Alone at Sea: Gloucester in the Age of the Dorymen, 1623-1939

The port of Gloucester, nestled under Cape Ann, has been a focus for writers from Captains Courageous to The Perfect Storm. From its first settlement to its present struggles, the town has seen its share of boom and bust, expansion and retraction, loss and tragedy. The author's grandfather, Steve Ollson was lost at sea in 1935, in a dory, trawling for halibut. So who could be more personally engaged in recording its history more fully or sympathetically than John Morris? His account, with more than seventy vintage photographs and maps, an extensive glossary of fishing terms, and a detailed chronology of the Gloucester fleet, including all the fishermen and vessels lost at sea since 1693, is surely the most comprehensive record yet attempted to bring the town and its inhabitants to life. In Joe Garland's words, here's "an absolutely authoritative fishing history of Gloucester, the oldest, most dramatic, and colorful fishing port in the Western hemisphere."