A Meeting of Land and Sea

"[A] deeply researched, thorough, and hopeful examination of how the island has been shaped by man and nature over time—and how we might best think about preserving it."—Boston Globe

"Lush and handsome, both exhaustive in its exploration of the island’s natural landscape and profoundly considerate of the human impact—past, present and future—upon that landscape."—Alexandra Styron, Wall Street Journal

"A comprehensive look at the natural history of the Island."—Martha’s Vineyard Times

"Foster . . . brings his insight from his life-long work to this volume."—Choice

"A rich and compelling collection of maps and photographs, charts and graphs, science and local stories that provide a new perspective on the singular and iconic island, its past and present, and in the offing, its future."—Martha’s Vineyard Magazine

"A fascinating study of the Vineyard’s history, ecology and development."—Cape Cod Times

Won the 2018 Prose Award in Environmental Science
 
 

"Opening this book is like opening a vault filled with discoveries about the natural and human history of a magnificent island. David Foster has created an important and unique work, a journey through time, about the creation and future of a magical place."—Jeff Fager, Executive Producer, 60 Minutes

"David Foster has created what is indisputably the most important volume about Martha's Vineyard ever written."—Paul Schneider, editor of Martha's Vineyard Magazine and author of The Enduring Shore, A History of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard,and Nantucket

"Even for those of us who do not live on the island, the idea of Martha’s Vineyard—people living in harmony with natural beauty—inspires. David Foster shows us how this waking dream is threatened, but also offers hope that the Vineyard can still offer an example of peaceful co-existence and kinship between humans and the rest of nature. A beautiful book."—Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle

"This book is a masterwork that uses one small island to share the news of thousands of years of relations among people, land, and sea. Intimate and global as well as a history, almanac, atlas, and handy reference, A Meeting of Land and Sea is natural history that reads like a novel.  It is an epic in which to wander for hours."—Jesse H. Ausubel, Director, Program for the Human Environment, Rockefeller University

"It is remarkable in the breadth of material woven together into that history. . . . The manuscript is a tour de force."—Charles D. Canham, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies