While the book's premise is both unique and interesting, that the lost city of Atlantis can be found in the Bolivian Altiplano, there are major problems with this book. Firstly, this clearly is not a scholarly piece of work. It is poorly written and poorly presented. There is a lack of coherence and understanding to the ideas presented, the works cited, and even the diagrams utilized. Secondly, the works and diagrams cited in this book are done so without proper reference to their source and context. There is not even a precise map of the author's journey through Bolivia, nor how the purported location of Atlantis is situated with respect to other key cultural centres past and present that might add substance to the author's theory.

Thirdly, while the author is unable to find evidence correlating all of Plato's statements regarding Atlantis, no explanation is given for this. In fact one could argue that the author's interpretion of Plato's statements is somewhat subjective, seeing only what the author wants to see. Fourthly, very little evidence is presented to support the author's theory. A review of aerial maps and a drive across the Altiplano is the crux of the evidence presented. In fact, most of the book is spent speculating about related theories of antiquity, and even this is done with a degree of naivete.

In summary, although there is a lack of academic scholarship and expertise in this work, I do give the author credit for the originality of the theory. If anyone is to blame for this book, however, it is not the author, but the editor and publisher for allowing a book of such poor quality, presentation, lack of depth and substance to be published in the first place.

....Anyone who has actually read Plato's account should realize 2 things no.1 Plato said Atlantis sunk into the sea. no. 2 he said shoals of mud, left from the island's sinking, blocked the way to the Atlantic proving that Plato meant for Atlantis to be between America and the Gibraltar straits and the sea was the Atlantic not an inland sea as Allen would have us believe. After careful study I have come to believe that Plato's story was written as a moral tale and that he drew upon ancient legends as inspiration for his story never intending for anyone to try and look for it. Plato was a philosopher not a historian. Even if parts about the location of Atlantis were true we can by the above arguments rule out South America and the Andes very quickly without going there and wasting time looking for a myth. People need to understand the context in which the tale was written instead of ignoring facts and going on a wild goose chase. As for ancient contacts between South America and Egypt these could happen without Atlantis. I believe lost civilizations do exist but none as far fetched as Atlantis. ....

I too have put this theory aside, but a program airing on TLC has some pretty compelling arguments and presents his case much better than this book seems to, however there are many holes in Allen's theory, and his follwing is relatively small.

A must read if you are interested in Atlantis is Voyage to Atlantis by James Mavor. This, in my opinion, represents the most thorough and convincing attempt to locate the legendary city - this is also seems to be the most overlooked theory if indeed Atlantis did exist.

I believe after extensive reading and research that Atlantis did exist, but not as some overwhelmingly technoligically advanced society as some believe. I believe it was merely another city or "part" of a much larger society. They were advanced enough to have cold and hot running water, a complex understanding of the solar system, advanced construction techniques, and enough seafaring ability to establish trade, but some of the same can be said about many other ancient cultures.

That's my 2 cents.

What a terrible book - not only is it difficult to read - but missing much of common Ecology viewpoints and basics. Worthless, absolutely worthless - anyone want to by mine - cost of postage. If not, I'll just burn it.

This book was delivered on Tuesday. I sent it back on Wednesday.

An examination of this book quickly reveals that it is a total waste of money for anyone who wants to do anything with a modern telephone system. The book was originally published in 1986. Even though this is a "revised second edition", it appears that little has changed in 11 years except a little text and the product photographs. For example, equipment that I have owned for over ten years is described as "just coming on to the market". Standard items such as fax machines, computers and punch-down blocks are not mentioned at all. Modems are mentioned, but only with reference to speeds that were obsolete ten years ago.

I am shocked that a business unit of Bell Atlantic (Howard W. Sams & Co.) would publish a technical book about the telephone system that is so horribly out of date. My intent in purchasing the book was to get up-to-date information on wiring my house with Category 3 or 5 unshielded twisted pair cable, which has been the recommended practice since 1991. That type of cable is not even mentioned. The cable types and installation practices described have long been considered marginal even for single-line voice telephones. For anyone that has two or more phone lines - or who wants to use a computer at more than 19.2k bits per second - the information in this book is totally obsolete.