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A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks
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.
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.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2024
About the author
David Gibbins
55 books566 followers Canadian-born underwater archaeologist and novelist. Gibbins learned to scuba dive at the age of 15 in Canada, and dived under ice, on shipwrecks and in caves while he was still at school. He has led numerous underwater archaeology expeditions around the world, including five seasons excavating ancient Roman shipwrecks off Sicily and a survey of the submerged harbour of ancient Carthage. In 1999-2000 he was part of an international team excavating a 5th century BC shipwreck off Turkey. His many publications on ancient shipwreck sites have appeared in scientific journals, books and popular magazines. Most recently his fieldwork has taken him to the Arctic Ocean, to Mesoamerica and to the Great Lakes in Canada.
After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
April 4, 2024
My thanks to St. Martin's Press, David Gibbins and Netgalley.
Lately it seems like these kind of books give me air. I'm happy as can be when I read tales like this. I've lately discovered "in my older years" what I love most. What I love is stories of ships, the people who helmed them and what fate befell them.
This book was fairly awesome!
If you're anything like me, then you've already read about these wrecks elsewhere, but I really did enjoy how the author pulled these stories together. Is it the history in 12 shipwrecks? No. Of course not. But, it's definitely worthy of consideration.
Lately it seems like these kind of books give me air. I'm happy as can be when I read tales like this. I've lately discovered "in my older years" what I love most. What I love is stories of ships, the people who helmed them and what fate befell them.
This book was fairly awesome!
If you're anything like me, then you've already read about these wrecks elsewhere, but I really did enjoy how the author pulled these stories together. Is it the history in 12 shipwrecks? No. Of course not. But, it's definitely worthy of consideration.
June 27, 2024
Archaeology is one of the ways in which we learn from the past, and this discipline is highlighted in David Gibbins new book "A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks." Gibbins is a gifted diver as well as historian, and all of those talents are put together to make a highly informative book in which he takes a look at 12 leading shipwrecks and what they have taught us about the world from the contents of those wrecks.
From the discovery of a bronze age ship that was plying the waters off of England in mid 1500 BC, to a shipwreck that occurred in 1941, the author takes us on a historical journey in which we learn as much if not more about history than we do about the wrecks themselves. How does one learn about the past? Through writings, paintings, sometimes word-of-mouth stories, but archaeology fills in a lot of the gaps and can tell us with greater precision, what was occurring at a specific point in history. There's no bias in the artifacts found in a shipwreck, and while not a complete picture of the world is found on a shipwreck, it does give us a microcosm of the world and Gibbins has done a fantastic job of documenting this. Divided into 12 individual chapters, this is the book that is filled with detail and can be read one chapter at a time. You could put it down because the next chapter is a completely different shipwreck having nothing to do with the prior discoveries. But if you have the time and the patience to read this book, you will marvel at how the contents of a boat can either affirm or change the way we think and how we look at matters. Some may ask how were they able to date a shipwreck to the mid 1500's BC. some artifacts may have been carbonated, but they also use a fascinating technique, called dendrology and are able to determine the age of the ship by the age of wood, and they can even tell us where the wood came from by using something like wood DNA! I was flabbergasted as I read so many of these stories. We discover an amphora mound outside of Rome that contains millions of pieces of discarded pottery from the height of the Roman Empire. Having been to Rome numerous times, that's not one of the highlights that they always show us, yet it is fascinating as the Colosseum itself. The amount and quantities of wine and olive oil brought to Rome or exported from Rome staggers the imagination and and from the cargo we get to realize how literate the people were in Roman times because they were manifests, markings and all of which had to have been read in order to make sure things were delivered to the right location. From the earliest of times we receive the international flavor of trade as those early shipwrecks have had their contents and artifacts traced too many locations in Europe, Africa, Asia, etc. it's mind-boggling. We also realize at one point that emperor Justinian was basically creating prefab churches. At the time the Roman Empire was based in Constantinople, Justinian was having marble columns, and altars mass produced, and then taken by boat to different ports in the Roman world where they were taken off the boat and assembled to create a new church. when you think of it, it's absolutely amazing that a boat that sailed in the Roman Empire was able to hold an excess of 100 tons of marble! There were so many little facts that I can't list them, but they make each and every chapter unique including the discovery on the HMS Terror, about to sit out to find the Northwest passage and which now rests beneath the sea and can only be investigated by using cameras, but the cameras bring us pictures the help us re-create the life and times of that shipwreck and has expanded our knowledge.
Now many people may find this book hard to read, and it certainly is not easy, but it is one that is worthwhile. As I said chapter by chapter read by bit and he will see a world of history that has been discovered and interpreted through these 12 shipwrecks. It's a marvelous journey, and there's probably no better person than David Gibbins to be our host!
From the discovery of a bronze age ship that was plying the waters off of England in mid 1500 BC, to a shipwreck that occurred in 1941, the author takes us on a historical journey in which we learn as much if not more about history than we do about the wrecks themselves. How does one learn about the past? Through writings, paintings, sometimes word-of-mouth stories, but archaeology fills in a lot of the gaps and can tell us with greater precision, what was occurring at a specific point in history. There's no bias in the artifacts found in a shipwreck, and while not a complete picture of the world is found on a shipwreck, it does give us a microcosm of the world and Gibbins has done a fantastic job of documenting this. Divided into 12 individual chapters, this is the book that is filled with detail and can be read one chapter at a time. You could put it down because the next chapter is a completely different shipwreck having nothing to do with the prior discoveries. But if you have the time and the patience to read this book, you will marvel at how the contents of a boat can either affirm or change the way we think and how we look at matters. Some may ask how were they able to date a shipwreck to the mid 1500's BC. some artifacts may have been carbonated, but they also use a fascinating technique, called dendrology and are able to determine the age of the ship by the age of wood, and they can even tell us where the wood came from by using something like wood DNA! I was flabbergasted as I read so many of these stories. We discover an amphora mound outside of Rome that contains millions of pieces of discarded pottery from the height of the Roman Empire. Having been to Rome numerous times, that's not one of the highlights that they always show us, yet it is fascinating as the Colosseum itself. The amount and quantities of wine and olive oil brought to Rome or exported from Rome staggers the imagination and and from the cargo we get to realize how literate the people were in Roman times because they were manifests, markings and all of which had to have been read in order to make sure things were delivered to the right location. From the earliest of times we receive the international flavor of trade as those early shipwrecks have had their contents and artifacts traced too many locations in Europe, Africa, Asia, etc. it's mind-boggling. We also realize at one point that emperor Justinian was basically creating prefab churches. At the time the Roman Empire was based in Constantinople, Justinian was having marble columns, and altars mass produced, and then taken by boat to different ports in the Roman world where they were taken off the boat and assembled to create a new church. when you think of it, it's absolutely amazing that a boat that sailed in the Roman Empire was able to hold an excess of 100 tons of marble! There were so many little facts that I can't list them, but they make each and every chapter unique including the discovery on the HMS Terror, about to sit out to find the Northwest passage and which now rests beneath the sea and can only be investigated by using cameras, but the cameras bring us pictures the help us re-create the life and times of that shipwreck and has expanded our knowledge.
Now many people may find this book hard to read, and it certainly is not easy, but it is one that is worthwhile. As I said chapter by chapter read by bit and he will see a world of history that has been discovered and interpreted through these 12 shipwrecks. It's a marvelous journey, and there's probably no better person than David Gibbins to be our host!
Read
May 16, 2024Great idea but the writing is painfully dry and unengaging. It's so far mostly potted histories of the various eras with particular reference to trade routes, where I was hoping for vivid descriptions of what diving a shipwreck is actually like, given the author has dived a lot of these. DNF at 30%
January 25, 2024
On the face of it, this book is right up my alley. Shipwrecks! History! Unfortunately, David Gibbins just misses the mark a bit too much in A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks.
The premise is good enough. Take a list of wrecks and then explain the history around them. More than half of them Gibbins has personally dived on. Gibbins then gives a wider historical context around these ships and there you go. Easy peasy.
I had to think quite a while about why this one wasn't a home run for me. One of the issues which jumped out at me is that the wrecks can often feel tacked onto a very quick (relatively speaking) rundown of the history in the time period. I wanted more on the sunken treasures. The chapters where Gibbins was actually diving on the wrecks were usually the better chapters. Gibbins also writes well so even when I didn't love a chapter, it was still good, just not great.
The other problem is that since this is effectively 12 vignettes, each chapter must stand on its own. Gibbins accomplishes this, but he does it too well. It felt like you could completely skip a ship and it wouldn't matter. The book was not cohesive enough because sometimes Gibbins talks about how the ship sank, or the people on it, but other times he approaches it completely differently.
My criticisms make it seem like the book is something you should definitely skip, but it very well may be a matter of taste in the storytelling. You won't throw the book away in frustration, but you may not like it as much as you hoped, like me.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.)
The premise is good enough. Take a list of wrecks and then explain the history around them. More than half of them Gibbins has personally dived on. Gibbins then gives a wider historical context around these ships and there you go. Easy peasy.
I had to think quite a while about why this one wasn't a home run for me. One of the issues which jumped out at me is that the wrecks can often feel tacked onto a very quick (relatively speaking) rundown of the history in the time period. I wanted more on the sunken treasures. The chapters where Gibbins was actually diving on the wrecks were usually the better chapters. Gibbins also writes well so even when I didn't love a chapter, it was still good, just not great.
The other problem is that since this is effectively 12 vignettes, each chapter must stand on its own. Gibbins accomplishes this, but he does it too well. It felt like you could completely skip a ship and it wouldn't matter. The book was not cohesive enough because sometimes Gibbins talks about how the ship sank, or the people on it, but other times he approaches it completely differently.
My criticisms make it seem like the book is something you should definitely skip, but it very well may be a matter of taste in the storytelling. You won't throw the book away in frustration, but you may not like it as much as you hoped, like me.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.)
November 24, 2023
I have a weakness for books that advertise themselves as “A History of the World in [cardinal number] [noun]”. I have read a book about Six Glasses, want to read a book about Nine Mysterious Scripts, and listened to a BBC podcast about 100 Objects. But this particular combination of cardinal number and noun did not really reach out and grab my undivided attention, although I am at a loss to explain why.
The writing is certainly clear enough in most of the book, although occasionally you run across a sentence which might be improved by an accompanying illustration, like: “The Langdon Bay assemblage includes so-called ‘palstaves’, which were cast with flanges to keep the wooden haft in place and a side-loop for twine or rawhide to bind the head to the bindle” (Kindle location 304).
I thought that the phrase “we shall see” appears too frequently for my liking (often in the phrase “as we shall see”). I tend to think: don't tell me I'll see it, just show it to me. However, my Kindle search function tells me that it appears 16 times in a 384-page book, which I guess is not so bad. Still, I found it distracting.
The scholarship seems excellent, although I have one factual nit-pick, which is (at location 686): “... Homer, who wrote in the Greek language …”. I was, at the same time I was reading this book, reading a book that presents a great deal of evidence that Homer (whether person or committee) did not write in any language, although some disagree and it seems unlikely that the question will ever be resolved completely.
I guess I was hoping for a little more drama in the author's personal narrative. The author is apparently an accomplished and sought-after diver, and works with various impressive-sounding government, academic, and private institutions to explore shipwrecks and bring them up to where the rest of us can get a look at them. Everyone is very professional, apparently, which is admirable but doesn't make for such a compelling read. Didn't anybody ever disagree? No oversized egos? No bureaucratic bungling? No comic moments? No ridiculous mistakes? Including stories like this in your narrative is what brings a non-fiction book alive, in my sight, but there wasn't anything like that in this book.
This book was conceived and executed in a professional manner, but it just didn't entertain me in the way I wanted to be entertained. Still, it had a lot of interesting information.
Download a .pdf containing some cool color photos that will appear in the book here.
I received a free electronic advance review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
The writing is certainly clear enough in most of the book, although occasionally you run across a sentence which might be improved by an accompanying illustration, like: “The Langdon Bay assemblage includes so-called ‘palstaves’, which were cast with flanges to keep the wooden haft in place and a side-loop for twine or rawhide to bind the head to the bindle” (Kindle location 304).
I thought that the phrase “we shall see” appears too frequently for my liking (often in the phrase “as we shall see”). I tend to think: don't tell me I'll see it, just show it to me. However, my Kindle search function tells me that it appears 16 times in a 384-page book, which I guess is not so bad. Still, I found it distracting.
The scholarship seems excellent, although I have one factual nit-pick, which is (at location 686): “... Homer, who wrote in the Greek language …”. I was, at the same time I was reading this book, reading a book that presents a great deal of evidence that Homer (whether person or committee) did not write in any language, although some disagree and it seems unlikely that the question will ever be resolved completely.
I guess I was hoping for a little more drama in the author's personal narrative. The author is apparently an accomplished and sought-after diver, and works with various impressive-sounding government, academic, and private institutions to explore shipwrecks and bring them up to where the rest of us can get a look at them. Everyone is very professional, apparently, which is admirable but doesn't make for such a compelling read. Didn't anybody ever disagree? No oversized egos? No bureaucratic bungling? No comic moments? No ridiculous mistakes? Including stories like this in your narrative is what brings a non-fiction book alive, in my sight, but there wasn't anything like that in this book.
This book was conceived and executed in a professional manner, but it just didn't entertain me in the way I wanted to be entertained. Still, it had a lot of interesting information.
Download a .pdf containing some cool color photos that will appear in the book here.
I received a free electronic advance review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
May 7, 2024
DNF. Got 30% of the way through and just couldn't handle it. Awful narrator. I was so excited to listen after learning about this book, but I could barely remember anything it said, couldn't focus at all, and wanted to pull my hair out listening to this guy talk. I don't like having this as a "read" book because I didn't finish, but I needed the world to know not to pick up the audiobook 😂
March 29, 2024
A solid history book, looking at different stages of human civilisation through specific moments, with the eponymous shipwrecks serving as time capsules - both literally and figuratively. I particularly enjoyed the passages where the author shares his own experiences as a maritime archaeologist, but be aware that this is not a scientific travelogue full of underwater adventures. However, if you are interested in global history, I think you will find this volume compelling.
Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
December 23, 2023
Such a cool book, a very cool way to organize information. It's about a lot more than just shipwrecks. In a way, it almost reads as a history of the world, funneled through these shipwrecks as a way to get at the most important facts. Interesting things covered beyond sea-going vessels: where much of the tin came from that helped make the bronze of the Bronze Age (my personal favorite tidbit), the early languages of the Mediterranean and Middle East, who the Sea Peoples likely were and their impact on the end of the Bronze Age, the battles of the Greco-Persian wars in the fifth century bce, the founding and general history of the Roman Republic, the military successes of Justinian's general Belisarius, the origins of Sinbad the Sailor, the history of tea drinking, the ins and outs of the medieval ivory trade, the reach of the Dutch East India Company, and the dangers of the water just off the coast of the most southerly point of the British mainland.
My favorites of the shipwrecks included were "Early sea traders of prehistory in the 2nd millennium BC” "11th century AD Viking seafaring and voyages of discovery," "The Santo Christo (1667): lost masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age," and "HMS Terror (1848): to the limit of endurance at the ends of the earth."
There were a few times when I was somewhat bored, usually because the time period and place or subject covered was not one in which I'm particularly interested, but usually I had no trouble staying engaged. It took me longer than usual to read this though, because some of the chapter ignited an interest in me that I couldn't ignore. After the early chapters, I had to read a book about the Trojan War. After the Vikings chapter, I had to read a book about William the Conquerer. The mention of Ahmad ibn Fadlan made me want to find a biography of him. After the 1667 chapter, I had to read a book about the Dutch Masters. And then I couldn't start the next chapter until I'd finished these sister reads, as I was worried a new topic would ignite in me. The best type of nonfiction is the kind that makes you want to read other things because what's within is so stimulating.
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My favorites of the shipwrecks included were "Early sea traders of prehistory in the 2nd millennium BC” "11th century AD Viking seafaring and voyages of discovery," "The Santo Christo (1667): lost masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age," and "HMS Terror (1848): to the limit of endurance at the ends of the earth."
There were a few times when I was somewhat bored, usually because the time period and place or subject covered was not one in which I'm particularly interested, but usually I had no trouble staying engaged. It took me longer than usual to read this though, because some of the chapter ignited an interest in me that I couldn't ignore. After the early chapters, I had to read a book about the Trojan War. After the Vikings chapter, I had to read a book about William the Conquerer. The mention of Ahmad ibn Fadlan made me want to find a biography of him. After the 1667 chapter, I had to read a book about the Dutch Masters. And then I couldn't start the next chapter until I'd finished these sister reads, as I was worried a new topic would ignite in me. The best type of nonfiction is the kind that makes you want to read other things because what's within is so stimulating.
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 24, 2024
I audio booked this one, and the narrater has the most annoying diction of any performer I have ever encountered. I could not stand it for more than 10 minutes.
April 2, 2024
*** Happy Publication Day ***
What an interesting and entertaining way to learn about or brush up on history. I had no idea so much knowledge about our past could be gained from the objects found on a shipwreck.
From a Bronze Age ship uncovered in Dover to a World War II ship, underwater archeologist David Gibbins does an excellent job of tying our past and present together in an informative narrative. What could easily have been a dry rehash of history is instead an engaging look, through an archeologist's eye, at different eras in history and what artifacts tell us about our past. Even though I enjoyed the ancient shipwrecks more than the recently uncovered ones, I found all twelve enlightening.
If you like history and archeology, I think you will enjoy this book.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is April 2, 2024.
What an interesting and entertaining way to learn about or brush up on history. I had no idea so much knowledge about our past could be gained from the objects found on a shipwreck.
From a Bronze Age ship uncovered in Dover to a World War II ship, underwater archeologist David Gibbins does an excellent job of tying our past and present together in an informative narrative. What could easily have been a dry rehash of history is instead an engaging look, through an archeologist's eye, at different eras in history and what artifacts tell us about our past. Even though I enjoyed the ancient shipwrecks more than the recently uncovered ones, I found all twelve enlightening.
If you like history and archeology, I think you will enjoy this book.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is April 2, 2024.
April 24, 2024
2.5 rounded up. The title of this book promised to be everything I love and then some, but... first off, there are no shipwrecks in this book. There's a guy scuba diving through wreckage. Which, fine, semantics, I guess, but ultimately one that completely changes the frame of the text. Shipwrecks are compelling for their distillation of human drama and empathy and selfishness and pathos and heroism and cowardice and the sheer miracle of being such tiny creatures on the endless sea; the exploration of wreckage is an intellectual affair, a forensic study of setting without characters. It's not that this book isn't interesting, it's just that it isn't what it claims to be.
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 18, 2024Had to DNF the audiobook after the prologue because of stilted, mechanical narrator performance. Weird pauses and misplaced emphasis within sentences made it unlistenable, unfortunately. Bummed because the topic sounded so interesting.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
May 14, 2024DNF at 31%. Do not listen to the audiobook! The concept is quite interesting, while the content itself is just ok. This is one of those books that would normally be right up my alley. The writing was good, but often felt rambly. I feel like I would have enjoyed the physical or ebook versions somewhat but the audiobook was terrible and often sounded like AI (I had to look up the voice actor to make sure he was real).
February 28, 2024
This book was so informative and well-researched. David Gibbins brings twelve different periods of time to life and then weaves them all together. I learned quite a bit from this book, even about historical periods that I have already thoroughly researched previously. David Gibbins is such a wonderful writer as well, and each chapter felt more like a story to me than just a description of the people and state of the world during the era of each wreck. Fans of history and wrecks should definitely check out this book, you will not be disappointed.
Thank you to NetGalley and the St. Martin's Press for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the St. Martin's Press for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 2, 2024
I just. Can't. The narrator. Reads. In such a. Staccato. Way. That I was. Unable. To get past. Chapter 1.
Read
November 20, 2023BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins from St. Martin’s Press/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.
While David Gibbins obviously knows his stuff and is a very clear communicator, this book just wasn’t for me. They style was too much like that found in a college textbook, and I found myself annoyed with how much of the content seemed to be about hypothetical scenarios.
I read the first chapter, then skimmed the second, then flipped through the third (well, if one can “flip through” an electronic chapter) before calling it quits.
I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there who will find this an excellent entry into its field, though.
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.
March 11, 2024
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.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I wanted to read this book because I like the water and the ocean. I watched the movie Titanic about the shipwreck that happened and I enjoyed that movie but I wouldn’t watch it again because it’s long. I decided to DNF this book after reading 69 pages because the way this is written is very dry. It’s written like a history lesson and it doesn’t have any pictures in here. In my opinion, I would prefer to watch a documentary about shipwrecks instead of reading about them because it’s an interesting subject. I don’t know anything about it and I like watching documentaries.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I wanted to read this book because I like the water and the ocean. I watched the movie Titanic about the shipwreck that happened and I enjoyed that movie but I wouldn’t watch it again because it’s long. I decided to DNF this book after reading 69 pages because the way this is written is very dry. It’s written like a history lesson and it doesn’t have any pictures in here. In my opinion, I would prefer to watch a documentary about shipwrecks instead of reading about them because it’s an interesting subject. I don’t know anything about it and I like watching documentaries.
March 4, 2024
What an insightful read. I loved it and will be reading it again. I think those looking for a nice, compelling leisurely beach read or those wanting to gain specific insight into historical accounts of sunken ships, including the adventurous spirit surrounding the exploration, methodology of salvaging strategy, with a bonus of historical backdrop of the surrounding time period, will enjoy this one. Would also make a great reference source for students looking to report on such topics, notably angles of archaeology and ethnography as they relate to under water, shoreline, and land expeditions around the world and what we’ve come to learn about the past.
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this copy for free through the Goodreads giveaway program.
Expected publication: April 2, 2024.
The Story
I loved the amount of information contained in this book. I devoured it.
It’s rich with fascinating historical facts related to the time period in which each expedition was suspected and ultimately found in. From the Byzantine period and Roman Empire, along with a nice span of Bronze Age findings, highlighting key era of the Tang Dynasty, Viking lifestyle and burial process, Greenland, and specific findings about each ship such as the Royal Anne, and much more. Mentionable artifacts such as Antikythera mechanism, bronzes axes, Mask of Agamemnon, and Virazon, just to name a few.
Whether ships at battle, for trade and commerce, or ceremonial, to social leisure, the range of purpose was discussed at perfect length. Including tidbits about navigation method and voyage passageways.
Explained the characteristics of ship timber, time period, salvaging strategies, and continued preservation efforts. Differing materials, construction, and inscription styles that set each apart. Identification of metal sourcing. Capacity for cargo tonnage and personnel.
Provided rationale about origins, purpose, and activities like trade economy, illness, war, weather conditions and phenomena, currents, and various knowns and suspected unknowns that were explored which contributed to the route, decision-making, deck logs, diary entries, and finality in days at sea to the resting place of each ship.
Challenging limitations of the dive work. Particularly limited visibility during an expedition and other environmental and biological hazards. It’s amazing to imagine the incredible expeditions to recover marble on the seabed and I enjoyed the adventurous spirit in all of it with all the amazing finds.
I really appreciated the in-depth mention of creative art findings, many of which I realized I only had surface knowledge of, and learned about many captivating artistic fronts such as allegorical depictions of the human condition based on the condition of the ship, the connections and research as they pertain to ancient artifacts and writings with comparative art collections of the time period, such as classical paintings, architecture, potteries, and literature such as Charles Dickens, Homer’s Iliad, and Biblical references.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the votives and tea bowl artifacts, drawing on the depictions of symbolism in construction, whether painted by layering order as delineated or inscribed as they relate to purpose and beauty of the pottery. In addition to eyes traditionally painted on the prow of ships.
The Writing
Subject matter expertise was lovely and I enjoyed the compelling writing style as well as the comprehensive approach to explain with enough intriguing, great overview of surrounding historical details of the time frame, biographical information of key figures, and some of the technical aspects of the dives. The assessment by maritime archeologist and historian shined through in this one.
I loved reading through the maritime trade with inventory lists.
And the notable museums that houses the artifacts found.
Word etymology was very intriguing.
I much appreciated the use of both former and modern-day name references.
As a diver myself, I absolutely loved the incorporation of personal account and experiences, particularly those related to travel and the challenges of dive exploration.
Illustrations
I enjoyed looking through the accompanying images I had access to.
I will be looking forward to more from this author.
Plus each expedition I imagine could also be its own book as well. Perhaps in future there will accompanying series including insider, personal experiences and matters about travel details, packing lists, forming dive teams and obtaining permits and filings, ethical aspects of how to properly research, professional conduct and related exploration efforts, and additional measures taken to inventory practices, along with those in the field as it pertains to jurisdiction and ownership whether private collections and auctions to public displays, such as solidifying mapping, personnel, key contacts, and networking in order to time explorations around each season, yet complete each task within designated time frames. And what has changed in the profession over time. I will like to read a book about such technicalities and additional inventory pieces from archaeological findings related to each expedition.
Blog post
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this copy for free through the Goodreads giveaway program.
Expected publication: April 2, 2024.
The Story
I loved the amount of information contained in this book. I devoured it.
It’s rich with fascinating historical facts related to the time period in which each expedition was suspected and ultimately found in. From the Byzantine period and Roman Empire, along with a nice span of Bronze Age findings, highlighting key era of the Tang Dynasty, Viking lifestyle and burial process, Greenland, and specific findings about each ship such as the Royal Anne, and much more. Mentionable artifacts such as Antikythera mechanism, bronzes axes, Mask of Agamemnon, and Virazon, just to name a few.
Whether ships at battle, for trade and commerce, or ceremonial, to social leisure, the range of purpose was discussed at perfect length. Including tidbits about navigation method and voyage passageways.
Explained the characteristics of ship timber, time period, salvaging strategies, and continued preservation efforts. Differing materials, construction, and inscription styles that set each apart. Identification of metal sourcing. Capacity for cargo tonnage and personnel.
Provided rationale about origins, purpose, and activities like trade economy, illness, war, weather conditions and phenomena, currents, and various knowns and suspected unknowns that were explored which contributed to the route, decision-making, deck logs, diary entries, and finality in days at sea to the resting place of each ship.
Challenging limitations of the dive work. Particularly limited visibility during an expedition and other environmental and biological hazards. It’s amazing to imagine the incredible expeditions to recover marble on the seabed and I enjoyed the adventurous spirit in all of it with all the amazing finds.
I really appreciated the in-depth mention of creative art findings, many of which I realized I only had surface knowledge of, and learned about many captivating artistic fronts such as allegorical depictions of the human condition based on the condition of the ship, the connections and research as they pertain to ancient artifacts and writings with comparative art collections of the time period, such as classical paintings, architecture, potteries, and literature such as Charles Dickens, Homer’s Iliad, and Biblical references.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the votives and tea bowl artifacts, drawing on the depictions of symbolism in construction, whether painted by layering order as delineated or inscribed as they relate to purpose and beauty of the pottery. In addition to eyes traditionally painted on the prow of ships.
The Writing
Subject matter expertise was lovely and I enjoyed the compelling writing style as well as the comprehensive approach to explain with enough intriguing, great overview of surrounding historical details of the time frame, biographical information of key figures, and some of the technical aspects of the dives. The assessment by maritime archeologist and historian shined through in this one.
I loved reading through the maritime trade with inventory lists.
And the notable museums that houses the artifacts found.
Word etymology was very intriguing.
I much appreciated the use of both former and modern-day name references.
As a diver myself, I absolutely loved the incorporation of personal account and experiences, particularly those related to travel and the challenges of dive exploration.
Illustrations
I enjoyed looking through the accompanying images I had access to.
I will be looking forward to more from this author.
Plus each expedition I imagine could also be its own book as well. Perhaps in future there will accompanying series including insider, personal experiences and matters about travel details, packing lists, forming dive teams and obtaining permits and filings, ethical aspects of how to properly research, professional conduct and related exploration efforts, and additional measures taken to inventory practices, along with those in the field as it pertains to jurisdiction and ownership whether private collections and auctions to public displays, such as solidifying mapping, personnel, key contacts, and networking in order to time explorations around each season, yet complete each task within designated time frames. And what has changed in the profession over time. I will like to read a book about such technicalities and additional inventory pieces from archaeological findings related to each expedition.
Blog post
Read
June 8, 2024DNF 7% - Not as advertised and not sure what shipwrecks have to do with it as they are not tied into historical narrative.
February 27, 2024
A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins a fascinating journey through the history of humanity as seen through the lens of twelve shipwrecks. From the Bronze Age to World War Two, Gibbins explores how these wrecks reveal not only the lives and cultures of the people who sailed them, but also the broader historical contexts and transformations that shaped their eras.
There was a lot to like in this book. Gibbins combines his academic expertise with his personal experience as a diver and researcher on many of the wrecks he describes. He vividly recreates the scenes and events that led to the sinking of each ship, as well as the challenges and discoveries of the archaeological investigations that followed. With the 12 chosen wrecks, Gibbins covers a wide range of time periods, regions, and themes. He shows how each wreck represents a pivotal moment or aspect of human history, such as trade, exploration, warfare, religion, art, and technology. He also explains how the wrecks reflect the diversity and complexity of the maritime world, from the Phoenicians and Vikings to the Chinese and Polynesians. Gibbins does not treat the shipwrecks as isolated incidents, but rather as windows into the larger historical forces and dynamics that influenced them. He connects the wrecks to the rise and fall of empires, the spread of ideas and beliefs, the development of science and industry, and the impact of environmental and climatic changes. He also examines how the wrecks affected the course of history and the fate of nations and peoples.
What struck me the most was the fact that shipwrecks are invaluable sources of information and insight that complement and challenge the conventional historical records. Shipwrecks preserve a wealth of material and cultural evidence that is often lost or distorted on land. For example, many of the sites had metal artifacts that were intended for recycling and are never found in ground digs. He also shows how the wrecks offer a unique perspective on the human condition, as they capture the hopes and fears, the triumphs and tragedies, and the joys and sorrows of the people who sailed them.
My only con lies with the editorial execution. While Gibbins shares his experiences and research, a tighter edit would have enhanced the overall coherence. At times, facts and definitions repeat unnecessarily, disrupting the flow. Additionally, the blend of adventure-style writing (akin to in-the-moment journal entries) with historical recounting occasionally feels disjointed. Some chapters felt longer and more detailed than others, and some transitions and connections between the wrecks and the historical contexts could have been smoother and clearer.
I enjoyed the book and learned a lot, even as someone who has studied and taught secondary history for 25 years. It has a unique angle and will be a good addition to the popular history genre. It is a captivating and informative read that will appeal to anyone who is interested in the history of the world and the sea.
This was an ARC review for NetGalley.
There was a lot to like in this book. Gibbins combines his academic expertise with his personal experience as a diver and researcher on many of the wrecks he describes. He vividly recreates the scenes and events that led to the sinking of each ship, as well as the challenges and discoveries of the archaeological investigations that followed. With the 12 chosen wrecks, Gibbins covers a wide range of time periods, regions, and themes. He shows how each wreck represents a pivotal moment or aspect of human history, such as trade, exploration, warfare, religion, art, and technology. He also explains how the wrecks reflect the diversity and complexity of the maritime world, from the Phoenicians and Vikings to the Chinese and Polynesians. Gibbins does not treat the shipwrecks as isolated incidents, but rather as windows into the larger historical forces and dynamics that influenced them. He connects the wrecks to the rise and fall of empires, the spread of ideas and beliefs, the development of science and industry, and the impact of environmental and climatic changes. He also examines how the wrecks affected the course of history and the fate of nations and peoples.
What struck me the most was the fact that shipwrecks are invaluable sources of information and insight that complement and challenge the conventional historical records. Shipwrecks preserve a wealth of material and cultural evidence that is often lost or distorted on land. For example, many of the sites had metal artifacts that were intended for recycling and are never found in ground digs. He also shows how the wrecks offer a unique perspective on the human condition, as they capture the hopes and fears, the triumphs and tragedies, and the joys and sorrows of the people who sailed them.
My only con lies with the editorial execution. While Gibbins shares his experiences and research, a tighter edit would have enhanced the overall coherence. At times, facts and definitions repeat unnecessarily, disrupting the flow. Additionally, the blend of adventure-style writing (akin to in-the-moment journal entries) with historical recounting occasionally feels disjointed. Some chapters felt longer and more detailed than others, and some transitions and connections between the wrecks and the historical contexts could have been smoother and clearer.
I enjoyed the book and learned a lot, even as someone who has studied and taught secondary history for 25 years. It has a unique angle and will be a good addition to the popular history genre. It is a captivating and informative read that will appeal to anyone who is interested in the history of the world and the sea.
This was an ARC review for NetGalley.
April 7, 2024
As a huge fan of the Jack Howard adventures, which I knew were inspired by dives undertaken by David Gibbins, I was excited to get my hands on an early copy of A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks. A part of me was disappointed that there weren’t more first-person accounts of the dives, narrative play-by-play of discovering and exploring these sunken wrecks, but that’s entirely okay because what is there – the history – is absolutely fascinating.
In some cases, the book explores history through long-forgotten treasures, the kind of discoveries that every adventurer dreams of. Yes, there are gold and jewels to be found, religious and cultural artifacts as well, but Gibbins explores what they mean, what they tell us about the past, as opposed to what they’re worth. Where the book gets really interesting is in the exploration of everyday artifacts, things like plates and bowls and construction equipment, using them to create a picture of what life was like hundreds of years ago.
Once I got past my initial disappointment over the emphasis on history as opposed to shipwrecks, I began to see the archaeological process involved, and that was what fascinated me most. It’s often painstaking work, accomplished in the harshest of conditions, requiring a wealth of preparation. It’s not like you can just sit on an old battlefield or in an old homestead and sift through layers of dirt at your leisure – you’re at the mercy of the depths, your air supply, the current, and the weather. Sometimes all you can do is catalog what you see, knowing that the next storm could bury it, leaving your eyes the authority on the matter.
A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks can be a dry, scholarly read, but as such it’s a remarkable one. This is a work of David Gibbins, archaeologist and historian, not David Gibbins, adventure author, so you do need to set your expectations. But, as I tell my wife every week when she asks if they found more wood on the Curse of Oak Island, I don’t watch for the treasure, I watch for the history, the little discoveries of pottery and nails, not the big ones, and that’s what this is all about.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/...
In some cases, the book explores history through long-forgotten treasures, the kind of discoveries that every adventurer dreams of. Yes, there are gold and jewels to be found, religious and cultural artifacts as well, but Gibbins explores what they mean, what they tell us about the past, as opposed to what they’re worth. Where the book gets really interesting is in the exploration of everyday artifacts, things like plates and bowls and construction equipment, using them to create a picture of what life was like hundreds of years ago.
Once I got past my initial disappointment over the emphasis on history as opposed to shipwrecks, I began to see the archaeological process involved, and that was what fascinated me most. It’s often painstaking work, accomplished in the harshest of conditions, requiring a wealth of preparation. It’s not like you can just sit on an old battlefield or in an old homestead and sift through layers of dirt at your leisure – you’re at the mercy of the depths, your air supply, the current, and the weather. Sometimes all you can do is catalog what you see, knowing that the next storm could bury it, leaving your eyes the authority on the matter.
A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks can be a dry, scholarly read, but as such it’s a remarkable one. This is a work of David Gibbins, archaeologist and historian, not David Gibbins, adventure author, so you do need to set your expectations. But, as I tell my wife every week when she asks if they found more wood on the Curse of Oak Island, I don’t watch for the treasure, I watch for the history, the little discoveries of pottery and nails, not the big ones, and that’s what this is all about.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/...
Read
March 12, 2024I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review. (Well, my husband did and he outsourced the review to me https://www.goodreads.com/bikeboy). I declined to give it a star rating because I am a notoriously tough grader and my feelings are too nuanced to boil down to a simple numerical rating.
This book is well worth reading to learn how historical knowledge is constructed. But no one book, especially one this short, will teach you the history of the world. The 12 shipwrecks are all related to western civ; Asia & Oceana are not represented except for one European ship wrecked on the way back from Asia. (Read Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia to learn about Oceana.)
That said, shipwrecks are a valuable source of material culture clues because they are a point in time sample of people doing something. They are not (except in one case) funerary objects. These objects were used by people for specific purposes. The location of the wrecks and what they were transporting also illuminates the types of people who go to sea and their motivations.
People went to sea to explore, to get rich, and to go to war. When their trips were interrupted, what were they carrying? This is a fantastic opportunity for scholarship and this book gives us a peek into the work of shipwreck archeologists.
I learned that, just as climate scientists can tell how warm a period was by O16/O18 (oxygen isotope) ratios in stalactites/stalagmites, they can also tell how warm the climate was where the victims in shipwrecks grew up. O16/O18 ratios in the molars showed that the one of the archers (skeletal asymmetry) brought along to protect a European ship was African.
When I was working in a Space Sciences lab, a metrology expert I worked with had earned her PhD in materials science at U of Cambridge (where the author teaches) studying trace elements and isotope ratios in bronze church bells. The coins, ingots and metal objects in the shipwrecks also tell a fascinating story.
I wish the book had explained more about the science of archeology, ocean currents/wind patterns, and ship designs--or the historical context of the ships, and the reasons they went out to sea--instead of just skimming along the surface of many topics.
I'm now going to have to read A History of the World in Sixteen Shipwrecks
This book is well worth reading to learn how historical knowledge is constructed. But no one book, especially one this short, will teach you the history of the world. The 12 shipwrecks are all related to western civ; Asia & Oceana are not represented except for one European ship wrecked on the way back from Asia. (Read Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia to learn about Oceana.)
That said, shipwrecks are a valuable source of material culture clues because they are a point in time sample of people doing something. They are not (except in one case) funerary objects. These objects were used by people for specific purposes. The location of the wrecks and what they were transporting also illuminates the types of people who go to sea and their motivations.
People went to sea to explore, to get rich, and to go to war. When their trips were interrupted, what were they carrying? This is a fantastic opportunity for scholarship and this book gives us a peek into the work of shipwreck archeologists.
I learned that, just as climate scientists can tell how warm a period was by O16/O18 (oxygen isotope) ratios in stalactites/stalagmites, they can also tell how warm the climate was where the victims in shipwrecks grew up. O16/O18 ratios in the molars showed that the one of the archers (skeletal asymmetry) brought along to protect a European ship was African.
When I was working in a Space Sciences lab, a metrology expert I worked with had earned her PhD in materials science at U of Cambridge (where the author teaches) studying trace elements and isotope ratios in bronze church bells. The coins, ingots and metal objects in the shipwrecks also tell a fascinating story.
I wish the book had explained more about the science of archeology, ocean currents/wind patterns, and ship designs--or the historical context of the ships, and the reasons they went out to sea--instead of just skimming along the surface of many topics.
I'm now going to have to read A History of the World in Sixteen Shipwrecks
May 6, 2024
I have been a huge fan of deep-sea diving expeditions ever since I read 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 by Robert Kurson 20 years ago. Both haunting and fascinating, shipwrecks have an otherworldly quality to them as if they are suspended between two worlds. What stories and secrets are held within, and what can they teach us about our own history? These are the questions that underwater archeologist David Gibbins sets out to uncover in 𝗔 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘄𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀.
🌊 The book is divided into twelve chapters, each telling the story of a different shipwreck in chronological order, beginning with the discovery of the Dover Boat dating back to the Bronze Age around 2000 BC. The book takes us through human history as it explores the Viking warship of King Cnut the Great, King Henry VIII’s 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦, the doomed HMS 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 and its infamous Arctic voyage, and the SS 𝘎𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘢 which was destroyed by a Nazi U-boat during WWII. Gibbins is also a diver himself, and includes some stunning full-color photographs from both the wrecks he dived and from artifacts that now reside in museums.
⚓️ I read this book a little at a time, choosing one or two shipwrecks, rather than reading it all at once, and I really enjoyed it this way! The writing feels more academic than narrative at times, but I really appreciated the research and snippets from poems and journal entries that help set the stage and give interesting historical context. I especially enjoyed reading about the wrecks Gibbins dived himself, especially the 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, which lost several pieces of famous Dutch art, including two Rembrandts. I love how he described his feelings of entering the wreck and how it felt like being in a church.
Overall, I definitely recommend this for history buffs and anyone with an interest in shipwrecks!
Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC and finished copy!
🌊 The book is divided into twelve chapters, each telling the story of a different shipwreck in chronological order, beginning with the discovery of the Dover Boat dating back to the Bronze Age around 2000 BC. The book takes us through human history as it explores the Viking warship of King Cnut the Great, King Henry VIII’s 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦, the doomed HMS 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 and its infamous Arctic voyage, and the SS 𝘎𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘢 which was destroyed by a Nazi U-boat during WWII. Gibbins is also a diver himself, and includes some stunning full-color photographs from both the wrecks he dived and from artifacts that now reside in museums.
⚓️ I read this book a little at a time, choosing one or two shipwrecks, rather than reading it all at once, and I really enjoyed it this way! The writing feels more academic than narrative at times, but I really appreciated the research and snippets from poems and journal entries that help set the stage and give interesting historical context. I especially enjoyed reading about the wrecks Gibbins dived himself, especially the 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, which lost several pieces of famous Dutch art, including two Rembrandts. I love how he described his feelings of entering the wreck and how it felt like being in a church.
Overall, I definitely recommend this for history buffs and anyone with an interest in shipwrecks!
Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC and finished copy!
December 27, 2023
I love shipwrecks: their mystery, their abruptly-destroyed journeys, and what they say about the culture that sent them, and the culture that would receive them. "A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks" attempts to distill the history of human communication and transportation into a smattering of maritime disasters, and on the whole it's an engaging, successful and interesting book. From ancient Turkey to the frigid waters of the Arctic, Gibbons not only discusses the specificities of the ships, but how they were discovered, how archeologists studied them (some were by far more readily accessible than others) and how, if applicable, they were brought to the surface. But Gibbons also concentrates on the historical context in which these ships sailed: what they carried, where they were going, and what their goods indicated about human culture and civilization.
Gibbons writes for an audience that's more learned than most - I found myself looking up things he offhandedly referenced, and terms I wasn't familiar with. It's not really written for a general audience, and the vibe leans a little dry and dense here; however the writing itself was detailed, fascinating, and passionate on the subject. I very much enjoyed the structure of the book (a chapter on each wreck) as it sailed closer to modern day. Very much recommended for fans of maritime history, and history in general.
Gibbons writes for an audience that's more learned than most - I found myself looking up things he offhandedly referenced, and terms I wasn't familiar with. It's not really written for a general audience, and the vibe leans a little dry and dense here; however the writing itself was detailed, fascinating, and passionate on the subject. I very much enjoyed the structure of the book (a chapter on each wreck) as it sailed closer to modern day. Very much recommended for fans of maritime history, and history in general.
February 16, 2024
4.5
I am a lover of all things historical and nautical, so I had a feeling I would enjoy this book. It reads like a blend of The Wager and Indiana Jones, with Gibbins covering both the stories of the wrecks themselves and the unfortunate souls aboard them and his own adventures exploring several of them to reveal the blossoming discipline of maritime archaeology and the fascinating insights into the past it can provide. The author is an internationally renowned expert on wreck exploration, and this combined with his talent as a writer of adventure novels renders him the perfect person to tell the swashbuckling tales of tragedy on the high seas. The book captures an impressively wide sweep of history, ranging from the Iron Age to the Second World War, as well as illustrating periods often omitted from Eurocentric works of history, such as the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty of China. Overall, this is an extremely enjoyable work which will captivate anyone interested in what the oceans can reveal to us about our pasts, written in engrossing style by an accomplished storyteller. Nautical adventures are one of my favourite genres, whether fictional or real-life, and Gibbins's work certainly stands as one of the most original and enthralling entries written in recent years.
I am a lover of all things historical and nautical, so I had a feeling I would enjoy this book. It reads like a blend of The Wager and Indiana Jones, with Gibbins covering both the stories of the wrecks themselves and the unfortunate souls aboard them and his own adventures exploring several of them to reveal the blossoming discipline of maritime archaeology and the fascinating insights into the past it can provide. The author is an internationally renowned expert on wreck exploration, and this combined with his talent as a writer of adventure novels renders him the perfect person to tell the swashbuckling tales of tragedy on the high seas. The book captures an impressively wide sweep of history, ranging from the Iron Age to the Second World War, as well as illustrating periods often omitted from Eurocentric works of history, such as the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty of China. Overall, this is an extremely enjoyable work which will captivate anyone interested in what the oceans can reveal to us about our pasts, written in engrossing style by an accomplished storyteller. Nautical adventures are one of my favourite genres, whether fictional or real-life, and Gibbins's work certainly stands as one of the most original and enthralling entries written in recent years.
April 28, 2024
I'm interested in history and archaeology, and A History of the Word in Twelve Shipwrecks provides a fascinating exploration of both by esteemed underwater archaeologist David Gibbins. The author is an accomplished diver, and his firsthand experience with undersea wrecks and artifacts lends the book a unique and personal perspective. It is exceptionally well written and researched, and each shipwreck is described alongside a wealth of historical context, and the effect is scholarly and informative. From the Bronze age through the twentieth century, the author connects different shipwrecks into a cohesive historical narrative that examines the way that ships contributed to the spread of people, goods, ideas, language, and culture.
If you are interested in the role of boats and ships in human history, and the unique insights that shipwrecks can provide as snapshots in time of people, place, and culture, this will be an interesting and enjoyable read for you. It isn't the type of book to tear through breathlessly, but I enjoyed it leisurely, a little at a time.
Thanks to David Gibbins, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
If you are interested in the role of boats and ships in human history, and the unique insights that shipwrecks can provide as snapshots in time of people, place, and culture, this will be an interesting and enjoyable read for you. It isn't the type of book to tear through breathlessly, but I enjoyed it leisurely, a little at a time.
Thanks to David Gibbins, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
May 13, 2024
2.5. Not bad, but I'm not jumping for joy about this either. For starters, as a 'History of the World', this just doesn't work. But as a 'History of Twelve Shipwrecks', it's a perfectly respectable snapshot of some different eras. (Mostly Western history, and mostly the little pockets of history I already know kind of a lot about. Bronze age Greece. Rome. The Tudors. The Franklin Expedition.)
It was written in a very dry way, and whilst the descriptions of the wrecks and ships themselves were better done than the skimmed-over contextual "history" around them, I've never felt the lack of pictures so sorely. There were a few, but not nearly enough for this topic. It should be so visual! Give me some diagrams of the wreck sites or paintings of the ships or something?!?! Artifacts! Anything!
The best chapters were the ones Gibbins dived on or has studied intensively himself, and the ones I knew least about: the late Roman & Byzantine chapters and the Santo Cristo di Castello wreck were my favourites. I also liked a couple of nice passages about the literature being read, those are nice little snapshots about history.
But archaeology tends to be a hard sell for me (war flashbacks to uni) and David, I'm sorry, but you're not going to make me care about amphorae. No matter how cool they are. I don't care.
It was written in a very dry way, and whilst the descriptions of the wrecks and ships themselves were better done than the skimmed-over contextual "history" around them, I've never felt the lack of pictures so sorely. There were a few, but not nearly enough for this topic. It should be so visual! Give me some diagrams of the wreck sites or paintings of the ships or something?!?! Artifacts! Anything!
The best chapters were the ones Gibbins dived on or has studied intensively himself, and the ones I knew least about: the late Roman & Byzantine chapters and the Santo Cristo di Castello wreck were my favourites. I also liked a couple of nice passages about the literature being read, those are nice little snapshots about history.
But archaeology tends to be a hard sell for me (war flashbacks to uni) and David, I'm sorry, but you're not going to make me care about amphorae. No matter how cool they are. I don't care.
July 4, 2024
A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks is David Gibbins' march through time, told by way of a dozen shipwrecks, what archaeologists found in them and this what was going on in the world about the time those ships where. There are some wonderful moments in the book, especially descriptions Gibbins gives for the final two or three ships late in the book. Admittedly, those accounts concern ships lost in the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, so events and geography feel more familiar.
However, the weakness in the book too often is the writing. It can be frustrating. At some points it is lively and makes the reader feel what it's like to discover something that hasn't been seen for decades, sometimes centuries. At other points the writing is dry, just a list of cargo or books that may or may not have been on the ship when it went down. This felt like note/research dumping. Editing in those sections, perhaps with the use of footnotes, would have helped. The book also could have benefitted from more photographs or graphics. But what's really missing: maps. Gibbins offers detailed information about trade routes and such, but without maps readers too often are left lost at sea.
However, the weakness in the book too often is the writing. It can be frustrating. At some points it is lively and makes the reader feel what it's like to discover something that hasn't been seen for decades, sometimes centuries. At other points the writing is dry, just a list of cargo or books that may or may not have been on the ship when it went down. This felt like note/research dumping. Editing in those sections, perhaps with the use of footnotes, would have helped. The book also could have benefitted from more photographs or graphics. But what's really missing: maps. Gibbins offers detailed information about trade routes and such, but without maps readers too often are left lost at sea.
April 3, 2024
A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TWELVE SHIPWRECKS by David Gibbins is a fascinating guide to history through the wreckage we leave behind. I knew very little about the events covered in some chapters, but eagerly learned of the exploits, approaches, and bold undertakings of people who lived long ago -- recognizing they aren't that different from who we are today. With Gibbins, I felt I was in the authoritative hands of a deeply experienced, passionate seeker and I loved the ride. What was particularly outstanding was an approach to history that was not all about battles and conquests -- while those were covered, they were not the entire story of civilization spreading, ambitions and attitudes, and how brave individuals sailed into the unknown with little but hand-hewn vessels, the stars, and their strong selves. I felt as involved and amazed as the archeologists discovered new facts and aspects to the people we once were. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.
April 7, 2024
I thought this book was really fascinating and found it interesting why the author chose to call it “a history….” I know very little about underwater archaeology and thought those aspects were interesting, but ultimately appreciated the early chapters connections to trade and the ever increasing globalization present. I found the chapters about more recent wrecks a little more challenging because they didn’t really connect to the earlier narrative, but they were still interesting (and devastating) on their own. Overall, I really enjoyed this!
(NetGalley digital ARC)
(NetGalley digital ARC)
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