This Coastal Research Library (Volume 26) contribution presents a summary of the six authors' collective work on evaluating coastal scenery, emphasizing a specific semiquantitative method for such evaluation. Coastal beauty is the scenic attractor, and the book's title evokes a response even before reading the first page – “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” – so how can we evaluate scenery in a way that supports managing this resource? The authors address this question throughout the book, initially stating that an investigator in the 1940s noted “any assessment of coastal scenery is likely to meet with criticism.” However, their methodology, the Coastal Scenic Evaluation System (CSES), is a convincing viable tool for such assessment. Their approach is global and this presentation will be useful to managers; a recommended read for politicos and developers to appreciate scenery conservation; and a basis for developing educational field exercises. The introductory chapter sets the stage discussing tourism – its history, the present-day 3S (sun, sand, and sea) driver, rapid growth of the industry, top destinations, what tourists seek (emphasizing that this work is based on over 4000 surveys of beach user preferences worldwide), associated problems, and lots of examples, all leading to the need for evaluating scenery in coastal management. Emphasis is on tourism, but the discussion/method is just as important to nontourism development.

Chapters 2 and 3 by Allan Williams, the group's most experienced investigator in terms of length of time and global extent, clearly gives much thought to philosophical concepts such as beauty and aesthetics. Chapter 2 could be the lead-in for a philosophy textbook, reviewing the history of western thought on beauty as related to scenery, and setting the stage forwhy the CSES approach is valid. Chapter 3 reviews other leading scenic evaluation techniques, emphasizing core aspects of assessment methods, strengths and shortcomings of such methods, and the roots of landscape evaluation. The authormeshes concepts from many sources (e.g., “Scenery has become a resource” and is an “economic resource and not a dispensable luxury.”), and credits the studies that led to the development of the CSES approach.

Chapter 4 by Ayşen Ergen presents the fuzzy logic basis for CSES that reduces subjectivity on assessment decisions. The chapter takes the reader through the public survey evaluation, the methodology for developing a five-scale attribute rating system (based on 18 physical and eight human coastal scenic parameters), the math model to evaluate a decision parameter (D), and summarize results into five classes from I (most scenic) to V (poorest; urbanized). This detailed chapter is strongly supported by tables and figures, and presents a detailed applied example for the study of 485 inquiries, spread over 90 locations in four countries (Turkey, United Kingdom, Malta, Croatia). In addition, an evaluation comparing two sites in Turkey provides a useful applied example. Even if unfamiliar with fuzzy logic, there is enough information here that a manager, working with a statistician, can apply the technique. A website address for a CSES open-source computational tool is provided.

This reviewer found that reading Chapter 5 before Chapter 4 helped to better understand the assessment approach because the 26 parameters are each defined, as well as specific features listed under these parameters. The chapter's Appendix is 26 photo pages (one for each parameter),most with five photos each to show the range of variation. Chapter 6 presents examples of each of the five classes based on assessment of 952 global coastal locations in nearly 35 countries, and for each class at least two locations are discussed in detail with graphic presentations of results. Seven areas are then presented as examples of scenery evaluation applied to large areas, each with two to three specific sites for contrast. Chapter 7 is the expected summary, but it immediately shifts to a broader management view, and changes the language from “coastal scenery” to “coastal landscape.” Most of the chapter examines specific national and international landscape-related conventions (e.g., United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, European Union, Integrated Coastal Zone Management). The United Kingdom comes through as having given coastal landscapes consideration for longer, and in more detail, than most countries. The United States barely shows up in the discussion, which may be because the authors hail from other parts of the globe, but probably is also a reflection that the United States is not a leader in strongly considering coastal scenery in management. The book is thought provoking and should influence scenery assessment.