Britain is an island nation so, unsurprisingly, scuba diving is a popular British pastime enjoyed by some 50,000 keen participants and just as many of the armchair variety. A carefully-structured programme of training ensures that the British diver is well--prepared for the challenging conditions which may be encountered beneath our seas. Or does it? How many trainee divers were taught about the perils of high-speed testicular trauma during descent? Or the dangers of having sex in a tent with a deaf person? Why bacon should be in your first aid kit. How to build a space shuttle using salvaged...

On Thursday, the 4th of August 1966, the sea began to give up its dead. Over the next two weeks, for the relatives, friends and communities of twelve people, the unimaginable grief could at least be tempered to some small extent by the fact that their remains had been found. For the loved ones of 19 others, there was to be no such closure. All 31 lives were lost because they had been aboard a small vessel which foundered in a storm off the south coast of Cornwall. The name of that boat was the Darlwyne. She sank on the evening of the 31 July. The previous day, the England football team had...