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"In Inland, Sandy Sorlien presents a history and photographic journey along of the Schuylkill Navigation in a grand style. Unlike the majority of history books that are presented in the typical smaller formats designed to fit on the book shelf, Sandy seemingly throws caution to the wind, using a large format that allows the photos and prints to be viewed with vibrancy, color and clarity. Sure, it costs more, but the book itself becomes a piece of art, as Sandy is a professional photographer and it shows in her images. The larger format encourages you to linger on the photos and prints to take them all in, and it is so nice that you can read the maps without the need to pull out the magnifying glass. The large format allows a map of the 108-mile-long navigation to flow, in color, across the inside front covers to the inside back covers. It might be the best map of the system I have seen." "The beauty and substance of Sandy Sorlien's book took my breath away, and I was fascinated to learn about the history with which she is so profoundly engaged. Inland is a gorgeous and important book, modeling best practices for responding to the residue of human actions embedded in the land." "Inland is, most of all, a work of the historical imagination, recovering for the viewer the significance of the long-lost canal system, a once-essential economic resource that was left behind and disappeared from view as transportation technologies changed. To imagine the Schuylkill Navigation as a whole and to realize its importance is itself of considerable importance to the nation and especially to Pennsylvanians, an act of reclamation that is at the same time an act of discovery. To imagine the Navigation as one interconnected series of dams, locks, and canal structures, as one coherent system, is the work of a truly creative artist and historian. The value of such a vision is immense—for the whole of the canal is what gives significance to each of the parts, which would otherwise disappear into the void, as nature overtakes the stones and as properties overcome the remnants of the past. Seeing the whole, and seeing the parts of the whole, changes everything. In Inland, Sandy Sorlien achieves a perfect synthesis of documentary and aesthetic modes. I can't think of another who combine the talents of Sorlien." "Sandy Sorlien's Inland represents a haunting journey through a critical waterway of Pennsylvania and the now-ruined stone architecture that gave shape to its flow. Her work documents, in remnants of living water, trails, and stone, both an economic and environmental legacy of our region. There could be nothing more important today than to embrace and rebuild the relationship between human activity and the precious, life-giving resource of water as seen in the Schuylkill Navigation." "The first time I stumbled upon the Schuylkill Navigation's Lock 68 in Manayunk while walking along the river, my jaw dropped, for here was this astonishing piece of crumbling architecture covered not only in lichens and moss, but fantastical graffiti. What was this once? And how do we keep it with us? Thankfully, Sandy Sorlien answers the first question with stunning photography and clear, concise text. I hope many Schuylkill residents and walkers like me discover her book. Then it's up to us to answer the second question: How do we preserve this remarkable history?" "Working with the tenacity and persistence of a detective, Sandy Sorlien navigated urban and rural landscapes of the present to find the remnants of a past—our past—that's almost invisible and nearly forgotten. In Inland, she has puzzled together a story with photographs and words, revealing an astonishing feat of engineering—the Schuylkill Navigation—along with the cultural, economic, and political capital required to complete it. The essays by Sorlien and others shine a light on early indifference to the near-destruction of a major river and its ecosystem, while the photographs act to correct a subsequent indifference to the infrastructure itself. But Inland does more than reconstruct a canal system and identify a profoundly troubling environmental past—it offers perspective that informs our present as we consider our current activities and their generational impacts." "Following the Schuylkill or 'hidden river,' Sandy Sorlien uncovers the sometimes forgotten but clearly not lost Schuylkill Navigation system. Her book, Inland, connects readers with the physical reminders of this influential waterway. We meet the Navigation at a crucial time, examining two centuries of its history even as some towpaths and ruins are repurposed as recreational trails and cultural sites, benefiting many former Schuylkill Canal communities. Inland exceeds at linking the past to the present, celebrating the engineering marvels of the canal era and the mystery of the surviving relics. Anyone who cares about the Schuylkill River—or American rivers and canals in general—will love exploring Inland." "Her photographs reveal a mysterious remnant landscape, evidence of an extraordinary engineering feat that spelled its own demise. ...
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