Joe Rogan interviews Graham Hancock, the British writer and journalist best known as the author of Fingerprints of the Gods, published in 1995. Hancock specialises in unconventional theories about ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths, and astronomical and astrological data from the past. One of the main themes running through many of his books, including Fingerprints of the Gods, is the possible global connection with a “mother culture” from which he believes all ancient historical civilizations sprang.
About Graham Hancock, Author of Fingerprints of the Gods
GRAHAM HANCOCK is the author of the major international bestsellers The Sign and The Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, and Heaven’s Mirror. His books have sold more than five million copies worldwide and have been translated into 27 languages. His public lectures and radio and TV appearances have put his ideas before audiences of tens of millions. These include two major TV series, Quest For The Lost Civilisation and Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age, made for Channel 4 in the UK and The Learning Channel in the US. He has become recognised as an unconventional thinker who raises controversial questions about humanity’s past.
Hancock was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and spent his early years in India, where his father worked as a surgeon. Later he went to school and university in the northern English city of Durham and graduated from Durham University in 1973 with First Class Honours in Sociology. He went on to pursue a career in quality journalism, writing for many of Britain’s leading newspapers including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Guardian. He was co-editor of New Internationalist magazine from 1976-1979 and East Africa correspondent of The Economist from 1981-1983.
In the early 1980s Hancock’s writing began to move consistently in the direction of books. His first book (Journey Through Pakistan, with photographers Mohamed Amin and Duncan Willetts) was published in 1981. It was followed by Under Ethiopian Skies (1983), co-authored with Richard Pankhurst and photographed by Duncan Willetts; Ethiopia: The Challenge of Hunger (1984); and AIDS: The Deadly Epidemic (1986), co-authored with Enver Carim. In 1987 Hancock began work on his widely-acclaimed critique of foreign aid, Lords of Poverty, which was published in 1989. African Ark (with photographers Angela Fisher and Carol Beckwith) was published in 1990.
Hancock’s breakthrough to bestseller status came in 1992 with the publication of The Sign and The Seal, his epic investigation into the mystique and whereabouts today of the lost Ark of the Covenant. ‘Hancock has invented a new genre,’ commented The Guardian, ‘an intellectual whodunit by a do-it-yourself sleuth.’ Fingerprints of the Gods, published in 1995 confirmed Hancock’s growing reputation. Described as ‘one of the intellectual landmarks of the decade’ by the Literary Review, this book has now sold more than three million copies and continues to be in demand all around the world. Subsequent works such as Keeper Of Genesis(The Message of the Sphinx in the US) with co-author Robert Bauval, and Heaven’s Mirror, with photographer Santha Faiia, have also been Number 1 bestsellers, the latter accompanied by Hancock’s three-part television series Quest For the Lost Civilisation.
In 2002 Hancock published Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age to great critical acclaim, and hosted the accompanying major TV series. The book was the culmination of years of research and hands-on dives at ancient underwater ruins, extending the search for a lost civilization first set out in Fingerprints of the Gods. Arguing that many of the clues to the origin of civilization lay underwater, on coastal regions once above water but flooded at the end of the last Ice age, Underworld offered tangible archaeological evidence that myths and legends of ancient floods were not to be dismissed out of hand.
Graham’s next venture Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith, co-authored by Robert Bauval, was published in 2004. This work, a decade in preparation, returns to the themes last dealt with in Keeper Of Genesis, seeking further evidence for the continuation of a secret astronomical cult into modern times. It is a roller-coaster intellectual journey through the back streets and rat runs of history to uncover the traces in architecture and monuments of a secret religion that has shaped the world.
In 2005 Graham published Supernatural: Meetings with The Ancient Teachers of Mankind, an investigation of shamanism and the origins of religion. This controversial book suggests that experiences in altered states of consciousness have played a fundamental role in the evolution of human culture, and that other realities – indeed parallel worlds – surround us all the time but are not normally accessible to our senses.
While researching Supernatural Hancock travelled to the Amazon to drink visionary brew Ayahuasca – the Vine of Souls – used by shamans for more than 4000 years. It was his experiences with the vine lead to his latest work, Entangled. Written with the same page-turning appeal that made non-fiction such as Fingerprints of the Gods so popular, Entangled is his first novel. It tells the story of a supernatural battle of good against evil fought out across the dimension of time on the human plane.
Source: http://www.grahamhancock.com/biog.htm
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the “mother culture” theory that runs through Graham Hancock’s books?
One of the main themes across many of Hancock’s books is the possible global connection with a “mother culture” from which he believes all ancient historical civilizations sprang. He explores this idea through ancient myths, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness and astronomical data from the past.
Which book brought Graham Hancock bestseller status?
Hancock’s breakthrough to bestseller status came in 1992 with The Sign and The Seal, an investigation into the mystique and present-day whereabouts of the lost Ark of the Covenant. The Guardian remarked that Hancock had invented a new genre, calling it “an intellectual whodunit by a do-it-yourself sleuth.”
What does Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age argue?
Published in 2002, Underworld argues that many clues to the origin of civilization lie underwater, in coastal regions that were once above water but flooded at the end of the last Ice Age. Drawing on years of research and dives at ancient underwater ruins, it offered tangible archaeological evidence that myths and legends of ancient floods should not be dismissed out of hand.
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