Worlds in Shadow paints a powerful picture of a restless and dynamic planet: Patrick Nunn deftly sifts through myths and folk tales from around the world, synthesizing ancient wisdom with cutting edge science to dispel any illusions of permanency. Nunn challenges us to read the evidence of our shifting shorelines, continents and climate and to harness our innate ingenuity as we confront an environment where disruptive change is an inevitable reality.
Shelley Davidow, author of Shadow Sisters
An informative and lucid exposition of how humans rationalise submerged lands, and a great addition to Nunn’s other wonderful narratives on lost continents, indigenous memories and ancient oral traditions.
Ingrid Ward, University of Western Australia
This wide-ranging and thoughtful account examines the many causes of sea level and land level change against which human societies have evolved over millennia. Worth reading … it sets human experience in the context of scientific knowledge.
David Smith, University of Oxford
Worlds in Shadow is critically important guidance for how we should be approaching our search for meaning and deeper understanding of these now submerged landscapes.
Brad Barr, NOAA
.. [a] realistic but hopeful history of submerged lands across millennia and around the globe mixes “science, memory and myth” — including the legend of Atlantis — to show how our ancestors learnt to live in challenging coastal environments and to manage adversity in many forms and places.
Andrew Robinson, Nature
Supremely absorbing … irresistible … I found Worlds in Shadow to be an incredibly absorbing read, and it is another prime example of the kind of well-written popular science books on specialist topics that Bloomsbury Sigma excels in.
Leon Vlieger, The Inquisitive Biologist
Nunn packs many different stories of the submerged—some familiar, others mostly unknown—into this engrossing book of the lands, memories, and people who once were lost to the depths of the oceans.
Emily Porter, Porchlight Books
Patrick Nunn‘s research on myth and geography is something like a pirate’s treasure trove: There are so many things in it, some are real gems, some are fascinating oddities, it covers the coasts of the whole world, millennia of earth and of human history and steals from all disciplines under the sun. Blessed unorthodoxy and curiosity! I think Nunn is an important voice in current climate discourse and voices like his definitely need to be heard more.
Jan-Philipp Possmann via LinkedIn, 15 August 2023