ALSo RECEIVED

Atlantis in the Caribbean Andrew Collins Bear & Co. 2016

Pb, 488pp, illus, plates, notes, bib, ind, $20.00, ISBN 9781591432654

It is difficult to see where there might be room for a new book on Atlantis but Collins has done just that, re-examining all the most ancient and authentic records and distilling a (relatively) new theory.

To locate the legendary islandcontinent in mid-Atlantic, as so many of the older writers have done, is clearly ruled out by modern studies of the tectonic plates that form the ocean’s floor. Instead Collins marshals considerable evidence that the Caribbean is a better prospect, arguing that Plato’s reported account was a memory of a cataclysm that struck this area at the end of the last Ice Age, some 13,000 years ago when a cometary impact devastated Cuba and submerged parts of the Bermuda landmass.

This is a revised and expanded edition of his 2000 book Gateway to Atlantis, published when, he admits, “very little scientific evidence was available”. Since then, he has trawled libraries and travelled the world seeking evidence of the Younger Dryas comet impact, finding it in six continents among the remains of ancient cultures in the Old and New Worlds. The theory is clearly explained and the evidence well laid out. It is refreshing to see the way Collins has matured as a writer and historian; this must be his best book yet.

Dying to Wake Up Dr Rajiv Parti Hay House 2016 Pb, 222pp, £10.99, ISBN 9781781807262

Standing out from the glut of autobiographical accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) is this from Dr Parti, a self-confessed rich materialist who had heaped psychological abuse upon his son for not being as successful as himself.

Parti was a respected Chief of Anaesthesiology at a California hospital whose struggle with iatrogenic complications of treatment for cancer led to a series of surgical interventions and a dependency upon pain relief medications and anti-depressants.

During a near-fatal crisis at Christmas 2010, he was once again on an operating table when, 20 minutes in, he became conscious that his body was floating near the ceiling and was fully aware of the actions and conversation of the theatre staff below him. In an instant, he found himself in a frightening, dark place and crying for help. A figure appeared, whom he took to be his long-dead father¸ now looking younger and confident, who calmed him and took him through a tunnel. The doctor then experienced two past lives which, he says, put his present predicament, his arrogance and cruelty, into a perspective. Attending angels then tutored him, telepathically, in spiritual health, giving him the mission to teach it to others. Dr Parti awoke a changed man, giving away his material wealth and mending bridges with his family. This engaging book – cowritten by Paul Perry – is Parti’s testament.

Fact, Fiction and Flying Saucers Stanton T Friedman & Kathleen Marden New Page Books 2016 PB 288pp, notes, bib, index, $16.99. ISBN 9781632650658

You’d think that with shelves crammed with books examining or indulging in the UFO phenomenon from practically every known angle there would be no room – or, indeed, enthusiasm – for another one. The two veteran ufologists, Friedman and Marden, have cooperated before on at least three well-received books on wellrehearsed UFO topics.

Even though the cases discussed here all-too-familiar for the well-read follower of the subject, the authors have come up with an important new angle. For the first time (in general print at least) we

have very experienced researchers in the field giving their considered views on how it has, historically, been hijacked by “the misinformation, distortion, and derision by debunkers, government agencies and conspiracy conmen”; consequently there is much new commentary on the old cases.

This is likely to go way over the head of any readers new to the subject, but old hands are sure to appreciate the behind-the-scenes chapters on such key figures as Donald Menzel, Philip Klass, Dr Condon, and others. They end with yet another (but no less earnest) plea for the full disclosure of government archives.

The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic Eliphas Lévi; trans J M Greer &M A Mikituk Tarcher Pedigree 2017 Pb, $17.10, 480pp, ind, ISBN 9780143111030

This new translation of Lévi’s 1854 classic – a personal project by Greer and Mikituk – provides a significant opportunity for a fresh re-evaluation of Levi’s legacy for the philosophies underlying and interpretations of, for example, psychical research, spiritualism, and modern New Age movements.

There is no doubt that this was one of the founding manifestos of the modern Western occult tradition, considering that it preceded important works by Manly Hall and Helena Blavatsky, and the main magical movements (including the Golden Dawn, the Rosicrucians, Theosophy, etc) that flowered in their wake. A graphic example of this ‘transmission’, say the translators, is Lévi’s illustration of Baphomet – the cross-legged transgendered goat-demon surrounded by occult symbols – that, while borrowing from the ancient Knights Templar, presented the modern world with a revised representation of the Devil as the prime-evil. In eliminating the “pompous and turgid” tone of Arthur Waite’s original 1896 translation, correcting his many “errors

and omissions” and dumping his system of misleading footnotes, Greer and Mikituk have succeeded in re-establishing Lévi’s grand trans-cultural synthesis in a form more relevant to and understandable for the modern occultist.

Strange Tales from Illinois Luke Scriven Self-published, Amazon/Kindle, 2015 Pb, 99pp, £3.49, ISBN 9781537340593

FT heartily approves of the smallpress tradition of anthologies of local tales, in this case, going direct to digital distribution. This slender volume for the author’s home state focuses upon modern manifestations of mysterious and frightening clowns; the 1944 ‘mad gasser of Matoon’ panic; phantom hitchhikers; and one new to us, concerning the Devil incarnating into a baby born to an atheist in Chicago in 1889.

The author then shows how variants of this old theme (of the atheist or blasphemer ‘getting what he asked for’) has cropped up in other countries and other times, going back to the folkloric trope of ‘changelings’ substituted for new-born babies.

You Might Be a Zombie Editors of Cracked Michael O’Mara 2014 Pb, 295pp, illus, £9.99, ISBN 9781782433200

Hundreds of witty collections of facts, factoids, rumours of the urban legend type, organised in familiar Internet-style listings around 40 topics such as: ‘Five stories about Jesus’ childhood they had to cut from the Bible’; ‘Six insane things Science might do with your cadaver’; ‘The gruesome origins of five popular fairy tales’; ‘Three colors you don’t realise are controlling your brain’; and ‘The five most frequently quoted bullshit statistics’, etc. Compiled from the contributions of 35 of the satirical website’s writers and amusingly illustrated, this makes a perfect addition to your toilet library.