In this compelling book, which Bill McKibben calls "the most comprehensive account available of the state of our nation's oceans, and the best reporting on how they got that way," veteran journalist David Helvarg fuses his passion for the sea and his reportorial savvy into a panoramic chronicle of America's maritime history and the challenges that our coastal and marine environments face today. He dives deep into the cultures of those who know the sea in myriad ways--fisherfolk, oil-rig roughnecks, hurricane forecasters, coastal developers, navy personnel, scientists, and surfers--and profiles the growing efforts by coastal citizens and local governments to restore and protect the health of our oceans in the face of wide-open development along our coasts and offshore. Demonstrating how national policymaking on the oceans is enmeshed in a welter of competing jurisdictions, he argues for strong omnibus legislation and the creation of truly protected marine wilderness reserves. Superbly researched, urgently written, and thoroughly updated, "Blue Frontier" is engrossing and essential reading for anyone concerned about saving America's ocean wilderness.