A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

Cover grump entry # 2: Am I the only one who thinks the one on the left is WAY better?
Yes, yellow text pops in a blue background, but something about the font says school project. I get what they were going with when they overlaid the underwater photo over a map of the world, but it kind of pulls focus from whatever underwater scene is being depicted? 1/2

Robotswithpersonality 2/2 The diver is clear, but not the wreck. Was there no worthwhile photo of an underwater wreck to focus on? Not a one? Technically the cover on the left doesn't depict diving or wreck archaeology, but it's so clearly a ship, and there's something about the lines (map lines, lines connecting history?) that works for me. 🤷🏼‍♂️ 4mo

Larkken The one on the right looks a lot like the covers from a few of the “classic“ maritime archeology textbooks. Maybe that was what Gibbon was going for?. ( Esp reminds me of George Bass's, somehow) 4mo

Robotswithpersonality @Larkken Ah, context! Plausible. 🤔 4mo

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Robotswithpersonality

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

pick

That was a good deal more fascinating than I thought it would be. Turns out I can read history and enjoy it! Gibbins makes it clear that this is A (not The) history of the world, it's subjective, touching chronologically on a number of wrecks, many that he was personally involved in, all of which he has an interest in, so I don't begrudge that it's not comprehensive overview of world history in either a detailed timeline or full 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? geographical coverage.
I think my education centring on classical antiquity and the periods before and after up to Byzantium, with a little dipping into Viking history, made the earlier chapters feel like visiting old friends, and other reading I've done had the Terror/Erebus/Franklin coverage just feel like a new POV on something I was familiar with. 4mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? That familiarity made this book overall less daunting, and made those chapters focusing on areas of history I knew nothing about that much more engaging.
I do love that he touched on his own experience with diving and wreck archaeology and on developments in those fields. More history! 4mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? Further thoughts:
After the HMS Terror chapter's grim conclusion I am curious about horror ghost ship type stories, hopefully that don't involve real historical figures and are not completely locked into a historical timeline.
[I already read Minds of Winter and did NOT like it.] 4mo

Robotswithpersonality 5/5 I appreciate that Gibbins did more than just acknowledge the marine history of the slave trade; I do wish there had been a bit more space held to discuss the issue with a few historical figures identified as 'explorers' as much as there was a mention of colonialism, exploiting profits and its effects on history.
⚠️cannibalism, slavery 4mo

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Hooked_on_books

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

bailed

With the cover image and title, this seemed like it could be a really interesting look at some shipwrecks and the history they illuminate. Instead, it‘s a dry, exceedingly Eurocentric history of communities on land with passing mention of items found in shipwrecks. And the audio narrator should never, ever be allowed in a recording booth ever again (“wooden” would be a kind description).

squirrelbrain Oh dear! 😬 7mo

dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 7mo

RamsFan1963 Yeah I had to bail because of the narrator also 7mo

45 likes3 comments

RamsFan1963

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

bailed

I'm really unhappy I had to DNF this book. I found the subject very interesting, underwater archeology and shipwrecks, but the narrator made it nearly impossible to enjoy. His odd speech pattern sounded very mechanical, like an AI program reading, no tone or inflections. I'm going to seek a printed copy because the writing was interesting and well detailed.

BookishMadHatter I think audiobooks are fantastic but there are lots I can't get past a few minutes with because of the narrator 7mo

RamsFan1963 @BookishMadHatter I wish I had checked some of the reviews on Litsy before venturing to read it, a reviewer warned that the narrator caused her to bail too 7mo

dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 7mo

Hooked_on_books I just bailed on this for similar reasons, although the book is also not what I was hoping for. I really don‘t think they could have had a worse narrator if they‘d tried. It makes me feel badly for the author. 7mo

63 likes4 comments

thepostman96

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

bailed

i was looking forward to reading this one because it sounded so interesting, but the narrator for the audiobook was so awful i had to stop. i plan to give this another chance when i have time to physically read it.

2 likes

kelli7990

A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

bailed

Here‘s my review for a book I just DNF‘d. I‘m going to count this book for #bookspinbingo as a DNF.

Release date: 4/1/24

#netgalley #netgalleyarc

dabbe #hailthebail! 💚💙💚 9mo

12 likes1 stack add1 comment

kelli7990

A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

12 likes

vlwelser

A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

pick

This is adequate but it didn't blow my mind. Extra points for not including the Titanic.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Pub date is 4/2/2024
#ARC #Netgalley

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 12mo

39 likes1 comment

kelli7990

A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks | David Gibbins

I received this book today from St. Martin‘s Press that I have to read through Netgalley. It sounds interesting. I‘m looking forward to reading it. I requested this one.

6 likes

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