Nathaniel Philbrick

In the years to come, the combination of climate change and population growth could have a devastating effect on the planet and,…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“A Puritan believed it was necessary to venture back to the absolute beginning of Christianity, before the church had been corrupted by…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

People think I live here on Nantucket and just gaze at the ocean, getting my inspiration. Not so. I work in my…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“No matter how much the inhabitants might try to hide it, there was a savagery about this island, a bloodlust and pride…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“Living in the here and now, we are awash with sensations of the present, memories of the past, and expectations and fears…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“In a letter hastily written to a friend in London, Cushman saw only doom and disaster ahead. “Friend, if ever we make…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

If you live on Nantucket, you can't avoid its history, and 'Moby Dick' is the way most of us get into Nantucket's…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

As an author of narrative history, I read a lot of history books.

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“Odd things happen in a battle, and the human heart has strange and gruesome depths and the human brain still stranger shallows;”

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“The sperm whales' network of female-based family unit resembled, to a remarkable extent, the community the whalemen had left back home on…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

Instead of being a page-turner, 'Moby-Dick' is a repository of American history and culture and the essentials of Western literature. The book…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“Melville's example demonstrates the wisdom of waiting to read the classics. Coming to a great book on your own after having accumulated…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

One of the questions I face when working on a book about a historical event is whether I should visit the actual…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

I'm a big Stephen King fan.

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“That Church according to Church is too brave, too cunning, and too good to be true is beside the point. America was…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

A survival tale peels away the niceties and comforts of civilization. Suddenly, all the technology and education in the world means nothing.…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

To my mind, an adventure is something a person willingly undertakes.

— Nathaniel Philbrick

You cannot underestimate the influence of Shakespeare.

— Nathaniel Philbrick

I watch a lot of bad TV. I spend my entire day reading and writing, and after dinner my idea of fun…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

Whaling was the oil business of its day.

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“It has been estimated that at least a thousand Indians were sold into slavery during King Philip’s War, with over half the…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

Some of my books sort of have a provocative take. Sometimes you find interesting things about characters that show they weren't necessarily…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“In April, Bradford had decided that each household should be assigned its own plot to cultivate, with the understanding that each family…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

“Some Englishmen privately admitted that if the Narragansetts had chosen to join Philip in July, all would have been lost. As the…

— Nathaniel Philbrick

Writing can't be too calculated. My best writing is when I set it aside, move on. It's not when I'm crafting a…

— Nathaniel Philbrick