I found the writing a little bit scrambled and difficult to follow, but the fascinating subject matter rescued the book for me

"The 50 Greatest Shipwrecks" is, as the title suggests, a listing of the stories behind different wrecks. What's good: For any person interested in nautical history, it's an interesting compendium of both the most known wrecks and some that are lesser known.

Iffier: The book is, by its nature, set up as a quick overview of each wreck. These are not extended profiles. (And in one case at least, there's a need for an update, as Endurance has been very recently found--obviously, this is not something the author could have seen coming!)

With gratitude to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite the thinker of a book, indeed. As the author himself says, there are certainly plenty of shipwrecks to choose from so examining these particular 50 shipwrecks as opposed to others; well, I think he came up with a really good selection.

The stories about the tragedies are in chronological order and it is sobering reading about the ones that have occurred in my lifetime. The most recent one, about an unknown migrant ship, continues to play out on a daily basis somewhere in the world, although we rarely get to hear about them anymore, so common are they now. It is important to think that each life lost is a mother, father, brother, sister, spouse etc.

I thought the author did a really good job in summarising the events of each of these shipwrecks.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword.

A great book on some of the most interesting shipwrecks in history. A good read for all. The stories will hold your attention and are a quick read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was a little worried that packing the stories of 50 shipwrecks into a book of this size (168 pages - hardcover - apparently) would mean we basically got a list of shipwrecks with a short paragraph on each. Not so. We get all the information we need to spark interest in each and every one, plus some rather spectacular photos. "The 50 Greatest Shipwrecks" is a great starting point for anyone interested in the subject.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

My apologies to the author and publisher for the delayed review as life was turned upside down after being approved for this read.

I added to my wish list thinking this would be an interesting read. It exceeded my expectations. I had no idea there were/are so many shipwrecks. The detail of the history with them have me hooked. I've become obsessed with shipwreck documentaries now! And I plan on reading more books about shipwrecks.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book!

There are many shipwrecks that we read about in history. This book takes the top 50, and breaks them down - but you get so much more than just a light sketch over the history. The author dives into the background, giving as much information as is available - even talking about a few lesser known shipwrecks that have happened in the same area!

I absolutely loved this book! I enjoyed hearing about the different shipwrecks, the timelines that were given, and the affects that these wrecks had on the times that they happened in.

Read about the Titanic, Carpathia, Bismark, USS Arizona, Empress of Ireland, Edmund Fitzgerald, Mendi, and so many more!

A well researched book by Richard m Jones covering fifty shipwrecks.A very interesting read and each page is a delight in learning of these big ships as well as treasure ships..

This book is absolutely fascinating, full of stories about ships, wrecks and treasure. It’s a brilliant mix of history and storytelling, perfect to dip and out of. A must for anyone with a interest in maritime history.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fantastic overview of some of the more noteworthy shipwrecks from 1545-2015. The shipwrecks are each given a short chapter and the chapters are arranged in chronological order. I had heard of a handful of the wrecks prior to reading this book and was equally delighted with additional information to add to what I knew about those few wrecks, and new information about the wrecks that I was not aware of. Richard M. Jones does a great job of presenting a lot of factual information in a very digestible, coherent storyline. I especially appreciated the commentary at the end of several of the chapters that linked common elements in separate sinkings (such as RORO ferry design contributing to an instabilty and possible hull weaknesses in similar vessels contributing to wrecks that should not continue to occur regularly).

All in all, this is a fantastic book for reading a chapter or two per night before bed and would also make a great gift for any lover of nautical history.

I am absolutely fascinated with ships, wrecks and the treasure they carried. This book itself is a gold mine of history and content. I enjoyed every page. Thank you for gifting we with a early review copy. I loved it.

I really enjoyed this book, I love the way that it took you through history too with the details of some of the disasters – I will admit that I am fan of any disaster and I am just intrigued by what happened, the causes and the impact after and whilst this book is not all disasters there is plenty of variety included.

I like the broad range of shipwrecks and the period cover from the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545 through to the horrifically sad sinking of a migrant boat in 2015. The book covers the subjects very delicately too as ultimately the majority of the boats and ships looked at had a loss of life.

I read the book over a couple of days and it was a great one with the short and punchy length of the chapters – I could easily see a second book in the series as I think The White Ship could easily be included as that was a shipwreck that changed the course of English history – a great book to give so much food for thought and one that made me look up some of the incidents in more detail. A great introduction.

It is 5 stars from me for this one, it was well written, well-paced and had just the right amount of detail for me, a great and very interesting read – very highly recommended!

The 50 Greatest Shipwrecks is a book mostly for the curious, who want to know a little bit about a few important shipwrecks through history. The author chose from different periods, the oldest shipwreck from 1545, and the most recent one from 2015, an “unknown migrant vessel”.

The book has a short introduction and epilogue, and each of the 50 chapters, one for each shipwreck, has around three pages, with basic information about the ship, the crew, what happened to it, and the work to find the wreck and bring the remains to land. There are some pictures (and art, for the oldest ships) by the end of the book, but I really think they should’ve been put in the respective chapter for each shipwreck - it’s hard to have a clear image of them without the photos.

Despite not having a lot of depth regarding each of the ships, I think the author did a great job covering up the important details a reader would like to know about them, without going into details that could make the book a slower, boring read. Jones did so in a respectful way, not taking lightly the fact that thousands of people died in them: “To those who have no known grave but the sea. You are remembered.”

First thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have been fascinated by this subject for a long time and was excited to read a book containing this material. Written with just the perfect amount of information, it will not bog you down with boring details. Some of the ships you will have heard of but many will be new. You may even find yourself looking up more info on some. Includes some pictures.

Historical and interesting read.

My thanks to Pen and Sword publishing, Richard M. Jones and Netgalley.
It's just a fact that if you write a book about ship wrecks, then I will read it!
Shipwrecks make for some fascinating reading, and for two days,I read nothing else!
So many inspiring stories. Most are incredibly sad. You also discover that in some cases, "very few" the Captain does not go down with the ship! Matter of fact, some are the first off.
I appreciate how the author did some digging to find some of these stories.
Now, how about ships that are wrecked in lost and lonely places?

I’ve always been very interested in learning about different shipwrecks. This book was everything that I was looking for. For each ship, the author gave some history of its building and life (if it were known), and then the history of the sinking and what came after. I loved the photos at the end of some of the wrecks. This was a wonderful book!