Rating: 
Summary: Excellent travel guide to the Lost Cities of the East
Review: As an ardent armchair traveller with a real interest in lost histories, for me this book combined two great loves. David writes well and really makes you feel that you are travelling with him through India and China and on the roof of the world. His observations are to the point and his knowledge of early history impressive. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother...
Review: As someone with a great interest in ancient history and lost civilisations, I bought this book with enthusiasm (it has a title not to be ignored). I feel compelled however to express my disappointment with this book; it is nothing more than a travel account written by a 1970s hippie backpacking through Asia. Occasionally the author would encounter another traveller who would tell an enticing tale (no guarantee of authenticity), and then postulate "is this a hidden mystery?" - clearly gullible, the author seemed open to whomever he encountered and whatever fancy stories they had to tell (the old adage of "gullible American" comes to mind). There is no new information, no quality thought-provoking research, and no new images either - all pictures in the book are old archives published in many other books for decades, and what's more they are positioned between chapters seemingly as an afterthought (there are no references to the images in the text). If you are interested in this subject, go to Graham Hancock who is a genuine researcher and has made genuine new discoveries. Hatcher-Childress's book is a complete waste of money; furthermore, every single page without exception is riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Shame on the author, shame on the publisher. One star for audacity (I'd give it four or five if it was advertised as a travel guide to Asia).
Rating:
Summary: Easy to read, travels with authour and gain knowledge
Review: brings you through nepal, tibet, india, china...mostly the remote destinations in search of lost cities...fun and interesting to read and makes you feel like being there to explore the mystries of ancient civilizations.
Rating: 
Summary: More Travel Log than Archaelolgy
Review: I found this book to be extremely interesting. I'm fascinated by history, both conventional and unconventional, and found this book to be a bit of both. It is full of anecdotes of the author's travels and contains details that many other history books gloss over as being too trivial; the result is a richer, fuller account of many different peoples and places in an easy-to-read, conversational style. In fact, the book is almost an historical travel guide. I thought that the reader who criticised the book as being full of crackpot theories was being very unfair. Sure, the author comes across as a bit of a hippie, but so what? Are his opinions any less valid just because he subscribes to some beliefs that many others don't share. The only question is whether these beliefs bias his work. They don't. Read it and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable read
Review: I found this book to be extremely interesting. I'm fascinated by history, both conventional and unconventional, and found this book to be a bit of both. It is full of anecdotes of the author's travels and contains details that many other history books gloss over as being too trivial; the result is a richer, fuller account of many different peoples and places in an easy-to-read, conversational style. In fact, the book is almost an historical travel guide. I thought that the reader who criticised the book as being full of crackpot theories was being very unfair. Sure, the author comes across as a bit of a hippie, but so what? Are his opinions any less valid just because he subscribes to some beliefs that many others don't share. The only question is whether these beliefs bias his work. They don't. Read it and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Travel Guide
Review: I have several of the Lost City series books by David. The others that I have read are both a travel guide and an account of the lost cities he encountered. They were well written. However, this book does still have his travel adventures, but is lacking in the lost cities. Very few entries are refered to with the lost cities. David is not an archologist. He does, however, describe what he sees very well. It is just that this book doesn't have much to describe. If you are looking for a book of facts, this is not the one to buy. It is entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother...
Review: Of all of David Hatcher Childress's books, this has to be the most informative(or least informative, depending on your perspective!). He describes to us, the reader, many of the interesting stories he has come across traveling through, among other places, Nepal, Red China, Tibet, Indiana, and the Oriental Express. In addition, Childress provides a nice bibliography in the back of the book, to show many sceptics(people such as myself), that he didn't concoct many of the far-fetched stories he tells in his book from his highly imaginative mind. He explains many theories that others have provided to the public, such as the Great White Brotherhood, Agartha, Shambala, the large Earthen Pyramid in China, and the Silk Road.He doesn't vouch for the credibility of any of the stories, so a person can't really fault him for telling us what he has discovered through his travels. Since many people can't afford to travel to the places he describes(although I can, I won't, it seems very dangerous when you don't understand any of the local dialects), the reader will just have to take his word for what it's worth(and the fact he has become quite wealthy off of his 'Lost Cities' series, means his word must be worth something!). I read this book while on vacation in Scottsdale, AZ, a few years ago, and the fact I still remember it should say something about the quality of writing! If you're ever on vacation, this is probably the most interesting book you could find, I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Travel Book!!!!!
Review: Of all of David Hatcher Childress's books, this has to be the most informative(or least informative, depending on your perspective!). He describes to us, the reader, many of the interesting stories he has come across traveling through, among other places, Nepal, Red China, Tibet, Indiana, and the Oriental Express. In addition, Childress provides a nice bibliography in the back of the book, to show many sceptics(people such as myself), that he didn't concoct many of the far-fetched stories he tells in his book from his highly imaginative mind. He explains many theories that others have provided to the public, such as the Great White Brotherhood, Agartha, Shambala, the large Earthen Pyramid in China, and the Silk Road. He doesn't vouch for the credibility of any of the stories, so a person can't really fault him for telling us what he has discovered through his travels. Since many people can't afford to travel to the places he describes(although I can, I won't, it seems very dangerous when you don't understand any of the local dialects), the reader will just have to take his word for what it's worth(and the fact he has become quite wealthy off of his 'Lost Cities' series, means his word must be worth something!). I read this book while on vacation in Scottsdale, AZ, a few years ago, and the fact I still remember it should say something about the quality of writing! If you're ever on vacation, this is probably the most interesting book you could find, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is wishful thinking masquerading as science.
Review: The author, who is characterized on the dust jacket as a "maverick archaeologist", has written a so-so narrative of his travels on the hippy trail through south Asia. To dignify this person with the title of "archaeologist" is to insult Aurel Stein, Roy Chapman Andrews, Sven Hedin, and the other pioneers of central Asian archaeology. In the course of his narrative, the author shares a number of "scientific" tidbits that would be right at home in scripts for the X-Files. If you would like to learn about such things as: the purported existence of a super-human race inhabiting India 30,000 years ago; a nuclear war 30,000 years ago that destroyed that race; yetis; a secret network of tunnels connecting the major monasteries of Tibet; a Venusian(!) known as the King of the World waiting inside our hollow earth; tunnels running the length of Peru, built by Atlanteans; etc. etc., then this is the book for you. Is it archaeology?? Nope.
Rating:
Summary: who's the archeologist?
Review: The book makes a great read, same as DHC's other books of the "Lost Cities" series. Very entertaining, thought provoking, and well written. One thing though: I don't get why the author keeps calling himself "a rogue archeologist": someone has to explain to him what archeologists do. DHC is no archeologist, whatever he might think; he's a traveler, a gossip gatherer, and a free spirit, but all this has little to do with archeology. I enjoyed his open-mindedness, and the relativism with which he judges most of the theories and hypotheses considered. Going through his whole opus, I can't help noticing that this writer is a really great guy, and that his travel companions and friends must have been lucky to have met him, but archeologist? Please, give me a break. And use some proofreader, for the next edition.
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