Guardians of the Night (DVD)

A spectacular documentary on the history of lighthouses, filmed on location in France, Great Britain, Canada and the United States. The golden age of the lighthouse is over. Most lighthouses have been already automated or are scheduled to be automated sometime over the next few years. The golden age of the lighthouse dates from the 19th century. The expansion of trade, the birth of colonial empires, and the transportation of millions of immigrants all called for a better system of identifying coastlines. The lighthouses, solitary and beautiful, will survive, but lighthouse keepers are another matter. Victims of the electronic age, they are no longer needed when the lighthouse can so easily be maintained by automation in the modern era of technology. The documentary was filmed at the lighthouses of Ar-Men, Cordouan, Kereon, and Le Creac'h in France; Bonavista, Cape Race, Sable Island, and Pointe Amour in Canada; Bell Rock and Longstone in Great Britain; and, in the United States, Boston, Portland, Maine, and the Statue of Liberty, in New York City.

• history