Filled with stories of desperate shipwrecks, daring rescues, and brilliant feats of engineering, this visual history of the lighthouse captures the romance and adventure of these remarkable structures, illustrated with 350 vintage architectural plans and photos. The author explores some of the most innovative and storied beacons in the world, including Eddystone, Sandy Hook, Montauk Point, Stannard Rock, Borkum Grosser, Green Point, Tillamook Rock, Cape Hatteras, and Erie Harbor. Chronicling the evolution of lighthouse design from the 18th to the mid 19th centuries, he reveals the tremendous obstacles of building and maintaining them, as well as the daily lives of their keepers.