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Finding Atlantis: A True Story of Genius, Madness, and an Extraordinary Quest for a Lost World
The untold story of a fascinating Renaissance man on an adventurous hunt for a lost civilization—an epic quest through castles, courts, mythologies, and the spectacular world of the imagination.What do Zeus, Apollo, and the gods of Mount Olympus have in common with Odin, Thor, and the gods of Valhalla? What do these, in turn, have to do with the shades of Hades, the pharaohs of Egypt, and the glories of fabled Atlantis? In 1679, Olof Rudbeck stunned the world with the They could all be traced to an ancient lost civilization that once thrived in the far north of Rudbeck’s native Sweden. He would spend the last thirty years of his life hunting for the evidence that would prove this extraordinary theory.Chasing down clues to that lost golden age, Rudbeck combined the reasoning of Sherlock Holmes with the daring of Indiana Jones. He excavated what he thought was the acropolis of Atlantis, retraced the journeys of classical heroes, opened countless burial mounds, and consulted rich collections of manuscripts and artifacts. He eventually published his findings in a 2,500-page tome titled Atlantica, a remarkable work replete with heroic quests, exotic lands, and fabulous creatures.Three hundred years later, the story of Rudbeck’s adventures appears in English for the first time. It is a thrilling narrative of discovery as well as a cautionary tale about the dangerous dance of genius and madness.From the Hardcover edition.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
15 people are currently reading
625 people want to read
About the author
David King
482 books73 followersDavid King is the author of "Finding Atlantis", "Vienna 1814", and, most recently, "Death in the City of Light".
A Fulbright Scholar with a master's degree from Cambridge University, King taught European history at the University of Kentucky before becoming a full-time writer.
A Fulbright Scholar with a master's degree from Cambridge University, King taught European history at the University of Kentucky before becoming a full-time writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
March 8, 2009
I was astonished by how much I enjoyed this book, which I devoured in a single day. Olof Rudbeck was the discoverer of the lymph system, a keen astronomer, a composer, a singer, an instrumentalist, a top-flight architect -- in short, a sort of paradigm for Renaissance Man (the plant genus Rudbeckia was named in honour of him and his son, another Olof) -- yet he devoted most of his life to an attempt to prove first that Sweden was the land of the Hyperboreans and then that Atlantis was in fact Swden, with its capital at Old Uppsala. What was disconcerting for me was that, if we ignore those of his claims that were obviously just products of a fevered overenthusiasm, he actually made a pretty good case for his thesis, one that was hailed by, inter alia, the Royal Society and Sir Isaac Newton. The real reason his monumental book (or books, because the expansions in later editions far surpassed in extent the original version) has been forgotten is that, shortly after his death, Sweden stumbled from being a major power to humiliation as a conquered, looted nation.
King's style is highly readable, on rare occasion verging, it has to be admitted, on the facile, and one or two interesting strands of background international politics seem to get forgotten before, chapters later, being rather summarily tied off; if I could give the book 4.8 or 4.9 stars rather than 5, I would. But overall? Highly recommended.
August 24, 2015
Probably one of the best biographies I have ever had the pleasure to read, Finding Atlantis sparks many creative ideas and at the very least inspires intellectuals to pursue knowledge. Regardless of the truth of Rudbeck's ideas, his unquenchable lust for history and joy of learning truly made me admire him. Though I'm sure King did everything he could to make the reader sympathize with Rudbeck, it still seems like a wonderful tribute to a noble intellectual who stands mostly forgotten in the annals of history.
April 17, 2022
An interesting read about a person I'd genuinely never heard of. The overall impression the book made on me was fairly weak, with some slightly infantile "and wasn't that cool? we should definitely talk more about cool dudes like this in the past" types of statements scattered throughout. I also am biased against noncritical summaries of figures who today would be labeled conspiracy theorists, especially ones that are quite proto-volkisch; there was no conversation about the ways in which thinkers in the early modern and modern periods who searched for proof that their ancestors were secretly the origin of all human civilization. Not every book has to have this, hence a 3 stars rather than a 2.
October 25, 2009
A fascinating read about a fascinating man who passionately believed that Sweden was the location for the lost city of Atlantis. I'd have rated it higher but for the fact that the author meanders into many side-notes, spiraling away from the main theme just enough that it becomes tangential.
That all of the information is interesting and/or presents the reader with gripping historical events and personalities is beyond doubt. It is a book packed with information. But I feel closer editing may have helped the book stay more aligned with the main character--it was clear Mr. King was bursting with scads of deeply researched information. This book either needed to be much longer and more fluidly written to include all of the facts, personalities and historical markers--or somewhat slimmer and more tightly controlled.
Still a good read about the beguiling hunt for Atlantis and the story of a larger-than-life Swedish scientist, ne'er-do-well, and Renaissance man whose eventual fall from grace left his wide-reaching legacy more obscured than deserved.
That all of the information is interesting and/or presents the reader with gripping historical events and personalities is beyond doubt. It is a book packed with information. But I feel closer editing may have helped the book stay more aligned with the main character--it was clear Mr. King was bursting with scads of deeply researched information. This book either needed to be much longer and more fluidly written to include all of the facts, personalities and historical markers--or somewhat slimmer and more tightly controlled.
Still a good read about the beguiling hunt for Atlantis and the story of a larger-than-life Swedish scientist, ne'er-do-well, and Renaissance man whose eventual fall from grace left his wide-reaching legacy more obscured than deserved.
Want to read
November 17, 2009This guy wrote one of my favorite history books ever (Vienna: 1814 <-- plugging it for any history dorks interested), and this looks great. On the to-read list it goes!
June 19, 2022
Fascinating study of genius and obsession that reveals as much about the competitive culture of science as it does about the possible lost civilization.
October 25, 2020
Interesting book about a Swedish professor in the Age of Enlightenment, and at the time just after Sweden's military and nation-state peak, who claims that Atlantis was in the vicinity of Old Uppsala. Olof Rudbeck claimed that many words from the myth of the Argonauts showed they sailed NORTH after capturing the Golden Fleece and landed in Sweden.
Of course, what Rudbeck had actually done, per King, is discovered Indo-European cognate words in some cases, a century and a quarter or more before William Jones first postulated the Indo-European language family. And, in other cases, he'd connected random similar sounding words.
Of course, there were elements of truth here. The Norse high gods roughly parallel many of the Olympians. But, at the same time, the differences between Norse belief and that of the Greeks were large. The Olympians and Aesir were superimposed on a panoply of "lesser" (and older in belief system) deities that differed greatly between the land of the Geats and the land of Hellas.
King does show how this developed into an obsession for Rudbeck, and also does a nice job of tying this to academic politics at the University of Uppsala, whose thrown elbows were even sharper than those of today in academia. Tied to all of this was also royal politics.
It's a nice story, but not quite five-star. Atlantean beliefs — and attempts to postulate its exact locale — were common at this time. And, as with Rudbeck, with the rise of the nation-state in the wake of the Thirty Years War, they were often tied to nationalist impulses. And, had their crank representatives elsewhere. (That said, if David King wanted a follow-up volume, I'm suggesting one!) Per some three-star reviewers, half a dozen or so pages pointing out Rudbeck's Atlantean-search peers in other countries and the modern nationalism that was their common driver could have helped.
There was one minor irritation that also kept it short of five stars. King reports all monetary payments in Swedish money of the time. Only rarely does he interpret this, as in telling us (or usually not) how much, in terms of purchasing power then, one daler silvermynt might actually be worth. He also doesn't give us the Swedish monetary structure, as in, he doesn't tell us how many daler coppermynt in one daler silvermynt, etc.
One other note. Book titles and subtitles are usually picked by publishing house editors, not authors, though the authors usually get at least a degree of input. That said, per what I note above about Atlanteanism being kind of common at this time, this was NOT "madness" on the part of Rudbeck, contra the subtitle. (THAT then said, as King notes, already at this time, many European intellectuals considered Plato's story just as much a myth as the Homeric epics.)
I don't think this book was as disjointed as some 2- and 3-star reviewers think. Nor do I think it was "shallow"; it had enough about what Rudbeck thought. I didn't miss that King didn't offer 100 pages of exegesis of Rudbeck's book. As for some low-star reviewers with "but real Atlantis" type comments? Can't help you.
Of course, what Rudbeck had actually done, per King, is discovered Indo-European cognate words in some cases, a century and a quarter or more before William Jones first postulated the Indo-European language family. And, in other cases, he'd connected random similar sounding words.
Of course, there were elements of truth here. The Norse high gods roughly parallel many of the Olympians. But, at the same time, the differences between Norse belief and that of the Greeks were large. The Olympians and Aesir were superimposed on a panoply of "lesser" (and older in belief system) deities that differed greatly between the land of the Geats and the land of Hellas.
King does show how this developed into an obsession for Rudbeck, and also does a nice job of tying this to academic politics at the University of Uppsala, whose thrown elbows were even sharper than those of today in academia. Tied to all of this was also royal politics.
It's a nice story, but not quite five-star. Atlantean beliefs — and attempts to postulate its exact locale — were common at this time. And, as with Rudbeck, with the rise of the nation-state in the wake of the Thirty Years War, they were often tied to nationalist impulses. And, had their crank representatives elsewhere. (That said, if David King wanted a follow-up volume, I'm suggesting one!) Per some three-star reviewers, half a dozen or so pages pointing out Rudbeck's Atlantean-search peers in other countries and the modern nationalism that was their common driver could have helped.
There was one minor irritation that also kept it short of five stars. King reports all monetary payments in Swedish money of the time. Only rarely does he interpret this, as in telling us (or usually not) how much, in terms of purchasing power then, one daler silvermynt might actually be worth. He also doesn't give us the Swedish monetary structure, as in, he doesn't tell us how many daler coppermynt in one daler silvermynt, etc.
One other note. Book titles and subtitles are usually picked by publishing house editors, not authors, though the authors usually get at least a degree of input. That said, per what I note above about Atlanteanism being kind of common at this time, this was NOT "madness" on the part of Rudbeck, contra the subtitle. (THAT then said, as King notes, already at this time, many European intellectuals considered Plato's story just as much a myth as the Homeric epics.)
I don't think this book was as disjointed as some 2- and 3-star reviewers think. Nor do I think it was "shallow"; it had enough about what Rudbeck thought. I didn't miss that King didn't offer 100 pages of exegesis of Rudbeck's book. As for some low-star reviewers with "but real Atlantis" type comments? Can't help you.
September 23, 2016
Olaf Rudbeck (1630-1702) recalled to my mind, when I first saw the name of the subject of this biography, the plant genus Rudbeckia. A botanist, yes (and, as I discovered in the course of this book, the man who laid out Sweden’s first botanical gardens, at Uppsala), but what did Rudbeck have to do with the mythical land of Atlantis, supposedly a haven of utopian beauty, harmony, peace and wisdom that vanished, sunk beneath a deluge of gargantuan proportions?
A lot, as it turns out. David King, in Finding Atlantis, paints an enthralling picture of the last Renaissance man of them all. Primarily a medical man (he first noted and demonstrated the functioning of the lymphatic system), Rudbeck was also a noted musician, a linguist, a botanist, and an architect (he designed and built an impressive anatomy theatre as well as several other major buildings in Uppsala). And he devoted a large part of his life to tracing the legend of Atlantis—to Sweden.
King’s biography makes for fascinating reading: Rudbeck’s diligence, his genius for building seemingly preposterous connections (who would have thought of equating Thor with Zeus, Heimdall with Hermes, Nordic runes with the origin of the Greek alphabet, and the place where Jason and his Argonauts wound up with Sweden?). King draws on a number of sources, all the way from letters to books (notably Rudbeck’s own Atlantica, which won him an invitation from the Royal Society in England), from books on Norse sagas to Greek myths, to build up not just the story of Rudbeck and his mad quest, but also a story of Sweden in the turbulent years of the late 17th century. Of politics, of war, of the huge gap between the wealthy and the poor. Of Rudbeck, enthusiastically rushing about, studying humus surrounding a ruin to determine the age of the ruin, gathering folklore from the peasantry and the Saami, measuring Old Uppsala to see how it all fitted into Atlantis…
There is plenty to learn here, and all of it immensely readable. There is humour, there are astonishing facts (a Polish aristocrat, whom Rudbeck took on a tour of the ‘Atlantic sites’ in and around Uppsala, who had 354 acknowledged illegitimate children?), and there are insights aplenty into the life and mind of a man who seems to have been very, very extraordinary indeed.
Highly recommended if you like biographies. If you're searching for evidence of the mythical Atlantis, this may well disappoint you, since it’s really more about Rudbeck than the place that became his obsession.
A lot, as it turns out. David King, in Finding Atlantis, paints an enthralling picture of the last Renaissance man of them all. Primarily a medical man (he first noted and demonstrated the functioning of the lymphatic system), Rudbeck was also a noted musician, a linguist, a botanist, and an architect (he designed and built an impressive anatomy theatre as well as several other major buildings in Uppsala). And he devoted a large part of his life to tracing the legend of Atlantis—to Sweden.
King’s biography makes for fascinating reading: Rudbeck’s diligence, his genius for building seemingly preposterous connections (who would have thought of equating Thor with Zeus, Heimdall with Hermes, Nordic runes with the origin of the Greek alphabet, and the place where Jason and his Argonauts wound up with Sweden?). King draws on a number of sources, all the way from letters to books (notably Rudbeck’s own Atlantica, which won him an invitation from the Royal Society in England), from books on Norse sagas to Greek myths, to build up not just the story of Rudbeck and his mad quest, but also a story of Sweden in the turbulent years of the late 17th century. Of politics, of war, of the huge gap between the wealthy and the poor. Of Rudbeck, enthusiastically rushing about, studying humus surrounding a ruin to determine the age of the ruin, gathering folklore from the peasantry and the Saami, measuring Old Uppsala to see how it all fitted into Atlantis…
There is plenty to learn here, and all of it immensely readable. There is humour, there are astonishing facts (a Polish aristocrat, whom Rudbeck took on a tour of the ‘Atlantic sites’ in and around Uppsala, who had 354 acknowledged illegitimate children?), and there are insights aplenty into the life and mind of a man who seems to have been very, very extraordinary indeed.
Highly recommended if you like biographies. If you're searching for evidence of the mythical Atlantis, this may well disappoint you, since it’s really more about Rudbeck than the place that became his obsession.
October 21, 2011
I found this to be a gripping, fantastic read. King did an exceptional job of presenting Olaf in a fair light, both genius and mad obsessive. The idea that history is only one way, and everything we know today is correct is absurd and this is an interesting exploration of that dynamic. Whether you agree or not with the conclusions is not the point, the point is it gets you thinking and open to other ideas. And King gives you a great ride along the way.
December 2, 2014
This book gave me such an unsettled feeling. It failed to take a stance on whether Atlantis could have been in Sweden or if this guy was just truly wrong and why he could lead himself so far astray. However, it was enlightening to read about Sweden, a country of which I know almost nothing.
May 22, 2018
This was a very interesting book. It told the story of Olof Rudbeck who was a professor at Uppsala Universit, in Sweden, in the mid to late 1600's. He was an anatomy professor who helped the school build botanical gardens, a science center and other buildings on the University site. At some point in time he became obsessed with Atlantis and was determined to prove that Sweden was really the lost Atlantis. He wrote four volumes entitled, Atlantica, which set out his theories on why Sweden was really Atlantis. He showed how Mythology played into his theories and how he had developed a way to tell how old the various locations that he claimed were part of Atlantis. He used the earth and a formula that he had devised to prove the age of the areas he cited. This is a very interesting book which lays out his proof as to why Sweden was really Atlantis. Was he right? No one will ever know because his theories are not longer accepted and his books have become lost to time. If you want to read a very interesting story of a very smart man who spent this life trying to prove his theory you will love this book.
January 7, 2022
Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630-1702) is without a doubt the epitome of a homo universalis / polymath in Swedish history. But he is also an example of a learned man running a fool's errand filled with feverish dreams, and how dangerous it can be to fish on waters brimming with red herrings. David King's book "Finding Atlantis" is very informative, a biographical work that dangles between the Man and the Work, providing tons of information of both in an unusually entertaining prose, sometimes with gravitas, sometimes with humor. Thanks to King, Rudbeck becomes a less obscure character in Swedish history for the international audience. A must read for anyone interested in history!
April 23, 2019
More a biography of Olof Rudbeck than an “adventure” or “quest” to find Atlantis, this book was so-so in my opinion. Too much of the content was unrelated to the search for Atlantis which is what I wanted to read when I picked up this book. So many historical topics and philosophies are mentioned in this book, but they are discussed so shallowly that it begs the question of why those bits needed to be included. The middle of this book is like a cliff notes of Rudbeck’s Atlantica - or so I imagine. Ok book, not what I expected.
August 12, 2020
A fascinating look at this obsession with Atlantis. Whether you believe it to be a mere imagination of Plato or an actual civilization, this is worth the read. This takes a deep dive into a brilliant mind that was plagued with Atlantis, while also admiring the advances made in science because of this obsession. I am always looking for those unknown individuals who were "fathers" in their fields and Rudbeck is one such figure. David King delves into the politics and science that surrounded a brilliant man.
July 8, 2018
Re-reading, in preparation for a family trip to Europe later this month. Olof Rudbeck, a 17th Century ancestor - was a polymath who developed and published a theory that the land of Atlantis was actually located in Sweden. I hope someday to find a translation of his master-work from Old Swedish and Latin, into English.
June 16, 2019
Good:
* The setting is very remarkable. It's set in 1660s Sweden where it's one of the strongest powers in Europe.
* Although digressing often, the story telling is enjoyable
Bad:
* The protagonist is a crackpot scientist who swindled (probably not consciously) way too many people.
* The setting is very remarkable. It's set in 1660s Sweden where it's one of the strongest powers in Europe.
* Although digressing often, the story telling is enjoyable
Bad:
* The protagonist is a crackpot scientist who swindled (probably not consciously) way too many people.
September 3, 2020
One of best bios I’ve read about an amazing person (that I can’t believe I’ve never heard of). His Atlantis theory was probably not that nutty either (I won’t expose my beliefs here, they’re complicated).
September 30, 2021
Not one mention of Sub-Mariner?!?
September 7, 2022
Very interesting to read of the competition that went on in regards to proving Atlantis existed. There was a lot of backstabbing to be sure. Olof Rudbeck was definitely an eccentric individual.
November 13, 2022
Mycket intressant läsning. Jag hade bara hört Olof Rudbecks namn innan jag läste denna bok, men blev genast investerad i hans livshistoria när jag började med boken!
September 30, 2023
Fascinating story. An interesting look into how history is studied. He totally convinced me that Sweden is the home of Atlantis.
December 2, 2024
Story of Olof Rudbeckia (black eyed Susan’s name after him) and how Sweden is really Atlantis and the cradle of civilization! Who knew!!??
December 29, 2015
This is an utterly fascinating read about a madman/genius. Rudbeck came up with a great theory as to why a part of Sweden is actually the nation of Atlantis from way back when. I don't buy it, and I don't think the author buys it, either, but it's a lot of fun, and there are a lot of coincidences. I like Rudbeck's enthusiastic reasoning. He's all in on this thing. This is coming from a dude who discovered lymph nodes and created a method of dating artifacts and monuments that is still used today. He was clearly an incredibly intelligent man. He was also very patriotic, so it's no surprise that he decided that Atlantis was in Sweden. He goes pretty crazy with it, though, suggesting that the ancient Greeks borrowed from the Swedes (Hyperboreans, then) their language to create their own. All the Greek and Roman gods were really Norse gods, and they were probably real people who are just remembered as gods. He thinks that Jason and the Argonauts sailed all the way up to Sweden after getting the Golden Fleece. He's pretty sure that Swedes sailed across the Atlantic to America before even the Vikings did this. Do you see a pattern? If Rudbeck had his way, everything about the world started in Sweden, and that's just not possible. But it's a lot of fun thinking about it.
The one thing that bothered me about this book was how long it took to actually get to his search for Atlantis. The first 100 pages is pretty much biography, some of which doesn't fit into the story as a whole. I can live with that, though.
Is it weird that as I read this book, I heard Dan Carlin's voice in my head? I wonder if David King is a Hardcore History fan.
The one thing that bothered me about this book was how long it took to actually get to his search for Atlantis. The first 100 pages is pretty much biography, some of which doesn't fit into the story as a whole. I can live with that, though.
Is it weird that as I read this book, I heard Dan Carlin's voice in my head? I wonder if David King is a Hardcore History fan.
November 27, 2015
A wonderful story of genius gone to strange seed. Olof Rudbeck was a 17th Century Swedish polymath, the first person to describe the lymphatic system, a botanist of renown, and one of the greatest minds of the ascendant Swedish empire in the decades following the 30 Years War. Driven by nationalist impulses, the quest for royal favor, and a mania for tying Sweden's history to Greek and Roman classical traditions, Rudbeck published massive works -- acclaimed in their day -- locating Hades, Atlantis, Olympus and other legendary realms in Sweden, effectively making Sweden the center of European cultural history. King's book is written in a simple style that suits its subject -- unfamiliar to me and, I imagine, to most readers -- well. He does a great job of explaining the context in which this remarkable man made his astonishing "discoveries." The story, apart from being fascinating on its own terms, is a lesson in the transient nature of history and how it can be distorted by contemporary goals and political aims.
May 15, 2012
This is a biography of Olof Rudbeck, a 17th century Swedish medical doctor, architect, professor, musician -- in short, a polymath -- who propounded the theory that Sweden was the site of the ancient kingdom of Atlantis, as well as the land of the Hyperboreans of Greek mythology. Whereas the book seems to assume that the theory is wrong, it sounds plausible to me, and I'd like to know more about it.
Rudbeck himself was a very interesting character, and this book is very readable. But I wish there was more in it about his theory and his evidence for it. I will have to pursue that elsewhere. Rudbeck wrote a 4-volume work about his theory, but it was written is Swedish and Latin. I don't know if there in an English translation available.
Rudbeck himself was a very interesting character, and this book is very readable. But I wish there was more in it about his theory and his evidence for it. I will have to pursue that elsewhere. Rudbeck wrote a 4-volume work about his theory, but it was written is Swedish and Latin. I don't know if there in an English translation available.
October 20, 2007
This book was an easy and pleasant read-good vacation reading. The author painted a vivid picture of Rudbeck and his difficulties with certain professors at Uppsala University, but he covered a large amount of time in just a few pages. I was left wanting to more about this seemingly remarkable man and his accomplishments. I did feel the book's subtitle "A True Story of Genius, Madness, and an Extraordinary Quest for a Lost World" was a little sensational. Rudbeck theories may seem "crazy" today, but at the time they appeared to be quite plausible. I am interested to find out what else this author has written.
March 15, 2015
An interesting book about Rudbeck and his life. The author points out how Rudbeck got carried away with his theories about Sweden being the home of Atlantis and source of Greek mythology, but he didn't give many details on how Rudbeck went so astray. Nor did the author include the current interpretations of the "evidence" that Rudbeck relied on for his ideas. So I felt the book was rather incomplete and left me hanging.
June 18, 2011
I must admit, I didn't expect this book to be as amazing as it was. I only bought it because it was a bargain book. But the flowing prose and the moving story enthralled me. Though Finding Atlantis is a non-fiction title, it provides no "practical" knowledge. But it reaffirms my fundamental convictions about life on this earth and man's limitless potential. To me, this is art.
January 16, 2008
Not as entertaining as I'd hoped given the title. Also, very speculative about what Olof Rudbeck was thinking--I'd prefer more fact and less speculation. But I did learn more about Swedish culture/society than I knew before...
April 21, 2009
A fun book. Weak on the philosophical (and particularly the theological) background of the intellectual disputes in 17th century Uppsala, but it's nice to see this topic covered at all, and the writer has a fine style and lightly ironic tone that makes it easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews