We think of the revolution ending in Yorktown, Va. The fact of the matter is that the French defeated the British in a naval battle right in the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Because the British fleet was coming to rescue Cornwallis, the British general, Washington was able to surround Cornwallis.

Nathaniel Philbrick

Enthusiasm is big. When I write a book, it's a three-year commitment. Toward the end, I'm writing seven days a week, and it's exhausting but thrilling. The only hope is to have some real enthusiasm for the book. ... Above all, you need some strong emotional or personal connection to your material.

Nathaniel Philbrick

strong real book

In all natural disasters through time, man needs to attach meaning to tragedy, no matter how random and inexplicable the event is.

Nathaniel Philbrick

events tragedy men

I follow the Patriots, but the Steelers were my first and true love. I still have a terrible towel.

Nathaniel Philbrick

towels patriot firsts

To my mind, an adventure is something a person willingly undertakes.

Nathaniel Philbrick

persons mind adventure

You cannot underestimate the influence of Shakespeare.

Nathaniel Philbrick

underestimate influence

You know, if you're at home with children, you lose twenty-five IQ points.

Nathaniel Philbrick

twenties home children

Something like going to get the newspaper can increase your writing efficiency by taking you away from the material. When I'm doing other things, writing stuff will be swirling around in my head, and sometimes I'll see a new way into the material.

Nathaniel Philbrick

stuff writing way

People think I live here on Nantucket and just gaze at the ocean, getting my inspiration. Not so. I work in my basement and gaze out onto a single window that shows me a cement wall. This is a profession, and it's important to have professionalism about the writing.

Nathaniel Philbrick

wall ocean inspiration

As Herman Melville wrote of that seagoing monster of a man Captain Ahab, “All mortal greatness is but disease.

Nathaniel Philbrick

ahab greatness men

Most Americans have no clue that before there were highways, there were only waterways to get through the wilderness. If you weren't on a lake or a river, you were in a jungle.

Nathaniel Philbrick

lake river you jungle

The American Revolution as it actually unfolded was so troubling and strange that once the struggle was over, a generation did its best to remove all traces of the truth.

Nathaniel Philbrick

generation best truth struggle

Whaling was the oil business of its day.

Nathaniel Philbrick

whaling day oil business

As a former English major, I have always been fascinated by the connections between literature and history.

Nathaniel Philbrick

always connections literature history

For the very young, there's nothing better than Mother Goose and anything by Dr. Seuss for the rhythms and language.

Nathaniel Philbrick

nothing better language mother

A good leader has to at some point trust those around him; otherwise, nothing constructive is going to get done.

Nathaniel Philbrick

nothing good trust leader

The irony is that Washington was, in reality, very much like Benedict Arnold. The big difference was that Washington was ultimately able to control his emotions, something Arnold never learned to do.

Nathaniel Philbrick

control emotions never reality

Nantucket was a Quaker-based culture, so they were not readers. There's a great Nantucket-based novel from the 19th century that Melville read for his research for 'Moby-Dick': 'Miriam Coffin' by Joseph Hart.

Nathaniel Philbrick

great novel research culture

Nantucket's English settlers, who first disembarked on the island in 1659, had been mindful of the sea's dangers. They had hoped to earn their livelihoods not as fishermen but as farmers and shepherds on this grassy isle dotted with ponds, where no wolves preyed.

Nathaniel Philbrick

wolves island farmers sea

When I was at Brown, I wanted to write the great American novel, but I was too scared to take a creative course. I signed up for one, got in, and just didn't have the courage to go. I was a tremendously shy person, almost pathologically shy. The thought of peers critiquing my work - oh, God.

Nathaniel Philbrick

great god courage work

Writing can't be too calculated. My best writing is when I set it aside, move on. It's not when I'm crafting a sentence, thinking about what word should follow another.

Nathaniel Philbrick

follow best writing thinking