The Lost Ships of Pisa: A Sea Adventure [Hardcover]

Michael H. Sedge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2002

Archeologists have recently unearthed 10 Roman ships, many complete with cargoes, that sank almost 2,000 years ago in a rediscovered harbour in Pisa, Italy. What happened all those years ago to entomb an entire port? What could have happened in Pisa more than 1,500 years ago to entomb an entire port? What secrets of Roman life, on land and on sea, are being revealed by this graveyard of ships? Merchant vessels, a warship and a ceremonial boat are being excavated, along with hundreds of thousands of artifacts, from coins to lamps to ceramic jugs called amphorae. The ships, buried in the damp earth with little oxygen to promote decay, are remarkably well preserved. In addition to the field of ships, which Italian authorities are calling "The Pompeii of maritime archaeology," the discovery of the ancient port, which was in use from about the fifth century B.C. to the fifth century A.D., is a major discovery in its own right. Join Michael Sedge on his quest to reveal the mysteries behind THE LOST SHIPS OF PISA.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael H. Sedge is the former Mediterranean and Middle East editor of Discovering Archaelogy and author of numerous articles about archaeological digs. This is his first book. He currently resides in Italy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: I Books (October 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743452658
• ISBN-13: 978-0743452656
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,963,614 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Information, but Not a Compelling Story, September 8, 2008

By 

Neil Dewitte (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lost Ships of Pisa: A Sea Adventure (Hardcover)

The Lost Ships of Pisa by Michael H. Sedge is a nice book that tells the story of 16 Roman ships that are discovered and excavated in Pisa. The book is quite informative, and contains a number of color pictures and black and white drawings to help the reader visualize the material at hand.

I give the book three stars instead of four or five because I was expecting a compelling, mysterious story about these ships with details that unfold as the story goes on. This would be the format for some similar books such as "The Oracle: Ancient Delphi and the Science Behind Its Lost Secrets" or "The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist." Of course those books had a great mystery to solve, which was solved in each case.

For "The Lost Ships of Pisa", we learn a lot about the rediscovered port and the ships, but there is no great mystery solved or eureka moment. Instead there is an informative gathering and cataloguing of information about Ship A, Ship B, Ship C, and so on. Series of smaller issues are addressed in relation to the overall excavation and cataloguing process.

Each chapter of the book specifically addresses some aspect of the story. Together they create a book that is somewhat episodic. These choppy chapters are pithy, focused, and address well their respective topics including topics like Roman Shipbuilding, Restoration Work, Mediterranean Trading, Anchors, and so on.

The writer resists the temptation to speculate too much and this is a refreshing level of intellectual honesty in a book written for general reading. Also the writer is dealing with a situation where the ships are only partially excavated and studied at the conclusion of the story.

If you a non-specialist and interested in Roman antiquity or archaeology, this is a good book to read; however it is not a compelling page turner. Maybe some new discoveries at the site will hold a compelling story for the future.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars concise and seductive--like Longitude!, October 14, 2002

By 

NY READER "VORACIOUS" (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Ships of Pisa: A Sea Adventure (Hardcover)

Sedge brings this exciting new discovery to the fore with a charming first person narrative. The pictures, in full color, are terrific.

1.0 out of 5 stars Reads Like a Draft Term Paper, June 4, 2011

By 

Joshua Beach - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Ships of Pisa: A Sea Adventure (Hardcover)

This slight volume reads like a draft term paper, complete with myriad typos, profuse source quoting, and topic-by-topic organization. The time spent by the author on research and interviewing is obvious and commendable. However, it is infrequently compelling and at times seems like a script for a Discovery Channel episode on the topic.