This is history at its best - the world's greatest naval disaster brought to vivid life by a rare combination of personal experience and rigorous scholarship. Terrific ... a fascinating adventure tale packed with insights into a maritime empire about which most Westerners know almost nothing. Through brilliant and painstaking research Delgado has brought Khubilai Khan's lost fleet to the surface, showing for the first time the true nature of the doomed adventure. One finishes the book ready to strap on mask and tanks to dive for the buried remains of the shops that still hold more Mongol secrets Times Literary Supplement Delgado has long been my favourite author on maritime history Literary Review James Delgado does a splendid job as a cultural historian in showing how the legend of a brave but doomed defence, supported by the intervention of the gods, shaped national identity over seven centuries Tablet Delgado's knowledge of water and his archaeological passion for retrieving what history has scattered across sea beds from San Francisco to Vietnam Literary Review Dredging not only the sea but also historical records, Delgado tells us something new - some of it speculative but most of it richly authentic - about a great nautical adventure The Times