J. W. N. SULLIVAN - The Silent World

London England, The Science Fiction Book Club, 1954. Reprint, Binding: Cloth, Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall Hardback Perhaps the most entrancing discovery of our time is the world under the sea whose incommunicable beauty is now shared by an increasingly number of skilful swimmers cunningly equipped with 'aqualungs'. Captain Cousteau is a public benefactor, for his book brings much of the novel and distinctive pleasure of submarine excursions to the shelves of people who, like myself, will never dare to leave the sunlight and plunge down. Still less are we likely to rebuff a curious shark by hitting it on the nose with a camera, or salvage Athenian columns from a Roman argosy sunk two thousand years ago. These are Cousteau adventures, the rewards of genius and courage. No one, however, will read this astonishing book until his eyes have fed fully on its fascinating illustrations, whch are superb. But the solid virture of the book lies in its writing; for here, as well as sharks and parrot-fish and marble columns, we meet Cousteau himself and his gallant friend Frederick Dumas. Illustrated. light foxing to endpages.