The Lighthouse Stevensons

click here for more details, find new or used items

Bella Bathurst

Used from £0.89

Pages: 256 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0002570068

Pub: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Pub date: 1999-04-06

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 332100

Editorial Review:

I for one had no idea that the 14 lighthouses dotting the Scottish coast were all built by the same Stevenson family that produced Robert Louis Stevenson, Scotland's most famous novelist. But Bella Bathurst throws a powerful, revolving light into the darkness of this historical tradition. Robert Louis was a sickly fellow, and--unlike the rest of his strong- willed, determined family--certainly not up to the astonishing rigours of lighthouse building, all of which are vividly described here. To build these towering structures in the most inhospitable places imaginable (such as the aptly named Cape Wrath), using only 19th-century technology is an achievement that beggars belief. The comparison that comes to mind is with the pyramid building of ancient Egypt. For instance, of the Skerryvore lighthouse we learn that the ground rocks were prepared by hand (even though the "gneiss could blunt a pick in three blows") in waves and winds "strong enough to lift a man bodily off the rock'" and that "it took 120 hours to dress a single stone for the outside of the tower, and 320 hours to dress one of the central stones. In total 5000 tons of stone were quarried and shipped"--and all by hand. It is mind-boggling stuff: you'll look at lighthouses with a new respect. --Adam Roberts

Reader Reviews:

A fascinating subject brought to life. (4/4 people found this helpful)

As a scuba diver who is always looking for the more remote locations, I often find myself in some wilderness area surrounded by the sea. Quite frequently, there is a lighthouse nearby and I always seem to be made aware of those that were "British Built."

What I had not realised before reading this book, was that the famous Robert Louis Stevenson came from a long line of Stevensons who were expert lighthouse builders. Indeed, he is quoted in the book as having said; "Whenever I smell salt water, I know I am not far from the works of my ancestors."

This is a fascinating work which has been brought to life by an author who has done a really good job. Having been brought up in an age where electricity was used to power lighthouses from before I was born, photographs and accounts of how coal was hoisted to the top of these mammoth structures in earlier days is both a revelation and education in itself.

Containing portraits of various notable engineers in addition to the different lighthouses they built, I was impressed by the inclusion of a painting of one light by the legendary J. M. W. Turner, no less, the comparable sizes of different lights and sectional drawings showing how the brickwork was interlaced in order to withstand the fiercest storms.

An excellent book and one which will allow me to tell my fellow travellers something about whatever remote lighthouse we end up climbing at some time in the future.

NM

Deeply enlightening although specialised (2/4 people found this helpful)

As a Scots born Engineer I suppose I was bound to like this book, and I did. Not only does it chart the remarkable Stevenson dynasty and their civil engineering feats - particularly the 97 Scottish lighthouses, but it also charts the development of Engineering from very much a game for gifted amateurs in the 1700s to a respected profession in the 1900s.

Whilst I would have liked to hear a little more about the non-lighthouse projects, and about the professional lives of the later Stevensons, I found this a rivetting book. It deserves to be lined up with Gordon's "New Science of Strong Materials" and Shute's "Slide Rule" for readers who want to know what it is to be an Engineer.

Interesting - but flawed.... (0/2 people found this helpful)

A promising book but held back initially with a repetitive writing style. Mid-way through it does get more interesting as we read about the construction of the lighthouses rather than why they were necessary in the first place.

Also the author does not seem to be conscious of the fact that Wales (part of the United Kingdom with its own political assembly) is actually a separate area on the UK map... For example - she seems to think that 'The Smalls' lie off the coast of England - they do not! They are off the coast of Wales...!

KWR

Amazing feat of engineering,yes. Amazingly interesting, no. (0/1 people found this helpful)

Bella Bathhurst's book depicts in considerable detail the extraordinay engineering feats of several generations of Stevenson's prior to "the famous one" who gave us Treasure Island etc.

The book offers an interesting account of how lighthouses were built on some of the most inhospitable places imaginable. There is also plenty of discussion of how the Stevenson clan grew into this engineering dynasty, and the obstacles they faced both from nature and man.

However, the subject matter is a little thin to hold one's attention for 260 odd pages. Despite being well written, there are only so many ways to describe how a lighthouse is built and the necessary permissions, approvals etc. each one requires. Perhaps more pictures would have helped or more diagrams explaining the tremendous pressures the lighthouses have had to withstand.

If one is besotted by either lighthouses or the Stevensons then this book is a masterpiece. Others may prefer to wait until Ms. Bathurst turns her considerable talents to a more substantive topic.