KING HENRY VIII'S MARY ROSE: Its Fate and Future

Marine historian McKee gives a meticulous accounting of his search for the Mary Rose which sank off Portsmouth in 1545 with all hands aboard as Henry VIII watched helplessly from South-sea Castle and a French invasion fleet lay five miles away. McKee investigated contemporary accounts, artifacts, sketches, etc. for clues to the site and with some shrewd guesses of his own, and pioneer use of sophisticated equipment, including ""sub-mud sonar,"" the ship was finally found and salvage begun -- so that one suspects the costly procedure might have prompted this book. Most readers will find the going difficult -- much technical detail and packed with important, seemingly endless minutiae -- but amateur marine biologists and naval historians will probably find it an intriguing report on a dating venture.