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An Economist Best Book oF JAn-July 2024

New for 2024

My book A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK on 8 February 2024 and by St Martin’s Press in the US and Canada on 3 April. The book is the culmination of four decades of underwater exploration and discovery, with more than half of the wrecks in the book being ones I’ve dived on and excavated. I’ve created a page on this site with reviews, background material and imagery for each chapter of the book -- so if you’ve read the book you will find much here of additional interest, and if you haven’t this will give you a taste of what’s inside!

I’m also very pleased to announce the publication of my eleventh Jack Howard novel, Atlantis Legacy. The English language editions of the novel are available exclusively on Amazon as an ebook and a large format paperback. You can buy it on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and other Amazon sites, where you can read a preview of the first three chapters. The French edition, L’Héritage d’Atlantis, was published in hardback and ebook by Les Escales in September 2023 and will be published in paperback later in 2024.

Click here to see images related to the novel and its archaeological and historical backdrop.

‘Immortality, to live as a god, was a fool’s dream, but if there were something in what they had found that might ease illness and misery, some ancient lost wisdom that might allow those who were suffering to enjoy another day, then what they were doing would have been worthwhile.’ 

Jack Howard

In 2019 I found this beautiful figure of the crucified Christ on the wreck of the Santo Cristo di Castello (1667) off Cornwall in England. This figure dates from the late 16th century and is probably from the workshops of the Italian sculptor Guglielmo della Porta.

In 2020 I raised these three 56 lb merchant’s weights from the wreck of the Schiedam (1684) off Cornwall in England. They are cast with the Portuguese royal coat of arms and armillary spheres and date from about 1500. They came from the former Portuguese colony of Tangier and are of exceptional interest as artefacts representing the Portuguese Age of Discovery.

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