The Great Museum of the Sea

A Human History of Shipwrecks

James P. Delgado

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Hardback

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English

Oxford University Press
01 October 2025

History; Maritime history; Military history; Archaeology; Underwater archaeology

An immersive dive into the meaning and mystique of shipwrecksThe sea is the largest museum on earth, with more than a million lost ships resting in its depths. Those shipwrecks date back thousands of years, some from civilizations long vanished, others from more recent history. Some are famous, others obscure and unremembered but each has a story to tell.

In The Great Museum of the Sea, archaeologist, museum director, television host, journalist, and award-winning author James Delgado takes the reader on a personal tour of the world's wrecks, including many of the more than a hundred lost ships he has personally discovered and investigated, including Titanic, USS Arizona, and the slave ship Clotilda. The Great Museum of the Sea vividly explains how and why ships experience catastrophe at sea, and why their remains have captured our imagination for millennia.

Shipwrecks engage us in many ways--we treat them as tombs, but also recover them for museums and memorials, and salvage them for treasure. Authoritative and informed by decades of shipwreck expeditions, Delgado's account offers an insider's perspective, taking the reader into the deep and behind the scenes.

FeaturesFeatures recent thought on first-hand experiences with the Titanic, USS Arizona, the slave ship Clotilda, and dozens of other famous wrecksUses more than five decades of exploratory experience to distill why shipwrecks capture the imaginationTakes readers on an unparalleled tour of how shipwrecks have been a part of human life, culture, philosophy and religion for thousands of years

By: James P. Delgado
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 140mm, Width: 155mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 590g
ISBN: 9780197780756
ISBN 10: 019778075X
Publication Date: 01 October 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for The Great Museum of the Sea: A Human History of Shipwrecks

[A]n encyclopedic but engaging history of all things related to ships, sailors and their sometimes disastrous ends... Like a museum curator who walks you through an art collection and shows you more than the brush strokes on a canvas, Mr. Delgado explains that shipwrecks are not simply remnants of ancient vessels. * The Wall Street Journal * A superb overview of shipwrecks, covering hundreds of wrecks from around the world, from the most-famous examples to local fishing boats, and covering a timespan from antiquity to the Cold War. ... Delgado is a master storyteller. * Andrea Hamel, Current Archaeology * A truly fascinating book about the human history of shipwrecks. * Katy Stickland, Practical Boat Owner *