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Abram's Eyes: The Native American Legacy of Nantucket Island
Abram's Eyes tells the little-known story of Nantucket's Native American past. Heavily illustrated, including a detailed map of the island's Indian place-names, this book brings a fresh and exciting perspective to Nantucket's history.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Nathaniel Philbrick
50 books3,628 followersPhilbrick was Brown’s first Intercollegiate All-American sailor in 1978; that year he won the Sunfish North Americans in Barrington, RI; today he and his wife Melissa sail their Beetle Cat Clio and their Tiffany Jane 34 Marie-J in the waters surrounding Nantucket Island.
After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during which time he wrote/edited several sailing books, including Yaahting: A Parody (1984), for which he was the editor-in-chief; during this time he was also the primary caregiver for his two children. After moving to Nantucket in 1986, he became interested in the history of the island and wrote Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People. He was offered the opportunity to start the Egan Maritime Institute in 1995, and in 2000 he published In the Heart of the Sea, followed by Sea of Glory, in 2003, and Mayflower. He is presently at work on a book about the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Mayflower was a finalist for both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History and the Los Angeles Times Book Award and was winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction. In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award for nonfiction; Revenge of the Whale won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; Sea of Glory won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize and the Albion-Monroe Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. 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, the Boston History Award from the Bostonian Society, and the New England Book Award from the New England Independent Booksellers Association.
from his website
After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during which time he wrote/edited several sailing books, including Yaahting: A Parody (1984), for which he was the editor-in-chief; during this time he was also the primary caregiver for his two children. After moving to Nantucket in 1986, he became interested in the history of the island and wrote Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People. He was offered the opportunity to start the Egan Maritime Institute in 1995, and in 2000 he published In the Heart of the Sea, followed by Sea of Glory, in 2003, and Mayflower. He is presently at work on a book about the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Mayflower was a finalist for both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History and the Los Angeles Times Book Award and was winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction. In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award for nonfiction; Revenge of the Whale won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; Sea of Glory won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize and the Albion-Monroe Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. 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, the Boston History Award from the Bostonian Society, and the New England Book Award from the New England Independent Booksellers Association.
from his website
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 4, 2011
An unusual insight into native American life in the 17th-18th century.
April 23, 2017
"However, as several Native American scholars have pointed out, what is 'magical' to a Westerner is literally true to an Indian. If we are to appreciate the legendary giants such as Maushop for who they really are, we must enter a universe where myth is more than mere fiction; it is a higher reality." p. 16
"In 1901, half a century after the publication of Moby-Dick, a twenty-five-year-old Gay Head Indian named Amos Smalley shipped out of New Bedford on the bark Platina. While cruising off the Azores, the crew encountered a large albino sperm whale, which Smalley subsequently harpooned and killed with a bomb lance. More than ninety feet long, the whale was estimated to be between a hundred and two hundred year's old by the bark's captain, Thomas McKenzie." p. 240
"In 1901, half a century after the publication of Moby-Dick, a twenty-five-year-old Gay Head Indian named Amos Smalley shipped out of New Bedford on the bark Platina. While cruising off the Azores, the crew encountered a large albino sperm whale, which Smalley subsequently harpooned and killed with a bomb lance. More than ninety feet long, the whale was estimated to be between a hundred and two hundred year's old by the bark's captain, Thomas McKenzie." p. 240
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews