Brilliant Beacons, Eric Jay Dolin
Brilliant Beacons, Eric Jay Dolin
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Brilliant Beacons
A History of the American Lighthouse

Author: Eric Jay Dolin

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 14 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/18/2016

Synopsis

In a work rich in maritime lore and brimming with original historical detail, Eric Jay Dolin, the bestselling author of Leviathan, presents the most comprehensive history of American lighthouses ever written, telling the story of America through the prism of its beloved coastal sentinels. Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, Brilliant Beacons traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system, highlighting the political, military, and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation's hardscrabble coastlines. In rollicking detail, Dolin treats listeners to a memorable cast of characters, including the penny-pinching Treasury official Stephen Pleasonton, who hamstrung the country's efforts to adopt the revolutionary "Fresnel Lens," and presents tales both humorous and harrowing of soldiers, saboteurs, ruthless egg collectors, and most importantly, the light-keepers themselves.

About Eric Jay Dolin

Eric Jay Dolin is the author of fourteen books. His most recent is A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes, which received a number of accolades, including being chosen by the Washington Post as one of 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2020, by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2020 (in addition to being a Kirkus Prize finalist), by the Library Journal and Booklist as one of the Best Science & Technology Books of 2020, and by the New York Times Book Review as an "Editor's Choice." His other books include Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, which was chosen as one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2007 by the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe, and also won the 2007 John Lyman Award for U.S. Maritime History; and Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates, which was chosen as a "Must-Read" book for 2019 by the Massachusetts Center for the Book, and was a finalist for the 2019 Julia Ward Howe Award given by the Boston Author's Club. A graduate of Brown, Yale, and MIT, where he received his PhD in environmental policy, Dolin lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with his family.

Reviews

Goodreads review by James on January 26, 2017

This is a great book! Eric Dolin is the master of doing grand, sweeping histories. I was never much interested in lighthouses, but this book kept me turning pages, particularly as the author is so good about integrating the story with the larger history of what's going on in the country. Like any we......more

Goodreads review by Josh on October 03, 2016

If Dennis Noble's Lighthouses and Keepers: The U.S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy was the best synthesis of US lighthouse history, Brilliant Beacons is the closest we've come to a true monograph on the same subject. In 422 pages, Dolin presents a moderately comprehensive history from colonial ti......more

Goodreads review by C.P. on August 04, 2019

This was a fascinating and informative read about lighthouses in the United States. Full of stories about keepers, builders, the lenses, lighthouses during war times, the perils of the sea, and a lot of history in general, this is an important look at the history of our nation. This is very well wri......more

Goodreads review by Tim on September 18, 2022

A really good, well-researched, and amply illustrated history of lighthouses in the United States, including the development of lighthouse technology and architecture and the saga of individual lighthouses and lighthouse keepers. Writing was never dry and was very informative, the author doing a gre......more

Goodreads review by Dave on May 06, 2016

A detailed book, telling of the 300 yrs America's shores illuminated by light houses. Perhaps a book, only a Coastie who spent 16 mos. with some lighthouse involvement and others who love to see these saviors of the seamen would enjoy. Some dates: 1883, Uniforms for keepers, 1896, getting keeper job......more

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