ATLANTIC CROSSINGS BEFORE COLUMBUS

The author, who has devoted years to the study of pre-Columbian exploration, and who has written extensively on the subject, takes the readers on a personally conducted tour to many sites of early landings and settlements in North America. He presents some startling and apparently conclusive facts concerning several expeditions, beginning with the Phoenicians. He outlines what could have happened and then offers ""proof"" of what seems actually to have occurred. Most of it is convincing to the lay reader, although without thorough archeological and linguistic orientation, one is occasionally confronted with what appears to be somewhat far-fetched interpretations. However, St. Brendan of Ireland, Leif Erikson and his fearless, bloody half-sister Freydis, and Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, as well as less well-known figures of the past and present all spring to vivid life in these immensely readable pages. The author also discusses at length various inscriptions and runes, including the Heavener Runestone in Oklahoma, the Kensington Runestone in Minnesota, and the Military Effigy at Westford, Massachusetts. Numerous diagrams and reproductions of alphabets, runes and the monuments themselves greatly aid the reader in this fascinating, sometimes controversial study. A comprehensive bibliography is given for the benefit of those who wish to go into the matter further.