<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
L. Sprague deCamp <\/strong>(1907-2000) is probably better known as a science fiction writer with over 120 books to his credit, including two non-fiction titles, Citadels of Mystery<\/em> (First ed.: Ancient Ruins and Archaeology<\/em>) [0820<\/a>]<\/sup> and Lost Continents <\/em>[01<\/a>94<\/a>]<\/sup>, in which he was extremely sceptical of the reality of the Atlantis described by Plato. He offers the blunt declaration that Plato concocted the whole story, basing the tale on a mixture of the wealth of Tartessos<\/a> in Spain, the destruction of the Greek island of Atalanta<\/a>, all intermingled with the mythology of Atlas<\/a>. Although his criticism is harsh, it should be said that deCamp does display a reasonable degree of objectivity. It is probably because of his perceived integrity that other Atlantis sceptics continually trot out his views in support of their own position.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A few years after Lost Continents<\/em> was published, Nikolai Zhirov <\/a>wrote a critique of the book(c)<\/sup>, rejecting both its style and content. He notes that “the work shows a bad one-sided knowledge of geology and oceanography which is not counterbalanced by a critical examination of the published geological and oceanographical facts, although it is only by a study of these last that the Atlantis problem can be fully resolved.” Personally, I think that Zhirov’s comments are a reflection of his own bias towards an Atlantic location for Atlantis and ignore many other aspects of the Atlantis question, such as the date when Atlantis existed, as well as the identity of the Atlanteans.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n One of deCamp\u2019s most quoted extracts is that \u201cyou cannot change all the details of Plato\u2019s story and still claim to have Plato\u2019s story.\u201d While I fully endorse this comment, I must point out that there is a difference between changing and interpreting. For example when Plato refers to Asia<\/a> or Libya<\/a>, even deCamp accepted that in Plato\u2019s day \u2018Asia\u2019 was not the landmass we know, stretching from the Urals to Japan, but a much smaller territory [0194<\/a>.27]<\/sup>. In fact the term \u2018Asia\u2019 at one point was just applied to a small region of modern Turkey. Similarly, \u2018Libya\u2019 was not the country we know by that name today, but the term was often employed to designate all of North Africa, west of Egypt. There are a number of other details in Plato\u2019s narrative that require explanation or interpretation and so as long as any such elucidation is based on evidence and reason, they cannot be glibly dismissed as substantive \u2018changes\u2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He scathingly refutes the more outlandish Atlantis theories that have deviated dramatically from Plato\u2019s narrative, commenting that without matching the \u201cdate, location, size and island character\u201d with the text we do not have Atlantis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n DeCamp also considered Alfred Wegner\u2019s <\/a>theory of continental drift as \u201cvery doubtful\u201d, but corrected this statement in a 1970 edition of his book. Immanuel Velikovsky <\/a>also received the sharp end of deCamp\u2019s pen, describing his catastrophic theories as \u2018mad\u2019. Further information on deCamp can be found on the internet(a)<\/sup> where excerpts from his Lost Continents are also available(b)<\/sup>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Henry Eichner<\/a> drew attention [0287<\/a>]<\/sup> to the fact that in three books relating to Atlantis authored by deCamp, he describes a ring found by Adolf Schulten <\/a>at the site of Tartessos, but\u00a0slightly differently in all three! In Lost Continents <\/em>it is plain, in Lands Beyond<\/em> it is copper, while in Ancient Ruins and Archaeology <\/em>it became gold!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Frank Joseph <\/a>incorrectly claimed in the July\/August 2011 issue of AtlantisRising<\/em> magazine that DeCamp \u201cformerly a staunch disbeliever in Atlantis, was later convinced it did indeed exist in south-coastal Iberia.\u201d<\/p>\r\n DeCamp had the misfortune to have an excerpt from his book, The Ancient Engineers<\/em> [2073<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0 the notorious Unabomber in America(d)<\/sup>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n (a)<\/sup> https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160411091824\/http:\/\/www.lspraguedecamp.com\/index.php<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n