Europe's Atlantic Fringe - west coasts Iteland, Spai & Portugal

New book, 328 pages, richly illustrated.
Ithough ten EU countries have an Atlantic coastline, only three, Portugal, Spain and Ireland, extend significantly into the Atlantic Ocean. Europe's Atlantic Fringe is the narrative of an exploration of this westernmost fringe of Europe, beyond 8 degrees west of Greenwich. From Cape St. Vincent in Southern Portugal to Horn Head in northwest Ireland, Fewer describes people and places of the Atlantic edge as they are today, the rich historic and prehistoric heritages that link them, their shared pasts, their similarities and their differences. The narrative is punctuated by stories of this Atlantic edge, of momentous events that were of importance for all of Europe, such as the Roman and Moorish occupations of Portugal, Prince Henry's fifteenth century explorations of west Africa, the Peninsular Wars, the Spanish Armada, Marconi's first trans-Atlantic radio transmission, and the first flight across the Atlantic. Along the way, there are constant reminders of Neolithic and Celtic heritages that are common to the coastal regions of the three countries and evidence that important and frequent cultural communications occurred between them in prehistoric times.

AUCHAEL FEWER enjoyed thirty years as a practising architect and an academic. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland when he changed direction nearly two decades ago to take up writing full-time. Since his first book was published in 1988 a further twenty-two have appeared, dealing with matters such as walking, travel, history, architecture and the environment, including, with Maurice Craig, Fewer has also contributed to radio and television programmes, and written many articles over the last three decades on architectural history, travels in Europe, walking, and the environment.