Nantucket, the Life of an Island, by Edwin P. Hoyt (Brattleboro, Vt., The Stephen Greene Press, 1978, 209 pp., ill., $11.95). This new book on a fabled island is pure delight, from its attractive map cover to its extensive bibliography. It brings the number of books in print about Nantucket to 16, up from four only a decade ago. The interest in Nantucket shows no sign of abating. Why? Perhaps because the island's history of eary prosperity and hardship is unusual; perhaps because it failed so completely to replace whaling with any other endeavor after the 1860s, leaving us a time capsule of streets and buildings from that era; perhaps because it is one of the last frontiers of unspoiled vacation land-and perhaps also because Nantucket is an island, self sufficient and removed from the rest of the world. Edwin Hoyt says that everyone discovers Nantucket in his own way. I discovered it with cameras-others have their own approach. The process of discovery is most rewarding, and this book should encourage anyone not familiar with the island to explore further. Nantucket's history includes a fascinating 200-year span from 1659 to 1859. Thomas Macy (from whom R. H. Macy descended) moved there from the mainland in order to be free from the harassment by Puritans. He had been fined for giving shelter to some Quakers during a thundershower. They were forced into whaling because the soil on the island was poor, and by the early 1700s had been overworked. They began by sighting whales from the island, but gradually the farmers went further out to sea and eventually became true sailors in a profitable but arduous business. Hoyt's book is full of excellent stories. These include accounts of hardship , especially during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Nantucket depended on trade with England and was in a difficult position in both wars. At times the islanders ran out of firewood and food, but after both periods of decline they came back to a greater level of prosperity than before. They were fiercely independent souls. As Hoyt says, the sea around them was "barrier as well as provider." The book takes us into the 20th Century, beyond the point where most others leave off. We see the discovery of historical" interest in the island in the 1920s and the tone set by Everett Crosby in the 1940s to prevent the development of a Coney Island atmosphere. Hoyt says, "through vigilance and care ... Nantucket has remained more unspoiled SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1980
than virtually any other similar place in America.'' The old was to be preserved, the garish avoided and commercialism disguised. No neon signs for the shopsonly quarterboards. We are fortunate in the vision of these people and others, like the historian Edouard Stackpole and the enlightened developer Walter Beinecke, which allows us to discover for ourselves the extraordinary beauty and unique history of the island whose story is well told in this welcome book. ROBERT GAMBEE Mr. Gambee, a New York writer and photographer, is the author of two books on islands, Nantucket Island and Manhattan Seascape. George Washington's Coast Guard, by Irving H . King (Annapolis, US Naval Institute, 1978, 229 pp ., Illus., $10.95). No one will be surprised to learn that the US Revenue Cutter Service, predecessor to today's Coast Guard, was authorized the smallest possible vessels which could do the job. Nor will it be a surprise to many, that there was considerable variation in the cutters which were built. The cost overruns during the building of the cutter for Philadelphia begins a familiar refrain, but there is a surprise ending to this: the Collector of Customs, Sharp Delaney, and the citizens of Philadelphia paid the extra costs out of their own pockets! Other familiar themes in this compact history are the nation's hurried arming in the face of military threat from abroad and the rapid demobilization of the newly created defense forces as soon as the threat is removed. Included too are smugglers who sound very much like those from the Prohibition Era. This fine little book is crammed with information-but it would have made a better big book . Repeatedly I wondered just what happened in some of the events sketched only briefly. What was it like to keep station off the coast in a cutter about the size of a lifeboat on a modern ocean liner? Were there no comical irv;idents which came to light during the research? And why, oh why, was not Alexander Hamilton's letter to the Collectors of Customs reproduced large enough to be read? Small faults and limitations aside, this is a valuable book for students of seafaring history and the early naval history of the United States. ROBERT STRICKLAND Mr. Strickland, former director of the Wyoming State Museum, grew up on, and on occasion in the Hudson River, where he built a brigantine from a lifeboat and dories which proved cranky.
THREE FASCINATING ASPECTS OF SEA HISTORY • 19th-Century Reforms • Yachting History • Early U-Boats OUR SEAMEN· AN APPEAL By Samuel Plimsoll, MP Reproduced from the original edition of 1873. A reprint of one of the most important maritime books ever published . Plimsoll's appeal caused a sensation, revealing the scandalo us practices of shipowners and insurance companies, and changed the course of m aritime history. l lOpp., illustrated, large fo rmat , cloth, $16.50
AN INTRODUCTION TO YACHTING By L. Francis Herreshoff An illustrated history of yachting from 6000 BC to the era of the great steam yachts. Reissue of the 1963 edition. 189pp., illustrated, large format, cloth, $30.00
THREE BEFORE BREAKFAST A true and dramatic account of how a German U-boat sank three British cruisers in one desperate hour. By Alan Coles A vivid account of one of the first U-boat battles at the beginning of World War I. 192pp., illustrated, cloth, $13.50
-and an American classic SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD By Captain Joshua Slocum With original illustrations by Thomas Fogarty and George Varian. Introduction by Walter Magnes Teller. 294pp., illustrated, cloth, $8.50
SHERIDAN HOUSE INC. Publishers 175 Orawaupum St. White Plains, NY 10606 41