"An extensive account of an otherworldly ocean. . . . Bell’s comprehensive review . . . delves into the origins of seafaring myths, the purposes they served, and the evolution of such tales as our relationship to the Atlantic evolved. . . . It can be all too easy, as the author points out, to view such tales about sea monsters and mystical underwater lands as mere superstitious fables, yet the underlying reasons for circulating such mythology—to make sense of a terrifyingly changeable world and our place within it—remain valid. Bell’s well-researched history does an excellent job of interpreting some of these legends."

Washington Independent Review of Books

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"For Melville, the sea offers a privileged but deadly place of encounter with the transcendent. Bell, in his book The Perilous Deep, examines our tendency to see the ocean in such mysterious, supernatural terms. Focused on the Atlantic, Bell draws from a diverse archive of European and American folklore, literature, newspapers, memoirs, and scientific texts to study the stories we tell of oceanic monsters, ghosts, and gods."

New Criterion

"Not only does Bell’s new book provide a colourful compendium of the 'merfolk, ghosts, phantom ships and sea monsters' that have populated the seafaring folklore of the Atlantic nations for centuries, he also looks at how and why these tales came into being, and how they evolved and mutated as they were transmitted from place to place over time."

The Scotsman

"This is a history of margins and fringes—not only of the Atlantic Ocean itself, but also of the imaginations of those who worked on its surface and lived at its edges. In his new book, Bell draws on everything from street ballads to scientific treatises, mariners’ memoirs, newspaper advertisements, paintings and literature. . . . An uncanny cornucopia of folklore, hovering on the borderlands between fact and fiction. . . . This is a tale that grows stronger in the telling, and it is perhaps in the later chapters that Bell’s writing is at its most sparkling ."

BBC History Magazine

"Meticulous research into the folklore that has bound maritime and coastal communities on both sides of the Atlantic. . . . Bell’s research is presented with all the scholarly hallmarks one would expect, including caveats about the reliability of sources and references to other academics. . . . For Bell, ancient mariners’ tales and practices can ‘teach us how to confront our own environmental fears as we attempt to navigate the turbulent currents of an uncertain future.’"

Times Literary Supplement

"Bell casts his net for this book very wide, from sailing men on the deep blue to coastal communities, port cities, even the public for B-movies and weird stories. . . . Ambitious, entertaining."

Fortean Times

"Mythology, poetry, and novels have long been our gateway to the dangerous and deadly creatures found in the mysteriously supernatural realm of the sea. In this new history, Bell presents an exhaustively researched treasure trove of information that includes references to well-known mythological and traditional sea stories, a review of decades old newspaper articles about unusual events or sightings, and a collection of recorded folk knowledge of the coastal and seafaring people of the past. . . . This book is an excellent way to create your own list in order to read more complete versions of the stories or to find out what creatures you can learn more about through literature or art. . . . Recommended."

Monster Librarian

"The Perilous Deep provides readers with an enjoyable survey of and introduction to the more-than-material side of seafaring, as well as to the way historical maritime folklore may provide a window onto some pressing environmental concerns of the times when it was an active part of seafaring and coastal life."

H-Oceans

“Bell sets out to challenge the traditional heroic narratives of maritime history—those dominated by explorers, naval battles, and technological triumphs. . . . Bell’s work is a scholarly, yet accessible, exploration of how supernatural storytelling shaped the cultural imagination of Atlantic seafarers and coastal communities. . . . An engaging and vivid book accessible to general readers interested in myth, mystery and the sea, folklorists as well as academics. . . . The Perilous Deep makes several important contributions to the study of folklore and maritime history by highlighting the emotional and psychological dimensions of seafaring, often overlooked in traditional histories. It reframes maritime folklore as a dynamic cultural process, not just a repository of quaint tales.”

Gramarye

"What a wonderful book this is, chock-full of mystery and magic. Promising to take the reader 'on a seafaring voyage,' it delivers on all fronts. Beautifully written, engaging throughout, and wonderfully illustrated, we encounter the 'merfolk, ghosts, phantom ships and sea monsters' that have populated folklore tales, myths, legends, and dreams for centuries. Take a dive into The Perilous Deep with Bell, who brings exemplary scholarship as well as storytelling flair to the lightless depths of the 'supernatural and monstrous Atlantic.'"

Ruth Heholt, professor of literature and culture, Falmouth University

"More than a compendium of maritime folklore, The Perilous Deep explores how mariners and landlubbers alike have used storytelling to make sense of their relationship to the sea. Engaging with the godlings, leviathans, ghost ships, serpents, selkies, and mermaids that haunt the Atlantic, Bell shows that while the ocean can be a place of terror, it is also a place of possibility."

David Hopkin, professor of European social history, Hertford College, University of Oxford, and president of the Folklore Society

"In this absorbing and entertaining survey, Bell explores how the fear of and fascination with the vastness and unknowable depths of the North Atlantic Ocean were expressed through beliefs and stories of the supernatural. The meaning of spectral ships, omens, talismans, taboos, mermaids, sea monsters, and Atlantis are explored using a rich range of sources from journalism, folklore, and fiction."

Owen Davies, professor of social history, University of Hertfordshire