annieb123's Review of Subterranea

by Chris Fitch

'AN ORIGINAL AND TIMELY ODYSSEY INTO OUR MYSTERIOUS UNDERWORLD . . . THRILLING PROOF THAT SCIENCE AND IMAGINATION SHARE THE GROUND BENEATH OUR FEET'
Nicholas Crane, presenter of BBC2's Coast and Great British Journeys

If you were to peel back the Earth's surface like an orange, then take a sly peek underneath, what extraordinary things would you see?

Subterranea is where the world's remaining mysteries are yet to be found. For millennia, across nations and cultures, it has been a hotbed of fantastical stories. It's where humans have kept their most sacred treasures and their darkest secrets. It's where we have found evidence of our past and may, at some point, find an escape route for our uncertain future. But what would we find there today?

From the underground cities of Cappadocia to smuggling tunnels on the US-Mexico border, caves full of tiny blind dragons and a seed vault located 1300km inside the Arctic circle, Subterranea demonstrates that the world below our feet is every bit as vivid and evocative as the world we see around us. Lavishly illustrated and replete with maps and photographs of little-explored locations, Subterranea is the unique, untold and utterly unforgettable story of our planet from the inside.

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Subterranea is a fascinating and seldom-seen look at amazing caves, underwater rivers, lakes, excavations, and other subterranean locations worldwide curated by Chris Fitch. Originally published in 2020, this reformat and re-release from Workman Publishing on their Timber Press imprint is due out 15th Sept 2021. It's 240 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This was a much more comprehensive and information dense volume than I was expecting. It *is* a graphically amazing book, full of clear, breathtaking photography of the secret underground places, but more than that, it's also full of ordnance survey maps showing the different cave systems and locations as well as interesting cultural and physical background for each place covered.

Each entry (there are 40) contains location, description, maps, background, and color photos of the sites and the features of each. The descriptions are well written and accessible. The author doesn't shy away from descriptions which include insalubrious details such as some caves' previous use in human sacrifice and other rituals, so it might be distressing to some readers. The photographs are clear and the layout is graphically simple and impactful. The author has included a nice selection of links and resources for further reading.

Five stars. This would be a good selection for library acquisition as well as for readers who enjoy travel writing, natural history and the natural world.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Subterranea

by Chris Fitch

Reviewed by annieb123 on Sep 4, 2021

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