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Nautical Books
Showing 1-50 of 8,134
Master and Commander (Aubrey & Maturin, #1)
by (shelved 194 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.06 — 66,505 ratings — published 1969
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (Paperback)
by (shelved 169 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.58 — 639,377 ratings — published 1851
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Paperback)
by (shelved 156 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.17 — 124,311 ratings — published 2000
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (Hardcover)
by (shelved 138 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.16 — 246,632 ratings — published 2023
Treasure Island (Hardcover)
by (shelved 110 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.85 — 558,696 ratings — published 1882
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Hardcover)
by (shelved 99 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.18 — 20,303 ratings — published 1950
Post Captain (Aubrey & Maturin, #2)
by (shelved 95 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.26 — 26,511 ratings — published 1972
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Hardcover)
by (shelved 90 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.47 — 183,090 ratings — published 1959
The Old Man and the Sea (Hardcover)
by (shelved 90 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.82 — 1,389,009 ratings — published 1952
H.M.S. Surprise (Aubrey & Maturin, #3)
by (shelved 87 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.42 — 22,514 ratings — published 1973
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Hardcover)
by (shelved 74 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.88 — 286,467 ratings — published 1869
Two Years Before the Mast: A Sailor's Life at Sea (Paperback)
by (shelved 69 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.03 — 14,947 ratings — published 1840
The Mauritius Command (Aubrey & Maturin, #4)
by (shelved 69 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.35 — 19,317 ratings — published 1977
Desolation Island (Aubrey & Maturin, #5)
by (shelved 62 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.41 — 17,137 ratings — published 1978
The Fortune of War (Aubrey & Maturin, #6)
by (shelved 62 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.41 — 15,880 ratings — published 1979
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (Hardcover)
by (shelved 61 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.13 — 168,915 ratings — published 2015
The Surgeon's Mate (Aubrey & Maturin, #7)
by (shelved 59 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.40 — 14,814 ratings — published 1980
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (Paperback)
by (shelved 59 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.12 — 121,059 ratings — published 1997
The Sea Wolf (Paperback)
by (shelved 55 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.07 — 35,090 ratings — published 1904
The Ionian Mission (Aubrey & Maturin, #8)
by (shelved 54 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.33 — 12,563 ratings — published 1981
Lieutenant Hornblower (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #2)
by (shelved 52 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.33 — 14,096 ratings — published 1952
Treason's Harbour (Aubrey & Maturin, #9)
by (shelved 50 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.39 — 13,188 ratings — published 1983
The Far Side of the World (Aubrey & Maturin, #10)
by (shelved 50 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.45 — 14,297 ratings — published 1984
The Letter of Marque (Aubrey & Maturin, #12)
by (shelved 50 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.50 — 12,452 ratings — published 1988
The Thirteen-Gun Salute (Aubrey & Maturin, #13)
by (shelved 46 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.40 — 10,707 ratings — published 1989
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook (Hardcover)
by (shelved 45 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.46 — 27,941 ratings — published 2024
Sailing Alone around the World (Paperback)
by (shelved 45 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.16 — 11,638 ratings — published 1899
The Terror (Hardcover)
by (shelved 43 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.09 — 80,269 ratings — published 2007
The Wine-Dark Sea (Aubrey & Maturin, #16)
by (shelved 43 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.40 — 9,932 ratings — published 1993
Beat to Quarters (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, # 6 )
by (shelved 42 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.29 — 12,672 ratings — published 1937
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (Hardcover)
by (shelved 42 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.99 — 78,562 ratings — published 1995
The Nutmeg of Consolation (Aubrey & Maturin, #14)
by (shelved 42 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.43 — 10,873 ratings — published 1991
The Reverse of the Medal (Aubrey & Maturin, #11)
by (shelved 42 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.43 — 11,431 ratings — published 1986
The Odyssey (Paperback)
by (shelved 41 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.86 — 1,301,779 ratings — published -800
Life of Pi (Paperback)
by (shelved 41 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.95 — 1,793,902 ratings — published 2001
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette (Hardcover)
by (shelved 41 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.30 — 27,493 ratings — published 2014
Hornblower and the Atropos (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #5)
by (shelved 40 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.26 — 10,300 ratings — published 1953
The Commodore (Aubrey & Maturin, #17)
by (shelved 40 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.43 — 9,933 ratings — published 1994
Ship of the Line (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #7)
by (shelved 40 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.32 — 9,024 ratings — published 1938
Hornblower and the Hotspur (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #3)
by (shelved 39 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.33 — 12,504 ratings — published 1962
The North Water (Hardcover)
by (shelved 38 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.98 — 36,482 ratings — published 2016
The Truelove (Aubrey & Maturin, #15)
by (shelved 37 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.36 — 10,428 ratings — published 1991
Commodore Hornblower (Hardcover)
by (shelved 37 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.27 — 8,795 ratings — published 1945
Flying Colours (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #8)
by (shelved 36 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.36 — 8,946 ratings — published 1938
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (Paperback)
by (shelved 36 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.19 — 20,165 ratings — published 2003
Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders, #1)
by (shelved 36 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.25 — 118,750 ratings — published 1998
The Yellow Admiral (Aubrey & Maturin, #18)
by (shelved 36 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.37 — 9,728 ratings — published 1996
Lord Hornblower (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #10)
by (shelved 36 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.12 — 7,859 ratings — published 1946
The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty (Paperback)
by (shelved 34 times as nautical)
avg rating 3.95 — 5,533 ratings — published 2003
Blue at the Mizzen (Aubrey & Maturin, #20)
by (shelved 34 times as nautical)
avg rating 4.41 — 8,850 ratings — published 1999
“Mr. Bird flung his food away and leaped to his feet, glaring around at no one in particular. 'I am not a dog!' he shouted agrily, his gold earrings flashing in the firelight.”
― On Stranger Tides
― On Stranger Tides
“As madcap whitecaps hammered at the hulls,
the bowsprits breasting saw-toothed waves
now high and mighty, now abject, the Sun
looked down and watched the boats—so bantam, meek,
and of no consequence—become engulfed
by stormclouds smothering the sallow sea.
A norther hurled its curses at the fleet
as in return garboards and sheerstrakes groaned
amidst the helter-skelter of loud shouts.
With drenched and veiny arms the tillers clenched
the quarter rudders, trying to prevent
the roaring ocean, frothing at the mouth,
from swallowing the ships they’d sworn to guide
while thinking: Who, in the last instance, can
withstand its infinite, digestive force?
Anon this beast became a lesser cause
for fear, supplanted by the high-pitched shrieks
of something neither man nor animal
that lurked beyond them in the ebon drear,
its contour barely visible by turns
when intermittent bolts transpierced the sky.
(Canaäd, XV 271-91)”
―
the bowsprits breasting saw-toothed waves
now high and mighty, now abject, the Sun
looked down and watched the boats—so bantam, meek,
and of no consequence—become engulfed
by stormclouds smothering the sallow sea.
A norther hurled its curses at the fleet
as in return garboards and sheerstrakes groaned
amidst the helter-skelter of loud shouts.
With drenched and veiny arms the tillers clenched
the quarter rudders, trying to prevent
the roaring ocean, frothing at the mouth,
from swallowing the ships they’d sworn to guide
while thinking: Who, in the last instance, can
withstand its infinite, digestive force?
Anon this beast became a lesser cause
for fear, supplanted by the high-pitched shrieks
of something neither man nor animal
that lurked beyond them in the ebon drear,
its contour barely visible by turns
when intermittent bolts transpierced the sky.
(Canaäd, XV 271-91)”
―
