Unfortunately, many people have one or two preconceived ideas about Atlantis that are completely wrong.

The first is that information is available about it from many sources. The truth is that the only details we have are from Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher. He is the only source we have and apart from the odd throw- away remark or hint, nothing else exists. No Plato….no Atlantis….it is as simple as that.

An example of how widespread this misconception is ingrained is that several reviewers have criticised me for using Plato as my guide.

W hat we do not know is if Plato was telling the truth and this has been argued over for more than 2000 years. But, before that dispute could be settled we had to discover exactly where he was refering to. Then it would be up to archaeologists to investigate for remains. I am convinced I have now prepared the ground for that stage. South west Iberia matches the clues Plato left to exactly to be dismissed as mere coincidence. Fortunately, exploration of the seabed will be relatively easy, but nevertheless costly. A boat fitted out with expensive side- scanners will be needed and preferably with a submersible. If evidence exists it could be found quite quickly. I already know of one set of flooded buildings.

The second misconception is that Atlantis consisted of just one magnificent city. Plato makes it abundantly clear he was talking about a very large kingdom with many cities. and an empire of Islands stretching across the Atlantic all the way to America. The capital itself was less than a kilometre wide, but admitedly it was a glittering affair.

Again, there are some reviews of the book that betray this eroneous belief. Theyalso prove what many other authors have long suspectecd with regard to their own works, that the reviewer often does not even bother to read the book . For instance, a review for my book in a responsible American literary magazine, implied that Atlantis was just a city and that I claimed to have discovered it off the coast of Portugal. In fact I devote a whole chapter to proving the opposite, that it was exactly where Plato said it was, 9.25 kilometres inland!