The publisher’s press release states that A Celebration of the World’s Barrier Islands is “one part stunning coffee-table book and one part state-of-the-art popular science.” It is certainly both, but that’s just the surface. This is an attractive and thoughtful book, carefully prepared for the curious layman as well as the serious professional coastal scientist. The Prologue sets the book’s tone through Pilkey’s observations of barrier island genesis and development; an explicit statement which reveals his passion for these features and their phenomenal variety.

Palmer, H.D. 2004. Review of A Celebration of the World’s Barrier Islands, by Orrin H. Pilkey. Oceanography 17(3):87–88, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2004.39.

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