Sun Boat: The Odyssey deciphered

Homer's epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, are literary tales steeped in historical realities. They are among the oldest complete books in Western literature and have remained popular for near on 3,000 years Although historians now accept that there was an actual Trojan War, the enigma of Odysseus' whereabouts during his twenty-year odyssey remains a subject of debate. How could an experienced sea captain be disoriented for such an extended period of time when he was supposedly within the bounds of well-established Mediterranean trade routes? While scholarship both ancient and modern has suggested that The Odyssey was enacted beyond the confines of the Mediterranean littoral, SUN BOAT is the first to propose that Odysseus' beleaguered voyaging eventuated in him completing a circumnavigation of the globe c.1160 - 1130 B.C.

With over 100 black and white illustrations, SUN BOAT presents a detailed account of the marvellous locations Odysseus visited. Ancient world mythologies are deciphered to reveal an underpinning of historical and geographical fact.

By following clues he had found in Homer's The Iliad, the German archaeologist Schliemann located the ruins of Troy, Mycenae and Knossos. Like Schliemann, Michael MacRae is convinced that Homer's writings are based on actual historical events. MacRae's extensive research has led him to conclude that Odysseus is the mysterious, bearded 'Caucasian teacher' who is omnipresent in both early Mesoamerican and South American legends.

During the past 30 years astonishing archaeological discoveries have been made along the Pacific coasts of Mexico and South America. Such finds serve to reinforce the premise that Odysseus visited these regions during his long odyssey.

SUN BOAT is in the same genre as Gavin Menzies' controversial bestseller, 1421 - The Year China Discovered the World and Enrico Mattievich's Journey to the Mythological Inferno, the latter winning the 2011 International Book of the Year (history category).