Below the Surface is an adventure memoir detailing my experiences as a commercial mixed gas deep sea bell diver in the North Sea during the mid-1970s. The book captures the harrowing and near-death experiences I survived at the very bottom of one of the world's coldest bodies of water. My story begins with a sometimes violent childhood in 1950s working class northern England. Brought up by two deaf parents, my siblings and I found resourceful ways to cope with poverty in this bleak industrial landscape. Yearning for more, I joined the Royal Navy in 1967 at age fifteen. This is where I learned...