Two Years Before the Mast

In 1820 a sperm whale rammed and sank the Essex, leaving 20 men adrift in open boats for three months. The first mate's account inspired Moby-Dick.

Owen Chase

Set adrift by mutineers in a small boat, Captain Bligh and 18 loyal men sailed 3,600 miles across the Pacific to safety. Bligh's own account, with charts.

William Bligh

Two survivors of the frigate Medusa describe 13 days on a drifting raft off West Africa, the tragedy behind Gericault's famous painting.

J. B. Henry Savigny and Alexander Corréard

In 1895 Joshua Slocum set out in a rebuilt oyster boat and became the first person to sail single-handed around the globe. Witty, practical and full of storms.

Joshua Slocum

Taken captive during King Philip's War in 1676, Mary Rowlandson survived 11 weeks of forced marches through the New England winter. A landmark first-person survival narrative.

Mary Rowlandson