Great Barrier Reef books
- popular titles

There are several Great Barrier Reef books available that make for some good reading, especially if you are looking to visit the Reef and want to take a book along for the journey. From personal experience, a book really comes to life if it's being read in the place that it's been written about!

Because of what the Reef is what it is, there are also some excellent pictorial books with some outstanding photographs taken from above and below the water. And of course, there are plenty of travel guides too.

Shown below are examples from each category of Great Barrier Reef books - a good reading book, a photographic book and travel guide to the region (in that order).

Reefscape: Reflections on the Great Barrier Reef
Australian writer Rosaleen Love has produced this excellent book that balances a scientific look at the Great Barrier Reef with personal memoirs. It describes the value of the Reef both as a natural wonder, and as an economical wonder too. The personal touch that sets this book apart from so many others makes it a very easy book to read, for anyone with the slightest interest in the sea.

Reviews

"...a beautifully written book. ... What is most impressive about the book is its philosophical and spiritual qualities and poetic writing about the wonders of nature. ... The book should bring great pleasure and a deeper understanding of the significance of the Great Barrier Reef both to those who have experienced it themselves directly and to those who have only seen photographs or watched TV programs on the topic."
Source: Science Books and Films, Jul/Aug '01

"If you're planning a pilgrimage to this World Heritage Site, a secular mecca that draws millions annually, as Love points out, you'll profit from the voluminous research and the overview on the history and the inhabitants of the Great Barrier Reef."
Source: Islands magazine, Sept/Oct '01

"This book is a sheer delight... It's an unusual mix of scientific explanations, personal memoirs about diving on the reef, historical descriptions, and even a kind of psychological and spiritual analysis of why we are so fascinated by this huge living thing that is the Great Barrier Reef."
Source: Sian Prior's Book Reviews, ABC Melbourne

Reefscape: Reflections on the Great Barrier Reef, by Rosaleen Love, can be purchased from Amazon in hardcover.

 

Great Barrier Reef
National Geographic photographer David Doubilet has compiled this pictorial account of the Great Barrier Reef, with an impressive collection of underwater and above water images that illustrate many animals of the Reef. Interspersed with textual information, for example on the annual egg laying spectacle of turtles on Heron Island, the book portrays the natural history of the Reef and gives us a glimpse of the huge diversity of animal life found amongst the coral.

Reviews

"For many years, Doubilet, a veteran National Geographic photographer, has worked to photograph the entire length of Australia’s immense and spectacular Great Barrier Reef. Great Barrier Reef is the stunning culmination of his efforts. This breathtaking, collector-quality edition features 125 spectacular photographs and essays that capture the complex web of life along the 1,250-mile length of the Great Barrier Reef and presents a rare, complete portrait of this natural underseas wonder."
Source: National Geographic

Great Barrier Reef, by David Doubilet, can be purchased from Amazon in hardcover.

 

Frommer's Portable Australia's Great Barrier Reef
This is the 3rd edition and one of the most recently published (2005) Great Barrier Reef books. A clearly written guide, by Australian author Lee Mylne, to all aspects of the Reef and associated mainland coastal areas, as well as tips and advice on how to get the most out of your journey to the Reef. The book covers much of the marine life found in the waters, and picks out recommended snorkelling and dive sites. Because this guide states prices for various things, be warned that they may be out of date now. Even so, they will give you a good idea of what to expect.

Frommer's Portable Australia's Great Barrier Reef can be purchased from Amazon in softcover.

Search for more Great Barrier Reef books at Amazon.