Flesh and Stone: Stony Creek and the Age of Granite

Rating:
Summary: Local History National Treasure
Review: On one level Flesh and Stone is the story of a nineteenth-century New England coastal town, Stony Creek, Connecticut, and its engagement with the granite industry. From riveting narrative to superb illustrations it brings art and literature to one page in such stunning detail that words on paper cannot possibly capture its great achievement. To be appreciated this book has to be read--and seen.

On a deeper level, Flesh and Stone narrates a history of America. What is "America" but a combination of towns and cities whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts? By looking intensively at one town--its people, its economy, its politics, and its environment--readers of Flesh and Stone receive a graphic sense of history from the bottom up. Ordinary people come to life and assume extraordinary significance as living, breathing, case studies in Americanization.

Readers as far away as Miami, Florida or Seattle Washington, or the mythic Cabot Cove, Maine, will see and appreciate one New England town and, in the process, come to appreciate their own local history. Ideally, superb local history like Flesh and Stone will inspire imitators across the country. They could look at no better model for how to proceed than Flesh and Stone.
Harry S. Stout
Professor of American History
Yale University

Rating:
Summary: A must for collectors
Review: The marvelous,plentiful photos plus historical information about quarries and granite make this a book that schools,libraries and collectors should own.Many professionals from geologists, physicians,historians, and others have written revealing essays for the book. There are maps (even of the original earth landmass) and the sites of various quarries. Equally important are the personal pictures and stories of the quarry workers. A book to treasure.