The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier
Colin Woodard
Sep 2025 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Bob Souer
headphones
Audiobook
12 hr 40 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
Want a free 1 hr 16 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
"A thorough and engaging history of Maine's rocky coast and its tough-minded people."—Boston Herald
For more than four hundred years the people of coastal Maine have clung to their rocky, wind-swept lands, resisting outsiders' attempts to control them while harvesting the astonishing bounty of the Gulf of Maine. Today's independent, self-sufficient lobstermen belong to the communities imbued with a European sense of ties between land and people, but threatened by the forces of homogenization spreading up the eastern seaboard.
In the tradition of William Warner's Beautiful Swimmers, veteran journalist Colin Woodard (author of American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good) traces the history of the rugged fishing communities that dot the coast of Maine and the prized crustacean that has long provided their livelihood. Through forgotten wars and rebellions, and with a deep tradition of resistance to interference by people "from away," Maine's lobstermen have defended an earlier vision of America while defying the "tragedy of the commons"—the notion that people always overexploit their shared property. Instead, these icons of American individualism represent a rare example of true communal values and collaboration through grit, courage, and hard-won wisdom.
For more than four hundred years the people of coastal Maine have clung to their rocky, wind-swept lands, resisting outsiders' attempts to control them while harvesting the astonishing bounty of the Gulf of Maine. Today's independent, self-sufficient lobstermen belong to the communities imbued with a European sense of ties between land and people, but threatened by the forces of homogenization spreading up the eastern seaboard.
In the tradition of William Warner's Beautiful Swimmers, veteran journalist Colin Woodard (author of American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good) traces the history of the rugged fishing communities that dot the coast of Maine and the prized crustacean that has long provided their livelihood. Through forgotten wars and rebellions, and with a deep tradition of resistance to interference by people "from away," Maine's lobstermen have defended an earlier vision of America while defying the "tragedy of the commons"—the notion that people always overexploit their shared property. Instead, these icons of American individualism represent a rare example of true communal values and collaboration through grit, courage, and hard-won wisdom.
"A thorough and engaging history of Maine's rocky coast and its tough-minded people."—Boston Herald
For more than four hundred years the people of coastal Maine have clung to their rocky, wind-swept lands, resisting outsiders' attempts to control them while harvesting the astonishing bounty of...
Discover more
About the author
Colin Woodard is a journalist and writer who was born on 12/3/1968. He is a reporter for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram for State and National Affairs. He won a 2012 George Polk Award for investigative reporting and a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for a series on climate change. He has been a long-time foreign correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and has reported from fifty foreign countries and seven continents. His work has appeared in many publications including The Economist, Smithsonian, The Washington Post, Newsweek/The Daily Beast and Bloomberg View. His first book Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas, was released in 2000. Since then he has published several others including: The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier, The Republic of Pirates: Being The True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, and American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good.
Colin Woodard is a journalist and writer who was born on 12/3/1968. He is a reporter for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram for State and National Affairs. He won a 2012 George Polk Award for investigative reporting and a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Repor...
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
