Is Atlantis real? Is there incontrovertible photographic evidence of the Loch Ness Monster? Probably not, but these books will do their best to convince you otherwise.
On the Track of Unknown Animals
Bernard Huevelmans
New York: Hill and Wang, 1959 [First English edition.]
Summary: This influential book on cryptozoology includes profiles of cyrptids from around the world, based on the author’s own extensive research and travel. Drawings accompany many of the descriptions. In his time, Huevelmans was somewhat well-known for his belief in cryptids.
The Loch Ness Monster and Others
R. T. Gould
London: G. Bles, 1934
Summary: Details history of sightings of the Loch Ness monster, and offers up suggested explanations and refutations. Gould carefully scrutinizes available pictures of the monster and compares them against one another and eyewitness accounts. He comes to the conclusion that the Loch Ness monster is a real creature of an as-yet undiscovered species.
Ragnarok: The Age of Fire & Gravel
Ignatius Donnelly
New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1883 [First published 1882]
Summary: Donelly was briefly famous in his time for another novel he wrote about the destruction of Atlantis. This book is a tie-in to his Atlantis theory, which proposes that a catastrophic comet collision in the past brought about the sinking of Atlantis and wiped out a good deal of human life. Donnelly was also a member of the US House of Representatives, which goes to show you Congressmen having a shaky handle on science and natural history is not a new phenomena.
L. Sprague De Camp
New York: The Gnome Press Inc., 1954 [First edition.]
Summary: In this book, De Camp sets out to debunk the Atlantis theory. The work is in part a serious critique of so-called “evidence” of the existence of Atlantis, and partially a lighthearted critique of the cult of people who fervently believe in Atlantis and similar fringe theories.
Otto Muck
New York: William Collins Sons & co and Quadrangle/The New York Times Book co., 1978 [First edition, second printing.]
Summary: Based on “scientific” research and drawing upon Plato’s writings, Muck concludes that Atlantis must have existed. He also claims the Mayan calendar gives the exact date of the sinking of Atlantis. The Author was born in Vienna in 1892 and died in 1956; the book was not published in English until after his death. It was first published in Germany in 1954.
