First described by the Greek philosopher Plato in the year 360 bce, Atlantis was a naval power located at the Pillars of Hercules (today's Strait of Gibraltar) that had successfully conquered large swaths of Western Europe. After its defeat, Atlantis then sunk into the sea, never to be seen or heard from again. For centuries, this tale of Atlantis was largely forgotten until the 1882 publication of Atlantis: The Antediluvian World by American writer Ignatius L. Donnelly. In it, Donnelly made the claim that all ancient civilizations were descended from Atlantis, which was, in his eyes, a technologically advanced culture whose impact was felt throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Since the publication of Donnelly's book, speculation and theorizing about Atlantis has been continuous, with writers making claims for Atlantis being located everywhere from Mexico to Nigeria to Indonesia to Antarctica--even Wisconsin. Atlantis separates the myths from the facts, investigates the historical idea of Atlantis, and looks at the latest archaeological findings that seem to indicate a reality behind Plato's original story.
