The many coves of the Marlborough Sounds are some of the most beautiful places in New Zealand. History has played out here in complex ways - Maori and Pakeha, land and sea, boom and bust, locals and tourists. It's a glorious but challenging environment and generations of farmers, miners and tourism operators have faced obstacles that range from the merely difficult to the nearly impossible. All this is brought together in this wide-ranging and richly illustrated account of the settlement of the Sounds and its resourceful and resilient people.