Suggested Reading List
The following is a list of informative and educational books about the Chesapeake Bay. We've surely missed a few, so please let us know about them.
Bay History - Politics and Political History - Natural History - Bay Restoration
Children's - Lighthouses - Boats and Boating - Photography
Bay History
- 1812: Rediscovering Chesapeake Bay's Forgotten War by David Healey
Bella Rosa Books, 2005
- Baltimore Harbor: A Picture History by Robert Keith
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1991
- Bay Plain and Piedmont: A Landscape History of the Chesapeake Heartland from 1.3 Billion Years Ago to 2000 by Robert S. Grumet
National Park Service, Annapolis, Md., 2000
- The Bounty of the Chesapeake: Fishing in Colonial Virginia by James Wharton
Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration, Williamsburg, Va., 1957
- The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region
Library of Congress General Collection, 1600-1925
- Chesapeake: Exploring the Water Trail of Captain John Smith by John Page Williams
National Geographic, 2007
- Chesapeake Bay in the Civil War by Eric Mills
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 19986
- The Chesapeake in the Seventeenth Century: Essays on Anglo-American Society and Politics by Thad W. Tate and David L. Ammerman
W.W. Norton and Co., New York, N.Y., 1979
- Chesapeake Rumrunners of the Roaring Twenties by Eric Mills
Cornell Maritime Press, Centreville, Md., 2000
- Chesapeake Bay Voices: Narrative from Four Centuries by Maurice Duke
The Dietz Press, Richmond, Va., 1993
- Chesapeake Boyhood by William H. Turner
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1997
- Chesapeake by Steamboat by David C. Holly
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2000
- Chesapeake Winds and Tides by Don Parks
Cherokee Books, Dover, Del., 2009
- Chesapeake's Western Shore: Vintage Vacationland by Lara Lutz
Arcadia Publishing, Chicago, Ill., 2009
- Colonial Virginia by Richard Morton
the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1960
- Dancing with the Tide: Watermen of the Chesapeake by Mick Blackistone
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 2001
- A Day on the Bay by Bert and Anthea Smith
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2001
- The Discovery of the Chesapeake Bay: An Account of the Explorations of Captain John Smith in the Year 1608 by Frances d'A. Collings
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Md., 1988.
- East of the Chesapeake by William H. Turner
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2000
- Elliott's Island: The Land That Time Forgot by A.M. Foley and Freddie T. Waller
Dogwood Ridge Books, Elliott Island, Md., 1999
- Environment, Disease, and Mortality in Early Virginia by Carville V. Earle
The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1979
- Every Home a Distillery: Alcohol, Gender, and Technology in the Colonial Chesapeake by Sarah Meacham
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2009
- The General History of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles by John Smith
London, 1624
- Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay: And Other Tales of the Lost Chesapeake by Donald Shomette
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1996
- Having My Say: Conversations with Chesapeake Bay Waterman Wylie "Gator" Abbott by A.M. Foley
Dogwood Ridge Books, Elliott Island, Md.., 2006
- The History and Present State of Virginia by Robert Beverley
London, 1705
- A History of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal by David Berry
History Press, Charleston, S.C., 2010
- History of the Virginia Company of London by Edward D. Neill
Albany, N.Y., 1869
- Indian Land Loss in Virginia: A Prototype of Federal Indian Land Policy by Helen C. Roundtree
The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis., 1973
- An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake by Tom Horton
W. W. Norton and Co., New York, N.Y., 1996
- Jamestown Narratives by Edward Wright Haile
Roadhouse Press, Champlain, Va., 1998
- Lost Towns of Tidewater Maryland by Donald Shomette
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 2000
- Maryland's Eastern Shore: A Journey in Time and Place by John R. Wennersten
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1992
- The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay by John R. Wennersten
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1981
- Pirates on the Chesapeake: Being a True History of Pirates, Picaroons, and Raiders on Chesapeake Bay, 1610-1807 by Donald Shomette
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1988
- The Planter’s Wife: The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland by Lois Green Carr and Lorena Walsh
William & Mary Quarterly, Williamsburg, Va., 1977
- The Powhatan Uprising of 1622: A Historical Study of Ethnocentrism and Cultural Conflict by Frederick J. Fausz
The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va., 1977
- Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake: Maritime Disasters on Chesapeake Bay and its Tributaries, 1608-1978 by Donald Shomette
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1982
- Susquehanna, River of Dreams by Susan Q. Stranahan
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1995
- This Was Chesapeake Bay by Robert H. Burgess
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1963
- This Was Potomac River by Frederick Tilp
Frederick Tilp, Alexandria, Va., 1978
- Tidewater Time Capsule: History Beneath the Patuxent by Donald Shomette
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1995
- Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era by A. Pierce Middleton and Gregory A. Stiverson
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1994
- Watermen by Randall S. Peffer
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1985
- The Workboats of Smith Island by Paula J. Johnson
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1997
Politics and Political History
- Charles County, Maryland, 1658-1705: A Study of Chesapeake Social and Political Structure by Lorena S. Walsh
University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1978
- Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay by Howard Ernst
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2003
- Chesapeake Waters: Four Centuries of Controversy, Concern and Legislation by Steven G. Davidson, Jay G. Merwin Jr., John Capper, Garret Power and Frank R. Shivers Jr.
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1997
- The Chesapeake Watershed: A Sense of Place and a Call to Action by Ned Tillman
Publishing Concepts, Baltimore, Md., 2009
- The Early Relations Between Maryland and Virginia by John Latané
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1895
- Sprawl & Politics: The Inside Story of Smart Growth in Maryland by John Frece
State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y., 2008
- Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay by Tom Horton
Island Press, Washington, D.C., 2003
Natural History
- Assateague by William H. Wroten
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1986
- The Assateague Ponies by Ronald R. Keiper
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1985
- The Bay: A Naturalist Discovers a Universe of Life Above and Below the Chesapeake by Gilbert C. Klingel
Dodd, Mead and Co., New York, N.Y., 1951
- Bay Country: Reflections on the Chesapeake by Tom Horton
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1987
- Bayside Guide to Weather by Mark E. Jacoby
Maryland Sea Grant, College Park, Md., 1984
- Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay by William W. Warner
Little Brown and Co., Boston, Mass., 1976
- Between Ocean and Bay: A Natural History of Delmarva by Jane Scott
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1991
- Birdlife at Chincoteague and the Virginia Barrier Islands by Brooke Meanley
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1981
- Birds and Marshes of the Chesapeake Bay Country by Brooke Meanley
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1975
- Birds of the Chesapeake Bay by John Taylor
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1992
- Chesapeake Almanac: Following the Bay through the Seasons by John P. Williams
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1993
- Chesapeake Bay: Nature of the Estuary: A Field Guide by Christopher P. White
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1989
- Chesapeake Spring by John Taylor
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1998
- Chesapeake Waters by John Capper, Garret Power, Frank Shivers
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1983
- A Comprehensive List of Chesapeake Bay Basin Species
Chesapeake Bay Program, Annapolis, Md., 1998
- Concepts in Marine Pollution Measurements by Harris H. White
Maryland Sea Grant, College Park, Md., 1984
- Discovering the Chesapeake by Philip D. Curtin, Grace S. Brush and George W. Fisher
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2001
- Fishes of the Chesapeake Bay by Edward O. Murdy, Ray S. Birdsong and John A. Musick 1997
Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., and London, 1997
- Life in the Chesapeake Bay. An Illustrated Guide to the Fishes, Invertebrates, Plants, Birds and Other Animals of Bays and Inlets from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1997
- The Living Chesapeake by Jerry R. Schubel
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1981
- Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Chesapeake Bay by Deane Winegar
Longstreet Press, Athena, Ga., 2000
- Oxygen Dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay: A Synthesis of Recent Research by David E. Smith, M. Leffler and G. Mackiernan
Maryland Sea Grant, College Park, Md., 1992
- The Oyster by William K. Brooks
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1996
- Rivers of the Eastern Shore: Seventeen Maryland Rivers by Hulbert Footner
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1989
- Water's Way: Life Along the Chesapeake by David W. Harp and Tom Horton
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2000
- Working the Chesapeake: Watermen on the Bay by Mark E. Jacoby
Maryland Sea Grant, College Park, Md., 1991
Bay Restoration
- Fight for the Bay: Why a Dark Green Environmental Awakening is Needed to Save the Chesapeake Bay by Howard Ernst
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2009
- Large-Scale Ecosystem Restoration: Five Case Studies from the United States by Mary Doyle and Cynthia Drew
Island Press, Washington, D.C., 2008
- Saving the Bay. People Working for the Future of the Chesapeake by Anne E. Dorbin
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2001
- Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay by Tom Horton and William M. Eichbaum
Island Press, Washington, D.C., 1991
Children's
- Awesome Chesapeake: A Kid's Guide to the Bay by David O. Bell
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1994
- Chadwick and the Garplegrungen by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1987
- The Chadwick Coloring Book by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1988
- Chadwick Forever by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1993
- Chadwick the Crab by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1988
- Chadwick's Wedding by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1989
- Chesapeake: Fact, Fiction and Fun by Frederick and Fay Tilp
Heritage Books, Bowie, Md., 1998
- Chesapeake ABC by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 2000
- Chesapeake Bay (Rookie Read-About Geography) by Kelly Bennett
Children's Press, Danbury, Conn., 2006
- Chesapeake Bay Walk by David O. Bell
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1998
- Chesapeake Kaleidoscope by Anne M. Hays and Harriet R. Hazleton
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1975
- Finding Birds in the Chesapeake Marsh: A Child's First Look by Zora Aiken
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 2001
- Meet Chadwick and his Chesapeake Bay Friends by Priscilla Cummings
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1999
- Oscar and Olive Osprey: A Family Takes Flight by Janie Suss
Synergy Books, Austin, Texas, 2009
- Sam: The Tale of a Chesapeake Bay Rockfish by Kristina Henry
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1998
- Where Did All the Water Go? by Carolyn Stearns
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1998
Lighthouses
- Bay Beacons: Lighthouses of the Chesapeake Bay by Linda Turbyville
Eastwind Publishing, Trappe, Md., 1996
- The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake by Robert De Gast
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1993
- Lighting the Bay: Tales of Chesapeake Lighthouses by Pat Vojtech
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1997
- Lightships of the United States of America, Volume II - Southeast by Thomas Schoenewolff
RoseDog Books, Pittsburgh, Pa., 2010
- Maryland's Lighthouses by Cathy Taylor
Arcadia Publishing, Chicago, Ill., 2008
Boats and Boating
- Chesapeake Bay Buyboats by Larry Chowning
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 2007
- Chesapeake Bay Log Canoes and Bugeyes by M.V. Brewington
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1963
- The Chesapeake Bay of Yore: Mainly About the Rowing and Sailing Craft by Frederick Tilp
Frederick Tilp, Alexandria, Va., 1982
- Chesapeake Bay Schooners by Ann Jensen and Quentin Snediker
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1997
- Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks by Pat Vojtech
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1993
- Chesapeake Sails: A History of Yachting on the Bay by Richard Hendsen
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1999
- Chesapeake Steamboats: Vanished Fleet by David C. Holly
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1994
- Cruising the Chesapeake: A Gunkholer's Guide by William Shellenberger
McGraw-Hill, Blacklick, Ohio, 2001
- Exploring the Chesapeake in Small Boats by John P. Williams
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1992
- Guide to Cruising Chesapeake Bay (2010 Edition) by Chesapeake Bay Magazine
Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Annapolis, Md., 2010
- Maryland Workboats (Then and Now) by Byshe Hicks
Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C., 2009
- Maryland's Skipjacks by David Berry
Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C., 2008
- Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen by Christopher White
St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y., 2009
- Slow Motion: The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack by M. Kei
Modern English Tanka Press, Baltimore, Md., 2008
- Tidewater by Steamboat: A Saga of the Chesapeake by David C. Holly
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2000
- Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner by Geoffrey Footner
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1998
Photography
- Bodine's Chesapeake Bay Country by A. Aubrey Bodine
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 2005
- Between Ocean and Bay: A Celebration of the Eastern Shore by Jim Clark
Mountain Trail Press, Johnson City, Tenn., 2008
- Chesapeake: Bay of Light: An Exploration of the Chesapeake Bay's Wild and Forgotten Places by Ian Plant and Tom Horton
Mountain Trail Press, Johnson City, Tenn., 2007
- Flying Above Chesapeake Bay by Jake McGuire
Twin Lights Publishers, Rockport, Mass., 2008
- Maryland: Wonder and Light by Ian Plant
Mountain Trail Press, Johnson City, Tenn., 2006
- Virginia: Wonder and Light by Ian Plant and Jerry Greer
Mountain Trail Press, Johnson City, Tenn., 2005
- The Watermen of the Chesapeake Bay by John Whitehead
Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, Pa., 1987
- Water's Way: Life Along the Chesapeake by David Harp and Tom Horton
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2000