Les requins : Guide du plongeur [Broché]

The very mention of the word "Shark" seems to electrify even the most ardent land-lubber. I still remember, most vividly, my first sighting of a harmless White Tip Reef Shark in Fiji in 1979 - and how the excitement raged. By complete contrast, however, if this book were a packet of nuts, it wouldn't excite a Squirrel. With one of the shortest "Contents" imaginable, the chapters are listed as; Birth of a Legend, Enigma of the Shark, Four Scenes from Under water Life, Different Kinds of Sharks and, finally, Sharks and their families. That's it. Altogether, this is a book which relies heavily on underwater photography to sell the product and the English is that typical Italian-English which suffers from a literal translation which is the hallmark of these particular publishers and leaves those who read the work often bemused.

Books which set out to be technical work of reference are usually written by acknowledged experts - not just competent underwater photographers who happen to have seen one or two sharks on their travels. Having been credited with the text, however, we learn nothing whatsoever about this so-called author who is not even afforded a short biography - not even a word about him. How curious that Angelo Mojetta (author of this and other works aimed at scuba divers) is not even credited with any of the photographs at all!

Whilst this is another book from White Star Publishing of Italy, who seem content to specialise in quantity over quality, it is not, another diving guide. This is a book which seeks to describe the Shark - from 550 million years ago to the present day. It commences by paraphrasing established works which explain the ancient history of the Shark and its evolution plus various primeval beliefs and customs. Sadly we are not made aware of the accuracy of this information because the original sources for that information (like so much else!) are not credited because the book contains no bibliography! In short, this author seeks to rewrite that ancient history in such a way as to suggest he is the original source. He failed. In addition, I also found some of the technical detail to be questionable.

It is vital for any reader to have an understanding of the talents of any author in order in order to determine the credibility of the content. In this, as with other books from these publishers, there is NO such information - not even a pen-picture or résumé about his diving experience. In fact, apart from being credited with writing the text, he receives no further mention whatsoever. He must, therefore, surely be dismissed as an armchair expert.

For those who are looking for serious books about the Shark, may I suggest you look to such acknowledged experts as Dr Keith Bannister, Marty Snyderman, Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch, Leighton R. Taylor (to mention but a few) because this particular offering will only disappoint sooner or later.

NM