Lighthouse Story, The

All civilisations have faced the challenges and dangers of trading by sea: storms, bad weather, and the hazards of cliffs, headlands, reefs and sandbanks, threatening their safe passage into ports and harbours. Lighthouses have long been a necessity, supported by lights and daymarks, to help guide vessels home. Here Nicholas Leach presents the story of the lighthouse and its development, from the earliest lights to the modern aids to navigation, through the 19th-century era of lighthouse building and the role of Trinity House, Northern and Irish Lights Commissioners and rock lighthouses across the British Isles.