a history of the world in twelve shipwrecks

This page contains extensive background material and imagery for my book A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK on 8 February 2024 and by St Martin’s Press in the US on 2 April. Those who have read the book should find much of interest in the pages linked below on each chapter, and others should get a good taste for the book. I’ve included material that complements the book, with much on my personal involvement with these sites, many of my own photographs and links to authoritative resources such as museum and project websites and publications that are free to read online. It’s been a great pleasure putting together this material, especially for the wrecks that I’ve dived on and investigated myself - the Greek wreck, the Plemmirio Roman wreck, the 17th century Santo Cristo di Castello, the Royal Anne Galley and others - as it’s always refreshing as an archaeologist to look back with new perspectives, to relive the excitement of past discoveries and to look forward to more!

You can pre-order the book on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and from many other booksellers. The book is being published in hardback, trade paperback, ebook and audio editions, with the mass-market paperback out later. I’ll post links here to editions in other languages as they are published. You can also see endorsements for the book from Sir Tim Smit (co-founder of The Eden Project), Mensun Bound (bestselling author of The Ship Beneath the Ice) and Professor Alice Roberts (broadcaster and author), as well as quotes from reviews. I’ll be posting more on my Facebook page and other platforms. I hope you enjoy the book!

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

‘David Gibbins’s fascinating exploration of historic shipwrecks … conveys unimaginable courage in tales of people pushing beyond their reach’ ― THE OBSERVER

‘Engrossing … Gibbins is the ideal person to tell the story of shipwrecks. He is a distinguished underwater archaeologist, a veteran of thousands of dives and a bestselling novelist whose narrating skills are here harnessed to fact rather than fiction’ ― THE DAILY MAIL

‘Fascinating... he offers wonderful material, well researched and placed in its wider context, illuminating the history of trade and warfare from unaccustomed angles.’ ― SPECTATOR

‘This excellent, endlessly interesting book …  richly detailed, often spellbinding narratives … mesmerising … beautifully written’ ― THE IRISH INDEPENDENT

‘An imaginative and engrossing trip through three millennia, and a book that fully lives up to its bold title’  ―THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

From my publishers:

‘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 12 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 indomitable 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.’

resources and additional material

These pages contain background material and images for each of the twelve chapters in the book.