Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island

By Earl Swift This book chronicles the history and ecology of Chesapeake Bay, using Tangier Island as the vehicle to tell the story. Tangier is the largest blue crab harvesting area in the country and a lot of this book is about the 'crabber' who live and work on the island and the surrounding water. Rising sea level is having a devastating effect on the island. Which is shrinking rather rapidly. The island has traditionally been very isolated, and this has fostered a conservative christian community on the island, that is very insular to outside influence. A lot of information is contained in this book, climate change, sea conditions, wild life associated with the bay. However, the picture that is painted did not make me desire to visit the island anytime soon.