Tim Severin : biography

In Search of Moby Dick: Quest for the White Whale (1999)

Following the path of the Pequot, Severin sets out to find a living, white sperm whale. His quest takes him to the remotest parts of the South Pacific: the Philippine island of Pamilacan, whose people hunt whale sharks with their hands and grappling hooks and the Indonesian island of Lamalera, whose people hunt sperm whales with harpoons from open boats. Throughout his expedition, Severin is able to compare Melville’s account with the reality he discovers, and to show that much of Melville’s material was either borrowed or fabricated.

Works

Fiction

Viking Series

• Odinn’s Child (2005)
• Sworn Brother (2005)
• King’s Man (2005)

Saxon

• The Book of Dreams (2012)

The Adventures of Hector Lynch

• Corsair (2007)
• Buccaneer (2008)
• Sea Robber (2009)

Non fiction

• Tracking Marco Polo (1964) – Motorcycle ride from Venice to Central Asia along the Silk Road
• Explorers of the Mississippi (1968)
• The Golden Antilles (1970)
• The African Adventure (1973)
• Vanishing Primitive Man (1973)
• The Oriental Adventure: Explorers of the East (1976) – A history of European explorers in Asia
• The Brendan Voyage (1978) – Sailing a leather currach from Ireland to Newfoundland
• The Sinbad Voyage (1983) – Sailing an Arab dhow from Muscat, Oman to China
• The Jason Voyage: The Quest for the Golden Fleece (1986) – Sailing from Greece to Georgia
• The Ulysses Voyage (1987) – Sailing from Troy to Ithaca
• Crusader (1989) – Riding a heavy horse from France to the Middle East
• In Search of Genghis Khan (1991) – See Genghis Khan
• The China Voyage (1994) – Across the Pacific Ocean (almost) on a bamboo raft named Hsu-Fu
• The Spice Islands Voyage (1997) – See Alfred Russel Wallace, a voyage through the Indonesian archipelago
• In Search of Moby-Dick (1999) – See Herman Melville
• Seeking Robinson Crusoe (aka In Search of Robinson Crusoe ) (2002) – See Robinson Crusoe