At nearly the easternmost tip of Maine we are told of the first British war ship captured during the Revolution, by the good folks of Machias, who used pitchforks because they had no muskets. We learn that the islands off the coast of Texas are among the nation's great sanctuaries for migrating birds. And we're introduced to Fort Ross, on California's Redwood Coast, a replica of the Russian settlement established in 1812 as a fur trading post, but with dreams of expanding the Russian empire.

In this rich and compelling travelogue we can almost hear Cronkite's smooth cadences spinning stories and offering up little-known facts about the coastlines he loves.