Stone By Stone

The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls

Cover photo of Block Island Wall by Jan Glinski.

Information about the book is also available from the publisher, Walker & Company, and elsewhere on the SWI web site.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

Stone By Stone reached the bestseller list of the New England Booksellers Assocation several times. The hardbound edition (four printings) have sold out. The paperback edition (also by Walker) continues to sell strongly. Though sales are concentrated in the northeast, the book has sold throughout the US, especially in university bookstores.

CONNECTICUT BOOK AWARD

Stone by Stone won the 2003 Connecticut Book Award for Nonfiction.

REVIEWS AND RESPONSES

The Boston Globe "An open invitation to head into the country oneself and explore a stone wall."

The Providence Sunday Journal "Rarely has a book on so mundane a topic delivered so much information in so enjoyable a manner. Thorson is a fine writer, a scientist with the sensibility of a poet."

Dallas Morning News "A fascinating study of New England's landmarks that are as much about art as geology."

Tom Wessels "If I were to own just one book on the stonewalls of New England, it would be Robert Thorson's."

Booklist " An enlightening excursion that goes well beyond the romantic notions surrounding the walls."

Washington Post "If the preservation effort needs a manifesto, Thorson has one."

Orion "[Few geologists] dare to make plain their passion for rocks, as Thorson does, much less linger on the sensual details of their mediumÑits color, texture, sound, and odor. And most geological writing doesn't venture very far or boldly into the realm of human culture, an area to which Thorson's scientific expertise makes the most startling contribution."

Bill McKibben "Now I know why all the stone walls I've ever stumbled across in the northeast woods are thigh-high--along with about a thousand other interesting details that shed illuminating light on the human history of this sweet region."

Chet Raymo "Robert Thorson teases from New England's ubiquitous stone walls a natural and cultural history of the region, from the grinding glaciers that shaped the stones to the spreading asphalt deserts that are displacing them. A nature lover's 'must read.'"

Kevin Gardner "Robert Thorson offers the most complete natural history ever written about New EnglandÕs fabled stone walls. This alone would have been valuable enough, but he doesn't Õt stop there. His restless, provocative examination lays out ideas like multiple courses of well-placed fieldstone, uniting the histories of New EnglandÕs geology, environment, culture, and economy in a study built on science and sustained by passion. Stone by Stone should be an instant necessity for anyone who wonders why our landscape looks the way it does."

COURSE ADOPTIONS

Please read Academic Use of Stone by Stone.

THE STORY BEHIND THE BOOK

Please read Draft by Draft.