The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the World’s Longest Treasure Hunt

By Randall Sullivan

UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL FROM THE AUTHOR

In The Curse of Oak Island, longtime Rolling Stone contributing editor and journalist Randall Sullivan explored the curious history of Oak Island and the generations of people who tried and failed to unlock its secrets. Drawing on his exclusive access to Marty and Rick Lagina, stars of the History Channel’s television show The Curse of Oak Island, Sullivan delivers an up to the minute chronicle of their ongoing search for the truth.

In 1795, a teenager discovered a mysterious circular depression in the ground on Oak Island, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and ignited rumors of buried treasure. Early excavators uncovered a clay-lined shaft containing layers of soil interspersed with wooden platforms, but when they reached a depth of ninety feet, water poured into the shaft and made further digging impossible.

Since then the mystery of Oak Island’s “Money Pit” has enthralled generations of treasure hunters, including a Boston insurance salesman whose obsession ruined him; young Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and film star Errol Flynn. Perplexing discoveries have ignited explorers’ imaginations: a flat stone inscribed in code; a flood tunnel draining from a man-made beach; a torn scrap of parchment; stone markers forming a huge cross. Swaths of the island were bulldozed looking for answers; excavation attempts have claimed two lives. Theories abound as to what’s hidden on Oak Island. Could it be pirates’ treasure or Marie Antoinette’s lost jewels? Or perhaps the Holy Grail or proof of the identity of the true author of Shakespeare’s plays?

In this rich, fascinating account, Sullivan takes readers along as the Lagina brothers mount the most comprehensive effort yet to crack the mystery, and chronicles the incredible history of the “curse” of Oak Island, where for two centuries dreams of buried treasure have led intrepid treasure hunters to sacrifice everything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Release date: Dec 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9780802189059

Randall Sullivan

RANDALL SULLIVAN was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone for over twenty years. His writing has also appeared in Esquire, Wired, Outside, Men’s Journal, The Washington Post, and the Guardian. Sullivan is the author of The Price of Experience; LAbyrinth, which is the basis for the forthcoming feature film City of Lies; The Miracle Detective, the book that inspired the television show The Miracle Detectives, which Sullivan co-hosted and which premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in January 2011; and Untouchable. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews for The Curse of Oak Island

[lpg3d · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first half is a five star history of the discovery and early exploration of the Money Pit on Oak Island. Towards the end he gets into some ridiculous theories about the history of the pit, and that detracts from the book.

[jbarr5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Curse of Oak Island by Randall SullivanWe have been watching this on the history channel and it's interesting to us.This book starts out with who was on the island and the times/years they were there and what they found.Learned a lot of new things not in the show and it tells you how it all came about. Like all the research done and theories they investigate.Each picture in the book is also described, good audiobook.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[mattries37315 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The riddle wrapped in a mystery inside the enigma that is a small island just barely off the shore of Nova Scotia has tantalized and tortured people for over two centuries. The Curse of Oak Island by Randall Sullivan covers the history of the longest treasure hunt from the individuals involved in the hunt to the theories of what is or isn’t on the island including the History Channel reality series of the same name.Building upon the Rolling Stone article he wrote 13 years before, Sullivan was invited back to the island by the producers of the reality show to write this book, appear on a few episodes of the show, and interview the Lagina brothers. Starting with the historical backdrop of the Oak Island area, Sullivan goes over the often-told discovery of the Money Pit but thorough research finds out that the named three discoverers is not agreed up as well as their biographies. Throughout his 220 year history, Sullivan goes into the numerous lead searchers as well numerous theories of who made the Money Pit and what they believed was buried in there from pirate/privateer treasure to French Royal Jewels to possessions of the Knights Templar to cultural treasures connected with Roger Bacon. The history of the last 60 years on the island which focuses on the now-deceased Fred Nolan and Dan Blankenship with their rivalry and how they joined the Laginas search as well as how the titular reality series came about is covered extensively compared to the earlier history as Sullivan had first-hand access to the participants.Given the murky history of Oak Island, Sullivan did an excellent job and navigating everything connected with the long story of the Money Pit. However, the biggest grip I had was with the intertwining of the history and the various theories, I personally felt that it would have been better to break up the history of the search in two and have all the theories discusses in-between. Sullivan actually goes against the show’s narration of events several times in relating the history of the island and previous searchers, however he never discusses “the legend that seven must die” which is hinted at being the “curse” in the show’s open for the first four or five seasons.The Curse of Oak Island is a fine look at the history surrounding the search of the Money Pit and the men who’ve dug on the Nova Scotia island. Randall Sullivan gave the reader an idea about the individuals who kept the search going and what they believed they were searching for while also showing the toll it took on them and the island itself. Overall it’s a fine book, but not laid out very well.

[soraxtm-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was nice and detailed. everything one could ask for in a book about this subject. Unfortunately the subject itself loses much of its attraction once it is exhaustively presented.

[douboy50 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Skimmed through the book. When I came to the end I looked for bibliography and notes.....there were none. Where did this material come from? Sorry to say but I bailed at this point. 28 members have listed this book and not one reader bothered to write a review at this point? I believe that indicates something.

[tobinelliott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow. I had no freaking idea...

I had a baseline, non-informed level of knowledge of Oak Island...okay, I knew there was supposed to be buried treasure there, that proved to be notoriously hard to find. Full stop.

Sullivan does a great job at running down both all the players that have tried—and failed—to get to that fabled treasure...whatever it may be, while also providing some excellent, exhaustive background on all the various theories that have cropped up in the past almost three centuries (!) surrounding it.

And I was somewhat shocked at both the number and the variety of theories. I think there's pretty much everything in there with the exception of aliens.

A really interesting, often sad book. Good read.

[starkravingmad_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Gave up. Poorly written. will watch the TV series instead.