Nathaniel Philbrick is a highly acclaimed historical fiction author, best known for his novel, "Heart of the Sea." The book was so well-received that it was adapted into a movie in 2015. Philbrick has written several other successful books, including "Mayfair," "Sea of Glory," and "Revenge of the Whale," which have earned him numerous awards in the writing world.
Philbrick's interest in sailing and maritime history has been a significant influence in his writing career. He was Brown's first Intercollegiate All-American sailor in 1978 and won the Sunfish North Americans in Barrington, RI. He still enjoys sailing in the waters surrounding Nantucket Island, where he currently resides.
After graduate school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine and was a freelancer for several years. During this time, he wrote and edited several sailing books. He also became interested in the history of Nantucket Island, which led him to write "Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People." In 1995, he was offered the opportunity to start the Egan Maritime Institute. His book "In the Heart of the Sea" was published in 2000, followed by "Sea of Glory" in 2003 and "Mayflower" in 2006. He is currently working on a book about the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Philbrick's work has received significant recognition in the literary world. "In the Heart of the Sea" won the National Book Award for nonfiction, "Revenge of the Whale" won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and "Sea of Glory" won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize and the Albion-Monroe Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. He has also received several other awards, including 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, and the William Bradford Award from the Pilgrim Society.