The Bookshelf: Jan. 27, 2016

Trib+Water is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of water studies. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

BRILLIANT BEACONS: A History of the American Lighthouse

by Eric Jay Dolin

Dolin … 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. … Throughout the book, Dolin ties together important strands to the lighthouse story: the federal government took over from the states the building and upkeep of lighthouses with the Lighthouse Act of 1789, indicating the importance of the institution yet also putting the oversight at the “rule of ignorant and incompetent men” … A delightful journey with excellent sketches, renderings, and resources for museums and organizations.

For the full review, visit kirkus.com.