Moondoggle

Reviews / Votes

"Daniel Burnham said, "Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood." The massive New Deal project to harness the world's highest tides to produce electricity, vividly described by Mark Borton, stirred some men's blood and others' ire. The story will delight readers with its mix of history, politics, engineering, and the power of nature." --John A. Riggs, Author of High Tension: FDR's Battle to Power America "Mark Borton's "Moondoogle" delivers a gripping and lavishly detailed account of the wildly ambitious attempt to light houses and power industry by damming the 30-foot tides of Passamaquoddy Bay."

-- Richard Conniff, author of "Ending Epidemics: A History of Escape from Contagion" (MIT Press) "I am clearly hooked already and suffused with [Mark's] engaging writing style and obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter... I feel [his] mosaic of anecdotes and pieces of information snapping into place... [Mark's] description of FDR's diagnosis of polio is particularly effective." - Peter Homans, grandson of the hydroelectric engineer who designed the Quoddy Tidal Power Project. "[Mark's] narrative seizes me...I really am just loving it. It is giving me answers to questions I had that my parents somehow didn't answer. It's a painful, disappointing history. Perhaps that's why. But [Mark] [has] written it wonderfully."

-Anne Pike Rugh, daughter of Quoddy Tidal Power Project Engineer, Moses Pike. "I can confirm it's a fascinating book and I learned a lot reading it..." - CBC radio, Information Morning-Saint John (NB) with Julia Wright. "The level of detail and extensive source material results in a fascinating work that goes beyond history to include society, culture, politics, and community. This absorbing story informs us about where Maine is today." -Island Institute / Working Waterfront, review by Deane Rykerson.