Third in a series that began with Allison's "A Short History of Boston,"
this concise narrative covers four colorful centuries. Here are the key
events in Cape Cod history, with over twenty personal profiles of
historic figures, more than 100 black-and-white photographs, a detailed
chronology, and an index. There's enough detail here to fascinate the
historian and enough stories to fill an enjoyable day at the beach.
Discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602 and visited by the Mayflower
on its way to Plymouth, Cape Cod has been the site of confrontations
between Pilgrims and natives, between Patriots and Tories. Salt works
and windmills, lighthouses and shipwrecks, and characters as varied as
radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi and playwright Eugene O'Neill have given
Cape Cod a unique landscape and a fascinating human community. "Men once
set out to hunt whales from Provincetown Harbor," Allison writes. "Today
boats go to watch the whales and study them. The land remains though it
continues to change, as the relentless tide and wind reshape the land
and remove all evidence that any of us-Native people or Vikings,
Pilgrims or Presidents, explorers, warriors, poets, painters, or
entrepreneurs-ever set foot on this sandy beach."
