Born into a comfortable and affluent New England family, Richard Henry Dana (who once studied under the great Ralph Waldo Emerson) disconcertingly took to the high seas in 1834 as a common sailor, an experience that would color his classic memoir Two Years Before the Mast. Despite his failing vision thanks to a childhood illness, Dana served onboard a merchant vessel, traveling from Massachusetts southward, with stops along South America and in California. A fascinating read for maritime enthusiasts or lovers of history, Dana’s Before the Mast is a vigorous account of a life at sea in the 19th century.

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