A thorough and engaging history of Maines rocky coast and its tough-minded people.Boston Herald
[A] well-researched and well-written cultural and ecological history of stubborn perseverance.USA Today
For more than four hundred years the people of coastal Maine have clung to their rocky, wind-swept lands, resisting outsiders attempts to control them while harvesting the astonishing bounty of the Gulf of Maine. Todays independent, self-sufficient lobstermen belong to the communities imbued with a European sense of ties between land and people, but threatened by the forces of homogenization spreading up the eastern seaboard.
In the tradition of William Warners Beautiful Swimmers, veteran journalist Colin Woodard (author ofAmerican Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good) traces the history of the rugged fishing communities that dot the coast of Maine and the prized crustacean that has long provided their livelihood. Through forgotten wars and rebellions, and with a deep tradition of resistance to interference by people from away, Maines lobstermen have defended an earlier vision of America while defying the tragedy of the commonsthe notion that people always overexploit their shared property. Instead, these icons of American individualism represent a rare example of true communal values and collaboration through grit, courage, and hard-won wisdom.
