Culminating three years of exhaustive research, months of photo collection, and scores of interviews, J. Dennis Robinson has written the first history book of Strawbery Banke. Eminently readable and endearingly retold, Robinson's work comprises nearly 400 pages, 300 historic images, and two color photo galleries by the Museum's signature photographers, Richard Haynes and Ralph Morang.

The book is actually two stories. The first tracks 400 years of history along the Piscataqua River with dramatic tales that will surprise even New Hampshire natives. The narrative then goes behind the scenes to the controversial founding of Strawbery Banke Museum in 1958. Tapping into private letters, unpublished records, and personal interviews, the author explores the politics of preservation in a small working-class city. Always lively, this history tracks modern Portsmouth from a gritty working seaport to a cultural heritage destination, assessing what is gained and what is lost along the way.

Museum president Lawrence Yerdon commissioned the book to commemorate the Museum's 50th anniversary in 2008. The Roger R. & Theresa S. Thompson Endowment Fund and Mary & Storer Goodwin Decatur underwrote the project. Carefully reviewed by local experts and historian, including Richard Candee, James Garvin, and Thomas Hardiman, the book aims to present an accurate and thorough compendium of existing knowledge of Strawbery Banke -- from its inception as New Hampshire's oldest waterfront neighborhood to the living history museum of today.

 "This book is a watershed achievement and a great tribute to the families and individuals involved in creating this museum," says Yerdon. "I truly believe this work will serve to dispel urban myths and recognize the enormous vision and efforts of those who created this institution against all odds. We are most grateful to Dennis Robinson for the yeoman's work he has done to bring this book to print."

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