Henry Winstanley was a self-made man in the latter part of the C17th. He was also something of an engineer and a showman. This book highlights his achievements - his set of playing cards, his 'house of wonders' and water theatre, his membership of the Royal Society; but mostly his determination to build a lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks, to protect the approach to Plymouth. His determination saw the project through despite great dangers, only for his lighthouse - and himself - to be literally 'blown away' in the Great Storm of 1703. This is popular history, lightly told, but highlights some of those 'lost people of history' who were famous in their own time but who seem to have dropped out of history. An interesting sideswipe at the England of the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution, a time when science and commerce were becoming an important part of everyday life. It also shows one could start with nothing and become rich,and perhaps more important for Winstanley, famous!