Person
Graham Hancock books: every book Graham Hancock wrote and recommended
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Graham Hancock appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Graham Hancock
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Lords of poverty
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The Sign and the Seal
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Fingerprints of the gods
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The Mars Mystery
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Underworld
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The message of the Sphinx
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Talisman
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Supernatural
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Magicians of the Gods
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Immortality Key
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Under Ethiopian skies
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Heaven's Mirror
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America Before
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AIDS, the deadly epidemic
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Entangled
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The beauty of Pakistan
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Ethiopia
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War God
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Return of the Plumed Serpent
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Visionary
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Keeper of Genesis
Graham Hancock’s most recommended books
- Hamlet's mill by Giorgio De Santillana
- Hamlet's Mill by Giorgio De_Santillana
- Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna
- DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman
- The Mind in the Cave by J. David Lewis-Williams
- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
- Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas
- How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- The Antipodes of the Mind by Benny Shanon
Graham Bruce Hancock is a British author known for promoting pseudoscientific explanations of ancient civilisations and hypothetical lost lands. Hancock argues that an advanced society with spiritual technology thrived during the last Ice Age until comet impacts triggered the Younger Dryas about 12,900 years ago. He maintains that survivors of the disaster shared their knowledge with hunter-gatherer communities in regions such as ancient Egypt, Sumer, and Mesoamerica, sparking the earliest known civilisations. During multiple podcast appearances, Hancock frequently recommended Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend's Hamlet's Mill as scholarly backing for ancient astronomical knowledge and the precession of the equinoxes, noting its profound influence on his questioning of conventional history. He also discussed David Lewis-Williams's The Mind in the Cave to explore similarities in global cave art, praised Brian C. Muraresku's The Immortality Key for highlighting the reception of psychedelic research, and referenced Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind regarding investigations into psychedelics.
Books recommended by Graham Hancock
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Hamlet's mill
Hamlet's mill by Giorgio De Santillana and Hertha von Dechend is a scholarly history of science book that explores how ancient myths encode astronomical knowledge, specifically the precession of the equinoxes.
Discussed“A very important academic study published in the 1960s, a book called Hamlet's Mill by Giorgio de Santillana, Professor of the History of Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and head of the foundation Professor of history of science.”
Where to get it
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Hamlet's Mill
Hamlet's Mill by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend is an influential history of science examining how ancient mythologies preserve sophisticated prehistoric astronomical knowledge concerning the precession of the equinoxes.
Discussed“And they wrote an immense book in the 1960s called "Hamlet's Mill".”
Where to get it
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Fingerprints of the gods
Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock is an alternative history bestseller that argues an advanced, forgotten global civilization was wiped out by a cataclysm at the end of the last ice age.
Discussed“But the next book, Fingerprints of the Gods, got to number one on the bestseller list, not just in the UK, but also in six other countries, including Italy and Japan.”
Where to get it
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Food of the Gods
Food of the Gods is a fringe exploration of the history of plants, drugs, and human evolution written by ethnobotanist Terence McKenna.
Discussed“One is the late great Terence McKenna and his book, "Food of the Gods", where he proposed the idea very strongly that it was our ancestral encounters with psychedelics that made us fully human.”
Where to get it
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Underworld
Underworld by Graham Hancock is an extensive archaeological and historical non-fiction work that investigates lost civilizations and underwater ruins around the globe.
Discussed“Take a look at a book I published in 2002 called Underworld; it’s about 700 pages long and has 2,000 footnotes.”
Where to get it
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Immortality Key
Immortality Key by Brian C.
Recommended“one of the things that gives me hope is Brian esu's the the reception of his material that book The immortality key which is fantastic which points to real which I wrote the forward to”
Where to get it
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DMT: The Spirit Molecule
DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman is a scientific and clinical investigation into the effects of dimethyltryptamine, chronicling the first FDA-approved human clinical studies on psychedelics in decades.
Discussed“and which is one of the reasons i'm so fascinated by rick strassmann's work you you presented his film dmt the spirit molecule”
Where to get it
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The Mind in the Cave
The Mind in the Cave by J.
Discussed“And very much the same idea began to be explored a bit earlier by Professor David Lewis-Williams at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, fabulous book called "The Mind in the Cave",”
Where to get it
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Entangled
Entangled by Graham Hancock is a fictional work that explores fascinating concepts through a narrative born out of deep personal experiences and extensive research in Brazil.
Discussed“My first novel vanished without a trace because it had that was called Entangled because it had absolutely no support from from the publishers at all.”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a seminal science book that popularizes a gene-centric view of evolution and explores the biological origins of selfishness and altruism.
Critiqued“richard richard dawkins is the author of the book called the selfish gene and he's not one of my favorite people because he's a he's a materialist reductionist”
Where to get it
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Cosmos and Psyche
Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas is a major academic work that investigates historical alignments and archetypal astrology, proposing a meaningful correlation between planetary movements and human history.
Recommended“there's a fantastic book by a guy called Rick taras called Cosmos and psyche and he's a real mainstream but very major academic and he's got into this and he's shown that actually yeah astrology does have effects”
Where to get it
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How to Change Your Mind
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is a compelling non-fiction investigation into the history, science, and cultural renaissance of psychedelic substances like psilocybin and LSD in therapeutic settings.
Recommended“well uh michael pollan who uh later in life experienced psychedelics and uh wrote pretty brilliantly about them for me that is he's one of the more interesting uh people to discuss it because michael is an investigative journalist he he he dot takes deep dives into these subjects and his deep dive into psychedelics was incredibly illuminating and so”
Where to get it
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Macbeth
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is one of the playwright's darkest and most famous tragedies, exploring the destructive psychological and political ambitions of a Scottish lord who seizes the throne.
Recommended“A similar idea was explored by Professor David Lewis-Williams at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, in a fabulous book called The Mind in the Cave, where he's again asserting that astonishing similarities in cave art and rock art around the world can only be properly explained by people in deeply altered states of consciousness trying to remember their”
Where to get it
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The Antipodes of the Mind
The Antipodes of the Mind by Benny Shanon is a comprehensive academic study examining the psychological and phenomenological effects of ayahuasca use.
Recommended“but benny benny shannon's book is called ayahuasca the antipodes of the mind it's really important really important piece of work”
Where to get it
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The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt
The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt by John Anthony West is a detailed travel guide and historical exploration designed to help visitors understand the profound symbolism and monuments of ancient Egypt.
Recommended“and anybody who's traveling to Egypt get hold of John West's traveler key to ancient Egypt which is by far by by a planetary distance the best guide book that's ever been written on Egypt”
Where to get it
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History Begins at Sumer
Discussed“and indeed i have a i have a book in my my library called history begins at sumer and it's by samuel noah cramer a very renowned archaeologist and it's a good book actually”
Where to get it
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Life Itself
Life Itself by Francis Crick is a detailed scientific examination exploring the origins of life on Earth and the hypothesis of panspermia, written by one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA.
Discussed“And Crick wrote a book called "Life Itself", that was published in 1981, and he suggested that life had been brought here by a process of panspermia.”
Where to get it
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Mankind in Amnesia
Discussed“That's why I refer to us as a species with amnesia. And when I use that phrase, I need to give credit to Immanuel Velikovsky, who wrote a book called Mankind in Amnesia.”
Where to get it
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The Mars Mystery
Discussed“and that book was called the Mars mystery was written with Robert bavar and John John griggsby and no this is the one I bought it but I did not read this one”
Where to get it
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The Orion Mystery
The Orion Mystery by Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert is a fascinating archaeoastronomical book that proposes a controversial correlation between the layout of the Giza pyramids and the alignment of stars in Orion's Belt.
Discussed“um in particular in his book The Orion mystery you you take the three Great Pyramids of Giza and you look at the heavens overhead”
Where to get it
The other 4 books Graham Hancock recommended or discussed, ranked
- The sacred mushroom and the cross by John Marco Allegro
- The Sign and the Seal by Graham Hancock
- The Stand by Stephen King
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn
Questions about Graham Hancock’s book recommendations
What book does Graham Hancock recommend most?
Hamlet's mill by Giorgio De Santillana. Graham Hancock recommended it in 6 episodes, with 4 explicit recommendations.
How many books has Graham Hancock recommended on podcasts?
We have found 24 books Graham Hancock recommended or discussed, across 14 episodes of 4 podcasts. Ad reads and passing mentions are not counted.
What books are on Graham Hancock's reading list?
The books Graham Hancock has recommended most on podcasts are Hamlet's mill by Giorgio De Santillana, Hamlet's Mill by Giorgio De_Santillana, Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna, DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman and The Mind in the Cave by J. David Lewis-Williams. The full book list below has all 24.
What books has Graham Hancock written?
Under Ethiopian skies (1983), The beauty of Pakistan (1983), Ethiopia (1985), AIDS, the deadly epidemic (1986), Lords of poverty (1988), The Sign and the Seal (1992), Fingerprints of the gods (1995), The message of the Sphinx (1996), The Mars Mystery (1997) and Keeper of Genesis (1997), among 21 in all.
What did Graham Hancock recommend on The Joe Rogan Experience?
Hamlet's mill, Hamlet's Mill and Fingerprints of the gods, among 21 books in all.
What is the latest book Graham Hancock recommended?
Mankind in Amnesia, discussed on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett (2026-06-11).
People who recommend the same books
Appearances
Other mentions (68: passing, ad reads, own books), the 30 most recent
“the book that put me on the map was Fingerprints of the Gods. And that's the book where I really investigate begin to investigate the possibility of a lost civilization.”
“Before that came The Sign and the Seal, which was which was about Ethiopia's claim to possess the lost Ark of the Covenant. It happened that as a reporter in the 1980s, I spent a lot of time in Ethiopia, and I came across this tradition...”
“Then, after Fingerprints of the Gods, there's a book that's not here, which is Keeper of Genesis, that I wrote with Robert Bauval.”
“Underworld. This was 7 years of scuba diving that Santha and I did all around the world following up tips from local fishermen, local divers.”
“Then, after Underworld, I wrote Supernatural, which is that one there. Which has been reissued in America under the title Visionary.”
“Which has been reissued in America under the title Visionary.”
“I was working on a book uh that I published in 2005 called Supernatural meetings with the ancient teachers of mankind it's it's recently been retitled as as Visionary”
“I was working on a book that I published in 2005 called Supernatural meetings with the ancient teachers of mankind it's it's recently been retitled as as Visionary”
“it's it's recently been retitled as as Visionary uh it's still out there”
“what the evidence leads to is the conclusion that the earth 12,800 years ago passed through the debris stream of a disintegrating Comet all comets disintegrate sooner or later um and for those who would wish to see an example of this it's Jupiter uh in it it's the it's the it's the Shoemaker Levy n hitting hitting Jupiter”
“my first book about a historical mystery was called the sign and the seal a quest for the Lost Arc of the Covenant it's based on my years of experience in Ethiopia and looks at Ethiopia's claim to possess the Ark of the Covenant”
“my first book about a historical mystery was called the sign and the seal a quest for the Lost Arc of the Covenant it's based on my years of experience in Ethiopia and looks at Ethiopia's claim to possess the Ark of the Covenant”
“my first book about a historical mystery was called the sign and the seal a quest for the Lost Arc of the Covenant it's based on my years of experience in Ethiopia and looks at Ethiopia's claim to possess the Ark of the Covenant I'd written many books before that”
“but the next book Fingerprints of the Gods got to number one on the best seller list not only in the UK but also in six other countries including Italy and Japan uh it became a worldwide phenomenon and that attracted the eye of Sauron”
“just take a look at a book that I published in 2002 called underworld it's about a th pages long it's got 2,000 footnotes I wrote that book defensively”
“I've written about it in uh in Fingerprints of the Gods”
“I've written about it in Fingerprints of the Gods. Let's see if Jamie has already found it.”
“and it led to the sign in the seal which was published in 1992 and that's what set me on the path to Fingerprints of the Gods”
“and that's what set me on the path to Fingerprints of the Gods and everything that that that followed that”
“I decided to investigate it and explore it, and it led to The Sign and the Seal, which was published in 1992, and that’s what set me on the path to Fingerprints of the Gods and everything that followed!”
“By the time 2002, when I published a book called "Underworld", which was the most massive and most heavy book that I've ever written, because I was writing very defensively at the time.”
“But by 2002, when I published a book called 'Underworld', which was the most massive and heavy book that I've ever written because I was writing very defensively at the time.”
“And I turned in another direction and I wrote a book called, "Supernatural: Meetings "with the Ancient Teachers "of Mankind", recently retitled "Visionary".”
“And I turned in another direction and I wrote a book called, "Supernatural: Meetings "with the Ancient Teachers "of Mankind", recently retitled "Visionary".”
“I wasn't very interesting to them when I just had one minor bestseller in 1992 with a book called "The Sign and the Seal".”
“But when "Fingerprints of the Gods" was published in 1995 and became a global bestseller, then I started to attract their attention, and appear to have been regarded as a threat to them.”
“since I published Fingerprints of the Gods in 1995”
“they were going back to the Fingerprints of the gods that I wrote In 1995 in which I reported indigenous Traditions”
“could there be something missing from the story of our past and that's that's why I ended up writing Fingerprints of the Gods to to put that information before the public”
“and I dived back into it and and ended up writing another couple of books magicians of the Gods and America before which we talked about on your show back in 20 in 2019...”