix series ….
…. you will like this book. You will also find some photographs in it. Very think book.
Christy –
absolutely fascinating!
A very interesting insight of American archeology. It seems very well researched and counts on scientific opinions and theories. And afer all, what is archeology but theories debunjing ild theories. the scientists who have collabrated with Hancock have had their share of criticism for daring to challenge the nrm and I believe that only by doing this science can advance.A great read too. I was impressed by the ‘coincidences’ between Egypt and some tribes of Native Americans. The paralelism is striking….It has also made me re-read The Book of the Hopi by Frank waters….under a more complex light. A wonderful gift for anyone interested in the history of mankind. I am so glad a friend recommended it to me!
Lisa Bruckmann –
Redundante, porém importante…
Um ótimo livro, principalmente no que diz respeito aos desenhos geoglificos encontrado pela amazônia. Porém, em algumas partes as análises dos posicionamento geo-astronômicos de monumentos ancestrais dos povos originarios da américa do norte (Cahokia, Serpent Mound, e outros “mounds”), se torna demasiado complexo e um tanto complicado de entender. Algumas partes se tornam redundantes e muito do que foi dito aqui, ja havia sido abordado em Fingerprint of the Gods e Magician of the Gods.Apesar disso, é um livro muito bom que trás uma nova abordagem sobre a história perdida de nosso continente.