Many of us have visited ancient sacred sites and been moved by the numinous atmosphere to ‘see’ the former inhabitants. Indeed, a British historical novelist recently said, ‘The dead of a place live on in the landscape’.

It could be Stonehenge, the Pyramids or Mycenae. It could be an old site in the New World, likfe the temple in Occo at Mounds State Park, Indiana.

Here, Paul Startzman uses his powerful imagination to construct a thrilling, touching story about a band of brave Athenians from 600 BC. They build and equip a special craft to take them across the terrifying western ocean and enter a mighty river system, finally reaching the lost land of Occo.

Their adventures with distant cousins already settled there, their battles with painted barbarians, and inner conflicts about returning home to Greece, form the core of this lively, thought-provoking saga. The author’s scholarly eye for detail and his feel for human nature in all its varieties make for a convincing and rewarding tale. Enjoy it now and ask yourself, ‘If Leif Ericson wasn’t the first European across the Atlantic, who was?