Before becoming the man who introduced us to the wonders of the sea through his beloved television series, Jacques Cousteau was better known as an engineer and the inventor of scuba. He chronicled his early days of underwater adventure in The Silent World—a memoir that was an instant, international bestseller upon its publication in 1954. Now, National Geographic presents a 50th anniversary edition of this remarkable book, allowing readers to once again travel under the sea with Cousteau during the turbulent days of World War II.
The Silent World documents the development of the first scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), which became the key to the modern age of underwater exploration—and also helped divers locate and remove enemy mines after the war. In vivid and fascinating detail, Cousteau describes his first underwater dives with scuba, and the amazing discoveries that lay in wait for him on the ocean floor.
The immense success of The Silent World—which sold more than five million copies in twenty-two languages—demonstrates that Cousteau was much more than a cameraman who brought pictures back from the deep.
