Around America: A Tour of Our Magnificent Coastline - Hardcover

Cronkite, Walter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786237457 ISBN 13: 9780786237456

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 2001

Synopsis

Here we Travel with Walter Cronkite, one of our most trusted and erudite guides, around the coastline of America, to which so much of our history belongs. Along the way, we encounter the places and people, past and present, that have shaped or are shaping our country.

At nearly the easternmost tip of Maine we are told of the first British war ship captured during the Revolution, by the good folks of Machias, who used pitchforks because they had no muskets. We learn that the islands off the coast of Texas are among the nation's great sanctuaries for migrating birds. And we're introduced to Fort Ross, on California's Redwood Coast, a replica of the Russian settlement established in 1812 as a fur trading post, but with dreams of expanding the Russian empire.

In this rich and compelling travelogue we can almost hear Cronkite's smooth cadences spinning stories and offering up little-known facts about the coastlines he loves.

About this title

Review

This slim, enjoyable book is similar to the best kind of evening news broadcast: short on depth, yet long on charm, and featuring enough compelling anecdotes and interesting facts to inspire further investigation. In Around America, legendary anchorman Walter Cronkite presents a historical tour of much of America's nearly 5,000 miles of coastline. From the helm of his sailboat Wyntje, he offers tales of shipwrecks, naval battles, and navigational near-misses, as well as such memorable quips as "If you are a sailor, it is not a good thing to have a rock named after you." He's obviously much more familiar with the northeastern coast than the other places he describes, but even his enthusiastic, if light, take on the western and gulf coasts makes for pleasant armchair navigating. He also paints a rich montage of the 1,245-mile Intracoastal Waterway stretching from Norfolk, Virginia, to Key West, Florida, in which he describes both the culture of the waterfront communities he passes and the deep historical significance of the region.

In this engaging book, Cronkite proves that the water need not be deep to be teaming with life, and he offers an amusing anecdote, colorful character, or historical tidbit on nearly every page. At its core, Around America is a labor of love by a mariner in his twilight still happily searching for hidden American harbors. --Shawn Carkonen

About the Author

Walter Cronkite, former CBS News anchor, has narrated TV specials and written an autobiography. He has sailed most of the coastline he writes about here. He lives in New York and Martha's Vineyard.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Pr
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0786237457
• ISBN 13: 9780786237456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 319
• Illustrator: Canright David