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The Nation of Nantucket Society and Politics in an Early American Commercial Center, 1660-1820 by Edward Byers "Nantucketers plough the rougher ocean, they gather from its surface, at an immense distance, and with Herculean labours, the riches it affords; they go to hunt and catch that huge fish which by its strength and velocity ought to be beyond the reach of man…barren in its soil, insignificant in its extent, inconvenient in its situation, and deprived of the materials for building, the people of Nantucket had raised themselves from the most humble, the most insignificant beginnings, to the ease and wealth they now possess." - Letters from an American Farmer, 1782 Just the mention of early Nantucket Island evokes the image of a windswept isle with a picturesque community of Quakers and whalers, and while the image is true to some extent, Edward Byers' The Nation of Nantucket shows it to be a much more complex history. Although Byers does a splendid job covering such obvious areas as whaling and religious life, he ventures into areas often neglected by other historians. An example: he successfully weaves into the narrative a great deal of history of the Indians. Although Nantucket is only thirteen miles long and seven miles wide, in 1600 it was home to approximately 2,500 native Americans of the Massachusetts tribe, who successfully cohabitated with their European settler neighbors for almost 100 years. From there he moves crisply through the rise of Quakerism, the prosperity of whaling, the influx of "outsiders" that normally accompany such wealth, neutrality during the American Revolution, and the constant struggle for "community", that continues to this day. A truly enjoyable read, this book is a must have for any Nantucket collection. First published in 1987, Hailer Publishing is proud to bring this great work back to life.

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