Go ahead: judge this book by its cover-and contents! …

Go ahead: judge this book by its cover-and contents! Too often in books of this sort, stunning graphics are accompanied by thin history or choppy writing. Thankfully, Landscape of Industry’s text matches the quality of its visual representations. Despite a phalanx of eleven contributors-including National Park rangers, academics, and amateurs-who have produced the seven chapters, most of the writing blends seamlessly from one section to another. Although it is not a complete history of the Blackstone Valley, the book-underwritten by the Worcester Historical Museum and the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor-successfully piques the reader’s interest and encourages further exploration. . . . This volume, and the effort it recounts to protect yesterday’s ways, is a most satisfying endeavor.