A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins

 What an interesting and entertaining way to learn about or brush up on history. I had no idea so much knowledge about our past could be gained from the objects found on a shipwreck.

From a Bronze Age ship uncovered in Dover to a World War II ship, underwater archeologist David Gibbins does an excellent job of tying our past and present together in an informative narrative. What could easily have been a dry rehash of history is instead an engaging look, through an archeologist's eye, at different eras in history and what artifacts tell us about our past. Even though I enjoyed the ancient shipwrecks more than the recently uncovered ones, I found all twelve enlightening.

If you like history and archeology, I think you will enjoy this book.

4/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is April 2, 2024.

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The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I by Douglas Brunt

 Reading a nonfiction book can be dicey. I have read some that were so scholarly that I felt I needed a Ph.D. to get through them. Others, especially Erik Larson's books, safely navigate the waters between well-researched and eminently readable. Douglas Brunt's account of Rudolf Diesel's life and mysterious disappearance falls into this later category.

In September 1913, a body was found floating at sea, and although it was not recovered, items found on it led family members to believe it was that of Rudolf Diesel, who went missing on a crossing of the English Channel. How did he come to be in the water? Did he accidentally go overboard? Was it suicide? Or, more ominously, could he have been murdered?

Documenting the life of this unique individual who rose from poverty to invent one of the most critical engines in history, this book details not only the many obstacles Diesel overcame but also brings to life the era and the people around him. He fought an uphill battle trying to convince the industrial world of the superiority of the Diesel engine and its application to everyday life. Diesel was an inventor and a humanitarian whose vision of a better, less polluted world was a life goal.

This book is part biography and part page-turning mystery.  It is both insightful and suspenseful, with a twist I bought into. The arguments about what happened to Rudolf Diesel on that fateful crossing are well-reasoned and clearly presented. I now have a better appreciation of the Diesel engine and the man behind it.

5/5 stars.

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