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The Cave Divers
by Robert Burgess,
352 pages, 6x9 inches, paperback, 51 color and 7 B&W historical photographs, 16 illustrations/maps, charts
ISBN 1-881652-11-4
$19.95
Cave divers are a breed apart and this is their story-a story of pushing the limits of technology and human endurance. In 24 chapters Burgess takes you on an exciting and often harrowing journey from the earliest pioneering expeditions into submerged prehistoric caves in Europe to the most recent record-setting expeditions. You'll read about archaeological finds, including a 10,000-year-old skull in Florida's Warm Mineral Springs; the underwater passages feeding Bahama's blue holes; record depth and horizontal penetrations in Mexico and Florida; and explorations in France, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. You will feel the lure of the labyrinth and learn of the thoughts and struggles of divers lost but to God. You'll go on body recovery dives and thrill when a team dispatched across continents beats the odds. And of course you'll read about the divers: Dr. George Benjamin, Eugenie Clark, Carl Clausen, Jacques Cousteau, Sheck Exley, Steve Gerrard, Lamar Hires, Woody Jasper, Jon Lindbergh, Mike Madden, William Royal, Gary Salsman, Wes Skiles, Bill Stone, Edward Thompson and many more.
Some of the Topics Covered
- Wookey Hole (England 1934)
- Fountain of Vaucluse (France)
- First U.S. cave dive (California)
- Yucatan-1800's to present (Mexico)
- Wakulla Springs 50's to present (Florida)
- Otter Spring (Florida)
- 10,000-year-old man (Florida)
- Warm Mineral Springs (Florida)
- Bluebird Spring (Florida)
- Huautla cave system (Mexico)
- Cave archaeology
- Blue holes (Bahamas)
- Rebreathers
- World record depths & distance
Publisher's Note
This book is a new edition of the author's 1975 classic also titled The Cave Divers. All chapters have been revised and 9 new chapters have been added as well as 51 color photographs.
About the Author
Bob Burgess has been diving for over fifty years, and is a veteran journalist with 19 books and hundreds of magazine articles to his credit, most about sharks, shipwrecks, treasure hunting, marine biology and underwater archaeology. After serving with U.S. ski troops in Italy at the end of World War II, Bob finished his education in journalism. As a correspondent, his assignments included covering the French Foreign Legion, backpacking through the mountains of northern Africa and interviewing Ernest Hemingway at his last Pamplona Fiesta. Bob is an avid diver, underwater photographer, sportfisherman and sailor. He resides in Chattahoochee, Florida.
Link to the author's website:
www.geocities.com/bobsbooks_2000
Reviews
"Those who think that exploring underwater caves is too exotic a pastime to be of much interest will change their minds after reading this work by Burgess (Diving Off the Beaten Track), author of books and articles about hunting for sunken treasure....there are exciting accounts of expeditions to Europe, the Yucatan peninsula, the Bahamas and especially Florida, rich in significant underwater sites-one of which proved that humans inhabited the Southeast almost 7000 years earlier than scholars originally thought. Life-threatening dangers abound, including nitrogen buildup in the blood...disorientation, terrible visibility and entanglement in guide ropes leading from the entry point, which has killed many underwater explorers. Of special poignancy is the author's recounting of the accidental death of a favorite diving companion. This is an interesting mix of adventure and archaeology that probes one of the earth's last frontiers."-Publishers Weekly, September 1998
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