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Back to topA History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks (Hardcover)
Description
From renowned underwater archaeologist David Gibbins comes an exciting and rich narrative of human history told through the archaeological discoveries of twelve shipwrecks across time.
The Viking warship of King Cnut the Great. Henry VIII's the Mary Rose. Captain John Franklin's doomed HMS Terror. The SS Gairsoppa, destroyed by a Nazi U-boat in the Atlantic during World War II.
Since we first set sail on the open sea, ships and their wrecks have been an inevitable part of human history. Archaeologists have made spectacular discoveries excavating these sunken ships, their protective underwater cocoon keeping evidence of past civilizations preserved. Now, for the first time, world renowned maritime archeologist David Gibbins ties together the stories of some of the most significant shipwrecks in time to form a single overarching narrative of world history.
A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks is not just the story of those ships, the people who sailed on them, and the cargo and treasure they carried, but also the story of the spread of people, religion, and ideas around the world; it is a story of colonialism, migration, and the indominable human spirit that continues today. From the glittering Bronze Age, to the world of Caesar's Rome, through the era of the Vikings, to the exploration of the Arctic, Gibbins uses shipwrecks to tell all.
Drawing on decades of experience excavating shipwrecks around the world, Gibbins reveals the riches beneath the waves and shows us how the treasures found there can be a porthole to the past that tell a new story about the world and its underwater secrets.
About the Author
DAVID GIBBINS is the internationally bestselling author of the Jack Howard novels, which have sold over three million copies worldwide and are published in thirty languages, and the Total War series of historical novels.
Gibbins has worked in underwater archaeology all his professional life. After taking a PhD from Cambridge University he taught archaeology in Britain and abroad, and is a world authority on ancient shipwrecks and sunken cities. He has led numerous expeditions to investigate underwater sites in the Mediterranean and around the world. He currently divides his time between fieldwork, England and Canada.
Praise For…
“An imaginative and engrossing trip through three millennia, and a book that fully lives up to its bold title.” -Wall Street Journal
"Vivid...This approach to the past suits the present perfectly." -The Economist
"Entertaining and knowledgeable... A well-informed and dynamic narrator, Gibbins glides breezily between stories of his scuba dives and quotes from medieval Chinese poetry. History buffs will find this smooth sailing." -Publishers Weekly
“Enlightening…Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.” – Kirkus Reviews
"Gibbins’ remarkable research will grant both maritime and general historians a deeper perspective on how our world developed." – Booklist
"A well-informed and dynamic narrator, Gibbins glides breezily between stories of his scuba dives and quotes from medieval Chinese poetry. History buffs will find this smooth sailing." – Publishers Weekly
"A real-life Indiana Jones takes readers on a dive through these underwater museums, revealing the sunken secrets of the past... Prepare to be flabbergasted by the treasures Gibbins uncovers and by the stories they represent." –The Times (UK)
"Fascinating… [Gibbins] offers wonderful material, well researched and placed in its wider context, illuminating the history of trade and warfare from unaccustomed angles." –David Abulafia, Spectator
"Captivating." –Unseen Histories
"Excellent, endlessly interesting...richly detailed, often spellbinding narratives... mesmerizing...beautifully written." –The Irish Independent
"[Gibbins] gives a history of the world in a sea-salted way that has never been done before. A bravura work, insightfully woven, grippingly told and beautifully illustrated." -Mensun Bound, bestselling author of The Ship Beneath the Ice
“This book will be treasured by all who are hooked on the mystique of loss, the romance of discovery and the sense that shipwrecks give of having captured a moment in time." -Sir Tim Smit, co-founder, the Eden Project
“David Gibbins’ deep dive into maritime archaeology is masterful and entrancing - this is big history at its best. Absolutely fascinating, beautifully written and impeccably researched.” -Professor Alice Roberts, TV broadcaster and bestselling author of Ancestors