Customer Reviews

Islands in Time: A Natural and Cultural History of the Islands of the Gulf of Maine

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This is a beautiful book--I'm sorry to see that no one has commented on it yet. It gives a wealth of information about the geology, ecology, and ecosystem of coastal Maine, but even better, it's written in a style that often verges on the poetic. Can't recommend it highly enough.

I'm just finishing my first read of this book, and all I want to do is go back to the beginning and read it all again. This book is filled with people, history, nature, fascinating anecdote, gorgeous prose, introspective rumination, and too much rich information to even begin to digest in one reading. Conkling is a scientist comfortable with an amazing array of subjects and he is also a humanist and pretty-nearly a poet. I have a tendency to fall into the bleeding-heart environmentalist category, and while not offending my sensibilities in the least (he loves nature with a passion), he opened my eyes to many valid coastal points of view among the lobstermen, fishermen, and others. I changed my mind about a number of things while reading his book and I love Maine even more as a result of reading it. Lovely, informative, fascinating book! I'm one of those English-major types and a writer, and Conkling has not only increased my respect for science but has shown me how beautifully the arts and sciences can blend in a thoughtful, productive, earth-changing way.

When Phil Conkling came out with the first edition of Islands in Time he more or less created a genre of Human Ecological writing that was actually of use to a wide audience. Mixing history, geology, ecology and geography with a healthy dose of the story-tellers whimsy the book has become something of a cult classic for many of us in the Archipelago. Unfortunately the second edition is a bit of a step backward. It's big. too big. The first edition fitted comfortably in a daypack -this seems aimed more at coffee tables. It's chatty, and I think that a rather savage editor would have worked wonders. We get a bit too much of the "and-then-Raven-gave-a-thump-as-she-ran-over-the-puffin" style of writing & it tends to distract us from some really good stories & the solid history/natural history that shone so clearly from the first edition. That being said, if you are only going to take one book with you Downeast & are going the whole way Downeast, and can't find the first edition, get this.