Books in Lost Worlds and Mysterious Civilizations series

Easter Island is a true land of mystery. One of the most remotely inhabited places on Earth, this 64-square-mile speck in the South Pacific is more than 1,000 miles from anywhere else, yet Polynesian voyagers managed to settle Easter Island a thousand years ago. No one knows why the Moai, nearly a thousand megalithic volcanic statues, were carved, transported, and erected--or why they were all found facedown by European explorers. In addition, did a Stone Age population of less than 10,000 actually deforest the land, causing environmental devastation? There were as many as 16 million Chilean palms covering 70 percent of the island when the settlers first appeared, but Westerners in the early 18th century were astonished by the total absence of trees. Furthermore, the islanders adopted a new cult based on the worship of birds and in the process, annually elected a "sacred birdman" in a competition that may have been the most dangerous of its kind anywhere in the world. Though the island is one of the most studied and probed places on the planet, Easter Island remains one of the most mysterious places on the planet. Read in this new title about this fascinating place.

The ancient civilization of Nubia arose in the Nile Valley, in what is now Sudan and southern Egypt. Some scholars believe that Nubia represents the oldest kingdom in Africa, and most of our knowledge comes from Egypt's historical record. Although tantalizingly little is known about Nubia's early empires, archaeological researchers have uncovered treasures and artifacts outlining a succession of sophisticated civilizations that shared aspects of their culture and traded positions of power on occasion with its more famous neighbor to the north, Pharaonic Egypt. In later centuries, Nubia changed dramatically as a result of other outside influences, notably two major waves of religious conversion: to Christianity and then to Islam. Today, Sudan's overwhelmingly Muslim population reflects this last influence, while other cultural traits of the Sudanese reflect the many other forces that have shaped it over the millennia. Nubia delves into the history and mysteries of this ancient culture.

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.

El Dorado, the South American "Lost City of Gold," became a siren call for Spanish conquistadores eager to obtain fame and fortune by discovering the undiscoverable. Lives and fortunes were lost, reputations were made and lost, but El Dorado always seemed to be tantalizingly out of reach. With the original story growing out of a religious ritual practiced by Indians living in present-day Bogota, the tales and rumors of this gold-laden city were soon embellished by their tellers, and soon, men went in search of a city filled with untold fortunes. El Dorado explores the origins of the legend of the golden city, tells the thrilling stories of the explorers who risked their lives for gold, and includes information on the latest archaeological discoveries that seem to indicate the very real possibility that the legend being chased may have been real after all.

Immortalized in Homer's epic works The Iliad and The Odyssey, the legendary city of Troy was the stage on which devastating battles were fought and heroic deeds were done during Troy's conflict with the Greeks. Homer's 8th-century bce works, which were often sung, kept the Trojan-Greek War alive in the minds of millions of people. However, the stories suddenly came to life in 1871, when an amateur archaeologist announced he had found the gold that belonged to Priam and the city that had been destroyed by the Greeks. Plenty of other archaeological finds have been made, and Homer's epic poems have been translated from the Greek time and again. In Troy, discover this ancient city as it existed in ancient times and the ways it has been commemorated through word, song, and popular culture.