Ancient Lighthouses

A definitive analysis of the origins of lighted aids to navigation from earliest times to the end of the Roman Period in 400 CE

This book could not have been written ten years ago. Packed with information obtained using the latest tools and beautifully presented in full colour throughout, Ancient Lighthouses is a book that represents a milestone in the history of lighthouses. Never before has such a complete picture been created about a subject that continually arouses interest in anyone with a love of the sea.

The Pharos of Alexandria, pictured on the front cover, has always been recognized as an engineering wonder of its time, yet no-one has ever been confident of what went before it. How did the ancient navigators find their way across thousands of miles of dangerous sea before lighthouses existed? What came before the Pharos?

Ancient Lighthouses examines the history of seafaring from the first moment we dared to venture onto water. It analyses the situations when mariners learned how to reach and return from their destinations safely. It suggests some startling new ideas and explains many old ones.

Ancient Lighthouses gives its readers a full description of all presently-known ancient lighthouses and explains how lighthouses came about.