Ray Jones (1) (1948–)

First Line: Every form of human enterprise has passed through a halcyon epoch fondly remembered as a "golden age."

Tim Harrison (publisher and editor of Lighthouse Digest magazine and president of the American Lighthouse Foundation) and Ray Jones (writer or co-writer of many books about lighthouses) know their stuff. They've compiled an impressive collection of vintage photographs and fascinating history that will make any lover of lighthouses smile.

Not only are the lighthouses themselves show more showcased, but the work lives and day-to-day existence of lighthouse keepers and their families are also discussed. Being a lighthouse lover myself, I greatly enjoyed this book, although I do have one small quibble with it: the vast majority of lighthouses mentioned in this book are on the Eastern seaboard, and in particular, New England.

Although I would have preferred more mentions of lighthouses on the West coast, this is a wonderful compilation of photos and history that would be a welcome addition to any lighthouse lover's library. show less

I have always liked lighthouses so acquiring this book was a nice edition to my collection. It is more of a coffee table book, but I finally sat down and went thru the entire book. Very nice book with some nice photos. The listing of included lighthouses, while seemingly a lot, is only a sample of those around the world. For 15 years I lived about 6 miles from a historic lighthouse in Oregon. And 40 miles from the next nearest lighthouse. But neither were mentioned so I was slightly show more disappointed. In order to list all the lighthouses in the world, the book would probably be 3 times as thick so the situation is understood. Still a nice book. The book that covers all known or past lighthouses is yet another future acquisition. show less

This book pretty much does what it says it's going to do, and does it well. The front matter could be a little more explicit about how inclusive it is, and how the lighthouses were selected, assuming that it is not exhaustive. Each lighthouse gets a short text and a picture or two, almost always a photograph. There are a few pages of general text at the beginning and at the end.

Legendary Lighthouses
PBS Special and this one covers facts about houses themselves, the people that lived in them and other fun facts about
not only the northeast lighthouses but ones on west coast-which we've seen a few and ones from the great lakes.
Castles by the sea sums it up. Not sure what the fascination is with me: prisms in the lenses, remote areas or help they provide to mariners.
Didn't realize we have visited a large majority of the lighthouses not only on the east coast but the show more west coast. show less