Hollow earth : the long and curious history of imagining strange lands, fantastical creatures, advanced civilizations, and marvelous machines below the earth's surface

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.