Nathaniel Philbrick

Automne 1620. Les cent deux passagers du Mayflower débarquent sur les côtes américaines. Affamés, craintifs, mais forts de leur foi, ils entrent en contact avec les tribus indiennes, elles-mêmes frag

En 1820, el ballenero Essex fue destrozado por un enorme cachalote. Los supervivientes se salvaron en tres frágiles botes, dando inicio así a una odisea en la que vivieron terribles acontecimientos... Un relato tan espeluznante como veridico.

Lincroyable histoire vraie qui a inspiré lauteur de Moby Dick. Nouvelle édition : Préface de Catherine Poulain et traduction révisée. "Un vrai bijou littéraire." - Le Télégramme​"Lexploration captiv

The New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning In the Heart of the Sea, now a major motion picture directed by Ron Howard, adapted by the author for young readers.On November 20, 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry whale. Within minutes, the twenty-one-man crew, including the fourteen-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, found themselves stranded in three leaky boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with barely any supplies and little hope. Three months later, two of the boats were rescued 4,500 miles away, off the coast of South America. Of the twenty-one castaways, only eight survived, including young Thomas. Based on his New York Times best-seller In the Heart of the Sea, Nathaniel Philbrick recreates the amazing events of the ill-fated Essex through the sailors own first-hand accounts, photos, maps, and artwork, and tells the tale of one of the great true-life adventure stories."Horrifyingly engrossing." Kirkus Reviews"A compelling saga of desperation and survival." School Library Journal

The Number One best-selling, epic true-life story of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the 19th century, beautifully reissued alongside Philbrick''s new paperback, Sea of Glory.The sinking of the whaleship Essex by an enraged spermwhale in the Pacific in November 1820 set in motion one of the most dramatic sea stories of all time: the twenty sailors who survived the wreck took to three small boats (one of which was again attacked by a whale) and only eight of them survived their subsequent 90-day ordeal, after resorting to cannibalising their mates.Three months after the Essex was broken up, the whaleship Dauphin, cruising off the coast of South America, spotted a small boat in the open ocean. As they pulled alongside they saw piles of bones in the bottom of the boat, at least two skeletons'' worth, with two survivors - almost skeletons themselves - sucking the marrow from the bones of their dead ship-mates.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Nathaniel Philbrick is a masterly storyteller. Here he seeks to elevate the naval battles between the French and British to a central place in the history of the American Revolution. He succeeds, marvelously."The New York Times Book ReviewThe thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War from the New York Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower. In the concluding volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick tells the thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1780, after five frustrating years of war, George Washington had come to realize that the only way to defeat the British Empire was with the help of the French navy. But coordinating his armys movements with those of a fleet of warships based thousands of miles away was next to impossible. And then, on September 5, 1781, the impossible happened. Recognized today as one of the most important naval engagements in the history of the world, the Battle of the Chesapeakefought without a single American shipmade the subsequent victory of the Americans at Yorktown a virtual inevitability. A riveting and wide-ranging story, full of dramatic, unexpected turns, In the Hurricanes Eye reveals that the fate of the American Revolution depended, in the end, on Washington and the sea.

From the author of Mayflower, Valiant Ambition, and In the Hurricanes Eye--the riveting bestseller tells the story of the true events that inspired Melvilles Moby-Dick.Winner of the National Book Award, Nathaniel Philbricks book is a fantastic saga of survival and adventure, steeped in the lore of whaling, with deep resonance in American literature and history. In 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale, leaving the desperate crew to drift for more than ninety days in three tiny boats. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents and vivid details about the Nantucket whaling tradition to reveal the chilling facts of this infamous maritime disaster. In the Heart of the Sea, recently adapted into a major feature film starring Chris Hemsworth, is a book for the ages.

This is the archetypal story of the American West. Whether it is cast as a tale of unmatched bravery in the face of impossible odds or of insane arrogance receiving its rightful comeuppance, Custers Last Stand continues to captivate the imagination.Nathaniel Philbrick brilliantly reconstructs the build-up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn through to the final eruption of violence. Two legendary figures dominate the events: George Armstrong Custer and Sitting Bull. Those involved are brought vividly to life, as well as the history, geography and haunting beauty of the Great Plains.This book provides a thrilling account of what happened there - and why - at the end of June 1876.

A brilliant and provocative (The New Yorker) celebration of Melvilles masterpiecefrom the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea, Valiant Ambition, and In the Hurricanes EyeOne of the greatest American novels finds its perfect contemporary champion in Why Read Moby-Dick?, Nathaniel Philbricks enlightening and entertaining tour through Melvilles classic. As he did in his National Book Awardwinning bestseller In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick brings a sailors eye and an adventurers passion to unfolding the story behind an epic American journey. He skillfully navigates Melvilles world and illuminates the books humor and unforgettable charactersfinding the thread that binds Ishmael and Ahab to our own time and, indeed, to all times. An ideal match between author and subject, Why Read Moby-Dick? will start conversations, inspire arguments, and make a powerful case that this classic tale waits to be discovered anew.Gracefully written [with an] infectious enthusiasmNew York Times Book Review

Adapted from the New York Times bestseller Mayflower! After a dangerous journey across the Atlantic, the Mayflower?s passengers were saved from certain destruction with the help of the Natives of the Plymouth region. For fifty years a fragile peace was maintained as Pilgrims and Native Americans learned to work together. But when that trust was broken by the next generation of leaders, a conflict erupted that nearly wiped out Pilgrims and Natives alike. Adapted from the New York Times bestseller Mayflower specifically for younger readers, this edition includes additional maps, artwork, and archival photos.

"A treasure of a book."David McCulloughThe harrowing story of a pathbreaking naval expedition that set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean, dwarfing Lewis and Clark with its discoveries, from the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricanes Eye.A New York Times Notable BookAmericas first frontier was not the West; it was the sea, and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his bestselling In the Heart of the Sea Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seenthe U.S. Exploring Expedition of 18381842. On a scale that dwarfed the journey of Lewis and Clark, six magnificent sailing vessels and a crew of hundreds set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean and ended up naming the newly discovered continent of Antarctica, collecting what would become the basis of the Smithsonian Institution. Combining spellbinding human drama and meticulous research, Philbrick reconstructs the dark saga of the voyage to show why, instead of being celebrated and revered as that of Lewis and Clark, it hasuntil nowbeen relegated to a footnote in the national memory.Winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize

The real story of the First Thanksgiving from the New York Times bestselling author Nathaniel PhilbrickOne of Americas most acclaimed historians takes on the nations First Thanksgiving, telling us the true story behind the tale we think we know so well. In this selection from the New York Times bestseller Mayflower Nathaniel Philbrick recounts in riveting detail the truth about relations between Plymouth Colony and the British crown and between the colonists and Native American tribes, shining a light on the courage, communities, and conflicts that shaped one of our countrys most celebrated national holidays.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERTravels with George . . . is quintessential Philbricka lively, courageous, and masterful achievement. TheBoston Globe Does George Washington still matter? Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washingtons unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies, which were now an unsure nation. Travels with George marks a new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into a single narrative.When George Washington became president in 1789, the United States of America was still a loose and quarrelsome confederation and a tentative political experiment. Washington undertook a tour of the ex-colonies to talk to ordinary citizens about his new government, and to imbue in them the idea of being one thingAmericans.In the fall of 2018, Nathaniel Philbrick embarked on his own journey into what Washington called the infant woody country to see for himself what America had become in the 229 years since. Writing in a thoughtful first person about his own adventures with his wife, Melissa, and their dog, Dora, Philbrick follows Washingtons presidential excursions: from Mount Vernon to the new capital in New York; a monthlong tour of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; a venture onto Long Island and eventually across Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The narrative moves smoothly between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries as we see the country through both Washingtons and Philbricks eyes.Written at a moment when Americas founding figures are under increasing scrutiny, Travels with George grapples bluntly and honestly with Washingtons legacy as a man of the people, a reluctant president, and a plantation owner who held people in slavery. At historic houses and landmarks, Philbrick reports on the reinterpretations at work as he meets reenactors, tour guides, and other keepers of historys flame. He paints a picture of eighteenth-century America as divided and fraught as it is today, and he comes to understand how Washington compelled, enticed, stood up to, and listened to the many different people he met along the wayand how his all-consuming belief in the union helped to forge a nation.

A charming memoir of midlife by the bestselling author of Mayflower and In the Hurricanes Eye, recounting his attempt to recapture a national sailing championship hed won at twenty-two.There had been something elemental and all consuming about a Sunfish. Nothing could compare to the exhilaration of a close race in a real blowthe wind howling and spray flying as my Sunfish and I punched through the waves to the finish.In the spring of 1992, Nat Philbrick was in his late thirties, living with his family on Nantucket, feeling stranded and longing for that thrill of victory he once felt after winning a national sailing championship in his youth. Was it a midlife crisis? It was certainly a watershed for the journalist-turned-stay-at-home dad, who impulsively decided to throw his hat into the ring, or water, again. With the bemused approval of his wife and children, Philbrick used the off-season on the island as his solitary training ground, sailing his tiny Sunfish to its remotest corners, experiencing the haunting beauty of its tidal creeks, inlets, and wave-battered sandbars. On ponds, bays, rivers, and finally at the championship on a lake in the heartland of America, he sailed through storms and memories, racing for the prize, but finding something unexpected about himself instead.

"Vivid and remarkably fresh...Philbrick has recast the Pilgrims for the ages."--The New York Times Book ReviewFinalist for the Pulitzer Prize in HistoryNew York Times Book Review Top Ten books of the YearWith a new preface marking the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower.How did America begin? That simple question launches the acclaimed author of In the Hurricanes Eye and Valiant Ambition on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. As Philbrick reveals in this electrifying history of the Pilgrims, the story of Plymouth Colony was a fifty-five year epic that began in peril and ended in war. New England erupted into a bloody conflict that nearly wiped out the English colonists and natives alike. These events shaped the existing communites and the country that would grow from them.

National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower, reveals how Californias Gold Rush forged the modern United Statesand lit the long fuse to civil warIn January 1848, a carpenter spotted flecks of gold in a shallow stream at Sutters Mill in Californiatriggering the greatest voluntary migration in U.S. history and jolting a fragile republic already sliding toward crisis. In The Rush, Nathaniel Philbrick transforms the Gold Rush from a tale of sudden riches into the origin story of Americas modern contradictions: capital consolidated at dizzying speed, democracy in thrall to private power, xenophobia weaponized in the name of libertyand a stubborn belief in the American experiment that refuses to die. This is the story of a nation tearing at the seamsa republic tested by its own ideals.From the feverish gold-mining camps of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the wharves and vigilance committees of San Francisco, Philbrick renders a combustible, all-world society: Chilean brothers reinventing themselves to outrun prejudice; Native communities navigating dispossession and violence; the merchant-showman Samuel Brannan, drawn into the center of early vigilantism; and the politicians vying for control of Californias futurethe ambitious free-soil political boss David Broderick, who squared off against William Gwin, the Southern power broker intent on tilting the state toward slavery and the Confederacy. Not until a year after the outbreak of the Civil War, when President Lincoln signed legislation that would unite the nation east to west by building a transcontinental railroad, was Californias loyalty secured.Philbrick follows the gold as it moves from riverbed to countinghouse to the halls of power, revealing how vigilantism hardened into law and how debates over slavery in the West tipped the balance in Washington. The result is a clear, human story of how a scramble for wealth reshaped ideas of freedom, labor, and belongingand how Californias rise helped push a fractured nation toward war. The Rush is alive with characters whose choices still reverberate: a searing, panoramic epic that captures both the fury and the promise of America.

History comes alive in this gripping account of a young boy caught up in the start of the Revolutionary War. Based on an episode in National Book Awardwinning author Nathaniel Philbricks New York Times bestseller Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, this engrossing story allows readers to experience history from a childs perspective, and Wendell Minors stunning paintings will transport readers back to the early days of the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Russell is in school on the morning of April 19th, 1775, when his teacher announces, The wars begun, and you may run! Ben knew this day was coming; after all, tensions had been mounting between the colonists and the British troops ever since the Boston Tea Party. And now they have finally reached the breaking point. Ben and his friends excitedly rush out of their classroom to bear witness, and follow the throngs of redcoats marching out of Boston toward Concord. Much to Bens surprise, Boston is sealed off later that dayleaving the boys stuck outside the city, in the middle of a war, with no way to reach their families. But Ben isnt worriedhes eager to help the Patriots! He soon becomes a clerk to the jovial Israel Putnam, a general in the provincial army. For months he watches the militia grow into an organized army, and when the Battle of Bunker Hill erupts, Ben is awed by the bravery of the Patriots, although saddened by the toll war takes. He later goes on to become an apprentice at a Revolutionary newspaper, and its a happy day when they get to report on the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Praise forBunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution Philbrick guides us beautifully through Revolutionary Boston, with the Battle of Bunker Hill as his storys grand climax.The New York Times Book Review Masterly narrative . . . Philbrick tells the complex story superbly . . . gripping book.The Wall Street Journal A masterpiece of narrative and perspective. . . . This is not only . . . the greatest American story. It is also the American story.The Boston Globe You will delight in the story and the multitude of details Philbrick offers up.USA Today

A New York Times BestsellerWinner of the George Washington PrizeA surprising account of the middle years of the American Revolution and the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold, from the New York Times bestselling author of In The Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and In the Hurricanes Eye."May be one of the greatest what-if books of the agea volume that turns one of Americas best-known narratives on its head.Boston Globe"Clear and insightful, [Valiant Ambition] consolidates Philbricks reputation as one of Americas foremost practitioners of narrative nonfiction."Wall Street JournalIn the second book of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns to the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold. In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental army under an unsure George Washington evacuated New York after a devastating defeat by the British army. Three weeks later, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeded in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have lost the war. As this book ends, four years later Washington has vanquished his demons, and Arnold has fled to the enemy. America was forced at last to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from withinComplex, controversial, and dramatic, Valiant Ambition is a portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation.

A book about a tiny island with a huge history, from the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricanes Eye.For everyone who loves Nantucket Island this is the indispensable book. Russell BakerIn his first book of history, Nathaniel Philbrick reveals the people and the stories behind what was once the whaling capital of the world. Beyond its charm, quaint local traditions, and whaling yarns, Philbrick explores the origins of Nantucket in this comprehensive history. From the English settlers who thought they were purchasing a Native American ghost town but actually found a fully realized society, through the rise and fall of the then thriving whaling industry, the story of Nantucket is a truly unique chapter of American history.