Brilliant Beacons with Eric Jay Dolin (CANCELLED)

In a slide-illustrated talk rich in maritime lore and brimming with original historical detail, Eric Jay Dolin tells the story of America through the prism of its beloved coastal sentinels. Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse traces the evolution of America’s lighthouse system, highlighting the political, military, and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation’s hardscrabble coastlines. Dolin covers a memorable cast of characters including scientists, soldiers, and government officials, but most importantly the male and female keepers who kept America’s lighthouses burning. Brilliant Beacons is the most original history of American lighthouses in many decades.

Eric Jay Dolin is a graduate of Brown, Yale, and MIT, where he received his PhD in environmental policy. Dolin is the author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, Fur, Fortune, and Empire: the Epic History of the Fur Trade in America, When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail, Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates, and Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse.

Tickets ($15) available online.