Nathaniel Philbrick grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned
a BA in English from Brown University and an MA in America
Literature from Duke University, where he was a James B. Duke
Fellow. He was Brown University's first Intercollegiate
All-American sailor in 1978, the same year he won the Sunfish North
Americans in Barrington, RI. After working as an editor at "Sailing
World" magazine, he wrote and edited several books about sailing,
including "The Passionate Sailor, Second Wind," and "Yaahting: A
Parody."
In 1986, Philbrick moved to Nantucket with his wife Melissa and
their two children. In 1994, he published his first book about the
island's history, "Away Off Shore," followed by a study of the
Nantucket's native legacy, "Abram's Eyes." He was the founding
director of Nantucket's Egan Maritime Institute and is still a
research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association.
In 2000, Philbrick published the "New York Times" bestseller "In
the Heart of the Sea, "which won the National Book Award for
nonfiction. The book is the basis of the forthcoming Warner Bros.
motion picture "Heart of the Sea," directed by Ron Howard and
starring Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Benjamin
Walker, Ben Wishaw, and Tom Holland, which is scheduled for release
in March, 2015. The book also inspired a 2001 Dateline special on
NBC as well as the 2010 two-hour PBS American Experience film "Into
the Deep" by Ric Burns.
His next book was "Sea of Glory," published in 2003, which won the
Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize and the
Albion-Monroe Award from the National Maritime Historical Society.
The New York Times Bestseller "Mayflower "was a finalist for both
the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History and the "Los Angeles Times" Book
Award, won the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction, and was
named one the ten Best Books of 2006 by the "New York Times Book
Review." "Mayflower" is currently in development as a limited
series on FX.
In 2010, he published the "New York Times" bestseller "The Last
Stand," which was named a "New York Times" Notable book, a 2010
Montana Book Award Honor Book, and a 2011 ALA Notable Book.
Philbrick was an on-camera consultant to the two-hour PBS American
Experience film "Custer's Last Stand" by Stephen Ives. The book is
currently being adapted for a ten-hour, multi-part television
series. The audio book for Philbrick's "Why Read Moby-Dick?" (2011)
made the ALA's Listen List in 2012 and was a finalist for the New
England Society Book Award.
Philbrick's latest "New York Times" bestseller, "Bunker Hill: A
City, a Siege, a Revolution," was published in 2013 and was awarded
both the 2013 New England Book Award for Non-Fiction and the 2014
New England Society Book Award. "Bunker Hill" won the 2014 book
award from the Society of Colonial Wars, and has been optioned by
Warner Bros. for feature film adaptation with Ben Affleck attached
to direct.
Philbrick has also received the Byrne Waterman Award from the
Kendall Whaling Museum, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for
distinguished service from the USS Constitution Museum, the
Nathaniel Bowditch Award from the American Merchant Marine Museum,
the William Bradford Award from the Pilgrim Society, and the Boston
History Award from the Bostonian Society. He was named the 2011
Cushing Orator by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons
and has an honorary doctorate from the Massachusetts Maritime
Academy, where he delivered the commencement address in 2009.
Philbrick's writing has appeared in "Vanity Fair," the "New York
Times Book Review," the "Wall Street Journal," the "Los Angeles
Times," and the" Boston Globe." He has appeared on the Today Show,
the Morning Show, Dateline, PBS's American Experience, C-SPAN, and
NPR. He and his wife still live on Nantucket.
"[V]ivid and remarkably fresh.... Legitimizing the one-word title,
[Philbrick] renders lively images of the emblematic ship, crew,
passengers and voyage. Philbrick has the knowledge to amplify
details to give a wider sense of the voyage." --The New York Times
Book Review
What makes Philbrick's book so fascinating and accessible the way he turns the Pilgrim legend on its head and shakes out fresh insights from the crusty old mythology we all absorbed in grade school is present in full force in this exceptional audio version. With more than 800 audiobooks to his credit, Guidall gives the term "veteran reader" a whole new meaning. Such leading figures as William Bradford, Benjamin Church and Miles Standish of the so-called Plymouth Colony (which was not even close to Plymouth or its now-famous rock) emerge from the pages of history as understandable if not always admirable figures, and Guidall's evocations of the sadly depleted (by European diseases) Wampanoag Indians and their chief, Massasoit, are equally believable. The bitter voyage of the Seaflower (a slave ship taking captive Wampanoags to be sold in the Caribbean after a disastrous war with Massasoit's son, Philip), which rounds out Philbrick's masterful account, is treated with energy, respect and a straightforwardness that only increases its power. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 6). (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
"[V]ivid and remarkably fresh.... Legitimizing the one-word title,
[Philbrick] renders lively images of the emblematic ship, crew,
passengers and voyage. Philbrick has the knowledge to amplify
details to give a wider sense of the voyage." --The New York Times
Book Review
Ask a Question About this Product More... |