From the ghostly wreck of the Civil War submersible Hunley to the grave of the Kursk beneath the Barents Sea, here is a riveting saga of life and death that has been played out below the surface of the earth's oceans for more that a hundred years. Now, for the first time, the gripping stories of the world's most famous lost subs are matched with amazing underwater images in this unforgettable illustrated history.

"From the Hunley to the Kursk, the greatest submarines ever lost-and found"--Cover.

Introduction: The Silent Service --Prologue: August 12, 2000: the final moments aboard the Russian Navy's nuclear submarine Kursk -- The Birth of the Submarine: A brief history of early subs-- including the Turtle and the Nautilus -- The First Underwater Weapon of War: The American Confederate sub H.L. Hunley -- The Submarine Comes of Age: The influence of John Holland on Submarine design -- Battle under the Sea: The submarine has now become a formidable weapon--as Germany's U-boats prove during the First World War -- Lost in Peace: Two submarine tragedies, the US Navy's Squalus and the Royal Navy's Thetis, dominate peacetime headlines -- The U-boat War: Germany revolutionizes the way submarines are used in combat -- A Casualty of the Cold War: A tiny piece of aluminum foil spells disaster for the US Navy's nuclear submarine Scorpion -- Disaster under the Barents Sea: The tragic story of the Kursk -- Epilogue: For Those in Peril.