The Georgia Guidestones: America's Most Mysterious Monument

by Raymond Wiley, K.T. Prime

The Georgia Guidestones are a collection of standing stones near Elberton, Georgia. Built in 1980, they are primarily composed of six slabs of granite: one central pillar, four "major" stones that fan out from the center, and a capstone. The capstone has engravings on all four of its sides in four different ancient languages, all of which read, "Let these be guidestones to an Age of Reason," when translated. The major stones are each engraved on both sides, and each side contains text in one of eight modern languages asserting the same ten guidelines.

Those guidelines have proven extremely controversial, causing speculation and rumors of conspiracy that go far beyond northeast Georgia.

Conspiracy theorists surmise a global plot on the part of a group of shadowy men to subjugate and oppress the world's population and create a "new world order." Others believe that the man behind the monument was a Rosicrucian, and that the stones are representative of that group's magical manifesto. Some people even believe that it is a landing site for an alien spacecraft of some kind. At the heart of this confusion is the missing piece of the puzzle: who was the mystery man who started the entire chain of events?

Georgia native Raymond Wiley was interviewed for The History Channel's Brad Meltzer's Decoded program about the Guidestones and is a principal expert for a feature length documentary currently in production. With local writer KT Prime he has written the definitive account of America's most famous megalithic monument.

Genres: Nonfiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2011

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy conspiracy theories, R.C. Christian! Kinda written like a tabloid, but informative I guess. Anyway, I'm taking a field trip there in one month.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person, and this gave me a few new ones to play with. Elements of mystery, history, science, astronomy, and archaeology combine to create an interesting read. The first few chapters seem to simply repeat themselves, which made it a little difficult to get into the story, but once the authors convinced themselves that the reader had caught up with them, it became easier to follow the flow.

[Maggie Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

very informative

[Larzini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the insight into the period of time when the Guidestones were built. This gave things a perspective I did not pick up on when reading the Wikipedia entry and some other info on the Guidestones scattered around the Internet. I do think it would sure be interesting if the characters in The Walking Dead stumbled across the Guidestones in a future episode, but they are still pretty far away from establishing a new civilization.

[Peter Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about the history of the Georgia Guidestones. Seems to be well documented. Included the historical perspective and ongoing controversy about the construction and meaning of the stones.

[Sarah Chrosniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely interesting.

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raymond and KT have put together a well written and fascinating book. Who knew a modern monument could be so interesting?

[Dancingfoolvb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much too this one, except a few anecdotes.