History writer Grant (Battle; Flight) has assembled a beautiful selection of drawings and diagrams as well as sets of historic photographs of lighthouses and their method of construction. Surprisingly, the first lighthouse illustrated is a still-working direct descendent of a Roman tower built in the reign of Trajan located on the northwest coast of Spain. However, the bulk of structures here date from the 18th and 19th centuries, when burgeoning world commerce fueled governmental appropriations for the common good. Robert Louis Stevenson was born into a family of lighthouse builders in Scotland and the heroic tales of constructing towers on the isolated rocks colored his approach to fiction. Solid descriptions of the marvelous Fresnel lens for amplifying the power of the light and the efforts of inventors Celadon Leeds Daboll (17-foot coal-fired fog horn) and Gustaf Dalén (automated acetylene light) fill out the discussion of tower construction in metal and stone. VERDICT Of interest to anyone who values the artistry and engineering acumen of engineers to improve human life.—David McClelland, Andover, NY