Items related to The lighthouse Stevensons
Spine creased, pag edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Bella Bathurst is a freelance journalist whose portfolio includes work for the Observer, Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Independent on Sunday, Guardian, Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.
Review:
'Deeply accomplished... this splendid book preserves the memory of great deeds performed in a heroic era' Frank McLynn, Sunday Times 'Bella Bathurst has built a lamp herself: it illuminates the work of a literary hero, a family business, a habit of mind and a Scottish period... from the summit of this first terrific book she looks to become one of the best biographers of her generation' Andrew O'Hagan, The Times 'An enthralling story, vivaciously recounted... These were epic and scarifying adventures, indicative of an age when the taming of nature was a philosophical given, its execution a religious passion' Alan Taylor, Observer 'A fine and scrupulous book... Robert Louis Stevenson would have relished the tale told here' Ian Bell, Scotsman 'This is a grand book doing for lighthouses what Dava Sobel's Longitude did for marine chronometers, and doing it, if comparisons are to be made, with considerably more panache' Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Telegraph
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherFlamingo
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 0006530761
- ISBN 13 9780006530763
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages284
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 27.11
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
The lighthouse Stevensons
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. I for one had no idea that the 14 lighthouses dotting the Scottish coast were all built by the same Stevenson family that produced Robert Louis Stevenson, Scotland's most famous novelist. But Bella Bathurst throws a powerful, revolving light into the darkness of this historical tradition. <br /><br />Robert Louis was a sickly fellow, and - unlike the rest of his strong-willed, determined family - certainly not up to the astonishing rigours of lighthouse building, all of which are vividly described here. <br /><br />To build these towering structures in the most inhospitable places imaginable (such as the aptly named Cape Wrath), using only 19th-century technology is an achievement that beggars belief. The comparison that comes to mind is with the pyramid building of ancient Egypt. <br /><br />For instance, we learn that the ground rocks for the Skerryvore lighthouse were prepared by hand (even though the "gneiss could blunt a pick in three blows") in waves and winds "strong enough to lift a man bodily off the rock" and that "it took 120 hours to dress a single stone for the outside of the tower and 320 hours to dress one of the central stones. In total 5000 tons of stone were quarried and shipped" - and all by hand. It is mind-boggling stuff: you'll look at lighthouses with a new respect. <br /> - Adam Roberts. Seller Inventory # DADAX0006530761
Buy New
US$ 27.11
Convert currency