Lost Cities of North & Central America (Lost Cities Series)

Well written, not boring, good stories, the author spins a good yarn.

I was looking forward to an entertaining account of unconventional archaeological theories, but was unprepared for this disorganized 586-page ramble through North America, from Costa Rica to Canada. The author visits numerous prehistoric sites that (to him, anyway) challenge the current academic orthodoxy. The book is more ego trip than road trip, however, as the author writes in pointless mind-numbing detail of how he travels, where he stays, what he eats, and long verbatim conversations he has with chance acquaintances over beers. In the hands of a better writer this might be interesting, but although Childress is an intrepid traveler, he is a poor writer. The book screams for a stern editor to trim the self-indulgent detail down to something readable, and to improve some of his awkward writing. I must confess that I couldn't read the whole thing: the author bored me unmercifully in his slow progress through Guatemala, so I thumbed forward to the chapters on the US.Childress styles himself a "maverick archaeologist" (p.9), but it is not clear from this book that he has any right, by either education or work experience, to the title archaeologist. He has clearly read much on alternative prehistories which claim extensive pre-Columbian contacts between North America and outside cultures, both real (Egyptian, Roman, Chinese) and imagined (Atlantis and Lemuria). He has also read some of the orthodox counter-arguments (p.439), such as Stephen Williams' excellent  Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory , but he dismisses them as the work of fuddy-duddy academics. To Childress, academic archaeology is essentially a conspiracy to suppress new ideas. Had he spent any time among academics, however, Childress might have learned that the only way for an academic to make a name for himself is exactly to have new ideas and challenge the status quo.Along the way, Childress indiscriminately embraces every tall tale (pterodactyls in present-day Texas and Arizona, Mothman in West Virginia), odd phenomenon (Bermuda Triangle and tourist "mystery spots") and newspaper hoax (19th century reporters were prone to make up fantastic stories on slow news days; Mark Twain first made his name writing such tongue-in-cheek lies). The book might have been useful as a starting-point for Fortean tourism, but it does not even include an index, so I can only give it two stars.

The book makes a great read, same as DHC's other books of the "Lost Cities" series. Very entertaining, thought provoking, and well written. One thing though: I don't get why the author keeps calling himself "a rogue archeologist": someone has to explain to him what archeologists do. DHC is no archeologist, whatever he might think; he's a traveler, a gossip gatherer, and a free spirit, but all this has little to do with archeology. I enjoyed his open-mindedness, and the relativism with which he judges most of the theories and hypotheses considered. Going through his whole opus, I can't help noticing that this writer is a really great guy, and that his travel companions and friends must have been lucky to have met him, but archeologist? Please, give me a break. And use some proofreader, for the next edition.

I really enjoyed this book because it’s written by someone that lives and has experienced travels and allows you to experience it with him as well as gives you a lot to consider before you take such undertakings yourself. Not only this but you also get to read from a wealth of knowledge that a true professional in this field holds and the mindset that they possess. You get a feel that the author truly has a love for archeology and history that surpasses biases or agenda although he may be influenced by a certain school of thought. You can definitely tell that this man is objective, almost like a living Indiana Jones. I can’t wait to finish this read as it’s already helping me with such diverse information and connecting of historical dots, and hope to dive into his other works.

This book is very interesting and thought provoking. I enjoyed reading it.Rather than a book that explains what places you can visit, how to get there and what to see when you go- this is more of a journal of the authors travels. In here he tells you what he sees, what he thinks and the things he learns.The author covers a wide range of thoughts from pteradactyles still living to Asians visiting Mexico to Romans in Arizona.I rated this a four instead of a five for two reasons. At times the writing seems stiff and it makes it hard to wade through some sections of this book. Also, the proofreading leads a lot to be desired. Words are left out, typos and spelling errors are plenty. Enough to be a distraction at times.Otherwise, it's an interesting book and well worth reading.Enjoy.

I thought I was a student of the esoteric but David Hatcher Childress makes me realize I am still only an alcolyte. History is a mystery and you can believe it because I told you so, just like your highschool history professor. This book will take you on the grand tour of North America and reveal some of the mystery that historians attempt to hide from us in their ivory towers. If you want to expand your mind without taking a lot of mind altering drugs try reading Mr. Chilress' Lost City books. He must have spent a lot of time in the underground book stores prior to his travels. That might be why he decided to hit the road in the first place, to find out for himself. Could America once have been a land of giants, or do pterydactyls still carry off unsuspecting travelers, or are there hidden books with knowledge from the ancients? Maybe, and maybe after reading this book, you will want to take a road trip and find out for yourself. Speak, Hear, and Believe

That was on of the best of the lost cities series from David Childress, this the one which has the larger bibliography, has very good descriptions on some sites that are very obscure, and he expends less time talking about Mu and the Atlantean league and whatnot. This book analyses many cases of possible interaction between the old continents and the Americas prior to the advent of Colombo. So this one has a lot of interesting content and a lot of new information to me.

A++

Good read for people like me not familiar with North and Central America Archeology.

Very thought provoking...often we tend to not look in our own backyards at some of the beauty, and mystery around us