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Stone By Stone: The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls (Hardcover)

~ Robert Thorson (Author) "ABANDONED STONE WALLS ARE THE SIGNATURES OF RURAL New England..." (more)
Key Phrases: most stone walls, interval lands, northeastern woodlands, New England, New Hampshire, New York (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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  Kindle Edition, May 26, 2009 $9.99 -- --
  Hardcover, July 31, 2002 -- $499.00 $16.65
  Paperback, February 29, 2004 $10.17 $8.83 $3.82

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"To know New England well, one must know its stone walls," writes the author of this authoritative paean to the structures he calls the "signatures of rural New England." There were once approximately 240,000 miles of stone walls in New England, and Thorson, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Connecticut, combines natural history and human history as he tells the story of the walls and how they were built. In his geo-archeological study, he begins by exploring how the stones, formed deep within the earth, were shaped and scattered by glaciation, buried under forest and soil buildup, brought to the surface after the New England pioneers cut down the trees and exposed the soil to frost heave, and tossed to the sides of their fields by early farmers clearing the land. He finds these tossed walls, which make up the majority of stone walls in New England, as aesthetically pleasing as the carefully constructed walls that came later. Every type of stone wall fascinates him. He extols their color, form and texture, the sounds they make, the shelter they provide for animals, their beauty as they disintegrate. As agriculture declined in the region, the walls were neglected, and today they are "almost as sad as they are simple," he says, for they are evidence of a lost Yankee culture. Now most of the walls have been abandoned, and their stones have become a cash crop to be sold and often carried far away from their original locations, which Thorson considers an "environmental tragedy." His book covers much technical material, but his enthusiasm for the subject brings it to life. Copious notes, extensive bibliography and an appendix with geologic time lines are included. Illus. not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal

As Thorson writes in his introduction, "Abandoned stone walls are the signatures of rural New England." The only national fencing census, made in 1871, estimated that there were approximately 240,000 miles of these "signatures." In telling their story, Thorson (geology and geophysics, Univ. of Connecticut) weaves together cultural and environmental histories with geography and natural science. With explanations written for a general rather than an academic readership, the author describes how the size, shape, and color of stones indicate how and where they were formed. These stones, as a natural resource of New England, shaped the culture of the region, beginning with the soil movement that yielded the stones from the ground. The resulting walls created microclimates and supported plant life while delineating property boundaries of the small family farms. Thorson traces the growth and decline of the farms and discusses the technological changes that resulted in the transition from an agricultural to an industrial nation. The author knows his subject thoroughly and communicates his enthusiasm. His intriguing book is best suited to public libraries and essential for libraries in New England.
Denise Hamilton, Franklin Pierce Coll. Lib., Rindge, NH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Walker & Company; 1ST edition (August 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0802713947
  • ISBN-13: 978-0802713940
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #744,405 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Robert M. Thorson
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
ABANDONED STONE WALLS ARE THE SIGNATURES OF RURAL New England. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
most stone walls, interval lands, northeastern woodlands, ice margin, frost heaving, stone boat, rift zone, fieldstone walls
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New England, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Laurentide Ice Sheet, Cape Cod, Native Americans, American Revolution, Connecticut River Valley, North America, United States, Henry David Thoreau, Long Island, New Haven, Timothy Dwight, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Civil War, Old World, Plymouth Plantation, Robert Frost, Samuel Deane, John Stilgoe, New London, Sam Deane, William Cronon
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
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 (3)
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 (2)
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Solidly Magnificent, November 22, 2003
By M. Packo (Stratford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
"The stone walls of New England stand guard against a future
that seems to be coming too quickly. They urge us to slow down
and to recall the past."

This is only one of the many observations that Professor Thorson
concludes his marvelous book with. I must admit that his final,
summarizing chapter actually brought a tear to my eye - hardly
to be expected from a book on geology and regional history
mixed with, amongst other topics, some anthropology.

In other words this book has enough of everything to satisfy
every curiosity you might have about those tumbled down rows
of stones found in just about every New England forest and
suburb. A surprising wealth of information on numerous topics.
Fascinating scientific and cultural and historical background -
far more than one would ever expect to encounter considering
the topic. And Professor Thorson's writing style is commendably
clear and readable, with a poet's affection for his topic.

Quite simply one of the best nonfiction books I think I have ever
read (and I read quite a lot), for its perfect fusion of research, understanding and sentiment.

Almost an answer to my prayers during so many long, wandering and wondering forest walks.
I encourage you to read this book.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars More Geology Than Walls, May 23, 2003
By Richard A. Mitchell "Rick Mitchell" (candia, new hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
When I picked up this book I thought: "How can an entire book be written about stones walls?" As it turns out the author did not write an entire book about stone walls.

The author gives us the hisory of stone walls starting with the formation of the earth, through formation of rocks, the ice age and finally American history. There is actually more about geology that stone walls themselves, although the author tried mightily to write a few hundred pages about them.

The geology and history is well-written and interesting. I learned quite about when walls were generally built and how the stones came to be that comprised them. However, the last third or so of the book - that part devoted to the walls themselves was often redundant. It seemed the author was searching for words to fill the pages and stretching - like the last pages of a term paper you know should be eight pages but you have to make the assigned ten pages.

A chapter on builders and technique would have been more useful than the stretched parts.

There are pearls of interesting history and I am not sorry I read the book. I just wished it had been shorter by an excision of the redundancies and "stretches".

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, read it!, March 15, 2003
By Scott Sauchuk (Plympton, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a book that I would like to give 5 stars, but then what would I give a book like Brothers Karamazov? Although written by a geologist, this is not a textbook for Physical Geology 101. In addition to the obligatory couple of chapters on formation of the rocks, which are exceptionally well-written, this book describes the cultural history and settlement of New England from the Pilgrims to the present day with interesting sidebars on ecology, agriculture, the environment, physics, and even poetry and painting.

A geologist has the remarkable ability to take small outcrop and reconstruct an intricate and detailed geologic history, often rich with mountains, volcanoes, former ocean basins, earthquakes, extinct creatures, and the like. Thorson applies this storytelling ability, which combines art and science, to stonewalls, but he never strays so far from the facts that any of his conjectures become unbelievable.

As a farmer, I am impressed with Thorson's thorough and accurate understanding of agriculture from the past up to the present day. This is important since agricultural development was the reason that the stones became so abundant and the walls were built. The book also contains some interesting discussions on urban verses rural life, including the recent development of "ruburbia", a blend of the suburbs and country that is taking over rural New England (including the town in which I live).

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful- Geological, Historical and Poetic
This book covers both the geological and historical elements of the New England stone walls. Very broad but not over broad, he covers the many different types of walls and their... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Tyler V. Stewart

5.0 out of 5 stars Why New England's Stone Walls Must Be Protected
Since I returned "home" to Connecticut, I have become fascinated by the stone walls to be found everywhere here and throughout New England. Read more
Published 9 months ago by John-Manuel Andriote

2.0 out of 5 stars Messy Work
I became so angry at one paragraph of Mr. Thorson's book, that I decided to write a review attacking it. Read more
Published on July 10, 2005 by A Karamazov

5.0 out of 5 stars Densely enjoyable
Thorson's discussion of frost heave is so wonderful I no longer resent picking those damn rocks out of the garden. Read more
Published on March 1, 2005 by Craig V. Koebelin

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and comprehensive
This is a wonderful book. It blends science, history and art to create an interesting perspective on the stone walls of New England. Read more
Published on December 7, 2003 by Mark Calandra

3.0 out of 5 stars Neat Trash
Thorson presents his case for the annual crop of stones on New England farms from an historical perspective and from his expertise in geophysics and geology. Read more
Published on April 26, 2003 by nancyyipes

2.0 out of 5 stars a bit disjointed, but admirable
a good effort, and an admirable topic. but from thorson's approach, it turns out like a poorly built wall: some good pieces here and there, but the overall effect is disjointed... Read more
Published on March 5, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkably thought-provoking book
As a native New Englander, I have long held stone walls to be an intrinsic element of life. I remember playing as a child on the rows of grey rocks marking out fields on my... Read more
Published on December 4, 2002 by Bruce Trinque

4.0 out of 5 stars Creation in geological terms
A well researched story on how stones were made. It's almost like reading the story of creation but in geological terms. Read more
Published on November 9, 2002 by martykyj

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