Nathaniel Philbrick

Nathaniel Philbrick is the director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies and a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association. He is considered an authority on the history of Nantucket, the small island in Massachusetts that was the whaling capital of the world during the 18th and 19th centuries. His other works include "Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890" and "Abram's Eyes: The Native American Legacy of Nantucket Island." For his book "In the Heart of the Sea" (2000), he won the National Book Award. He was also a sailing champion. Since 1986, he has lived in Nantucket with his wife and their two children.