David H. - , reviewed on + 174 more book reviews
Primarily the history of the construction of a ring of lighthouses around the northern half of Scotland from about 1760 through the late 1900s. Follows the four generations of the Stevenson family whose leading men in each generation were lighthouse engineers. RLS was trained first as an engineer and then as a lawyer and then followed his own star as a wanderer and a writer. He gave great praises however to his engineering ancestors in their efforts to make Scotland safe for shipping and seafaring. Story is well told and fun to read, and you'll learn more about the building of lighthouses than you ever thought you didn't know.