An unprecedented and masterfully told biography of Jacques Cousteau that reveals for the first time the fascinating and compelling individual behind this famous television personality. Inventor of the aqualung and fearless scuba diver, Jacques Cousteau opened up the ocean to a mass audience for the first time. Here, with the cooperation of many of the subjects closest confidants and family, Brad Matsen makes clear the full picture of his remarkable life, showing the father, military man, inventor, entrepreneur, and adventurer behind the public face. Vividly conveying the people, the science, and the lure of the sea that shaped Cousteau's life, Matsen paints a luminous portrait of a man who profoundly changed the way we live on our planet.

Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King

Biographies & Memoirs

Matsen, Brad

Professionals & Academics

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Death and Oil: A True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea

The first full account of the most tragic oil rig disaster in history, the human story behind it, and the true nature of its legacy. July 6, 1988, began as a normal day on Piper Alpha, the biggest offshore oil rig on the North Sea. But just after 10:00 p.m., a series of explosions rocked the platform, and the inferno continued to burn for weeks. Of the 226 men working on the platform, 162 died, along with two of their would-be rescuers. Brad Matsen talked to the survivors and their families; to the rescue teams, firefighters, and hospital workers; and to other witnesses. Now he brings together the full story of the human error and corporate malfeasance behind this tragedy. Here is a comprehensive account of the catastrophe, from the origins of the fires on the rig to the investigation into the causes of its demise to the pain it continues to cause the survivors and the families of the dead. Written with a novelist’s sense of pace and eye for detail, it is a riveting, gut-wrenching saga, made even more timely and important in light of recent disasters.

Business & Money

Industries

Pantheon

The first full account of the most tragic oil rig disaster in history, the human story behind it, and the true nature of its legacy. July 6, 1988, began as a normal day on Piper Alpha, the biggest offshore oil rig on the North Sea. But just after 10:00 p.m., a series of explosions rocked the platform, and the inferno continued to burn for weeks. Of the 226 men working on the platform, 162 died, along with two of their would-be rescuers. Brad Matsen talked to the survivors and their families; to the rescue teams, firefighters, and hospital workers; and to other witnesses. Now he brings together the full story of the human error and corporate malfeasance behind this tragedy. Here is a comprehensive account of the catastrophe, from the origins of the fires on the rig to the investigation into the causes of its demise to the pain it continues to cause the survivors and the families of the dead. Written with a novelist’s sense of pace and eye for detail, it is a riveting, gut-wrenching saga, made even more timely and important in light of recent disasters.From the Hardcover edition.

Science & Math

Nature & Ecology

Vintage Books

Jacques Cousteau opened up the undersea world as no one has done before or since. But not generally know is the fascinating and compelling individual behind the acclaimed television personality. With the cooperation of many of Jacques Cousteau’s collaborators, friends, and family, Brad Matsen gives us the first full picture of this remarkable life. Here is Cousteau working for the French resistance during World War II (for which he received France’s Croix de Guerre); developing—and risking his life to test—the regulator that made scuba diving possible; running the world’s largest scuba equipment manufacturing firm; becoming a legendary catalyst of the worldwide environmental movement; starring in The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and in hundreds of documentaries; and publishing more than fifty books. And here is the widowed Cousteau marrying his longtime mistress—forty years his junior and the mother of two of his children—kindling a bitter family feud that continues to this day. Vividly conveying the people, the adventure, the science, and the lure of the sea that shaped Cousteau’s life, Matsen paints a luminous portrait of a man who profoundly changed the way we view, and treat, our planet.

After rewriting history with their discovery of a Nazi U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, legendary divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler decided to investigate the great enduring mystery of history's most notorious shipwreck: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did? To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic's last secrets may be revealed. Titanic's Last Secrets is a rollercoaster ride through the shipbuilding history, the transatlantic luxury liner business, and shipwreck forensics. Chatterton and Kohler weave their way through a labyrinth of clues to discover that Titanic was not the strong, heroic ship the world thought she was and that the men who built her covered up her flaws when disaster struck. If Titanic had remained afloat for just two hours longer than she did, more than two thousand people would have lived instead of died, and the myth of the great ship would be one of rescue instead of tragedy. Titanic's Last Secrets is the never-before-told story of the Ship of Dreams, a contemporary adventure that solves a historical mystery.

Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler

History

World

Twelve

How wild is New York City? Well, you can ride a subway car through giant cracks in the Earth. Watch monarch butterflies floating among skyscrapers on their annual trip from Mexico to Canada. Drink mountain rainwater piped a hundred miles through some of the world’s biggest tunnels. Spy on horseshoe crabs (that showed up on Earth before the dinosaurs) as they crawl up to lay their eggs on city beaches every June. And that’s all just for starters. Open this book and discover a side of New York City you never dreamed was there—go wild! “Go Wild in New York City is a wonderful idea. It can bring light and the excitement of adventure to children in the real world where most live and draw them to science education. I got my start as a biologist on 'expeditions' in the heart of Washington, DC, when I was nine years old, and would have been inspired by this book.”—E. O. Wilson, biologist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for On Human Nature and The Ants “This imaginative book introduces children to the bounty of New York City and its earthly treasures—the waterways, natural resources, and wildlife that bring it to life. New York is brimming with science in the most unexpected places. What a wonderful resource for families, teachers, and backyard explorers of all ages.”—Joan Ganz Cooney, cofounder of the Children’s Television Workshop and cocreator of Sesame Street

Go Wild in New York City

Children's Books

Science, Nature & How It Works

National Geographic Children's Books

First published in 1991 by Alaska Northwest, this book introduced a new audience to the often edgy, always observant and colorful fish art made semi-famous by the T-shirts and cards hauled out of the Northwest by fans of this Ketchikan artist. The mysteries of the deep, the strange, the hideous and the wonderful all appear on the canvas and in the words of this highly original, wacky work. Full-color throughout.

Ray Troll's Shocking Fish Tales: Fish, Romance, and Death in Pictures

Arts & Photography

Troll, Ray

Graphic Design

Alaska Northwest Books

This new edition contains new stories and updates from the super-heated days when fishing fleets turned king crab into fortunes, to the annual circus of Bristol Bay's monster salmon runs, to the bucolic life of the open-ocean trawler, the true stories in Fishing Up North: Stories of Luck and Loss in Alaskan Waters" captures the flavor of the modern fisherman's life and fortunes in the waters off Alaska. You'll find firsthand accounts of frightening weather, good fishing, terrible fishing, great days, and sweet living from the decks of crabbers, trawlers, longliners, trollers, and gillnetters. This book and others inspired film crews to trek to Alaska and cover the crabbing seasons for reality TV shows. Commercial fishing's home ports --- Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, Naknek, Cordova, Petersburg, Sitka, and Seattle --- are classic fishing towns, where docks, bars, and even quiet living merge in colorful portraits about life on the last frontier.

Fishing Up North: Stories of Luck and Loss in Alaskan Waters

In Descent: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss, Brad Matsen brings to vivid life the famous deep-sea expeditions of Otis Barton and William Beebe. Beebe was a very well-connected and internationally acclaimed naturalist, with the power to generate media attention. Barton was an engineer and heir to a considerable fortune, who had long dreamed of making his mark on the world as an adventurer. Together, Beebe and Barton would achieve what no one had done before--direct observation of life in the blackness of the abyss. Here, against the back drop of the depression, is their riveting tale.

Descent: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss

Vintage

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Matsen, Brad. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Matsen, Brad

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Matsen, Brad. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King

Death and Oil: A True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea

Death and Oil: A True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea

Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King

Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler

Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler

Go Wild in New York City

Ray Troll's Shocking Fish Tales: Fish, Romance, and Death in Pictures

Fishing Up North: Stories of Luck and Loss in Alaskan Waters

Descent: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss