Lighthouses are increasingly endangered by modernization and abandonment. Simple steel skeletons are replacing the picturesque, conical towers, squat screwpiles and Cape Cod styles so much a part of America's maritime history. This traveler's guide to more than 300 of the nation's most significant lighthouses and lightships includes an introductory look at the evolution of lighthouse technology and how these obsolete but beloved structures can be rescued.

Francis Ross Holland Jr. was an American historian. He is best remembered today for his books on American lighthouses. Holland was born in Savannah, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia State University in 1949; in 1958 he received a master's degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin.