Herman Melville's towering achievement stands as a timeless monument to the richness and diversity of nineteenth-century American Literature. He employed a particularly American idiom in his writing and his immortal masterpiece, Moby Dick, broke the boundaries of the novel as it was then known and understood. This is a powerful and very accessible biography of this fascinating man and his works. The book is in Fine condition with only some very, very faint soiling to the fore-edge. The dustjacket is fine and it is not price-clipped. The inscription that is written on the half-title page is to William Freehling, the great Civil War Historian. It thanks him for helping the author "sort out" the Civil War period. This is a most interesting read as well as an interesting association copy for those who love history and literature.