Voices From The Sea

Most moving, in the latter part of the book, are the thoughts of the kamikaze pilots, especially those drafted into the suicide squadron in its last desperate stages."--BOOK JACKET.

From Susan Casey, the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil's Teeth and The Wave, a breathtaking look into the mysterious world of dolphins and their conflicted history with man. Since the dawn of recorded history, humans have felt a kinship with the sleek and beautiful dolphin, an animal whose playfulness, sociability and intelligence seems like an aquatic mirror of mankind. In recent decades, scientists have discovered dolphins recognize themselves in reflections, count, feel despondent, adorn themselves, rescue each other (and humans), deduce, infer, form cliques, throw tantrums, gossip and scheme. Several native peoples trace their lineage to dolphins. They are the stars of multi-million dollar aquatic theme parks, money which has fueled a sinister illicit trade as shown in the documentary Blackfish. The U.S. Navy has a secret program using dolphins as undersea soldiers. The theory that they are a superior, extraterrestial species is popular among the new age fringe. They are the victims of brutal slaughters as depicted in the documentary The Cove. To swim with a dolphin is a transporting experience, an encounter with a being seemingly so like us, yet so alien. No writer is better positioned to portray these magical creatures than Susan Casey, whose combination of personal reporting, intense scientific research, and evocative prose made The Wave and The Devil's Teeth contemporary classics of writing on the oceans. For two years Casey traveled the world, and has written a thrilling book about the other intelligent life on the planet.

A superb saga from Sunday Times bestselling author Evelyn Hood. 'Scotland's Catherine Cookson' Scots Magazine 'Hood is immaculate in her historical detail' Herald 'Evelyn Hood is a fantastic writer, bringing the past to life and drawing you right into the story' ***** Reader Review It is 1865 and Eppie, a young widow with a child to bring up, can't believe her luck when she gets the position of housekeeper to wealthy widower Alexander Geddes. He and his teenage son, Duncan, are a dream to work for, but daughter Lydia is moody, spoiled and temperamental - and convinced that Eppie has designs on Alexander. But Eppie is no gold-digger and Alexander Geddes has intentions that are purely honourable. Intentions that begin to lean in the direction of Lydia's governess - Eppie's sister Marion. Yet although the attraction is mutual, its development is slow. For there are other tensions not only in the household but also in the community. Refusing to train as a physician, Duncan is set on following his heart's desire, to side with his stepmother's kin and pursue his dreams of quarrying the precious local marble. Eppie, now almost a member of the family, feels partly responsible for the rift between father and son. She feels even more responsible when Duncan returns home with a stranger who has a mysterious past . . .

In autobiographical musings, the author's essays, poetry and art weave the voices of the sea, the forests and wildlife into a rich tapestry of passion for the natural world.

A thrilling journey into the spiritual, scientific and sometimes threatened world of dolphins. Includes an 8-page photo insert, explores the extraordinary world of dolphins in an interesting and accessible format that engages as well as entertains.

Voices from the Bottom of the South China Sea is the remarkable, untold illustration of the bonds between Americans and Chinese, brought to life in the true story of a deadly 1874 shipwreck off Southern China that killed hundreds and scattered treasure in the South China Sea. When a midnight coal fire burst across the deck of the SS Japan, the Chinese emigrants perished, just hours away from being reunited with their families after years. Voices captures the Chinese passengers' lives in California, where they built America's railroads, mined its silver, and grew its food, only to see public sentiment turn against them with an anti- immigrant, racist fervor. Their lives were entrusted to a veteran China Sea trader-the erstwhile Captain Edward Warsaw-an American captain whose vigilance and courage in command of the world's largest wooden passenger vessel were sorely tested when his ship caught fire and sank on that fateful return voyage to China. Nearly 400 of his Chinese passengers on the Japan, a side-wheel steamship that Mark Twain called a "perfect palace of a ship," would perish. Cut off from their lifeboats by the raging fire, many would drown when they were forced to jump into the sea, only to be dragged down with their money belts of gold, their earning from their years spent laboring in America. This amazing history involves a shipwreck, pirates, and lost treasure. But most of all, Voices captures the shared passions, ambitions, and animosities of Chinese and Americans seeking fortune in nineteenth century California. With the lost records of the event recently discovered and pieced together by the author, a former navy captain who commanded a warship in the waters where Captain Warsaw's ship went down, this book allows the lost voices to tell their story to the world from the bottom of the South China Sea.