Press release:
SHADOWS ON THE SEA: THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN
A new book by Neil Arnold (Published by The History Press)
ISBN- 978-0-7524-8772-4
Ever wondered just what strange things lurk in the cold
depths of Britain’s foaming seas? Ever taken the time to peek down into those
grey waters as you’re fishing, or skinny-dipping off a rugged coastline?
Now, for the first-time ever Britain’s underwater domain can
be viewed in a different light as monster-hunter Neil Arnold takes us hundreds,
if not thousands of metres beneath the sea in the hope of finding out if those
seafaring tales of monsters and mysterious manifestations are true. Do strange
beasts resembling serpents inhabit those inky depths? What of those old
folktales concerning mermaids - mere superstition or fact?
Fisherman have long spoken of “the one that got away” but
what of those seemingly tall stories that speak of haunted boats and phantom
vessels – ships believed to have been wrecked many years previous on harsh
coastlines, only to reappear on the horizon with tatty sails unmoved by the
wind. Can we truly believe the stories told by witnesses of spectral sailors
and ghostly crewmen aboard ships that have not seen action for decades? And can
we discount those even stranger tales where those aboard great ships and
smaller boats too, have reported seeing unusual lights emerge from, and enter
the frothing waters?
Forget Peter Benchley’s classic novel Jaws, SHADOWS ON THE SEA – THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN is a
real-life exploration in search of those horrors of the deep that you dismissed
(or believed in!) for years.
Along with several tales pertaining to sea-related
superstitions, you’ll also hear about cursed sea-chests, the Devil and the deep
blue sea, haunted cliffs and beaches, smugglers tales, strange coastal swarms,
killer sands, haunted lighthouses, phantom bells at sea, ghostly lands, haunted
buoys, spooky submarines and close encounters of the coastal kind.
SHADOWS ON THE SEA (which
includes a foreword by Jonathan Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology) covers
all manner of British maritime mysteries, so, just when you thought it was safe
to go back in the water – it isn’t!
Available from all good bookshops and online. Priced £12.99
