DK Eyewitness Books: Shipwreck is a spectacular and informative guide to some of the world's most significant shipwrecks. Richly detailed, full-color photographs of submerged wrecks and their lost cargoes and treasures offer a unique "eyewitness" view of ships and the lives of those who sailed them. See the beautifully preserved figurehead of the Hamilton wreck, the five-hundred-year-old elephant's tusk recovered from the bottom of the ocean, and scissors that still cut paper and cloth after two hundred years beneath the sea. Learn how the wreck of the Mary Rose was raised from the seabed, why Grace Darling became a hero, how a deck seat converts into a lifeboat, how shipwrecks are located, and different preservation techniques used by underwater archaeologists. Discover what caused the "unsinkable" Titanic to sink, the use of the giant light bulb, harmonicas that still play after one hundred years underwater, the hazards faced by ships at sea, and much, much more! Discover the world of shipwrecks and an amazing wealth of undersea treasures and secrets with Eyewitness: Shipwreck.

本書は、海底に沈んだ残骸を単なる歴史の遺物としてではなく、凍結された「生」の断片として蘇らせる稀有なドキュメンタリーです。リチャード・プラットの筆致は、何世紀もの時を経てなお鋭利なハサミや音を奏でるハーモニカといった象徴的な品々を通じ、沈没という悲劇の裏側にある人間ドラマを浮き彫りにします。それは、深海の静寂の中に埋もれた声なき叫びを、現代へと解き放つ文学的な営みとも言えるでしょう。 壮大なタイタニック号から無名の商船まで、本書が描くのは物質の劣化ではなく、極限状態における人間の尊厳と自然の圧倒的な力です。最新の水中考古学が解き明かす謎は、読者の知的好奇心を刺激するだけでなく、一瞬で奪われた日常の愛おしさを鮮烈に突きつけます。視覚的なリアリズムと叙情的な洞察が融合した本作は、失われた財宝以上に価値ある、歴史の深淵へと我々を誘う至高の一冊です。