Windmills of New England:
Their Genius, Madness, History & Future
by Dan Lombardo

Obviously, this is the last and latest word for windmill enthusiasts, wherever located.
-- Library Journal

Lombardo takes his readers along with him on a journey that includes tours of working windmills, commentary from contemporary millers, interviews with windmill restorers, investigations of the sites of long lost mills, and examinations of state-of-the-art windfarms. He also explores the poetic and literary uses of windmills, their imagery in films, their influence on language, and their place in popular culture, such as in the architecture of homes and businesses, as lawn ornaments, and as perennial obstacles on mini-golf courses. Along the way, Lombardo has collected more than 160 photographs, vintage postcards and renderings of windmills and related items. The book is rounded off with a useful index, online and other resources, and a series of windmill tours to assist readers with their own New England windmill adventures.

This rigorously researched volume features:

• a captivating history of the revolutionary development of wind power, yesterday and today, including where, when and why windmills have been built
• detailed explorations of the uses of windmills, from grinding corn to generating electricity, from “living museums”, to architectural features, to mini-golf courses
• 160-plus contemporary and vintage photographs and illustrations of windmills and wind farms, all available to the media
• easy-to-understand explanations of how windmills and wind turbines work
• a fascinating consideration of the windmill archetype and its use in literature and film (from The Bible to Moulin Rouge), including dozens of quotes and quips
• fun to follow windmill tours throughout the region
• interviews with the intriguing characters who operate, restore, and reside in antique windmills as well as with those who run wind farms
• “Millspeak”: A fascinating glossary of windmill words and terms
• a thorough index, bibliography and wind power resource guide

Author Dan Lombardo has written six books and served for two decades as the curator of the Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost Collections at the Jones Library in Amherst. He has also been the subject of a BBC documentary and the book The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary Crime and the Art of Forgery. He is pleased to participate in interviews and to share the hundreds of contacts he has made in researching New England mills and wind power.