Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface

English language

ISBN:: 978-0-306-81533-1

(1 review)

Norton Glover reviewed Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface by David Standish

A shallow but fun overview of hollow earth lunacy.

4 stars

An overview of the concept of the Hollow Earth - the idea that the Earth is not solid, but is a hollow shell, usually with some kind of civilization inside.

It covers the early semi-scientific theories that first suggested a hollow earth. Edmond Halley (the comet guy) was one of the first.

Also discussed:

The story of John Cleves Symmes, one of the main popularizers of the Hollow Earth.
Retellings of the many pulp versions of hollow earths, most notably by Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The history of a Florida-based utopian cult that believed the Earth was hollow, but we were living on the inside of it!
Some all-too-brief descriptions of some modern-day hollow earth believers.

The book is fun, but a bit shallow. It felt somewhat like a long magazine article, covering a lot of interesting people and ideas, but not really going into depth on any …

An overview of the concept of the Hollow Earth - the idea that the Earth is not solid, but is a hollow shell, usually with some kind of civilization inside.

It covers the early semi-scientific theories that first suggested a hollow earth. Edmond Halley (the comet guy) was one of the first.

Also discussed:

The story of John Cleves Symmes, one of the main popularizers of the Hollow Earth.
Retellings of the many pulp versions of hollow earths, most notably by Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The history of a Florida-based utopian cult that believed the Earth was hollow, but we were living on the inside of it!
Some all-too-brief descriptions of some modern-day hollow earth believers.

The book is fun, but a bit shallow. It felt somewhat like a long magazine article, covering a lot of interesting people and ideas, but not really going into depth on any of them.

Standish often relates the tales of the various cranks and true believers with a great deal of sarcasm, which I occasionally found a bit grating. In the paper version, there are number of full-color plates of various hollow Earth maps, all quite charming.