Eric Jay Dolin is the author of 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 Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. He is also the author of When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail. A graduate of Brown, Yale, and MIT, where he received his Ph.D. in environmental policy, he lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children.
"A marvelously interesting and entertaining narrative…A skillful
dramatist of such events, Dolin is as good a portraitist of
characters who built and kept lighthouses…Dolin moves forward to
chronicle the construction of numerous impressive towers in wildly
windswept, picturesque settings. These classic lighthouses,
featured in the book’s many illustrations, and the keepers’ tales
attached to them exert an ineffably romantic attraction richly
conveyed in Dolin’s admirable presentation."
*Booklist (starred review)*
"The author of other masterly works on key aspects of American
history and growth (Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of
the Fur Trade in America, 2010, etc.), Dolin here presents a
thoughtful, straightforward chronicle of the American lighthouse,
from the earliest, completed in 1716 at Little Brewster, in Boston
Harbor, as a harbinger of burgeoning Colonial maritime growth, to
the death of the last civilian keeper—at the Coney Island
Lighthouse—in 2003…A delightful journey with excellent sketches,
renderings, and resources for museums and organizations."
*Kirkus Reviews (starred review)*
"Here we have a full-bodied and fabulous history of one of
America's most scenic and formative icons, the coastal beacons that
defined a young nation’s economic drive and determination to own
the seas. Readers familiar with the irresistible narratives Dolin
delivered in Leviathan or Fur, Fortune, and Empire can be confident
that he has now done the same for the riveting history of America's
lighthouses."
*Rinker Buck, author of Flight of Passage and The Oregon Trail*
"Eric Jay Dolin has crafted a master work of research and
storytelling. Brilliant Beacons is a fascinating ride through the
rich history of lighthouses as strategic prizes in war, sources of
technological innovation, and inspiration for architectural
ingenuity that combines grace and strength. This is a book for
anyone who has gazed with awe upon the sea."
*Brian Murphy, author of 81 Days Below Zero*
"Eric Jay Dolin looks beyond the postcard romance of lighthouses to
reveal a vibrant and vital history. From shipwrecks and wartime
raids to poetry, bird migration, and the physics of refraction,
Brilliant Beacons is a fascinating, page-turning, and, yes,
illuminating read."
*Thor Hanson, author of The Triumph of Seeds and Feathers*
"Brilliant Beacons is the best history of American lighthouses ever
written."
*Jeremy D’Entremont, historian at the American Lighthouse
Foundation, and author of numerous lighthouse books*
"What better place to watch the United States taking shape than
from its lighthouses? And what better author to take us to them
than Eric Jay Dolin? With his usual narrative flair and wonderfully
entertaining writing style, Dolin sheds all sorts of new light on
American history."
*Toby Lester, author of The Fourth Part of the World and Da Vinci’s
Ghost*
"This meticulously researched and fascinating book isn’t just for
maritime history buffs but for all of us who appreciate
little-known tales of days gone by."
*Michael Tougias, author of A Storm Too Soon and coauthor of The
Finest Hours*
"No other book on the topic is as detailed and well written.
Brilliant Beacons should be required reading for anyone interested
in American history."
*Tim Harrison, founder and editor of Lighthouse Digest*
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