America's Lighthouses: An Illustrated History (Dover Maritime) [Paperback]

Francis Ross Holland Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1988 | Series: Dover Maritime

Profusely illustrated fact-filled survey of American lighthouses since 1716. Includes over 200 stations — East, Gulf, and West coasts, Great Lakes, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Mississippi and St. Lawrence Rivers. The author also traces the development of the lighthouse from the Pharos of Alexandria to today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (February 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 048625576X
• ISBN-13: 978-0486255767
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 300,000 candlepower of great American History., April 2, 2000

By 

DJ Rix (NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America's Lighthouses: An Illustrated History (Dover Maritime) (Paperback)

America's Lighthouses is not a coffee table book with romanticized, full-color photos of the Portland Head Light at sunset. Holland has written a history, & a very good one.

He begins with a summary of the lighthouse in western world history, including the Pharos of Alexandria & the excellent designs created by the British & French.

The reader will come away from this book with an understanding of various systems used to create & magnify light. We learn that the late adoption of the Fresnel lense in America was due to a short-sighted federal government bureaucrat.

The American lighthouse system shaped up with the creation of the Lighthouse Board in 1854.

Holland gives up a clear picture of the keeper's difficult life & the specific duties & routines he or she had to follow.

Following an informative chapter on lightships, Holland takes us on a chronological & regional tour of America's lighthouses, covering dates of operations & architectural types, renovations, & including anecdotal highlights of a station's history.

America's Lighthouses has 100 black & white photos & illustrations - many of them quite extraordinary; 16 architectural line drawings & 8 maps. This is a wonderful book, educational yet filled with the drama of real life at the edge of our oceans & inland seas. Bargain-priced from Dover, too.

Bob Rixon

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very informative book. Interesting and informative., August 16, 1999

By 

[e-mail] ( Leigh R. Hennig) (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America's Lighthouses: An Illustrated History (Dover Maritime) (Paperback)

Overall a very good book. Not only covers lighthouses but lightships and fog signals as well. Most of the major lighthouses were very well covered, however some of the lesser known ones were not as well covered. The book is a little sparse with pictures, but what pictures it does have are very good. A comprehensive chart listing the charactaristics of the lights covered would be nice. I would not hesitate to purchase this book.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History of Lighthouses, August 8, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: America's Lighthouses: An Illustrated History (Dover Maritime) (Paperback)

F. Ross Holland's book is one of the most historically complete books on lighthouses in America. He covers all of the most well known lights and recounts the history of lighthouses in general as well as of many of the individual lights. One chapter, entitled "The Keepers Life," takes some of the romance out of that long lost profession and presents the real life drudgery of those who kept the flame. Holland's book has numerous archetectural drawings and maps of lighthouse locations, but it does not have much in the way of good photographs. All of the pictures, in fact, are in black and white. Still, Holland's book is a great place to start to begin to understand the history of lighthouses.