Lighthouses: A Pictorial History of Lighthouses Around the World

Rating:
Summary: Lovely Pictures, but That's About It!
Review: This book has superb photographs, yet there is no mention of who the photography editor was. The content is arranged in five chapters describing different geographical areas, but the 1st and 5th chapters are not very representative of their areas. The text and photos are not linked in any way: some of the lighthouses shown are not mentioned in the text and vice versa; some photos are from countries which are not otherwise mentioned at all. The text is very unsystematic, so that the writer's angle on lighthouses and navigational aids remains vague. Snippets on history, technical development, legendary rescues, etc., while interesting in themselves, are all mixed together. The book has no list of references, recommendations for further reading, or index. Most annoyingly, the text has not been properly copy-edited, so that names are misspelt, words missing, usage rules violated, and phrases poorly formulated.

If you want a better-written, more professional, yet easy-to-read book on lighthouses, I would suggest F. Ross Holland's Lighthouses (Magna Books 1995). In comparison, Marriott's book can only be recommended by the fact that all its photographs are different from Holland's.