Book excerpt: The international bestselling true story of an eighteenth-century sailor’s extraordinary voyages, compiled by the celebrated scientist and historian. In his many voyages, the Scottish-born sailor John Nicol twice circumnavigated the globe, visiting every inhabited continent while witnessing and participating in many of the greatest events of exploration and adventure in the eighteenth century. He traded with Native Americans on the St. Lawrence River and hunted whales in the Arctic Ocean. He fought for the British navy against American privateers in the Atlantic Ocean and Napoléon’s navy in the Mediterranean Sea. En route to Australia he met the love of his life, Sarah Whitlam, a convict bound for the Botany Bay prison colony, who bore his son before duty forced them apart forever. At the end of his journeys, John Nicol returned to his homeland and a life of obscurity and poverty, until the publisher John Howell met him one day while he was wandering the streets of Edinburgh, searching for dregs of coal to fuel his hearth. After hearing the fascinating stories of Nicol’s seafaring experiences, Howell convinced him to write his memoirs—the publication of which eventually earned Nicol enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his days. Tim Flannery has edited Nicol’s original text, providing accompanying footnotes and an introduction (updated for this North American edition) that give historical context to the sailor’s exploits. “Lively . . . Exciting . . . Nicol has made a lasting place for himself in the literature of the sea and the ships he loved so deeply.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post