Pennick, Nigel, Lost Lands and Sunken Cities. London: Fortean Tomes, 1987. ISBN 1-870021-01-0. 24xl7cm., 176pp., illustrated, paper. (1 Shoebury Rd., East Ham, London E6 2AQ, £6.95)

I always like to review a book like this each year.  The subject matter is not Atlantis, as the title might suggest, but England!  It turns out that the sea has been nibbling relentlessly at Great Britain, occasionally biting off entire cities.  This book examines traditions of lost cities gathered from "old chronicles, ancient legends, folk-tales, Inquisition and surveys, old maps, and hydrographic charts, parish records and county histories." Places such as Lyonesse, Aldingham Sunscales, Old Winchelsea, Button Ness, and many others are discussed.  We are better off without some of these places, Old Hartburn, for one.  Good riddance, I say!  Maps by Ptolemy, Saxton, and Cary are used to illustrate some of the disappearances.  Great fun!  Available in the U.S. from Strange Bookshop (I'm not making this up), Box 2246, Rockville, MD 20852, for $17.95 plus $1.00 shipping.

David C. Jolly, 1989