Two Years Before The Mast: A Personal Narrative Of Life At Sea (TheWorld's Best Readinng) - Hardcover

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0895776316 ISBN 13: 9780895776310

Publisher: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1995

Synopsis

In 1834, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., left the comforts of genteel Boston to endure the hardships and abuses of the most exploited segment of the American working class.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Tracing an awe-inspiring oceanic route from Boston, around Cape Horn, to the California coast, Two Years Before the Mast is both a riveting story of adventure and the most eloquent, insightful account we have of life at sea in the early nineteenth century. Richard Henry Dana is only nineteen when he abandons the patrician world of Boston and Harvard for an arduous voyage among real sailors, amid genuine danger. The result is an astonishing read, replete with vivid descriptions of storms, whales, and the ship's mad captain, terrible hardship and magical beauty, and fascinating historical detail, including an intriguing portrait of California before the gold rush. As D. H. Lawrence proclaimed, "Dana's small book is a very great book."

From the Back Cover:

"Possesses . . . the romantic charm of Robinson Crusoe."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

About this edition

• Publisher: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0895776316
• ISBN 13: 9780895776310
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 405
• Illustrator: E. Boyd Smith