The Atlas of Legendary Lands: Fabled Kingdoms, Phantom Islands, Lost Continents and Other Mythical Worlds Hardcover – May 18, 2009

I've been waiting to buy this book for a long time, and could not wait to get a copy. I find this to be a fascinating topic (the geographical imaginaries of Europe through history). However, after reading a few of the chapters, I'm really disappointed. For example, the chapter on christian world views in the middle ages is written in such a mocking heavy handed tone that I found myself constantly annoyed. Why not just describe the view as it was during the time period? The author also clearly didn't do much research either, except for perhaps her third-grade history class. Int he same chapter she continues to push the myth that middle age scholars thought the earth was flat. This myth is perpetuated by the disc like representations of the earth from the middle ages, but that does not mean they thought the earth was shaped this way. This myth has been disproved by numerous texts, and shown that only a handful of middle age scholars believed the earth was flat. The author never cites any sources for her information, either. Although there is a further reading section. I still give this book 3 stars, because, while the information in the chapters are questionable, in the least it does provide an interesting list of topics to search for real information on (prester john for instance).

I have just purchased this book in Sydney and I love it. The perfect gift. A fascinating read and well researched.This extraordinary book gathers together, as no book has before, an incredibly rich story of human voyaging covering some three thousand years. 'The Atlas of Legendary Lands' is beautifully presented with rich illustrations and reproductions of many of the historical maps discussed in the text. The reader is taken on an amazing journey through time and place around the world. "Beautiful man-hating Amazons flying astride griffins over the island of California; El Dorado; the mysterious Mountains of the Moon; the Garden of Eden; Camelot; sea dwelling dragons; drowned lands and floating islands......... This might all seem fanciful but it is some of the world as portrayed by serious cartographers in the not so distant past.Many of the ancient maps were based on reported knowledge and so the 'gaps' were filled in by the cartographers. However many of the impossible maps can be found to have a basis in fact and some of the oral legend lands passed down throughout history might have existed in some form. The reader is drawn along on a journey that is rich in history and fascinating in human effort. I highly commend this book to all book lovers irrespective of their preferred genre.Peter StilesDirectorLavender Australia

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