05/09/2026
▪️GBF Panel Preview: Shipwrecks, Survival, and High-Seas History
▪️Featuring: Julian Sancton & Adam Cohen
▪️Books: “Neptune’s Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire” and “Captain’s Dinner: A Shipwreck, an Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial That Changed Legal History”
▪️Genres: History, Adventure, Narrative Non-Fiction
▪️Program time at GBF: 4:15pm
If you enjoy true accounts of high seas adventure, you’re going to want to mark your calendar for May 16th and join us at GBF for this riveting conversation featuring Julian Sancton and Adam Cohen.
⭐️In “Neptune’s Fortune,” acclaimed journalist Julian Sancton tells the astonishing story of one of history’s most legendary lost treasures: a Spanish shipwreck carrying what has been described as a billion-dollar fortune at the bottom of the sea. Blending exploration, imperial history, treasure hunting, and international intrigue, Sancton traces the centuries-long saga surrounding the wreck and the ghosts of the Spanish Empire that still linger around it today. The book has already been hailed as “the Holy Grail of shipwrecks.”
⭐️Adam Cohen’s “Captain’s Dinner” takes readers to another infamous maritime disaster—an 1884 shipwreck that left starving sailors adrift at sea and culminated in a horrifying act of cannibalism that shocked the world. But the story did not end on the water. The ensuing murder trial became a landmark legal case that transformed how courts understood necessity, survival, and human rights. As Cohen himself has said, the book is “not only a sea adventure and a cannibalism story, but a human rights story.”
Both authors are masters of narrative nonfiction, transforming deeply researched history into page-turning adventure stories filled with suspense, moral complexity, and unforgettable characters. Sancton previously earned widespread acclaim for “Madhouse at the End of the Earth,” his bestselling account of a doomed Antarctic expedition, while Cohen—former editorial writer for The New York Times and author of multiple acclaimed histories and biographies—has built a distinguished career illuminating the moments that shaped American law and society.
Whether you’re a history buff, an adventure reader, or simply someone who loves a true story stranger than fiction, this is a program you won’t want to miss! Julian Sancton and Adam Cohen will be among more than 130 fantastic authors appearing to present their work and meet YOU. Books will be available for purchase on site courtesy of our partners at Politics and Prose Bookstore, and both authors will be happy to sign copies. (They also make great gifts!)
Our Festival is FREE to attend, FREE to park, and FUN for all ages. Please join us, bring the family, and invite friends!
More on the authors:
https://www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org/featured_author/julian-sancton/
https://www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org/featured_author/adam-cohen/
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DdGoxtVtd/
