Chesapeake Bay Program - A Watershed Partnership

Home > About the Bay > Facts & History > Suggested Reading List

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 - Political History of the Bay - Lighthouses - Natural History
Bay Restoration - Children's - Chesapeake Watercraft

Bay History

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 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
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
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
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

Political History of the Bay

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 Early Relations Between Maryland and Virginia by John Latané
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1895
Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay by Tom Horton
Island Press, Washington, D.C., 2003

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

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

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 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
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

Chesapeake Watercraft

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
Exploring the Chesapeake in Small Boats by John P. Williams
Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md., 1992
Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen by Christopher White
St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y., 2009
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