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A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks

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A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks

By: David Gibbins
Narrated by: Richard Burnip
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Summary

 AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF 2024

'Masterful and entrancing - this is big history at its best.' Professor Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors

'A real-life Indiana Jones takes readers on a dive through these underwater museums, revealing the sunken secrets of the past' The Times

From a Bronze Age ship built during the age of Queen Nefertiti and filled with ancient treasures, a Viking warship made for King Cnut himself, Henry VIII's spectacular Mary Rose and the golden age of the Tudor court, to the exploration of the Arctic, the tragic story of HMS Terror and tales of bravery and endurance aboard HMS Gairsoppa in World War Two, these are the stories of some of the greatest underwater discoveries of all time. A rich and exciting narrative, this is not just the story of those ships and the people who sailed on them, the cargo and treasure they carried and their tragic fate. This is also the story of the spread of people, religion and ideas around the world, a story of colonialism and migration which continues today.

Drawing on decades of experience excavating shipwrecks around the world, renowned maritime archaeologist David Gibbins reveals the riches beneath the waves and shows us how the treasures found there can be a porthole to the past to tell a new story about the world and its underwater secrets.©2024 David Gibbins Engineering Maritime History & Piracy World Royalty Viking
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Critic reviews

Absolutely fascinating, beautifully written and impeccably researched. David Gibbin's deep dive into maritime archaeology is masterful and entrancing - this is big history at its best.
From every corner of our ship-hungry oceans, from simple oar-propelled boats of the Bronze Age to great 19th century steam-powered juggernauts of trade and war, the author (an esteemed archaeologist) gives us 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.
I love this book. It shows the talents of the researcher married to the skills of a master storyteller, and every page recreates the frisson of my youth at the anticipation of a discovery or a mystery revealed. 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.
He does an excellent job of placing each wreck within a broader context, as well as examining the human elements of the story. The result is a book that will appeal to readers with an interest in maritime history and who would enjoy a different, and enlightening, perspective. Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.
Gibbins' remarkable research will grant both maritime and general historians a deeper perspective on how our world developed.
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.
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.
Fascinating... he offers wonderful material, well researched and placed in its wider context, illuminating the history of trade and warfare from unaccustomed angles.
[An] excellent, endlessly interesting book... Kings and commoners alike are drawn together in richly detailed, often spellbinding narratives which genuinely do, to use the old cliché, "bring history to life".
An inviting, eclectic book . . . a cornucopia of information and stories, lengthy but very readable, drawing in a wide net of maritime figures and explorers.
David Gibbins's fascinating exploration of historic shipwrecks reveals that there is more to them than simple tragedy. Detailing everything from the exploits of prehistoric sea traders to the heroic actions of those on board the second world war cargo ship Gairsoppa, Gibbins conveys unimaginable courage in tales of people pushing beyond their reach and leaving a valuable legacy.
All stars
Most relevant
this book will have you traveling through time and space in a incredible journey of courage with fascinating stories of vessels, peoples and historical context in which they sailed

Fascinating!

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Well written and packed with maritime facts this entertaining book was performed clearly and competently by the narrator.

Fascinating Shipwrecks

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Interesting subject dulled all the self references. Tried to continue several times but am now bored and will return.

all about the author

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Incredibly poorly written even for an academic, with a narrator who sounds like an overly enthusiastic vicar

Really bad

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