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In November 1820 a sperm whale rammed and sank the Nantucket whaleship Essex in the Pacific. Her crew spent the next three months in open boats, and by the time the last survivors were picked up in February 1821 most of the men were dead. Herman Melville built Moby-Dick on the story. Nathaniel Philbrick, a former champion sailor who had moved to Nantucket in 1986, told it again in In the Heart of the Sea (2000), which won the National Book Award. Since then he has written about the Pilgrims, Custer and Sitting Bull, the American Revolution and, most recently, the California Gold Rush. This guide covers his 11 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 key books · 1994–2026 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Nathaniel Philbrick’s best-known book is In the Heart of the Sea (2000), winner of the National Book Award and the basis of Ron Howard’s 2015 film. His other key histories include Mayflower (2006), a Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Last Stand (2010), Bunker Hill (2013) and Valiant Ambition (2016); his newest is The Rush (2026). Start with In the Heart of the Sea. Below are all eleven in order, and what each one covers.
Where to Start with Nathaniel Philbrick
If you want the book that made his name
→ In the Heart of the Sea (2000) — the sinking of the whaleship Essex.
If you want early America
→ Mayflower (2006) — the Pilgrims, from the voyage to King Philip’s War.
If you want the American Revolution
→ Bunker Hill (2013) — the first of his Revolution books.
If you want the American West
→ The Last Stand (2010) — Custer, Sitting Bull and the Little Bighorn.
11 Nathaniel Philbrick Books, in Order
Away Off Shore
A history of Nantucket and its people from 1602, when English explorers reached the island, to 1890, through the years when its whaling fleet made it rich. First published by Mill Hill Press on Nantucket, it was the first of his island histories and the groundwork for the whaling story he told next.
In the Heart of the Sea
In November 1820 a sperm whale attacked and sank the Nantucket whaleship Essex in the Pacific. The crew set out for South America in three whaleboats, and starvation and thirst killed most of them before the survivors were rescued in February 1821; the men who lived resorted to cannibalism. Philbrick drew on the first mate Owen Chase’s account and on the cabin boy Thomas Nickerson’s memoir, found in 1960 and published in 1984. It won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction and was filmed by Ron Howard in 2015.
Sea of Glory
The U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842: six ships and 346 men under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who charted part of the coast of Antarctica, surveyed the Pacific Northwest and documented hundreds of species. Philbrick shows Wilkes as an inexperienced, glory-seeking commander whose voyage ended in courts-martial. It won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize.
Mayflower
The Plymouth Colony from the Mayflower’s voyage in 1620 to King Philip’s War, launched in 1675 by the Wampanoag leader Metacom, which nearly destroyed both the English colonists and their Native neighbours. Massasoit, Squanto, Miles Standish and Benjamin Church are among its main figures. It was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History and won the Massachusetts Book Award.
The Last Stand
The Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory on 25 June 1876, when Lakota and Cheyenne warriors destroyed the part of the 7th Cavalry led by George Armstrong Custer. Philbrick sets Custer against Sitting Bull and follows the campaign from both sides. It was named a Montana Book Award Honor Book.
Why Read Moby-Dick?
A short book, published in October 2011, arguing for Herman Melville’s novel as the great American book. Philbrick, whose father was an English professor, connects Moby-Dick to Melville’s life and to the Nantucket whaling world he wrote about in In the Heart of the Sea.
Bunker Hill
Boston on the way to war, from the protests of the early 1770s to the battle of 17 June 1775 on the Charlestown peninsula and the siege that followed. The physician and patriot leader Joseph Warren, killed in the battle, is at its centre. Warner Bros. optioned the book, with Ben Affleck attached to direct. It won the New England Book Award for non-fiction.
Valiant Ambition
The middle years of the Revolution, told through two men: George Washington and Benedict Arnold, his most daring field commander, who turned traitor in 1780. Philbrick presents Arnold as impulsive but sympathetic, mistreated by self-interested politicians until he lost faith in the cause. It won the 50,000-dollar George Washington Prize in 2017.
In the Hurricane’s Eye
How the war was won in 1781: Washington needed control of the sea, and got it when the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse reached the Chesapeake and the British army under Cornwallis was trapped at Yorktown. Philbrick tells it as a naval story as much as a land campaign. It won the Commodore John Barry Book Award.
Travels with George
Between 2018 and 2020 Philbrick retraced the tours Washington made of the new nation as president between 1789 and 1791, through New England, Long Island and Rhode Island, and the South, travelling with his wife Melissa and their dog Dora. The title nods to John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, and the book mixes travel writing with the history of the tours.
The Rush
Published by Viking in October 2026, it begins at John Sutter’s mill and follows the Gold Rush into the Civil War: Sutter’s private domain in Mexican California, built on the forced labour of Native people; California’s entry to the Union in 1850 as a free state; and Senator William Gwin’s efforts to tie the state to the South.
In What Order to Read Nathaniel Philbrick
Most of Philbrick’s books stand alone, so you can choose by subject: the sea (In the Heart of the Sea, Sea of Glory), early New England (Away Off Shore, Mayflower), the West (The Last Stand, The Rush) or the Revolution.
The exception is his American Revolution sequence, which is best read in order of events: Bunker Hill (1775), Valiant Ambition (1776–1780) and In the Hurricane’s Eye (1781), with Travels with George as a coda on Washington’s presidency. Read Why Read Moby-Dick? after In the Heart of the Sea, since it picks up where the whaling story ends.
A reading path
1. In the Heart of the Sea (2000)
2. Mayflower (2006)
3. Bunker Hill (2013)
4. Valiant Ambition (2016)
5. In the Hurricane’s Eye (2018)
Everything Else Nathaniel Philbrick Published
Beyond the 11 key books: 5 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Sailing books
3
3 books · 1984–1999
- 1984Yaahting: A Parodya parody of yachting magazines, which he edited
- 1987The Passionate Sailora book on sailing from his years at Sailing World
- 1999Second Winda memoir of returning to Sunfish racing, reissued in 2018
Nantucket history
1
1 book · 1998
- 1998Abram’s Eyes: The Native American Legacy of Nantucket IslandNantucket’s history told around Abram Quary, described as the island’s last Wampanoag
Young readers
1
1 book · 2002
- 2002Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essexthe Essex story for younger readers
The years · 1956–2026
Quick facts about Nathaniel Philbrick
- Known for
- Nathaniel Philbrick is known for narrative histories of American turning points, from the sinking of the whaleship Essex and the Plymouth Colony to the Little Bighorn and the Revolution.
- 1956
- Born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1978
- Sunfish North American champion
- 2007
- Mayflower a Pulitzer finalist
- 2026
- The Rush
- Born
- 11 June 1956, Boston; grew up in Pittsburgh, the son of the English professor Thomas Philbrick
- Education
- Brown University, BA in English; Duke University, MA in American literature
- Sailing
- Brown’s first Intercollegiate All-American sailor and Sunfish North American champion, both in 1978; later an editor at Sailing World
- Lives
- Nantucket, since 1986, with his wife Melissa; they have two children
- Nantucket
- Founding director of the Egan Maritime Institute; research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association
- Prizes
- National Book Award (2000) for In the Heart of the Sea; George Washington Prize (2017) for Valiant Ambition
The red mark is 2000: In the Heart of the Sea, which won the National Book Award and made his name.
How Nathaniel Philbrick Writes: History from the Water
Philbrick builds his books on first-hand accounts, often ones that change the familiar story. In the Heart of the Sea sets the first mate Owen Chase’s published narrative against the cabin boy Thomas Nickerson’s memoir, which was only found in 1960; Mayflower follows the Pilgrims past Thanksgiving into King Philip’s War, the part of the story school versions leave out.
He was a competitive sailor and a sailing editor before he was a historian, and the sea runs through his work. Even his Revolution books look at the water: In the Hurricane’s Eye argues that Yorktown was decided by the French fleet in the Chesapeake, and Sea of Glory recovers a naval expedition most Americans had forgotten.
His books usually turn on a pair of opposed figures, told from both sides: Custer and Sitting Bull, Washington and Benedict Arnold, Wilkes and the officers who brought charges against him. He writes them as character studies, with judgments left largely to the reader; in Valiant Ambition even Arnold is treated with some sympathy.
Watch
Nathaniel Philbrick on Valiant Ambition
Douglas Bradburn of Mount Vernon’s Fred W. Smith National Library talks with Philbrick in 2016 about Washington, Benedict Arnold and the middle years of the Revolution.
Frequently asked questions about Nathaniel Philbrick’s books
How many books has Nathaniel Philbrick written?
Eleven key books are on this page, from Away Off Shore (1994) to The Rush (2026). He has also published early sailing books, Abram’s Eyes (1998), and young readers’ editions of his histories, listed in the bibliography.
What are Nathaniel Philbrick’s books in order?
Away Off Shore (1994), In the Heart of the Sea (2000), Sea of Glory (2003), Mayflower (2006), The Last Stand (2010), Why Read Moby-Dick? (2011), Bunker Hill (2013), Valiant Ambition (2016), In the Hurricane’s Eye (2018), Travels with George (2021) and The Rush (2026).
Where should I start with Nathaniel Philbrick?
With In the Heart of the Sea, his account of the whaleship Essex. If you are more interested in American history than the sea, start with Mayflower or Bunker Hill.
What is Nathaniel Philbrick’s most famous book?
In the Heart of the Sea (2000). It won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and was adapted as a Ron Howard film in 2015, starring Chris Hemsworth, Ben Whishaw and Cillian Murphy.
Is In the Heart of the Sea a true story?
Yes. The Essex was sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific in November 1820, and the survivors were rescued in February 1821 after months in open boats. Philbrick based the book on the accounts of the first mate, Owen Chase, and the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson.
Was Moby-Dick based on the Essex?
In part. The sinking of the Essex inspired Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851). Philbrick tells the real story in In the Heart of the Sea and writes about the novel itself in Why Read Moby-Dick? (2011).
Has Nathaniel Philbrick won a Pulitzer Prize?
No. Mayflower was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2007. He won the National Book Award in 2000 for In the Heart of the Sea and the George Washington Prize in 2017 for Valiant Ambition.
In what order should I read his American Revolution books?
In order of events: Bunker Hill (1775), Valiant Ambition (1776–1780) and In the Hurricane’s Eye (1781). Travels with George (2021) follows Washington as president and works as a coda.
What is Nathaniel Philbrick’s newest book?
The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World, published by Viking in October 2026. It follows the California Gold Rush from Sutter’s mill into the Civil War.
Is Nathaniel Philbrick still alive?
Yes. He was born in Boston on 11 June 1956 and lives on Nantucket with his wife Melissa, where they moved in 1986.
Footnotes
- Nathaniel Philbrick — Wikipedia
- About — nathanielphilbrick.com
- In the Heart of the Sea — Wikipedia
- Philbrick, Nathaniel 1956– — Encyclopedia.com
- Author Nathaniel Philbrick wins 2017 George Washington Prize — Mount Vernon
- The Rush — Kirkus Reviews, 2026
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“A survival tale peels away the niceties and comforts of civilization.”
— Nathaniel Philbrick on the Essex, interview with BookBrowse
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