THE DROWNED PLACES

Le Bas has written the most compelling and evocative of underwater odysseys KATE HUMBLE A breathtakingly good book TRISTAN GOOLEY The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read MENSUN BOUNDEntranced by history and myth captivated by the wonders of nature Damian Le Bas explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the worldThousands 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