In the spring of 1943, during a stint in the Merchant Marine, twenty-one-year old Jack Kerouac set out to write his first novel. Working diligently day and night to complete it by hand, he titled it The Sea Is My Brother. Now, nearly seventy years later, its long-awaited publication provides fascinating details and insight into the early life and development of an American literary icon.

Written seven years before The Town and The City

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When, as a young man in the 1880s, Benjamin Lundy signed up for duty aboard a square-rigged commercial sailing vessel, he began a journey more exciting, and more terrifying, than he could have ever imagined: a treacherous, white-knuckle passage around that notorious "graveyard of ships," Cape Horn. A century later, Derek Lundy, author of the bestselling Godforsaken Sea and an accomplished amateur seaman himself, set out to recount his forebear's...

"On the never-ending, miles-high expanse of prairie grasses known as the Forever Sea, Kindred Greyreach, hearthfire keeper and sailor aboard harvesting vessel The Errant, is just beginning to fit in with the crew of her new ship when she receives devastating news. Her grandmother - The Marchess, legendary captain and hearthfire keeper - has stepped from her vessel and disappeared into the sea. But the note she leaves Kindred suggests this was not...

An engaging and informative first-hand account of the last 'grain race' of maritime history, from respected travel writer Eric Newby. In 1939, a young Eric Newby - later renowned as a travel writer of exceptional talent - set sail aboard Moshulu, the largest sailing ship still employed in the transportation of grain from Australia to Europe. Every year from 1921 to 1939, the vessels involved in the grain trade would strive to find the shortest, fastest...

After finding a way to teach the ship's crew members to understand navigation, Nat, a self-taught mathematician and astronomer in eighteenth-century Salem, Massachusetts, writes down his explanations and compiles them into "The American Practical Navigator," also known as the "Sailors' Bible."

Chuck, a nine-year-old calf, and Dakota, the shipwreck survivor Chuck's parents adopted, accidentally stow away on Marco Pollo's ship, the Swashbuckler, when it sails from Bermooda in search of treasure.

In 1806, star-crossed lovers Jacky Faber and Jaimy Fletcher are kidnapped by British Naval Intelligence and forced to embark on yet another daring mission--this time to search for sunken Spanish gold off the Florida coast.

Kindred Greyreach, at odds with a faction below the Sea, must use every power to forestall disaster, while, above, a boy named Flitch finds himself caught in a dangerous political crisis, and they must work together to save themselves, their loved ones, and the Forever Sea itself.

"Noah Yates fully believes in the joys of a happy family and a good wife. But that's not the life for him. No, he would much rather sail the wild seas in search of adventure, not tied down. But then the unthinkable happens ... he finds himself literally tied down. To a bed. By a woman. And Pilar isn't just an ordinary woman. She's descended from pirates. And after giving him one of the worst nights of his life, she steals his ship! Now Noah is on...

As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious. The "Seahawk" looms against a darkening sky. Manned by an angry, motley crew at the mercy of a ruthless captain, the ship reeks of despair and mutiny! It is no place for the lone passenger, 13-year-old Charlotte Doyle, yet for her there is no turning back. But from her seemingly powerless position, Charlotte dares to...