Sea of Glory

America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842

By: Nathaniel Philbrick

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

"A treasure of a book."—David McCullough

The harrowing story of a pathbreaking naval expedition that set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean, dwarfing Lewis and Clark with its discoveries, from the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricane's Eye.

A New York Times Notable Book

America's first frontier was not the West; it was the sea, and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his bestselling In the Heart of the Sea Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen—the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842. On a scale that dwarfed the journey of Lewis and Clark, six magnificent sailing vessels and a crew of hundreds set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean and ended up naming the newly discovered continent of Antarctica, collecting what would become the basis of the Smithsonian Institution. Combining spellbinding human drama and meticulous research, Philbrick reconstructs the dark saga of the voyage to show why, instead of being celebrated and revered as that of Lewis and Clark, it has—until now—been relegated to a footnote in the national memory.

Winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize©2003 Nathaniel Philbrick; (P)2003 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Fascinating and meticulous . . . A wonderful retelling."
—The New York Times Book Review

"A breathtaking account of one of history's greatest adventures."
—Entertainment Weekly

"A worthy successor to In the Heart of the Sea."
—The Wall Street Journal

"Sea of Glory is a grand saga of scientific and nautical accomplishment."
—Newsweek

Great Audio. Revealing Story.

I can understand why no one cared to ever mention Charles Wilkes. He was a first class nerd who went mad with power and let his ego get the best of him. It is hard to trust him because he was so uncertain about many things. All of the men let, "rank" get in the way of the purpose of the voyage.

Nathaniel Philbrick does an amazing job yet again. If you are looking for another "In The Heart of the Sea" you won't find it in "Sea of Glory". I was hoping for more excitement and adventure but all I got was petty boys picking on each other on a ship and did not know how to get along for the sake of the mission. Needless to say this entire book was a "Pork Sword" measuring contest between men.

Nathaniel Philbrick does a great job of uncovering the truth behind the US. Ex. Ex. and Charles Wilkes.

A Muddled Mess

The exposition was a pretty muddled mess -- while I'm sure Philbrick has recorded it well -- it isn't much fun to read about it. I much prefered and enjoyed Philbrick's "Mayflower" and "Essex".

Waste of time and money

This book is an abbreviation of the original story. It is a mess and a travesty to the original story. I have ended my stay with Audible because of their oblique presentation of this mess.