Stone by Stone

The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls

By: Robert M. Thorson

Narrated by: Robert M. Thorson

There once may have been 250,000 miles of stone walls in America's Northeast, stretching farther than the distance to the moon. And even though most are crumbling today, they contain a magnificent scientific and cultural story.

Stone walls tell nothing less than the story of how New England was formed, and in Robert Thorson's hands they live and breathe. Millions of years ago, New England's stones belonged to ancient mountains thrust up by prehistoric collisions between continents. Buried again over centuries by forest and soil buildup, the stones gradually worked their way back to the surface, only to become impediments to the farmers cultivating the land in the eighteenth century, who piled them into "linear landfills," a place to hold the stones. Usually the biggest investment on a farm, often exceeding that of the land and buildings combined, stone walls became a defining element of the Northeast's landscape, and a symbol of the shift to an agricultural economy.

Stone walls layer time like Russian dolls, their smallest elements reflecting the longest spans, and Thorson urges us to study them, for each stone has its own story. Linking geological history to the early American experience, Stone by Stone presents a fascinating picture of the land the Pilgrims settled, allowing us to see and understand it with new eyes.

©2022 Robert M. Thorson (P)2022 Tantor

Thorough and enjoyable!

This book was a thorough and enjoyable history of one of New England's most defining physical features-- its vast collection of old stone walls. While admittedly a niche interest, I would gladly recommend this book to anyone interested in the geologic or agricultural history of New England, as well as to those with a general interest in the region's history.

for people interested in geology of new england

a good listen, from a common touch point. good amount of information about geology, history and even literature about subject

Encyclopedia of Stone Walls in Historical Context

I was prompted to actually pickup & listen to this by an Audubon Society scientist giving a presentation on walls. He had brought a stack of books but kept refering to this one with reverence.

It seems Robert Thorson is kind of the Saint of New England Stone Walls, the old man of stacked granite. The book reads like a leisurely summer walking tour through a New England village deceptively packed with observations and relevant geologic & historical facts. It's an entire course.

I've come out of my second listen with my life long nostalgia for walls, cellar holes & stone faced colonial dams somehow made both more ordinary and alive.
Venturing into the wilderness, surviving hazards both natural & manmade, the soil growing stoney by cultivation compelling them to create these linear landfills.

Next Civil War & economics shake them loose from the hilly farms insufficiently close to urban markets via bad roads. Cheap land served by water & railroad transport to market beckons. Wide open, level spaces accommodate modern plows.

Leaving the New England hills to return to a state of nature excepting among the forest those long grey lines of piled detritus, their primary artifact, left to speak for those swallowed by time.

interesting

interesting book on stone walls. it covers various aspects, like the reason they exist, their purpose, and their part in New England history. The book also explains how the stones came to be from a nature and geological perspective. rlA relatively quick listen that keeps your interest throughout.

A must for any Stone Lover

love the book. detailed history of walls and history of New England. Our history is written on the hills of the countryside.