Customer Reviews

Treasure Hunt: Shipwreck, Diving, and the Quest for Treasure in an Age of Heroes

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I have now read four books by Earle and each has been a pleasure. He combines a fluid and fast-moving writing style with an underlying academic rigor as reflected in his extensive use of original sources; all of which leaves a reader with a great sense of confidence in the end product. In this case, he has also chosen a subject with a fascinating cast of characters, and stories of stock-jobbing which help round out the picture of the high flyers who were involved in these dangerous endeavors. As with some of his other books, sources include archives outside England from ehich he gleans valuable additional perspectives

I first read Earle's "Treasure of the Concepcion" many years ago when I was working with renowned shipwreck researcher Jack Haskins, who discovered Concepcion in the Archives in Seville. John Grissim's book about the same wreck is interesting, but unfortunately, Burt Webber (who lead the expedition in 1978) controlled so much of the content (Grissim was one of Webber's divers), and the way the story was told, you don't get an authentic version of the true story.

Earle is an exceptional researcher (he helped Haskins narrow down the location of the wreck when he discovered the log book of William Phipps in England), and a truly entertaining writer. He takes what could be a boring read about historical facts and turns the information into something you can almost touch. If you are fascinated by treasure hunting, and especially how it began, don't miss this book! It's hard to put down, and is an integral part of our research at the store!