The Web Beneath the Waves: The Fragile Cables that Connect our World

by Samanth Subramanian

What if the Internet goes dark?

We think of the Internet as wireless, weightless, ever-present—but its true foundation lies in the ocean’s depths, where nearly 900,000 miles of fiber-optic cables quietly pulse with all the world’s information.

In The Web Beneath the Waves, the acclaimed journalist Samanth Subramanian travels from remote Pacific islands to secretive cable-laying operations to reveal the astonishing world of undersea infrastructure. He reveals the fate of Tonga after a volcanic eruption severs its only undersea link to the Internet, meets the men and women engaged in the fiendishly complex work of laying submarine cables, and scrutinizes the acts of “grey zone warfare,” in which ghost ships cut the cables of other countries.

Subramanian charts the deep geopolitical tensions, corporate power grabs, environmental risks, and quiet heroics involved in maintaining the Internet’s unseen circulatory system. With his signature clarity and curiosity, he brings to life the cables that stitch continents together—and exposes just how vulnerable our connected lives really are. This is narrative nonfiction at its most urgent and a book that asks what happens when the world goes offline, and who controls the switch.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Technology

121 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Samanth Subramanian is the India correspondent for The National and the author of two books of reportage, "Following Fish: Travels Around the Indian Coast" and "This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War." His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Intelligent Life, Aeon, Mint, Travel + Leisure, and Caravan, among other publications. His longer reported articles occupy the confluence of politics, culture and history, examining the impact of these forces upon life and society; his shorter pieces include op-eds, cultural criticism, and book reviews.

He also co-hosts The Intersection, a fortnightly science and culture podcast from Audiomatic.

"This Divided Island" won the 2015 Crossword Prize for Non Fiction and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Non Fiction Prize the same year. "Following Fish" won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize in 2010 and was shortlisted for the Andre Simon Award in 2013.

Samanth Subramanian grew up in Madras, and he lives and works in New Delhi.

Reviews

[Erin Cook]

outstanding. my only gripe is it constantly refers to time periods based on North American seasons. what does 'late Spring' mean? I wish these American published books would stop doing that and be more exact. especially because we're not talking about the US! how is a US season the preferable marker of time when talking about Cote d'Ivoire?

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niche subject, for sure, but undersea cables have fascinated me since I was a little kid.

[Santhosh Guru · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Samanth's writing, so I had no second thoughts on reading this book at all. This is such an obscure, nerdy but an interesting and important topic. What we take for granted, while we are immersed in our digital world, is the underlying infrastructure that makes this work.

I am technically savvy and curious person. I thought satellites (and Starlink like systems) are a huge component of making the Internet work but I was wrong. I was surprised to hear on this elaborate network of subsea cables that does the heavylifting of Internet. The history, politics and economics behind this network makes me more appreciative about this and wants me to dig deep into this rabbit hole.

A great companion piece for this book is a three-hour long podcast on datacenters https://pca.st/episode/ef8197cc-2518-.... It would make your appreciate what goes behind a ChatGPT prompt or a Netflix show or a simple Gmail search.

Highly recommend this short book.

[WiseB · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is not any deep dive into Internet cables technologies, but rather a macro perspective of the “web” of cables being a key global infrastructure component of the Internet. The author reveals how these undersea cables are not merely technical artifacts but foundational components of the modern information economy, geopolitical power, and national security.

Data flows depend on geographically fixed chokepoints, fragile seabed assets, specialized ships, and a small number of corporations and states that design, finance, deploy, and maintain cables. This physicality creates vulnerabilities including accidental damage, natural disasters, espionage, sabotage, and strategic competition. At the same time, cables enable unprecedented economic integration, real-time communication, and the scalability of modern digital services.

The book also highlights the changing political economy of undersea cables. Whereas governments once dominated cable construction for imperial and strategic reasons, private firms, particularly hyperscale cloud providers, now play a central role. This shift raises questions about sovereignty, regulation, resilience, and the balance between efficiency and security.

[Stephen Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating Look at the Internet’s Hidden Backbone — Informative but Slower-Paced”

The Web Beneath the Waves is an eye-opening look at a critical piece of global infrastructure that most of us rarely think about: the vast network of undersea cables that quietly powers the modern internet. I was genuinely intrigued by the information and found myself fascinated by how much of our daily digital life depends on these fragile lines resting on the ocean floor.

The book does an excellent job unpacking the hidden complexity behind global connectivity. The geopolitical implications alone are compelling — from national security concerns and espionage risks to sabotage threats and the vulnerability of cables to natural disasters. It’s sobering to realize how exposed and strategically important this infrastructure really is.

That said, while the subject matter is inherently dramatic, the reading experience felt slower than I expected. I found myself wishing the narrative leaned more into the tension and urgency of these real-world stakes. With higher pacing and more storytelling momentum, the book could have delivered greater adrenaline and emotional impact to match the significance of the topic.

Overall, this is a highly informative and thought-provoking read that will permanently change how you think about the internet. Readers looking for deep insight into global connectivity and infrastructure will appreciate it most, even if those hoping for a faster-paced, thriller-style narrative may find parts of it a bit measured.

[Shweta Ramdas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The trouble with an e-book is you have no sense for how large it is. After 'this divided island' and 'a dominant character', I went in expecting a tome. Halfway through the book, (just as I realised I was already halfway through the book!) it hit me that this wasn't a deep dive into the history, science and engineering acrobatics behind internet cables but an overview. And while I appreciate the deftness with which the author describes the physics of information transfer through lasers in a single paragraph, and the weaving narratives of globalization, geopolitics and technology, I came away wanting more, feeling a little let down by having been given a trailer of the undersea cabling infrastructure without having access to the full movie. Can we have the unabridged version next please?

[dan gheorghita · Rating 4 out of 5]

EN: I read this book because I work in telecoms planning terrestrial fibre networks and wanted to learn more about the underwater cables that support the global internet. I had also been looking at world maps of submarine cables to understand how data moves around the globe and how this affects cloud storage, latency, and speeds.

The book helped explain why this physical infrastructure matters so much.
The author shows how important but fragile these cables are. With the current geopolitical situation, it seems likely that cable disruptions will become more common. This makes it important to think about where your data is stored and whether you could still access it during a major outage.

Overall, this was a good and useful read, especially for people working in networking or telecoms.

[Santosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samanth beautifully puts across something that I've always felt - that the facade of our world as digital makes it so easy to forget the material nature of everything. This is a fantastic look behind the facade and at the true face of the world. The cables mark a towering achievement of humanity as a whole, though we are mostly unaware of it and take it for granted. The amount of work that goes into this and the number of people who are so dedicated to this just makes me smile in satisfaction. Great, short read!

[Cade · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited for this book because I loved Mother Earth Mother Board by Neal Stephenson. The author explicitly starts by saying this may be something of an update to Stephenson's work. Well, it ain't. This does not at all land like MEMB. It is more concerned with the geopolitics and especially "equity" of internet access rather than the interesting technical aspects of actually laying, servicing, and operating the cables.

[Pachyderm Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brief, lyrical survey of the Internet's underwater Infrastructure & the people who maintain it offers a timely reminder of the entent to which the modern world depends on a fragile filigree of subsea cables- and of the many waysin which the supposedly disembodied online world is vulnnerable to physical, commercial, and geopolitical interference.

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Submarine cables would be expected to make a very boring subject, but the author makes it thrilling. An essencial book to raise awareness to our dependence on the internet and its fragility, in particular how it is becoming controlled by a few private US corporations.

[Michael Gay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating book about that which I had never really thought about. It does however read more like an extended magazine article - and a couple of political comments slip in to reveal the journalist's bias. But all-in-all a good read.

[Miriam Murcutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, well-written and lively book about the importance the network of underseas cables plays in allowing us to surf the Internet and connect to the outside world. It's a story of good guys and bad guys, triumphs, disasters, global politics and big business. Read it. You'll be surprised.

[Sharron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise, well written, brilliant, in fact. How did I not know about the issues addressed in this book? They affect everyone on the planet, most especially those in the first world but not exclusively by any means. Next critical question - how do I get everyone I know to read this book ?

[Filip Olšovský · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful look at an unexplored topic. It has a narrative, journalistic moments, and fascinating facts. Just extend it by another 100 pages and the result will be the ultimate non-fiction book of our time, where certain topics will not be merely touched upon.

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5✨ If the narrator didn’t feel the need to put on an accent for certain interviews I would have given this a 4.75.
A nice mix of information awareness driver, nature documentary level narration and personal interviews.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read outlining the importance and incredible coverage of undersea cables and the information and data they push.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. That's all I have to say about this book and the topic in general.

[Kirby Ammons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contrived at points, but an interesting review of the topic.

[Stephen Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

very short book on sub sea fibre at present time