First described by the Greek philosopher Plato in the year 360 bce, Atlantis was a naval power located at the Pillars of Hercules (today&39;s Strait of Gibraltar) that had successfully conquered large swaths of Western Europe. After its defeat, Atlantis then sunk into the sea, never to be seen or heard from again. For centuries, this tale of Atlantis was largely forgotten until the 1882 publication of Atlantis: The Antediluvian World by American writer Ignatius L. Donnelly. In it, Donnelly made the claim that all ancient civilizations were descended from Atlantis, which was, in his eyes, a technologically advanced culture whose impact was felt throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North an 9781604139693