Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819-1891) spent five years on sailing ships as a seaman and whaler, experiences that provided the material for most of his writings, including Moby Dick (1851). An often playful irony, an outrage at social injustice, and a sense of man’s inability to control the forces that shape his destiny run through all his works, from his first South Sea adventure Typee through the final drama of Billy Budd.