White Jacket [Hardcover]

Herman Melville (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

The White Jacket written by Herman Melville (best known for his classic whaling novel) was first published in 1850 and is considered to be a semi-biographical book, written from Melville's own personal experiences while returning home to the Atlantic Coast from the South Seas with the American Navy on a man-o-war vessel. In the note preceding the novel, Melville states, "In the year 1843 I shipped as 'ordinary seaman' on board of a United States frigate then lying in a harbor of the Pacific Ocean. After remaining in this frigate for more than a year, I was discharged from the service . . ."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Novel by Herman Melville, published in 1850. Based on the author's experiences in 1834-44 as an ordinary seaman aboard the U.S. frigate United States, the critically acclaimed novel won political support for its stand against the use of flogging as corporal punishment aboard naval vessels. It is not known if White-Jacket was directly responsible for the cessation of flogging; however, members of Congress received copies of the novel during the Congressional debate over the issue, and flogging in the U.S. Navy was abolished that year. Subtitled The World in a Man-of-War, the novel depicts life aboard a typical frigate, the Neversink, and describes the tyrannies to which ship's officers subject ordinary seamen and the appalling conditions under which the seamen live. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Aegypan (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598183885
• ISBN-13: 978-1598183887
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,498,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)