About the Book

At once a search for the story of a grandfather lost at sea and the definitive history of Gloucester, its fleet and its rise and fall as the leading fishing port in America, John Morris has constructed a panoramic story of the town that still lives in our minds as the quintessential hub of the fishing industry.  Grand in scope, the story stretches over centuries, involving hundreds of characters and stories of countless tragedies and triumphs.  It is, as Gloucester historian and author Joseph E. Garland remarked, "a masterpiece that's been waiting generations to be told and the most complete and compelling history of Gloucester fishing ever written."  Complete with photographs, charts and data, rich in historical detail and personal anecdote, Morris's book, here available in paperback, will be the standard by which all future histories will be judged.  What a town!  What a story!

The first edition of Alone at Sea was published by Commonwealth Editions in 2010.  Now available in a new paperback edition by David R. Godine.