A significant literary history, this book challenges readers to rethink their land-locked assumptions about the novel. Margaret Cohen moors the novel to overseas exploration and work at sea, framing its emergence as a transatlantic history, steeped in the adventures and risks of the maritime frontier.

“We are used to drawing a distinction between practical and entertainment literature. But in the case of the maritime book, the very same literature that served a practical function for professionals also entertained general audiences. This overlap gave a technical and practical cast to the culture’s romance with the mariner’s heroism.”

Photos by Anna Iltnere / Sea Library