David Gibbins (born 1962) is an underwater archaeologist and a bestselling novelist.

Early life

Gibbins was born in 1962 in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada, to British parents who were academic scientists. He is related to the Victorian historian Henry de Beltgens Gibbins and to Brigadier Henry John Gordon Gale, DSO and Bar. After growing up in Canada, New Zealand and England he attended the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, where he was awarded a First Class Honours Degree in Ancient Mediterranean Studies. He spent part of 1984 in Turkey funded by a Travel Scholarship from the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara. In 1984 he was awarded a Research Scholarship by Corpus Christi College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he completed a PhD in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

in 1991. He qualified as a scuba diver in Canada at the age of 15, and since then has dived extensively around the world.

Career

Academic career

From 1991 to 1993 he held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the

from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. From 1993 to 2000 he was a lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, and from 1999 to 2001 he was an adjunct professor of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. During the 1980s and 1990s he led many expeditions to investigate ancient shipwrecks and submerged ruins in the Mediterranean, including Roman shipwrecks off

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and the harbour of ancient

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

. In 1999–2000 he was part of an international team excavating a 5th-century BC shipwreck off

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. His publications on ancient shipwreck sites have appeared in scientific journals, books and popular magazines. Since 2002 he had been a full-time writer and independent scholar. In 2015 he co-founded the research group Cornwall Maritime Archaeology, which has made numerous shipwreck discoveries off south-west England. In 2016 he rediscovered the wreck of the ''Schiedam'', a ship involved in the evacuation of

English Tangier English Tangier was the period in History of Morocco, Moroccan history in which the city of Tangier was occupied by Kingdom of England, England as part of its English overseas possessions, colonial empire from 1661 to 1684. Tangier had been unde ...

in 1684 and associated with

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

, and in 2018 the site of the President, an English East Indiaman. In 2019 on another wreck he discovered a unique 16th century copper-alloy statuette of the crucified Christ attributable to

Guglielmo della Porta Guglielmo della Porta (c. 1500–1577) was an Italian architect and sculptor of the late Renaissance or Mannerism, Mannerist period. He was born to a prominent North Italian family of masons, sculptors and architects. His father Giovanni Battista ...

.
A copper alloy crucified Christ from the Mullion Pin Wreck
'

Writing

On leaving academia he became a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over three million copies and have been '' London Sunday Times'' and ''New York Times'' bestsellers. His first novel, ''

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

'', published in the UK in 2005 and the US in 2006, was published in 30 languages. Since then he has written ten further novels which have been published in more than 200 editions internationally. His main series is based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and forms contemporary novels involving an archaeological backdrop. He has also written two historical novels set in ancient Rome.

Honours

He is a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow, for which he received the Churchill Medallion of the Trust. He is a

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

Select bibliography

Fiction

Jack Howard series

# Gibbins, David. 2005. ''

''. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2006. '' Crusader Gold''. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2008. '' The Last Gospel''. (''The Lost Tomb'' in US). London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2009. '' The Tiger Warrior''. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2010. '' The Mask of Troy''. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2011. '' The Gods of Atlantis''. (''Atlantis God'' in US). London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell (2012). # Gibbins, David. 2013. ''Pharaoh''. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2014. ''Pyramid''. London: Headline and New York: Bantam Dell. # Gibbins, David. 2016. ''Testament''. London: Headline and New York: Thomas Dunne Books. # Gibbins, David. 2018. ''Inquisition''. London: Headline and New York: Thomas Dunne Books.

Total War Rome series

# Gibbins, David. 2013. ''Destroy Carthage''. London: Macmillan and New York: Thomas Dunne Books. # Gibbins, David. 2015. ''The Sword of Attila''. London: Macmillan and New York: Thomas Dunne Books.

Non-fiction

* Gibbins, David, 1988. "Surgical instruments from a Roman shipwreck off Sicily." ''Antiquity'' 62 (235), pp. 294–7. * Edge, C.J. & Gibbins, D.J. 1989. "Underwater discovery of Roman surgical instruments", British Medical Journal. 298, pp. 1645-6. * Gibbins, David. 1990. "The hidden museums of the Mediterranean." ''New Scientist'' 128 (1739), pp. 35–40. * Gibbins, David and

Christopher Chippindale Christopher Ralph Chippindale, FSA (born 13 October 1951) is a British archaeologist. He worked at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1988 to his retirement in 2013, and was additionally Reader in Archaeology at the University of ...

(editors), 1990. "Maritime archaeology." ''Antiquity'' 64 (243), pp. 334–400. * Gibbins, David, 1990. "Analytical approaches in maritime archaeology: a Mediterranean perspective". ''Antiquity'' 64 (243), pp. 376–389. * Gibbins, David and

, 1990. "Heritage at sea: proposals for the better protection of British archaeological sites underwater". ''Antiquity'' 64 (243), pp. 390–400. * Gibbins, David. 1993. "Bronze Age wreck's revelations." ''Illustrated London News'' 281 (7116), pp. 72–3. * Gibbins, David, 1993. "Das im Mittelmeer verborgene Museum." ''Mannheimer Forum 92/93. Ein Panorama der Naturwissen schaften.'' Mannheim: Boehringer Mannheim, pp. 175–243. * Gibbins, David, 1995. "What shipwrecks can tell us." ''Antiquity'' 69:263, pp. 408–411. * Gibbins, David J.L., Mike M. Emery and Keith J. Mathews, 1996. ''The Archaeology of an Ecclesiastical Landscape''. ''Chester Archaeology Excavation and Survey Report'' No. 9. Chester City Council/The University of Liverpool. * Gibbins, David, 1997. "Deleta est Carthago?" ''Antiquity'' 71 (271), pp. 217–219. * Gibbins, David. 1998. "Maritime archaeology". in Shaw, I. and R. Jameson (editors) ''Dictionary of Archaeology''. Oxford: Blackwell. * Gibbins, David. 2000. "Classical shipwreck excavation at Tektas Burnu, Turkey." ''Antiquity'' 74:283, pp. 199–201. * Gibbins, David. 2001. "Shipwrecks and Hellenistic trade." in Zofia H. Archibald et al. (editors), ''Hellenistic Economies''. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 273–312. * Gibbins, David and Jonathan Adams (editors), 2001. ''Shipwrecks.'' ''World Archaeology'' 32.3. London: Routledge. ISSN 0043-8243 * Gibbins, David and Jonathan Adams, 2001. "Shipwrecks and maritime archaeology." ''World Archaeology'', 32:3, pp. 279–291. * Gibbins, David. 2001. "A Roman shipwreck of c. AD 200 at Plemmirio, Sicily: evidence for north African amphora production during the Severan period." ''World Archaeology'' 32.3, pp. 311–334. * Gibbins, David. 2019. "The 9th Lancers and the assault on the 'Quadrilateral' during the Battle of the Somme, 15 September 1916. ''The Chapka'' (Regimental Journal of the Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeth's Own)) 2018: 138–41

Footnotes

References

* Sue Fox, 'Best of Times, Worst of Times: David Gibbins', London ''Sunday Times'', December 4, 200

External links

David Gibbins official website

David Gibbins on website of agency Luigi Bonomi Associates

Fantastic Fiction David Gibbins Author Page

Total War Rome series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbins, David 1962 births Living people Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Bristol Atlantis Canadian archaeologists Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian male novelists Canadian underwater divers Writers from Saskatoon Canadian thriller writers Underwater archaeologists Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Canadian male non-fiction writers Novelists from Saskatchewan