A Long, Dangerous Coastline: Shipwreck Tales from Alaska to California (Amazing Stories) Paperback – January 9, 2010

Entertaining for those who like maritime history and the west coast.

Really good

Anthony Dalton serves up another tragical history tour of shipping losses in the treacherous waters of the Pacific Northwest in A LONG, DANGEROUS COASTLINE, a 2010 release from Heritage House. Sub-titled SHIPWRECK TALES FROM ALASKA TO CALIFORNIA, Dalton's book describes the fate of 14 vessels that came a cropper in the stormy, fog-bound waters of North America's west coast.A LONG, DANGEROUS COASTLINE spans the years from 1853 to 2006. The stricken vessels included sidewheel steamers, hospital ships, passenger ships, windjammers and USN destroyers. In most cases, the cause of the sinking was human error - faulty navigation, steaming full-speed in pea-soup fog, etc. Some sinkings witnessed horrendous loss of life. When the PRINCESS SOPHIA went down in 1918 in Alaskan waters, for example, all 353 people on board perished.Maritime buffs should enjoy Dalton's book. At 126 pages, it's a quick read. Each loss is concisely but evocatively described. Vintage photographs capture the flavor - and sometimes terror - of those by-gone days. Several losses though - the PRINCESS SOPHIA tragedy, the Navy DD grounding at Honda Point - are well-known and have been featured in other books.In any case, A LONG, DANGEROUS COASTLINE is a compelling if ultimately saddening look back at the maritime tragedies of the past century. Recommended.