Book Review: Deep Water – the world in the ocean

Author: James Bradley.  Published by Hamish Hamilton in 2024

Review by Graham Kelly of NPA’s Environmental Book Group

Bradley is a Sydney writer of fiction and science non-fiction and is also a prize-winning critic. He brings his vast research and expressive skills to this wide-ranging set of views of the ocean. The book describes its multiple layers and ecology, the nature and lives of its inhabitants, and major contemporary topics relating to their health and future. Historical narratives are frequently used to explain how we have arrived at current situations and to inform the future. Current research and activities aimed at mitigating the effects of adverse future changes are often included to express hope for the future.