Product Description

Accompanying the "BBC" series, "Coast" is not only a superbly illustrated celebration of Britain's coastal areas but a practical guide to all that they have to offer. The first part of the book is divided into the 12 coastal regions as featured in the programme, with lavish photography, maps and evocative essays. The second part is a region-by-region reference of places, people, activities, natural history, historic events and fascinating facts - all clearly laid out to help you plan your own trip. Whether destined for the coffee table, your reference library or the car, "Coast" takes you there with charm and style.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13500 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Author
I'm absolutely delighted that 'COAST' has done so well and
pleased so many readers. It has certainly contributed hugely to the success
of 'COAST - The Journey Continues', the follow-up. However, I'd like to explain a couple of
things about the writing of 'COAST' in response to some of the review
comments. My brief in writing this book was to have it ready for
publication at the same time as the BBC2 TV series was broadcast. Ideally I
would have liked sight of the complete TV scripts a year in advance. But
that's not the way these series/book tie-ins work.

The COAST series was an innovative experiment, whose success was quite
unexpected. Producers had to change their minds and ideas right up to the
last moment of shooting, adapting to changes in weather, circumstances,
developing stories, etc. So I had no fixed TV schedule to write to, and had
to second-guess and fill in gaps as best I could. In the end I had about 2
months to write the entire book. Luckily I have been writing about the UK
coast for 30 years, so I had the knowledge! But that explains the
discrepancies between the content of BBC's programmes and my book.

Writing the book of the current series, 'COAST - The Journey Continues',
the producers kept me far more in the picture, so although the actual
writing time was still very condensed (about 7 weeks), book and series
reflect each other far more closely.

Customer Reviews

I expected more from this book...
Having seen the show on the television I was keen to get the book, what a disappointment it is.

There is hardly any text, with a handful of pages devoted to massive stretches of coastline. The pictures aren't that great either and many don't convey a sense of wanting to visit the places being described.

The last third of the book is a a useful guide to what can be seen along the various stretches of coastline, what to do and where you can stay. This is very useful.

For me, the book would have worked so much better with fewer but better pictures and the Gazetteer section embedded within the book itself.

Such a shame.

A missed opportunity
Like many others, I bought the book because I had thoroughly enjoyed the TV programme. The TV programme covered areas of the coastline which I have enjoyed visting - but they were missing from the book! The pictures, though sometimes excellent photographs, were nowhere near as good as the TV images. The worst aspect for me, however, was the way in which the text (fairly uninspired when compared with the TV commentary) was printed in a sans-serif font over a grey background showing a map of the British coast. It is therefore very difficult to read, and, as pointed out above, not really worth the effort. Why could the BBC not have produced a book in the same league as the one accompanying the British Isles - natural history. A missed opportunity!

BREATH-TAKING PHOTOGRAPHY BUT SPARSE IN SUPPORTING TEXT.
There is always a feeling with a film and a book - given a choice, which should one
do first, read the book or see the film. Will one spoil the other?
The same could be said about a TV series and an accompanying book.

Having being glued to each programme in the BBC TV
series we have to admit that we were really looking
forward to seeing, and reading, the book.

Expecting something of a larger 'tome', it was
somewhat disappointing to find only 192 pages in
mid-size paperback format.

The book is divided into two, the first part being
dedicated to the 12 coastal regions explored in the TV
series. The second part is a handy and clearly laid out
reference section indexing places, people, natural
history, historic events and facts to help one plan a trip
to an individual region.

It is undoubtedly a superbly illustrated book, but is sadly lacking in the text to
support the breath-taking photography -
almost as if the job of getting the book to press has
been rushed.
As a group with an interest in the North of Scotland, we
were really disappointed with this section. The TV
programme showed the 'Whaligoe Steps', south of Wick,
but there is no mention of this fantastic Caithness landmark in the book.
It would be fair to say that the BBC series had a certain mystery attached to it in that each programme might well touch on a childhood memory or a place revisited
and I guess this is impossible to carry into the book.
As a parting note, I guess we should remind ourselves that we are
reviewing the book and not the TV series!