Amazon Review
Over the last few years there has been an explosion of books rewriting archaeology, history and religion. Some focus on new interpretations of the life and teachings of Jesus, others on the Templars and Freemasons, and yet others on ancient monuments such as the pyramids of Egypt. In most cases some secret doctrine is unveiled: esoteric teachings going back to the dawn of time, preserved in "impossible-to-build" buildings, mythology or ritual, and now revealed by the intrepid researchers.

Picknett and Prince, who have written their own share of such books (In His Own Image: The Story of the Turin Shroud and The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ) now take their turn at debunking books on the pyramids, early extraterrestrial contact with mankind, the "Face" and "pyramids" on Mars, and the claimed significance of the year 10,500 BC. Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and Robert Temple come in for particular criticism, with Picknett and Prince pointing out some of their factual errors as well as examples of sloppy logical progression in their arguments.

But this is only the beginning of their book. The authors summon large amounts of evidence to argue that behind such modern authors on the pyramids and Mars there might lie a hidden agenda, involving channelled messages from the Ennead, the nine major gods of Egypt; a wide range of parapsychologists and scientists, including some from NASA; the defence and intelligence communities; and even some politicians. The nine gods may or may not be real, they say, and channelling might simply come from the subconscious, though they accept phenomena such as Remote Viewing as entirely real.

Whether their worrying conclusions are valid or whether they have simply come up with another conspiracy theory, Picknett and Prince's book is not only controversial but thought-provoking too. --David V Barrett