This book is a chronological journey through the natural history of Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick”. From white whales to whale intelligence, giant squids, barnacles, albatross, and sharks, the author examines what Melville knew from his own experiences and the sources available to a reader in the mid-1800s, exploring how and why Melville might have twisted what was known to serve his fiction.

“We still envision the sea .. as relentless and indifferent and immortal and sublime and eager to lure us in with a trace of sympathy and kindness then kick our ass and not even look back.”

Photos Anna Iltnere / Sea Library