Since the book focuses on only the top 50 lighthouses from around the entire globe, you can be assured that you are reading about some of the oldest and most beautiful ones around the globe. Where to stay: Pendeen Lighthouse is just down the coast, and you can stay in the former lighthouse keepers’ cottages. Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Montefiore It was ultimately brought down by a series of fires and earthquakes but has been designated a Wonder of the Ancient World.

Lighthouses make people feel a lot of different things. They are a lonely building that acts as a beacon of hope and help to ships and boats on a stormy night. For more than two millennia, they have played a big role in the world's seas. Nevertheless, lighthouses continue to intrigue and mystify people from around the world. Marine Insight presents our top 12 books on lighthouses that you should get your hands on. Author, researcher, and winner of the 1999 Somerset Maugham award, Bella Bathurst chronicles the life and times of the Stevensons and their immense contribution to the lighthouse industry. Beginning with the founding of the Northern Lighthouse Trust in 1786 and the subsequent appointment of patriarch Robert Stevenson as the Chief Engineer, the book goes into the development of a unique style of construction developed by their family. They revolutionized the lights that topped these structures, working on more robust ways to ensure the beam never went out. For González Macías, the book also became a way of examining our changing relationship with the natural world. In the process of studying these lighthouses – many of which, he says, are “dying” as they are replaced by automation – did he conclude that the evolution of new technologies in navigation has led to a loss of the healthy respect for the forces of sea and weather that our ancestors would have had?James’s long-serving detective Adam Dalgliesh, making his 13th appearance, is a poet as well as a policeman. If poetry depends on concision and the avoidance of cliche, it’s a little ironic that he ends up in this long book alongside a character sporting “large hazel eyes” and “an aquiline nose”. There has been a death, possibly a murder, on an island off the Cornish coast where the prime minister is hoping to organise a meeting of minds. It’s hard to remain undistracted by the thought of one’s actual PM being helicoptered out to the same island and ideally staying there. Lighthouse Dog to the Rescue – Pauline, the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, is proud of her pet spaniel because he is helpful and clever and a friend to all. But even Pauline does not realize just how brave and loyal Spot is until the night a terrible blizzard hits and a boat is missing out in the storm. These children’s lighthouse books feature both picture books and chapter books. Each of the featured books can be read independently or used as read-alouds. There are many types of lighthouses in these parts of the world, and this book explains what they look like, how they work, and how they came to be. It also looks at how the lights work and how they have changed over time from the 18th century to today. People who work as lighthouse keepers and caretakers are also talked about in the book. It talks about the challenges they face, as well as the special training they had. Seashaken Houses By Tom Nancollas I have always loved lighthouses. I don’t know if it’s the quirky, architectural novelty of them, the romantic, windswept locations or the thrill of the spiral staircase that goes up, up, up into the sky, but they hold a very special place in my imaginative world.

He selected the 34 lighthouses featured in the book based on their remoteness and on his interest in their histories, trying to make sure that he chose a variety of locations and stories. “Even though lighthouse-keeping has been a traditionally masculine occupation,” he adds, “I wanted to include a number of histories where there were female lighthouse-keepers as protagonists. But ultimately there were some incredible towers that I had to leave out.” Another favourite from my own childhood – partly responsible for my lighthouse obsession – is Miss Priscilla’s Secretby Jennifer Zabel and Christopher Masters. The eponymous Miss Priscilla is a prim and proper school teacher – with luxurious silk petticoats and a rather surprising alter-ego . . . Little Timothy follows her into the cellars of the school house one night to discover the secret passage to Lucas Longshanks’ lighthouse and an exciting smuggling plot! The Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the most well-known buildings ever built. It was also the tallest structure for many years. The second in Abi Elphinstone’s fabulous Dreamsnatcher series, The Shadow Keeperfinds Moll hiding out in a cave by the sea, on her quest for the second amulet. This is a gripping adventure, full of danger, dark magic and mythical beings, but so beautifully written the rugged, stormy coast feels completely real and you can almost taste the salt-spray in the cold, night air.

These are some of the famous lighthouses that this book talks about: those at Shark Island (Sydney Harbour), Kribi (Gulf of Guinea), Rubjerg Knude, the Tower of Hercules (Spain), St. Anthony's Lighthouse (Cornwall), Whitefish Point Lighthouse (on Lake Superior), Jeffrey's Hook, and Whitefish Point Lighthouse (near the Hudson River). Solitude has two faces: chosen, it can bring peace and happiness; imposed, it can bring you to desperation and madness These children’s lighthouse books feature non-fiction selections, as well as learning activities and mystery stories that kids will love!

My new children’s novel, Our Castle by the Sea, is set in a lighthouse on the chalky cliffs of Kent. Twelve-year-old Petra’s world has always been one of storms, secret passages and stories about sea monsters, but when the Second World War begins and Petra’s neighbours start to turn upon her and her German mother, the clifftops that she has known all her life suddenly become a terrifying battleground. Why the lighthouse is fiction's perfect setting I ask if he has a particular favourite among all the lighthouses in the book. “It’s not a favourite, but the one I think of most now, because of the current situation, is a Ukrainian lighthouse called Adziogol. It’s a magnificent 64-metre steel structure designed by the Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov, built in the estuary of the river Dnieper. I’m praying that it will be kept safe from the injustice of the war.’ All will spark lively discussions and pique kids’ interest in lighthouses and life on the shore. Children’s Books About Lighthouses Bella Bathurst is an author, researcher, and winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 1999. She tells the story of the Stevenson family and how they made a huge impact on the lighthouse industry. The book starts with the founding of the Northern Lighthouse Trust in 1786 and the appointment of patriarch Robert Stevenson as Chief Engineer. The book then talks about how their unique style of construction came to be. They changed the lights that were on top of these structures. They came up with more durable ways to make sure the beam never went out.Some of the famous lighthouses this book covers include those at Shark Island (Sydney Harbour), Kribi (Gulf of Guinea), Rubjerg Knude (Denmark), the Tower of Hercules (Spain), St. Anthony’s Lighthouse (Cornwall), Whitefish Point Lighthouse (on Lake Superior), and Jeffrey’s Hook (near the Hudson River). The Lamplighters was possibly inspired by the mystery of Flannan Isles Lighthouse, when three lighthouse keepers vanished from their station. This particular novel is set in Cornwall in 1972 when three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse. What happened to them? The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman Covering some of the most beautiful lighthouses ever built, author Lisa Purcell does an excellent job of collecting these structural enigmas. Covering different continents and visiting the shores of several countries, the illustrations and photographs in this book are visual masterpieces.