Atlantis Discovered! Again.
Is this “it”? A Review of “Atlantis and the Silver City”
by: Greg Little
Over a year ago I received several emails from the author of the just-released book titled Atlantis and the Silver City.
The author, Peter Daughtrey asked for permission to use a few illustrations from a couple books that I coauthored on the same topic, and he related that by following the clues left behind by Plato, he had finally deciphered the actual location of Atlantis. And he had found not just the Center City of Atlantis but also the main portion of the empire. Sight unseen and with the details of his discovery not revealed to me, I agreed for the use of the illustrations—something I have always done when asked. Daughtrey’s discovery was the culmination of a 20-year quest that ended in the discovery of the Atlantis Empire close to his home, but more on that momentarily.
The publisher of the book, Pegasus Books, recently sent me a pre-publication copy of the book for review. It is 262 pages and contains about 45 pictures and illustrations. Back when so many others came to the conclusion that a deep underwater area off Cyprus was definitely, positively, and indisputably the lost continent of Atlantis — based on a claimed “perfect” match of Plato’s clues — I realized that people interpreted or twisted Plato’s clues to fit their particular discovery. For example, Cyprus is in the Eastern Mediterranean. But Plato related that Atlantis was far into the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) and not in the Mediterranean. So the interpretation made to make Cyprus fit what Plato stated entailed making the Pillars of Hercules mean something else and also making the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean. The logic goes like this: This underwater Atlantean city off Cyprus is in the Mediterranean, therefore Plato really meant the Mediterranean and not the Atlantic Ocean. Since Plato really meant that Atlantis was in the Mediterranean, then Cyprus fits this clue perfectly! Of course we all know now that the discovery of Atlantis off Cyprus turned out to be a natural pile of mud—literally a pile of mud. Another example is that the tiny island of Santorini fits Plato’s clues. It was a small circular island—not a many-hundreds-of-miles long island as Plato related. And Santorini is in the Mediterranean. But that’s just quibbling. Nevertheless, it was around the time that many people seemed to naively and instantly accept that Cyprus was Atlantis that I just ceased participating in Atlantis documentaries and became disgusted with the entire field. About that same time, I was told by a publisher that the reading public was not interested in reading about the “Search for Atlantis.” They wanted to read about its discovery. “You gotta say you actually found it,” I was told. “That sells books.”
And so when I got “Atlantis and the Silver City” to review I wasn’t sure what I would see, but I suspected more of the same—another wild claim based on twisting Plato around. One aspect I have seen over the years as an “Atlantis seeker” is that most people seem to discover Atlantis where they happen to be at the time. It is curious how those in Santorini claim it was Atlantis. I have been contacted by quite a few people in Ireland who claim that Ireland was Atlantis. The same can be said for the Bahamas, Spain, and so on. Atlantis has been found—claimed to have been found—everywhere. It was off India, in South America in the Andes, in Tampa, Florida, Central America, North Africa, and on it goes. My approach has also been one of searching where it is convenient and logistically feasible, so in reality I have done the same thing to some extent. But when we actually found something intriguing we haven’t claimed it was from Atlantis. It’s been an adventure and a quest, and yes, Edgar Cayce’s psychic readings on Atlantis have played a role in our search. But we have never ever claimed to have found Atlantis or any part of it. We are looking and have found a lot of things, but we don’t know precisely what it is. So, is there anything different about what “Atlantis and the Silver City” claims? The answer is a surprising yes, and the book deserves a close look. I have to commend the author for his careful reasoning and also for his close examination of what Plato really stated.
I will not give the details of precisely where the book relates that the Center City was—and still is. That can actually be found on the first few pages, so that secret will be out soon. But simply giving out those details could deter others from reading the entire book. I will relate that he rightly starts by reaffirming that Atlantis was outside the Mediterranean in the Atlantic. And he relates that it was an island empire that extended from Spain and Portugal across the Atlantic to the Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean, including Cuba. A careful reading of Plato leads to the inescapable conclusion that what Plato described was many islands forming a vast maritime culture that extended from the western opening of the Mediterranean all the way to the Caribbean and the Americas. The author of Atlantis and the Silver City uses logic and actual archaeological finds to make his conclusions—and what he concludes does fit Plato—all of Plato. There was a Center City, a surrounding plain and mountains, and many other islands in the empire. Andrew Collins, Graham Hancock, and others including my group of researchers are all mentioned many times. There is a strong possibility that the things the book claims are factual and the author may have hit upon something important in his conclusions. He will show you where the Center City was, as he conceives it, and where the main portion of the surrounding area was—and still is. But like many ideas based on speculation and theory, someone with great resources will have to go beneath deep water and do some serious searching to confirm some aspects of it. Nevertheless, it is an intriguing book well worth the read for anyone interested in Atlantis.