National Speleological Society

This updated Second Edition Includes six new chapters. Other chapters have been updated and expanded. Nearly a hundred new photographs have been added.

Read the fascinating story of how this cave, first explored by American Indians 10,000 years ago, grew to become one of America’s major show caves. See the amazing drawings, only recently discovered, left on the cave’s wall by these people. Read the story of how Dunbar Cave was used by the first white settlers, then became the favorite meeting place and resort in Montgomery County. Relive the glory days of the Big Band Era when the most famous bands in America played at Dunbar Cave. Share the excitement as cavers from the Northern Indiana Grotto add miles of virgin passages to a former commercial cave that had been thoroughly explored for the last 150 years. Swim with the scuba divers as they attempt to connect the new discovery with the Historic Section of Dunbar Cave. Learn about the modern use of the caves as a Tennessee State Natural Area.

By Larry E. Matthews 
2011, 234 pages, Softbound

Cumberland Caverns by Larry E. Matthews, PB, 1989, 317pp.  2005

The Xe Bang Fai River courses 6.4 kilometers through one of the world's largest and most beautiful river caves. In 2008, an international group of cavers surveyed and photographed the cave to the high standards presented in this photo-rich, full color book. Follow-up trips brought the cave's length to 16 km. Chapters by various authors highlight the history, geology, wildlife, and local culture of the cave and the Hin Nam No National Protected Area that surrounds it. Edited by David E. Bunnell and Patricia Kambesis. Copyright NSS, 2016. Hardbound,128 pages in color.

Based on a popular website, this book illustrates, with 580 color photos, 46 different types of formations found in caves, from the most common to some rather uncommon.  Basic text explanations are complimented by images of some of the world's most stunning examples of those formations.

Dave Bunnell, a widely published cave photographer, draws on over 40 years of images from caves in some 25 states and 18 countries.  Some of the world's most pristine and decorated caves provided source material for the book, such as Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, the blue and green caves of France, and the giant caves of Laos and Vietnam with their massive formations.

With this book you will be able to understand how the features found in caves are formed and how they relate to each other.  Introductory sections focus on the diverse and often spectacular surface phenomena associated with caves known as karst, and on different types of caves and how the form.

Co-written by David Bunnell & Djuna Ivereigh

Third Edition. Read the fascinating story of how this cave-first discovered by Aaron Higgenbotham in 1810-has grown to become one of the world’s largest and most famous caves. Experience the thrill of discovery with the original modern explorers of Cumberland Caverns as they uncover the vast chambers and endless corridors that make up this 28-mile underground marvel.

Includes the complete story, maps and photographs covering:

• Initial discoveries of the early 1800s
• Fascinating historical anecdotes from the last century
• The modern era, with the first systematic exploration, surveying and mapping
• The latest breakthroughs, including the 1976 discovery
• Fourteen large-size maps
• 30 new photographs, 14 in color

This quality 8-1/2 x 11" book contains over 150 pages of historical and current photographs, maps, artwork, stories, and more. Chapters include: Legends of Murder Hole; Death, Injuries, Rescues and Incidents; Caves in Virginia; Early Explorers; A Trip into Murder Hole; Mysteries; plus appendices on Safety, Conservation, and a Chronology of Trips from the almost 20 years Marian and Dan McConnell have owned the cave.