Read any good books lately?

[beche de mer]

Can anyone recommend any good books about diving?

Two that I've read lately are The Last Dive, and The White Pearl Divers of Broome.

The former, (written by Bernie Chowdhury - a very accomplished technical diver) gives a useful summary of the development of tech diving and a pretty harrowing account of how a buddy pair lost their lives.

The White Pearl Divers of Broome would be of interest also to the non-diver, providing an interesting history of the pioneering days in a pearling town in north-west Australia (Broome), at the turn of the century. It deals with various issues including the white Australia policy and the attitudes of the time. The narrative (factual) is centred on the fate that befalls a group of Royal Navy hard-hat divers who are recruited by the pearling captains of Broome, who are under pressure to dispense with their Japanese divers, because of the political climate at the time.

(This book might be difficult to get outside of Australia. If anyone is really interested, I could arrange dispatch through local booksellers.)

I've just started on Deep Descent, the story of the Andrea Doria. This looks pretty promising.

Seems that there are a few really good books written by divers, about divers. Does anyone have any further suggestions?

[the_dumper]

Go to
general tek discusions - Have I got a book for you.
Its a large thread with about 70 replies so plenty of suggestions there.

[Diver Lori]

I am currently reading Clive Cussler's non-fiction book, "The Sea Hunters II". He goes into detail on his searches for shipwrecks above and below the water, with some narrative on how it may have gone before this or that ship sank.

Clive's NUMA team are the ones who found the Hunley.....they don't salvage them, but they search for them and pass the salvage duties to the proper municipal authority. NUMA is just about solely run with the royalties from Cussler's Dirk Pitt Series of novels.

[metaldector]

and another, and another. The Fireside Diver (by bonnie cardone), Submerged (by Daniel Lenihan), and Down Time (a compulation of writers). All good, and available from Amazon.com.

[Sea Squirt]

If you're interested in the "makings" of diving then I would recommend "Stars Beneath the Sea" - by Trevor Norton, about the pioneers of diving who really pushed the envelope and got us where we are today as divers. Covering all aspects from early free divers in the 1930s making their own masks and snorkels, JBS Haldane who pressure tested himself in a compression chamber, to Hans Hass the "father" of underwater filming...

I found it a really fascinating aspect of this habit I love so much.

[ColdH2Odvr]

I’m not sure that “read” is the correct verb to apply to this book but Technical Diving in Depth by Bruce R. Wienke is well worth the effort. Granted, my tastes lean toward the technical but you don’t need to be a technical diver to read this book. What’s taught during most dive courses barely scratches the surface of what’s going on in our bodies. Here’s a chance to explore the rest.

[JustAddWater]

I just started Cussler's "The Sea Hunters", and am enjoying it so far. I'll probably read The Sea Hunters II when I'm finished. I read Hell Divers' Rodeo earlier this year; found it entertaining.

[Washy]

Just finished Peter Benchley's book "Shark!".

It's a good quick read with some interesting stories (and warnings!)

Washy.

[Dive4Life]

Awesome book and it makes everything make sense. You were wondering how they came up with the idea for recreational dive tables and the theory behind that. Discussions about different gear configurations. Different levels of diving from DECO to TRIMIX. I would recommend that book not only as a killer reference guide but just as an awesome source of info about diving. It can answer a lot of questions and there are some really good ideas. Thats another thing, they talk about almost all the different ideas and models. I haven't read anything about DIR in it but that is a different book all together. I haven't gotten to that one yet but I will.

[Don Burke]

Dive4Life once bubbled... Awesome book and it makes everything make sense. You were wondering how they came up with the idea for recreational dive tables and the theory behind that. Discussions about different gear configurations. Different levels of diving from DECO to TRIMIX. I would recommend that book not only as a killer reference guide but just as an awesome source of info about diving. It can answer a lot of questions and there are some really good ideas. Thats another thing, they talk about almost all the different ideas and models. I haven't read anything about DIR in it but that is a different book all together. I haven't gotten to that one yet but I will.

There's some bad blood between George Irvine and Tom Mount, so I wouldn't be surprised if DIR wasn't mentioned at all.