A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TWELVE SHIPWRECKS

David Gibbins's essays on historic shipwrecks, some of which he has seen firsthand as a diver, branch out into a lot of detail about what was found when exploring them and what was going on around the times of the wrecks. Kent Klineman pauses a lot as he narrates, sounding cautious about getting names and details right. It's rough listening at first, but Klineman's staccato delivery works better as the audiobook goes on. Gibbins's essay on the HMS TERROR, whose crew famously resorted to cannibalism while on an Arctic exploration, turns out to be the most fascinating and stirring. Gibbins emphasizes historical events over his own experiences, but he mentions a few personal connections to the wrecks he's considering. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2024]