Maritime Books & Resources | Recommended Reading

A small selection of favorite maritime books and resources on New England’s rich seafaring history, ordered by publication date …New England and the Sea Robert G. Albion, William A. Baker, Benjamin W. Labaree Mystic Seaport Museum, 1970 America and the Sea: A Maritime History Benjamin W. Labaree et al. Mystic Seaport Museum, 1998 Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail W. Jeffrey Bolster Harvard University Press, 1998 Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African American Whalers Patricia C. McKissack, Frederick L. McKissack Scholastic Press, 1999 Hen Frigates: Passion and Peril, 19th-Century Women at Sea Joan Druett Simon & Schuster, 1999 Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New England Women and the Whalefishery, 1720–1870 Lisa Norling University of North Carolina Press, 2000 Down East: A Maritime History of Maine Lincoln P. Paine Tilbury House Publishers, 2000 Young Men and the Sea: Yankee Seafarers in the Age of Sail Daniel Vickers, Vince Walsh Yale University Press, 2000 In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragendy of the Whaleship Essex Nathaniel Philbrick Penguin Books, 2001 ‘Cross-Grained and Wily Waters’: A Guide to the Piscataqua Maritime Region W. Jeffrey Bolster, editor Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2002 Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 Nathaniel Philbrick Penguin Books, 2004 Sea History’s Guide to Maritime Programs & Cultural Sites: New York Region Joyce Riess, editor National Maritime Historical Society, 2004 Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War Nathaniel Philbrick Penguin Books, 2007 The Way of the Ship: America’s Maritime History Reenvisioned, 1600–2000 Alex Roland, W. Jeffrey Bolster, Alexander Keyssar Wiley, 2007 The Slave Ship: A Human History Marcus Rediker Penguin Books, 2008 Final Voyage: The Story of Arctic Disaster and One Fateful Whaling Season Peter Nichols Putnam, 2009 Maritime Museums of North America Robert H. Smith C Books, 2009 The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea Philip Hoare Ecco, 2010 Lighthouse Handbook: Hudson River & New York Harbor Jeremy d’Entremont Cider Mill Press, 2009 Lighthouse Handbook: New England (2nd Edition) Jeremy d’Entremont Cider Mill Press, 2012 The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail W. Jeffrey Bolster Belknap Press, 2012 ‘A Bold and Hardy Race of Men’: The Lives and Literature of American Whalemen Jennifer Schell University of Massachusetts Press, 2013 The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World Lincoln Paine Knopf, 2013 Living with Whales: Documents and Oral Histories of Native New England Whaling History Nancy Shoemaker, editor University of Massachusetts Press, 2014 Maritime Web SitesFor other useful Web resources, see “When You Go” and “400 Years of Seafaring History.” Institute of Maritime History maritimehistory.org National Maritime Historical Society seahistory.org National Park Service Maritime Heritage Program nps.gov/history/maritime National Park Service Maritime History of Massachusetts nps.gov/nr/travel/maritime/index.htm New England Lighthouses newenglandlighthouses.net Old Salt oldsaltblog.com Portsmouth Marine Society Press portsmouthhistory.org/our-books Salem’s Maritime Heritage salemweb.com/history/maritime Ship Index shipindex.org Vermont Sail Freight Project vermontsailfreightproject.wordpress.com WoodenBoat Magazine woodenboat.com Wreckhunter wreckhunter.net