Wreck Ashore

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: There are a few other good books on the old life-saving service, but this is the first one to focus on the Great Lakes. I bought it to discover my roots, since I've been a longtime lifeguard at a converted life-saving service station. While my station (Rogers Park) is only mentioned in passing, the great information and detail of other stations, keepers, and rescues kept me engaged. The writing's a little uneven but Stonehouse is a great researcher and obviously has a deep passion for the subject. The pictures & illustrations are top-notch.

Rating:
Summary: Meticulous, but missing something.
Review: This is an exhaustively researched book, with interesting photos and all sorts of detail. But it was a little short of the one thing I thought it would be filled with, given the title: Life saving. There's very little in the way of actual tales of rescue, and almost none until the last quarter of the book. I would have preferred a little less day to day minutae and a little more adventure.