Atlantis, the island continent that vanished under the sea, is one of the most haunting themes of legend.

Described by Plato more than two thousand years ago, it is, seemingly, a philosophic myth; yet one recounted with a magnificence and a wealth of detail which have convinced many that it must have had some reality.

Prehistorians have seen Atlantis as the fountain-head of all civilization; mystics have had revelations about it; archaeologists have claimed to locate it – sometimes in surprising places. But one fact little-realized is that Plato's genius indirectly created a different myth from that which he intended – a unique case history in the workings of the human spirit as it searches for origins and the dawn of wisdom.

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