"Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is considered by many readers to be the Great American Novel. But most don't know that since its appearance in 1851, it has been revised in substantial ways that alter its original meaning. Melville's masterpiece is described as a "fluid text": it exists in multiple versions, each revealing shifting intentions. The new Longman Critical Edition offers unprecedented access to the revisions that Melville made, the further...

On board the warship Bellipotent, handsome young orphan Billy Budd was well-liked by all his shipmates but one. When a fear of mutinies swept through the fleet, that one shipmate plotted to frame Billy Budd for treason.

Based on Melville's real-life experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands, his first novel was extremely popular, provoking public skepticism until the events within were corroborated by a fellow castaway. Typee is properly considered a work of fiction, as the three weeks stay on which the author based his story is here extended to four months, and the book is supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and adaptation of material...

Powerful tale of innocence victimized by harsh reality on the high seas.

Presents a twist on themes from Moby Dick in the story of a proud warrior whale pod that attacks a ship before pursuing a near-mythical adversary on a vengeful hunt that risks the worlds of both whales and humans.

Barteby is an intriguing moral allegory set in the business world of mid-19th-century New York. Benito deals with a bloody slave revolt on a Spanish vessel.