The World's Most Mysterious Places

I wouldn't call these places the "Most Mysterious" in the world but they are mysterious none the less. The authors provide detailed background research to most of the stories in the book. They leave out very famous mysterious places such as the pyramids or nazca lines but instead chose stories that are little known but yet mysterious all the same. That is not to say there are no famous mysterious places in this book. There are stories on Stonehenge & Easter Island but also little known stories such as Grimes Graves & Tintagel. I found this book to be most interesting and refreshing.

Where legend and history meet lies the fertile pasture from which mystery springs. Written documentation and oral tradition have provided us with a rich historical heritage - knowledge of kings, queens and castles, politics, religion and its saints and sinners, traitors and heroes. From the time that human beings forged their first communities, such people, events and places have formed our anchors to which this knowledge has been securely bonded. For we modern beings, only those people, places and associated events which are 'factual', well documented and immediately feasible are the only 'reality'. Legend and mystery have their place as abstract curios worthy of a passing interest, and for most of us they are quickly passed over as being of little consequence to "what is". Not so for Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe though! Following upon their excellent book "The World's Most Mysterious People" their equally fascinating and tirelessly researched "The World's Most Mysterious Places" proves this. Once again they worry those 'loose ends' and the unsatisfactory logical explanations for events, structures and phenomena that have only served to raise more questions than answers to their mystery. Lionel and Patricia dare to ask the questions; to revisit, re-excavate and share their findings with we 'armchair investigators'. This is a book that encompasses mysteries from the world over, so not only are we guided with customary open mindedness through houses in Devon and Wales which are reported to be occupied by the shades oflong dead occupants, but are taken to ponder upon the strange phenonemon of the tomb of the Turkish St. Nicholas whose spirit lives on in childrens' eagerly awaited Santa Claus. What caused the hauntingly fragrant scent that emitted from his final resting place? The Colossus of Rhodes, a gigantic bronze statue of the Sun god, it seems, may well have been a functional war machine which pounded enemy ships with a mighty arm from its lofty vantage point. As we consider the riddle of ancient Gaelic script found on stone slabs in the Americas, rethink our dismissal of Atlantis as the long lost island of a brilliant culture and yearn to visit for ourselves eerie Maltese caves and shrines, the Fanthorpes have bonded history and mystery, myth, legend and psychology between these pages to tantalise their readers and leave them itching for more answers. Hopefully we can depend on the intrepid couple to keep 'boldly going' and long continue to travel far and wide to bring them home to us -- or better still, inspire us to get out there and find them for ourselves.