The University of North Carolina Press

288 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 2 maps

For Sale in U.S. & Dependencies and Canada

Chapel Hill Books

Paper

ISBN  978-0-8078-4820-3

Published: April 1999

The Outer Banks

By Anthony Bailey

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Four hundred years after the first English colonists struggled to gain a foothold on the coast of North Carolina, British writer Anthony Bailey made a journey along these same barrier islands. In this popular book, highly acclaimed since 1989, he combines keen observations of the Outer Banks' natural splendor with a genuine appreciation of the people who live there.

Whether describing his experience waiting out a hurricane in a Wanchese restaurant, his mosquito-plagued visit to an abandoned village on Portsmouth Island, or his trip to the top of Cape Hatteras lighthouse with a Coast Guard lieutenant, Bailey captures the spirit of a unique and much-loved region, its history, and especially its people.

About the Author

Anthony Bailey wrote for many years for the New Yorker and is author of numerous books, including Major Andre, The Thousand Dollar Yacht, and Standing in the Sun.

Reviews

With humor, insight, and an outsiders fresh perspective, Bailey captures the mundane and sublime details of daily life on the Outer Banks.
--North Carolina Historical Review

"An irresistible combination of personal experience, natural and local history and people. It is absolutely required reading for visitors to the Banks."
--Publishers Weekly

"A classic travel book. . . . Highly recommended to anyone who has visited or may wish to visit the Outer Banks."
--Library Journal

"Bailey has a sharp eye for detail and an unflappable ability to deal with the incongruous or the just plain awful. To read his travel books . . . is to share the experience of being there."
--Booklist

"To see new things accurately . . . is what good travel writing is about; and by that standard, Bailey's account of his journey down our Outer Banks, from the Virginia border to Cape Lookout, is a successful one, well worth our reading."
--Michael McFee, WUNC Radio

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