The Big DIVING Read

[Ian B]

<font color='#0000FF'>Just been watching BBCs Big Read. I've not read many of them but it got me wondering what are the best diving related books to read.

I'm in the middle of Keith Jessop's &quot;Goldfinder&quot; and find it an interesting glimpse into salvage diving.

What's your favourite diving book and why?

[Rob Evans]

Well we've done The Last Dive &amp; Deep Descent to death - very definitely worthy of a read is 'Ship of gold in the deep blue sea' - brilliant salvage book &amp; well written.  Currently working my way through 'Trawler', slightly impenetrable in a lot of respects but has (so far) lots of human interest in terms of life at sea in the North Atlantic and the fun &amp; games that the trawlermen have when onshore in the Orkneys - most of the guys on the boat have no front teeth cos they go a bit mad when in town and batter ferk out of each other.
Trouble is, there aren't nearly enough really good diving books about so if you want to spread your wings a bit I can definitely recommend good mountain-climbing books.  These blokes are proper nutters and there are some great reads about.  'Into Thin Air' by John Krakauer and anything by Joe Simpson will have you spellbound.  Very off-topic I know but I read shitloads of books &amp; most of the divers I've lent these books to have rated them.

There are apparently a good few cave diving books around but they can be a git to get hold of.  However, a maniac by the name of Dr Jerome Meynie recently did a 184m cave dive on CCR and the book he read on his stops was 'Down to a Sunless Sea' by David Poyer which definitely merits further investigation.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the cave diving books of note will be better than the -admittedly few - regular diving books I've read, just by dint of the people who wrote them.

Caves measureless to man is by all accounts a bit of a classic.


EDIT:  Arrgh - just ordered the Poyer book and by it appears to be a Clive Cussler-type thriller.  Still, worth a go.

[Paul Oliver]

Rob

Its also a classic in its field.

Capel

I found Goldfinder a top read.

Some others:-

Mysteries of the High Seas - Philip MacDougall
The Wreck of the Almiranta - Peter Earle
The Great Treasure Hunts - Rupert Furneaux
Iron Coffins - Herert A Werner
The Black Ship - Barry Clifford
Scapa Flow - Not sure of author as i have lent it out, but its a Cassell Military Paperback series book.
Riders of the storm - Ian Cameron (The story of the RNLI)

While we are at it anyone know of a reference book dealing with HMS Sussex?

Dive Safe

Paul

[DanE]

On a less serious note, Blackfords 'Diving Life and Times' and 'Deeper' are good, light hearted reads.

dan.

[Ron Young]

The Treasure Diver's Guide should be in everyones library and see how many have now been found

Ron

[Spike Jackson]

I have mentioned this one before but &quot;Stars beneath the sea&quot; is a very interesting read. It tells the sotires of several of the early diving pioneers and has fascinating stuff on Haldane and his experiments (usually on himself!) and Hans Hass etc.

[Moray]

for me, definitely &quot;The Last Dive.&quot;

Why? For its warning effect on the complacent.

moray

[Noel Johnson]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Arrgh - just ordered the Poyer book and by it appears to be a Clive Cussler-type thriller. &nbsp;Still, worth a go.

Nothing wrong with a little Clive Cussler, I read him myself. You just need to remember that Dirk Pitt isn't really James Bond
I really enjoyed Neutral Buoyancy though

[peter k]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Rob Evans @ Dec. 13 2003,23:59)]These blokes are proper nutters and there are some great reads about.  'Into Thin Air' by John Krakauer and anything by Joe Simpson will have you spellbound.  

They've just turned &quot;Touching the Void&quot; into a film. Think I've read &quot;Into Thin Air&quot; as well, but can't really remember it.
Another off-topic book is &quot;The Sky Garden&quot; about Orchid collectors in the Darien gap(between Colombia and somewhere else). They get taken hostage by guerillas and end up good pals with them. A bit of the Stockholm syndrome methinks!

Peter

[parahandy]

Its Got to be &quot;Goldfinder&quot; for me

Tony