Sentinel of the Seas: Life and Death at the Most Dangerous Lighthouse Ever Built - Hardcover

"Masterful, comprehensive . . . Sentinel of the Seas catches feelings of a fresh sea breeze blowing through eons of time. From its creation like a castle in the ocean, the history of St. George's Reef lighthouse, full of drama, is an intriguing story of men against the sea." --Jim Gibbs, author of Pacific Graveyard and Peril at Sea; owner/operator, Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse, Yachats, Oregon

"A page-turning thriller that pits man against nature; a true story of raging seas and ghost ships; an entertaining and informative read." -- Tim Wohlforth, author of No Time to Mourn

"Waves of danger and drama crash over this gripping account of the building of the St. George Reef lighthouse, taking the reader on an action-packed roller-coaster ride that shines a lasting light on the indomitable human spirit. Dennis Powers, with meticulous research, powerfully presents the brilliant and fearless Superintendent Ballantyne in his ongoing challenges with unpredictable weather, the federal bureaucracy, and concerns for his workers in a most memorable way." --Sandra MacLean Clunies, Historian, Chesapeake Chapter, U.S. Lighthouse Society

"From the moment I opened Sentinel of the Seas, I found myself aboard the little top-sail schooner La Ninfa, soaking wet, clutching the rail, wondering how anyone could survive, much less erect a lighthouse on that wave-battered spire of hell known as St. George Reef. Author Dennis M. Powers satisfied my curiosity step by step with an amazing amount of research. This is a must for historians, lighthouse aficionados, and armchair travelers." --Don Marshall, author of California Shipwrecks

"Sentinel of the Seas is a magnificent story of hardship, isolation, and human achievement . . . Powers takes you on a remarkable journey to the remotest of lighthouses while providing powerful insights into the struggles and heroics of the men who have dedicated their lives to protect mariners from the dreaded `Dragon Rocks.'"-- James Clifford, author of Double Daggers

"Dennis Powers is one of the more masterful nonfiction writers today. He proves it with Sentinel of the Seas, a thrilling account of the steel-willed men who built the St. George Reef Lighthouse on an ocean-scoured speck of rock miles from solid land, and of the keepers who combated storms and maddening isolation so its warning light would remain burning. I'm still shivering from the cold sea spray."--Phil Scott, author of Hemingway's Hurricane

"Sentinel of the Seas is an absorbing narrative about the spectacular and dangerous engineering feat required to build and maintain the St. George Reef Lighthouse. This story of the men who conquered the sea with engineering and fortitude is a classic American tale told in impressive detail. It also gives pause to any of us who ever wildly imagined being (or marrying) a lighthouse keeper." --Cherie Burns, author of The Great Hurricane: 1938

"With Sentinel of the Seas, Powers completes a trilogy on the amazing maritime history surrounding Crescent City. A fitting tribute to the men who toiled, suffered, and even sacrificed all to build and keep America's most expensive lighthouse is finally available. chronicle of one of marine engineering's greatest achievements―the struggle to build a lighthouse on a wave-washed shelf of rock off the coast of Northern California. Dennis Powers' bittersweet story of this monolith of metal and stone reads like a novel, minus the fiction."--Elinor DeWire, author of The Lightkeepers' Menagerie and Guardians of the Lights

"This is great adventure reading, brilliantly written. I highly recommend Sentinel of the Seas to everyone who loves epic adventure stories of nautical history."-- Richard R. Blake for Reader Views

"A uniquely comprehensive, extensively researched maritime history. . . . A fascinating, informative tale related with powerful, intimate urgency."--Kirkus Reviews

One of the most rugged expanses in the continental U.S., the coast of northern California and Oregon saw frequent shipping disasters in the 19th century, before Congress ordered the construction of lighthouses on such dangerous promontories as Heceta Head, Cape Mendocino and a seaward-trending pile of rocks called St. George Reef. The brave, resourceful engineer who directed the Tillamook Rock lighthouse construction, Alexander Ballantyne, was later engaged for the St. George job, and it's this story that author Powers (Treasure Ship) chronicles here. Without any maps to illustrate it, however, readers will need an atlas to follow the movement of men and ships up and down the coast. Later chapters describing lighthouse life prove less problematic; lighthouse keepers were fascinating, courageous characters (and included a good number of women) who not only kept lights burning and fog horns sounding, but also risked life and limb to rescue people stranded in torrential weather. Unfortunately, Powers' wordy style does not do his subjects justice, making this a less-than-enjoyable read despite a worthy topic.
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