Cape Cod's Great Beach, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket are romantic stops on Schneider's chronological human and natural history. This is a lucid and compelling collage of seaside ecology, Indians and colonists, religion and revolution, shipwrecks and hurricanes, whalers and vengeful sperm whales, glorious clipper ships and today's beautiful but threatened beaches. Schneider's eye for story and detail illuminates both history and landscape. 34 illustrations. 2 maps.