AbeBooks: Deep Sea Reading

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne

Some say that the depths of the oceans are the last frontiers to be explored. Luckily there have been numerous books written on the subject. From page-turning fiction, to historical accounts and scientific discovery, the selection of literature written about life under water is fathoms deep.

French biologist Jacques Cousteau helped to bring the ocean surface closer to shore with his discoveries and journeys, and documented much of his findings in several books including Silent World. Rachel Carson, who has been credited with advancing the global environmental movement, wrote a trilogy of books which explores marine life.

Hans Christian Andersen, Jules Verne and Clive Cussler are all well known for the fictional journeys they took their readers on to the depths of the ocean. Andersen's famous story The Little Mermaid has been rewritten many times but the original one is still the best. AbeBooks has a lovely first American edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Verne's famous tale about Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus. Clive Cussler began writing in 1965 and is well known for his books about Dirk Pitt, a marine engineer, government agent and adventurer.

We may know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the ocean, so let your imagination run wild with this selection of books from the deep.