The Drowned Places: Diving In Search Of Atlantis

Description

From Ancient Greece to Port Royal, Damian Le Bas embarks on a cultural exploration of diving, investigating sunken human ruins around the world and the marine life that thrives there now

 'A breathtakingly good book' TRISTAN GOOLEY

 'The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read' MENSUN BOUND

Immersed in history and myth, Damian Le Bas explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the world Thousands of years ago, an island off the Straits of Gibraltar went to war with ancient Athens. The battle was lost, and an earthquake cleaved the land in two. Overnight the island sank beneath the waves - or so legend tells.

As a young boy, Damian Le Bas was captivated by the lost city of Atlantis. Even as an adult, he dreams about diving amid its ancient ruins, observing with his own eyes the remnants of an era that still reverberates in our own. After the death of his father, torn between his lifelong desire and the taboo his Romany culture places on the ocean, he comes by chance across a dive shop. He can't help but go in.

Under the waves he enters a breathtaking world. As he masters the skills of this dangerous sport, diving with seals in the Farne Islands, exploring submerged Roman ruins in Naples and mapping the sunken city of Port Royal in Jamaica, he is entranced anew, by wonders both manmade and natural. Atlantis - from its first account by Plato, to the explorers who searched in vain and the discovery that might finally solve its mystery - takes on a new shape in Damian's quest.

At once a spellbinding love letter to diving, The Drowned Places is also a profound examination of the power that myth has over us, and what happens when it crosses over into reality.

Reviews

Loss, risk, adventure and redemption. Le Bas has written the most compelling and evocative of underwater odysseys -- KATE HUMBLE, author of A Year of Living Simply
An enthralling exploration of the liminal by one of the most exciting writers around. A breathtakingly good book -- TRISTAN GOOLEY, author of How to Read a Tree
The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read. But it is not about diving as a sport; it is about diving as an accessway to submerged landscapes, the festival of life that inhabits them and, above all, the drowned ruins of lost civilisations -- MENSUN BOUND, author of The Ship Beneath the Ice
Le Bas goes on a compelling dual journey in this book, both historical and personal. His curiosity brings the ancient myths and stark realities of the ocean vividly to life. A various, rich exploration -- SOPHIE ELMHIRST, author of Maurice and Maralyn
I loved this book - a wonderful interweaving of diving and exploration with coming to terms with grief, beautifully written and endlessly fascinating. One of the best books that I have read in a long time -- DAVID GIBBINS, author of A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks