THE history of Symi has for centuries been bound up with the fortunes of sponge diving - but details of this ancient trade and its true impact on island life have been shrouded in mystery. Until now.

Author and Dodecanese resident, Faith Warn, reveals the gripping story in her book, Bitter Sea - The Real Story of Greek Sponge Diving. With atmospheric photographs and a vivid, readable style, it charts the fortunes of sponge diving in Greece and brings the saga right up to date. 

It tells of the wealth and lavish lifestyle brought by the golden harvest to a few traders and dealers. The incredibly hazardous diving methods used to gather the sponges - and their terrible toll on the menfolk of the picturesque Aegean islands. The sudden catastrophe of the ‘Chernobyl effect’ and the founding of new communities in America and Australia.

Read about the divers, their families and their way of life. Customs, tradition and popular folklore. Tales from the lips of veteran divers and sponge workers. The ‘Dinner of Love’ preceding the fleet’s farewell. Songs of the sea and the heart wrenching dance of the diver condemned to lifelong disability by the ‘bends’.

Bitter Sea - 148mm x  210mm  2 colour soft cover   128 pages   22 b/w photos   1 map

index - ISBN 0-9538088-0-7

Guardian Angel Press

P O Box 5883

South Woodham Ferrers

CM3 5AH

UK

£6.50  inc P&P

Go to the Guardian Angel Press website for more information and online ordering

Copies of the book can be bought at the 'Symi Visitor' office; please e-mail to pre-order a copy you can pick up on the island

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