Reviewed by Thorsten Umbach, ......... Ralph Shanks is a maritime historian specializing in the history of the US Coast Guard, the US Lighthouse Service and the US Life-Saving Service. His book "Guardians of the Golden Gate - Lighthouses and Lifeboat Stations of the San Francisco Bay" is especially on lighthouses and lifeboat stations, but you will find b&w photos of 44´ lifeboat 44347 and 44324 and much about Coast Guard search and rescue operations, too. The book is an historic treasure for everyone interested in the lighthouses and lifeboat stations of the US West Coast. Other books by the author are "US Life-Saving Service - Heroes, rescues and architecture of the early Coast Guard" and "Lighthouses and lifeboats on the Redwood Coast".