Books published by publisher Anchor Book Press

Is there anyone who can watch without fascination the struggle for supremacy between sea and land? "The sea attacks relentlessly, marshaling the force of its powerful waves against the land's strongest points. It collects the energy of distant winds and transports it across thousands of miles of open ocean as quietly rolling swell. On nearing shore this calm disguise is suddenly cast off, and the waves rise up in angry breakers, hurling themselves against the land in final furious assault. Turbulent water, green and white, is flung against the sea cliffs and forced in the cracks betwee the rocks to dislodge them. When the pieces fall, the churning water grinds them against each other to form sand; the sand already on the beach melts away before the onslaught.... The two combatants-waves and beaches- are the heroes of this book" From back cover of the book. Willard Bascom is President of Ocean Science and Engineering, Inc. and has worked as an oceanographic engineer since 1945. He was the Director of the Monhole Project for the National Academy of Science and has also been Executive Secretary of the Maritime Research Advisory Commitee of the National Academy of Science. Mr. Bascom is the author of A hole in theBottom of the Sea, the story of the Mohole Project

A book in the best tradition of popular history -- the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe. Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" -- and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians. In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved front the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization -- copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost -- they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated. In the tradition of Barbara Tuchmail's "A Distant Mirror, How The Irish Saved Civilization" reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.