"Most anticipated nonfiction of 2026."
--Bookpage.com
"An epic maritime adventure as well as a riveting study of technological progress..captivating saga."
--Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"Engrossing tale with much relevance to our time. A lively and electrifying account of the little-remembered 'miracle' that connected continents."
--Kirkus Reviews
Lightning Beneath the Sea chronicles the 19th century's Apollo Moon Shot--the Great Transatlantic Telegraph Cable. In 1866, after a 12-year ordeal, racing formidable Western Union, risking life, fortune, family, and even freedom, American entrepreneur Cyrus Field, finally connected the Old World and New with a 2,000-mile submarine telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean. Global messages which had taken months suddenly took minutes. Life on earth began to change virtually overnight, ushering in the global village and age of information. Today, 98% of the world's information travels around the globe not on satellites but on 600 direct descendants of Field's first cable. Our world--internet, world-wide-web, TikTok, Instagram, email, texting, even AI--all owe existence to Field's transformative cable. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and governments are all spending billions on new ones. Tragically, Cyrus Field, who became more famous more quickly than any person in recorded history for his world-changing creation, is unknown today. Lightning Beneath the Sea is thus the story of the greatest American hero you never heard of.
DUE OUT FROM W.W. NORTON ON JUNE 1, 2026.
BLIND DESCENT, a New York Times nonfiction bestseller, chronicled the 2004 race to make the last great terrestrial discovery: the Mt.Everest of Caves.
"A THRILLING NEW BOOK."
--TIME
"STUNNINGLY FASCINATING.
--Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
"RIVETING...A SATISFYING AND SHIVERY READ."
--The Washington Post
In North America's worst mountaineering disaster, seven accomplished climbers died mysteriously on Alaska's Mt. McKinley in 1967. No bodies, journals, or other evidence were ever recovered and, incredibly, no attempt was made to rescue the climbers. Forty years later, too many crucial questions remained unanswered. The international-award-winning FOREVER ON THE MOUNTAIN sought, and found, the shocking answers.
"RIVETING ACCOUNT."
-TIME
"AS GOOD AS INTO THIN AIR."
--Sun Times
"GRIPS EVEN NON-CLIMBERS."
--The Washington Post
NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD
"Journey to the Center of the World" was a 2007 History Channel Special. I was a creator and Executive Producer. The program chronicled an expedition seeking the bottom of an ancient Mayan cave called Naj Tunich.
To view the trailer on YouTube, click the link below the image.