America's Lost Treasure

The sinking of the Central America, in a hurricane in 1857, was America's worst peacetime sea disaster; in addition to many tons of gold, 425 men were lost. The ship was recovered in 1989, in an operation that developed the most groundbreaking marine-recovery technology in existence, a dramatic triumph that made new law and opened the planet's last frontier to mankind. Now, in more than 250 stunning illustrations and photographs, most of them never before seen, America's Lost Treasure tells the amazing story of the tragic voyage and discovery.

Tommy Thompson has been described by People magazine as "the kind of guy who could fix a rocket ship with two paper clips and a piece of twine...[a] briny Chuck Yeager, a genuine American hero." Now, he tells how the basic paradigms of marine search were rethought to recover America's greatest lost treasure. Superior-quality photographs taken eight thousand feet below the surface — a feat that was never before technically possible — depict life on the ocean floor, including the many new species Thompson's team discovered, the site where the Central America rests, and the extraordinary historical treasures they brought back — from stacks of coins and gold bars to trunks filled with clothing, newspapers, and journals still readable after 131 years beneath the sea. Combining contemporary drawings, paintings, photographs, and maps from both the era of the Central America's voyage and the contemporary high-tech recovery, America's Lost Treasure is an astounding, inspiring, and beautifully documented portrait of technological ingenuity put to work recovering American history for future generations.