ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS / MYTHOLOGY "An exciting and original quest...important new facts concerning the mysterious origins of human civilization." --Graham Hancock, author of Fingerprints of the Gods "A magnificently researched work; its startling conclusions will undoubtedly reverberate over the coming decades." --Nigel Jackson, author of The Horned Piper "A fascinating piece of research which does much to bring the biblical world of Eden back into the historical spotlight...a major contribution to the study of the genesis of civilization." --David Rohl, Egyptologist and author of A Test of Time Our mythology describes how beings of great beauty and intelligence, who served as messengers of God, fell from grace through pride. These angels, also known as Watchers, are spoken of in the Bible and other religious texts as lusting after human women, who lay with them and gave birth to giant offspring called Nephilim. Religious sources also record how these beings shared forbidden arts and sciences with humanity--a transgression that led to their destruction in the Great Flood. Andrew Collins reveals that these angels, demons, and fallen angels were flesh-and-blood members of a race predating our own. He offers evidence that they lived in Egypt prior to the ancient Egyptians and built the Sphinx and other megalithic monuments. Following the cataclysms that accompanied the last Ice Age they left the region for what is now eastern Turkey where they lived in isolation before gradually establishing contact with the developing human societies of the Mesopotamian plains below. Humanity regarded these angels--described as tall, white-haired beings with viperlike faces and burning eyes--as gods and their realm the paradise wherein grew the tree of knowledge. Andrew Collins demonstrates how the legends behind the fall of the Watchers echo the faded memory of actual historical events and that the legacy they have left humanity is one we can afford to ignore only at our own peril. ANDREW COLLINS has spent more than twenty years investigating the relationship between paranormal phenomena, ancient sites, and the human mind. He is also the widely heralded author of Gods of Eden and Gateway to Atlantis. He lives in England.