A book about a tiny island with a huge history, from the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricane's Eye.

“For everyone who loves Nantucket Island this is the indispensable book.” —Russell Baker
In his first book of history, Nathaniel Philbrick reveals the people and the stories behind what was once the whaling capital of the world. Beyond...

"Call me Ishmael". So begins Moby-Dick, Herman Melville's epic account of the last voyage of the ill-fated whaling ship Pequod, and its captain's obsessive pursuit of the legendary white whale that maimed him years before. Melville's classic novel has given American literature some of its most iconic characters. Inspired by the real-life ordeal of the crew of the whaling ship Essex--who, in 1819, were set adrift in the heart of the sea for eighty-nine...

"A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller"--

This is the epic history of the "iron men in wooden boats" who built an industrial empire through the pursuit of whales."To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme," Herman Melville proclaimed, and this absorbing history demonstrates that few things can capture the sheer danger and desperation of men on the deep sea as dramatically as whaling. Eric Jay Dolin begins his vivid narrative with Captain John Smith's botched whaling expedition...

In this one classic volume, William Oliver Stevens has used his words, as well as his sketches to capture for all time the spirit of this far-away island, and to do so with just enough of her history to make us all appreciate what it is that can be seen in present-day Nantucket. -- P. [4] of cover.