A Maritime History

Roger Duncan recounts four hundred years of Maine's rich maritime history, from the early seafarers' discovery of its valuable resources and the families that settled the land, to Maine's role in the history of the U.S. in peacetime and in war. He traces the changes in Maine's economy over the past century: the demise of the coastal trade; the burgeoning popularity of pleasure boating after World War II; the hardships that beset the fishing and lumber industries; and the rise of tourism. This anecdotal panorama of people, land, boats, and water will absorb historians, nautical enthusiasts, and New Englanders alike.

"A sprightly history of maritime Maine through four centuries. Describing such vessels as pinnaces, shallops, clippers, and schooners, Duncan writes about privateers and pirates, shipbuilding and trade, fishermen and yachtsmen. He reports on the modern-day decline of the fishing industry and efforts at regulation and renewal, on coastal ecology, concluding with the depiction of a summer day at the shore. Saltwater sailors and boat buffs, in addition to locals, will enjoy this history."
—Publishers Weekly

$24.95 (Can. $35.99)
0-88150-555-2
6 x 9, 576 pages, paperback, 105 b & w photographs and illustrations, 18 maps, index