"A vivid, immediate setting and an original hero highlight this first mystery by historian Joan Druett, who brings her knowledge of 19th-century sailing ships and Maori culture to this salty tale of murder at sea."--Dana Stabenow, author of "A Grave Denied." ...More

World Elsewhere tells of the sea change of young eighteenth-century French nobleman who embarks on a high-seas voyage that will alter dramatically his notions of humanity and civilization. Based on actual historical events and contemporary diaries, the novel takes us from a Paris of gilded royalty, casual decadence, and love affairs on an odyssey to exotic lands and foreign cultures, leading eventually to the South Pacific. At the novel's center is Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen, a young captain in the French army. To flee financial embarrassment and an impending romantic scandal, Charles joins the frigate Boudeuse, under the command of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, as it sets out on a voyage around the world - headed first to the tip of South America and then into the open and uncharted waters of the South Pacific. The discovery of Tah ...More

After forty-five years of being a pirate on the eastern seas, Citizen Peyrol returns home to the Port of Toulon a rich man. But his retirement is not destined to be peaceful. As the first salvos of the Napoleonic Wars are fired, he finds himself plunged into a world of paranoia and intrigue, beset on one side by Bonaparte's Imperial troops and on the other by the remnants of the Bourbon loyalists. Fearing for his life -- and for the wealth he has amassed -- Peyrol retreats to the safety of a local farm, where he meets the beautiful but disturbed Arlette, her murderous lover, Scelova, and the enigmatic Lieutenant Real. Peyrol's love for Arlette places him in even greater danger, as he becomes ensnared in Lieutenant R'eal's political intrigues. Written in Joseph Conrad's compelling atmospheric and suspenseful style, The Rover is a tale of h ...More

The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone. ...More

The most powerful Civil War stories ever written, this is the finest and most horrific depiction of front line combat anywhere. Haunting and evocative, the protagonist's mesmerizing transformation from an eager recruit itching for a taste of combat to a battle-shocked survivor who knows the full horror of war remains an unforgettable reading experience. ...More

Revised and repackaged, this Daniel Defoe masterpiece tells the story of a castaway's triumph over nature itself--and over the fears, doubts, and loneliness that are ingrained in the human psyche. New Introduction by Paul Theroux. ...More

In his later years, the creator of "Mutiny on the Bounty" wrote tales featuring his favorite character, Dr. Dogbody, a peg-legged old salt whose stories vividly recreate the Napoleonic Wars, and delight with broad comedy, rollicking naval adventure, and memorable characters. ...More

Richard Hughes's celebrated short novel is a masterpiece of concentrated narrative. Its dreamlike action begins among the decayed plantation houses and overwhelming natural abundance of late nineteenth-century Jamaica, before moving out onto the high seas, as Hughes tells the story of a group of children thrown upon the mercy of a crew of down-at-the-heel pirates. A tale of seduction and betrayal, of accommodation and manipulation, of weird humor and unforeseen violence, this classic of twentieth-century literature is above all an extraordinary reckoning with the secret reasons and otherworldly realities of childhood. ...More

'A novel in the honorable tradition of Billy Budd and Moby Dick . . . heroic in proportion . . . engrossing'.--The New York Times Book Review. Middle Passage is an astonishing work of historical fiction about the slave trade which combines elements of classic 19th-century sea-going novels with the existential angst of a 20th-century philosopher. The result is a resonant work that is completely original and truly unforgettable. ...More

The only one of Kipling's novels to be cast in an American setting, "Captains Courageous endures as one of literature's most cherished and memorable sea adventures. Harvey Cheyne, spoiled millionaire's son, tumbles overboard from a luxury liner--only to be rescued by the crew of a Gloucester schooner. Thus begins the boy's second voyage into the rugged rites and ways of sailors. Like all Kipling's masterworks, "Captains Courageous is an interweaving of art and moral purpose. Angus Wilson has said that it shows "delicacy of craft and violence of feeling, exactitude and wile impressionism, subtlety and true innocence." A popular favorite since its first publication in 1897, the novel remains a classic story of youthful initiation--and a lively tribute to the author's famous code of bravery, loyalty, an honor among men. ...More

Written by the author of "South to Java, " this enchanting story chronicles the fictional exploits of one of the first Scotsmen to become an officer in Nelson's navy. ...More

...More

Oliver Tressilian, a Cornish gentleman who helped defeat the Spanish Armada, is betrayed by his half-brother, throwing him into circumstances where he becomes a Barbary pirate and a follower of Islam. ...More

How did Captain Flint and Murray sack the Spanish galleon and bury their ill-gotten treasure on the Dead Man's Chest and on Treasure Island? This book is a thrilling "prequel" to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic pirate tale! ...More

THE DEEP. THE DEADLY. THE DAMNED...

For a thousand years, an unimaginable treasure has rested on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, hidden by swift blue currents, guarded by deadly coral reefs, and even deadlier schools of man-eating great white sharks. Harry Fletcher, a former soldier turned fisherman, is now being pulled into a murderous mystery by men willing to kill and a beautiful woman willing to lie for what rests far beneath the sea. Now, Harry has no choice but to enter full bore into an international battle to raise an extraordinary object from the deep. Because possessing this treasure isn't just about getting rich -- it's about staying alive... ...More

Pirates buried the gold long ago. Then they made a map. Jim Hawkins found it and was sorry. Because the map led to deadly trouble on Treasure Island. ...More