On a River

This book explores a small tidal river that enters Massachusetts Bay between Boston and Plymouth. It is the first state-designated scenic river, brimming with history from pre-colonial times.

It survived state-approved plans to dam the river and develop its extensive salt marshes.

Its story informs our future in a world of climate change.

• Tales of the river and its amazing people (and fish) -- shipbuilders, toolmakers, storytellers, ministers, river pilots, fishermen, farmers, salt hayers, scientists, and politicians John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster

• More than 140 images, some rare, including before, and after, the 1898 storm that transformed the river

• Highly readable writing, about 300 pages, with thorough endnotes

• Deep research on environmental issues

Lyle graduated from Dartmouth College and Boston University School of Law. He retired as a lawyer and turned independent scholar and historian. He wrote and published books on historical topics. They include Summer Suffragists (2020), On a Cliff (2021), Ditching the Marshes (2022) and (with Gary Banks and Bill Richardson) Seacoast Scituate By Air (2022). His writing has been published in scholarly and other journals, as well as in a state database, where he documented more than 50 historical buildings in the greater Boston area.