The First Landfall: Historic Lighthouses of Newfoundland and Labrador

Raymond B. Blake is director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at Mount
Allison University and the author of Canadians at Last: Canada
Integrates Newfoundland as a Province.

This lively account of Newfoundland and Labrador lighthouses and their
keepers traces the development of the Newfoundland system of
lighthouses, from its origins in the early 19th century to the present.
In addition to chronicling the lives of several generations of
lighthouse keepers, including the Cantwells at Cape Spear, Molloy
examines the technology associated with the lighthouses—a technology
ranging from simple oil lamps to Argand lamps to automated light
sensors. Some of the most interesting sections are devoted to accounts
of shipwrecks along the coast. The book clearly shows that the life of a
lighthouse keeper was far from romantic; the pay was poor, the tasks
were monotonous, and the loneliness was pervasive—especially in the
19th century, when it was common for the keeper to run out of supplies.
Conditions improved markedly when Canada assumed responsibility for the
lighthouses after union in 1949.

The First Landfall is an enjoyable book; it would have been better with
more rigorous editing.