Historical Background

On these pages you will find links to a wide variety of sites on the internet related to the times and places depicted in The Doomsday Mask. Please be sure to let me know if any of these links are no longer operative. You can also view my video on YouTube, in which I talk about the historical background to the novel and the story behind the story of The Doomsday Mask.

Berlin 1945

Part of the story in The Doomsday Mask takes place in the chaos of the city of Berlin at the end of the Second World War. Large parts of the city were destroyed and the army recruited anyone strong enough to hold a weapon in the waning days of the war, including children.

Art treasures and other valuables were looted by the Nazis from across Europe during the course of the war and as the Allies closed in, some of these were buried, but also hidden in mine shafts, tunnels and even at the bottom of lakes, both for safekeeping and to retrieve once the fighting was over. One treasure horde discovered by US troops in a mine contained thousands of bags of gold, silver, and valuable coins worth over $500 million, along with jewelry and priceless works of art.

These sites examine the many sites where treasure, gold and valuables worth millions were hidden in the last days of the conflict.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~odu/kaart.html
http://www.theoutlaws.com/gold4.htm

Some of these were located in the alpine regions of southern Germany where the Allies feared the Nazis might make a final stand lasting for years. You can learn more about the so-called National Redoubt here.

The Legend of Atlantis

The Mask of Kulkaan featured in the story is a priceless ancient artifact and a remnant of Atlantis. The Mask was inspired by the legends of the mysterious crystal skulls discovered in Central America and in other parts of the world. You can learn more about crystal skulls here.

There are countless stories about the lost city of Atlantis, plus many theories as to the possible location of the legendary civilization. These include the Mediterranean, the mid Atlantic, the Caribbean and even Antarctica. You can learn more about the suggested locations of Atlantis at these sites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location_hypotheses_of_Atlantis
http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa090301a.htm

This site deals with the theory that Atlantis was in Antarctica when it was largely free of ice http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A462403

Explore the possibility of the civilization being situated in the Mediterranean and Black Sea here.

A selection of some other legendary lost continents and cities elsewhere in the world are covered at these sites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealandia_%28continent%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuria_(continent)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerguelen_Plateau

You can learn about the scientific hypothesis of polar shifts and earth crust displacement, which are featured in some theories and works of fiction about the fate of Atlantis, here.

The Pleistocene Extinction

The world's paleontologists are largely agreed that a catastrophic event happened 12,000 years ago, or in 10,000 BC, around the same time as the supposed destruction of Atlantis. Vast numbers of large mammals such as mammoths, mastodons, sabre-toothed tigers and others vanished almost overnight. You can learn more about the Pleistocene Extinction at this site http://www.atlantisquest.com/Paleontology.html

Ancient Cities of the Americas

Here are some websites about some of the ancient cities of Central and South America, which served as an inspiration for parts of the story in the Doomsday Mask.

The city of Tenochtitlan was established in 1325 and became the capital of the Aztec Empire, until it was conquered by the Spanish invaders in 1521.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/teno_1/hd_teno_1.htm
http://www.elbalero.gob.mx/kids/history/html/conquista/tenochtitlan.html

Teotihuacan is located thirty miles north of Mexico City and is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_7.htm

Chichen Itza was built by the Mayan civilization in Yucatan peninsular in Mexico http://www.chichenitza.com/

The mysterious ruins of Tiahuanaco are located near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia http://www.crystalinks.com/tiahuanaco.html

Machu Picchu, often called the lost city of the Incas, is located high in the Peruvian Andes http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/south/sites/machu_picchu.html