A true story of the battered life of a foremast crewman, Two Years Before the Mast is Richard Henry Dana’s classic travel narrative, which inspired canonical works such as Moby Dick and Sailing Alone Around the World. As Rod Scher follows Dana (the Harvard dropout-turned-sailor) on his voyages around North America, he annotates Dana’s tale with critiques, tie-ins to today, and little-known facts about both the book and the milieu of Dana’s time.

Two years before the mast were but an episode in the life of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.; yet the narrative in which he details the experiences of that period is, perhaps, his chief claim to a wide remembrance. His services in other than literary fields occupied the greater part of his life, but they brought him comparatively small recognition and many disappointments. His happiest associations were literary, his pleasantest acquaintanceships those which arose through his fame as the author of one book. The story of his life is one of honest and competent effort, of sincere purpose, of many thwarted hopes. The traditions of his family forced him into a profession for which he was intellectually but not temperamentally fitted: he should have been a scholar, teacher, and author; instead he became a lawyer.

Tracing an awe-inspiring oceanic route from Boston, around Cape Horn, to the California coast, Two Years Before the Mast is both a riveting story of adventure and the most eloquent, insightful account we have of life at sea in the early nineteenth century. Richard Henry Dana is only nineteen when he abandons the patrician world of Boston and Harvard for an arduous voyage among real sailors, amid genuine danger. The result is an astonishing read, replete with vivid descriptions of storms, whales, and the ship's mad captain, terrible hardship and magical beauty, and fascinating historical detail, including an intriguing portrait of California before the gold rush. As D. H. Lawrence proclaimed, "Dana's small book is a very great book."

In Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., presents a narrative of his two years as a sailor aboard the Pilgrim, trading on the coast of California. He describes the sailor's life in the early days of shipping, as well as life in California before the gold rush. His eyesight impaired by measles, Dana left Harvard University to take a voyage during his convalescence--but as a sailor rather than passenger. Upon his return, he published his narrative of that sea journey. The book consists of thirty-seven chapters, most of them subdivided into journal entries written on particular days of interest. The concluding chapter, written some time later, suggests reforms to remedy the injustices of sailors' lives.Dana begins on the day of sailing, August 14, 1834, on the brig Pilgrim. The ship was bound for the West Coast of North America from Boston. His first impression of the ship was negative. The captain described himself to the crew as "clever," but "a bloody rascal" when crossed. The narrative follows the daily life and hardships of the sailors on the journey around Cape Horn. Dana describes memorable experiences such as the sighting of albatrosses, dolphins, and whales. He also shares much technical knowledge about the ship itself. Arriving at the California coast, the vessel anchored in the bay of Santa Barbara. Dana describes the coast of California and its inhabitants. The brig engaged in trading, traveling up the coast to Monterey and back down to San Pedro and San Diego.