The Drowned Places
Diving in Search of Atlantis
Published on 17. April 2025
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-78474-399-4 (ISBN)
Description
'Literary and learned. It goes deep' AMY LIPTROT
'The most compelling and evocative of underwater odysseys' KATE HUMBLE
'The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read' MENSUN BOUND
Damian Le Bas explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the world in this spellbinding love letter to diving.
Thousands of years ago, an island off the Straits of Gibraltar went to war with ancient Athens. The battle was lost, and an earthquake cleaved the land in two. Overnight the island sank beneath the waves - or so legend tells.
As a young boy, Damian Le Bas was captivated by the story of the lost city of Atlantis. As an adult, he dreams of diving to discover its ruins. After the death of his father, torn between his lifelong desire and the taboo his Romany culture places on the ocean, he comes by chance across a dive shop. He can't help but go in.
Under the waves, Damian enters a breathtaking world. As he masters the skills of this exhilarating sport, diving with seals in the Farne Islands, exploring submerged Roman ruins in Naples and mapping the sunken city of Port Royal in Jamaica, he is entranced anew, by wonders both man-made and natural.
Plato's writings on Atlantis were a parable about the hubris of humankind; in witnessing our effects on oceans and ocean communities, Damian finds echoes of this in the modern world.
'The most compelling and evocative of underwater odysseys' KATE HUMBLE
'The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read' MENSUN BOUND
Damian Le Bas explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the world in this spellbinding love letter to diving.
Thousands of years ago, an island off the Straits of Gibraltar went to war with ancient Athens. The battle was lost, and an earthquake cleaved the land in two. Overnight the island sank beneath the waves - or so legend tells.
As a young boy, Damian Le Bas was captivated by the story of the lost city of Atlantis. As an adult, he dreams of diving to discover its ruins. After the death of his father, torn between his lifelong desire and the taboo his Romany culture places on the ocean, he comes by chance across a dive shop. He can't help but go in.
Under the waves, Damian enters a breathtaking world. As he masters the skills of this exhilarating sport, diving with seals in the Farne Islands, exploring submerged Roman ruins in Naples and mapping the sunken city of Port Royal in Jamaica, he is entranced anew, by wonders both man-made and natural.
Plato's writings on Atlantis were a parable about the hubris of humankind; in witnessing our effects on oceans and ocean communities, Damian finds echoes of this in the modern world.
Reviews / Votes
Beautifully written...The Drowned Places is one of the best books on diving that I have ever read * Literary Review * Le Bas is a fine, vivid writer... I've read few better descriptions of the contradictions of the sport, its wonder and its terror, its grace and its absurdity -- Alex Diggins * Sunday Telegraph * A very good book. THE book about diving I couldn't find a few years ago: giving both the technicalities and the wonder -- AMY LIPTROT Le Bas goes on a compelling dual journey in this book, both historical and personal. His curiosity brings the ancient myths and stark realities of the ocean vividly to life. A various, rich exploration -- SOPHIE ELMHIRST, author of Maurice and Maralyn I loved this book - a wonderful interweaving of diving and exploration with coming to terms with grief, beautifully written and endlessly fascinating. One of the best books that I have read in a long time -- DAVID GIBBINS, author of A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks Beautiful and thought provoking -- Tom Lathan * TLS * [Le Bas] writes well about grief, finding rich metaphors in each submarine landscape -- Guy Stagg * Spectator * Loss, risk, adventure and redemption. Le Bas has written the most compelling and evocative of underwater odysseys -- KATE HUMBLE, author of A Year of Living Simply An enthralling exploration of the liminal by one of the most exciting writers around. A breathtakingly good book -- TRISTAN GOOLEY, author of How to Read a Tree The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read. But it is not about diving as a sport; it is about diving as an accessway to submerged landscapes, the festival of life that inhabits them and, above all, the drowned ruins of lost civilisations -- MENSUN BOUND, author of The Ship Beneath the IceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
484 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78474-399-4 (9781784743994)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2025
Vintage Digital
€14.99
Available for download
Person
Damian Le Bas is a writer, filmmaker and visual artist. His first book The Stopping Places won the Somerset Maugham Award, a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award, and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year. Damian is widely published as a journalist and poet and has taught for the Arvon foundation. A recipient of a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship, he is a member of the European Film Academy, holds a First Class degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, and was awarded an honorary Master of Education by the University of Chichester. Besides getting in the sea he loves music, walking and spending time in the woods and hills with his family and friends. The Drowned Places is his second book.