Deep,
dark and dangerous adventures and reflections on the Andrea Doria
G.
Gentile
In 1989, Gary Gentile published the classic book on the Grand Dame of the Sea. Andrea Doria: Dive to an Era has been in print continuously ever since, and has sold thousands of copies worldwide to wreck-divers, armchair explorers, ocean liner memorabilia buffs, and the public at large. The book continues to be one of his best-selling titles.
Dive to an Era is still available. In that profusely illustrated volume, the author chronicled the complete story of the Italian ocean liner after she sank, from Harry Trask’s Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the vessel sinking, through the numerous salvage schemes, commercial diving operations, and photographic expeditions, to the author’s personal exploits in the recovery of china, glassware, jewelry, works of art, and the ship’s bell - exploits that spanned fifteen years, from the author’s first dive on the wreck in 1974.
Deep, Dark, and Dangerous picks up where Dive to an Era ended. This volume covers another fifteen years of personal exploration of the wreck, from 1989 to 2004.
In these action-packed pages the reader will explore vicariously the deep compartments and dark passageways where danger abounds, anxiety is commonplace, fear is palpable, and death is literally a breath away.
In addition to the historic recovery of great works of art, the author recounts in exacting detail the slow but inevitable collapse of the hull, and examines the flood of fatalities that occurred in recent years.
For those who cannot or will not dive on the Andrea Doria, reading Deep, Dark, and Dangerous is the next best thing to being there.
The author also recounts the highlights of his own expeditions to the famous wreck (now numbering more than fifty). Over the years he has photographed and recovered china, glassware, unique pieces of
jewelry from two of the ship's gift shops, and works of art which once decorated the walls. The latter are ceramic panels which were specially commissioned for the Andrea Doria, and which were created by the famous Italian artist, Romano Rui. These panels represent the best in Italian renaissance art.
The Andrea Doria is a ship that did not die upon sinking, but instead found new meaning. She is a time tunnel to an era of transportation now extinct, a remnant of bygone years of transatlantic service. She is a ship that will never be forgotten.
The book is amply illustrated with black and white historical photographs, as well as color photographs of the wreck as it appears on the bottom.
ISBN 1-883056-16-0
hardcover with color dust jacket
69 color photos, 6 black & white photos
4 deck plans
216 pages