• Underworld

  • The Mysterious Origins of Civilization
  • By: Graham Hancock
  • Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
  • Length: 31 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (618 ratings)

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Underworld  By  cover art

Underworld

By: Graham Hancock
Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
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Publisher's summary

From Graham Hancock, best-selling author of Fingerprints of the Gods, comes a mesmerizing book that takes us on a captivating underwater voyage to find the ruins of a lost civilization that's been hidden for thousands of years beneath the world's oceans.

While Graham Hancock is no stranger to stirring up heated controversy among scientific experts, his books and television documentaries have intrigued millions of people around the world and influenced many to rethink their views about the origins of human civilization. Now he returns with an explosive new work of archaeological detection. In Underworld, Hancock continues his remarkable quest underwater, where, according to almost a thousand ancient myths from every part of the globe, the ruins of a lost civilization, obliterated in a universal flood, are to be found.

Guided by cutting-edge science and the latest archaeological scholarship, Hancock begins his mission to discover the truth about these myths and examines the mystery at the end of the last Ice Age. As the glaciers melted between 17,000 and 7,000 years ago, sea levels rose and more than 15 million square miles of habitable land were submerged underwater, resulting in a radical change to the Earth's shape and the conditions in which people could live. Using the latest computer techniques to map the world's changing coastlines, Hancock finds astonishing correspondences with the ancient flood myths.

Filled with thrilling accounts of his own participation in dives off the coast of Japan, as well as in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Arabian Sea, we watch as Hancock discovers underwater ruins exactly where the myths say they should be-sunken kingdoms that archaeologists never thought existed. Fans of Hancock's previous adventures will find themselves immersed in Underworld, a provocative book that provides both compelling hard evidence for a fascinating, forgotten episode in human history, and a completely new explanation for the origins of civilization as we know it.

©2002 Graham Hancock (P)2019 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Graham Hancock is no stranger to controversy. The former journalist, whose books have sold five million copies in the past 10 years, has repeatedly dared to challenge scientific shibboleth, taking a run at entrenched thinking in archeology, geology and astronomy." (The Globe and Mail)

What listeners say about Underworld

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

I am a fan of Graham Hancock. The information conveyed is interesting and important. However, it could have easily been edited down to about a quarter of its present length. It reads like cut-and-pasted journal entries.

Also, with the Audible edition you do not get any photographs or especially maps. Since the whole thing depends a lot on "inundation maps" showing coastlines at intervals in the past, if you can't see those maps, it's really annoying. Audible should provide a supplemental pdf with the maps and photos. There isn't one and they didn't respond to my message asking about it. So, don't buy the Audible version of this book, buy the print version instead, so you can see the maps. (Or buy both if you are determined to listen rather than read.) I did not return the book since I did enjoy listening to it, and I got my money's worth, but I felt that I should have gotten the maps too, as they ARE part of the book.

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92 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Millions Of Miles Of Submerged Coast Or A Hindi Primer?

If you guessed the later this is your book. If you’re hoping based on the title, the description and the dust jacket art that this book explores the millions of miles of coastlines an possible coastal cities that have been drowned since the last glacial period peaked ,,, keep looking. Hancock starting losing it with this one and went totally off the rails in his last one. He’s become the newest bait and switch salesman of the old and tired ancient aliens car lot. Pass on this one and pass on Hancock.

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22 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wow what a great book

I just wish the was an update for 2019. so much had happened since 2002 and I'll bet that more had been found and better research had been done.

this book really covers all the angles and uses science and logic to rule out imaginative explanations for their findings.

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19 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Mostly very boring, repetitive

An entire chapter about trying to get a charter boat and someone who could take him to an underwater site. How due to the weather they could not dive. Then his frustration that they could not find the site he was looking for. Completely unnecessary details that drag on and on. A few interesting sites and information but could have been condensed into half the length.

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18 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

A bunch of pseudoscientific nonsense

I'm sorry I bought this trash and I will be asking for my credit back.
These ridiculous, unverified theories are a waste of time and money.

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10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Research & Outlook, OK Narrator

This book’s depth, breadth of knowledge, and intrigue are simply amazing. I feel like I’m reading an alternate history of our universe. I love this book.
The narrator... if you have a thing about pronunciation, maybe skip him. He has a pleasant voice, but it’s impossibly plummy. He pronounced all his “ti” (as in ‘question’) and “sh” sounds as “ch”. I can’t listen for too long at a time because this guy sounds like he’s auditioning for a role as a butler or something. Every word from his lips sounds pompous and self-important. It irritates me A LOT, but I really love this book, so I stuck with it and just gritted my teeth.

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

long

Did not realize what I was getting into. I watched his joe rogan interviews and thought he was very interesting. I'm still going to listen to another one of his books but not this one again.

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating science, though at times long winded

This book assesses the flood myths from many cultures and from many perspectives along with the geophysical end to the Ice Age. it further relates the experience of diving at several locations around the world to examine possible ruins of citied far older than its commonly accepted 5000 year old start of civilization. The potential wilful destruction of cave art in Malta is examine extensively, perhaps to thoroughly for the average reader, yet perhaps provided to avoid accusations of bias.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

LOOOOONNNGGG

Way too long. Could have lost a good 12 hours to get the idea. Overly written. I enjoyed his other books much more.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

provoking

if you love ancient history and archaeology you will love this book. it takes you around sites all over the world.

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1 person found this helpful