Reviews

Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890 by Nathaniel Philbrick

dsbressette's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

nick_stern's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.75

sklepia's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

annalieegk's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

krobart's review against another edition

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3.0

Philbrick relates the history of the island largely by focusing on a few colorful individuals and families, and principally on two antagonistic factions. Although that strategy makes the book interesting, I’m not sure it provides a true reflection of the island through time.

I felt that the book makes assumptions about the readers’ knowledge of Nantucket, as if it was written for the inhabitants or at least those who are frequent visitors. He often makes comments like "the house was located where the post office is now."

See my complete review here:

http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/away-off-shore/

geve_'s review

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3.0

I found the first few chapters pretty interesting, but I didn't love the overall format of biographical essays rather than interconnected chapters. I greatly appreciated the critical look at the quakers, and how their supposed philosophy of non-violence was pretty antithetical to their treatment of indigenous people of Nantucket.
There was a good amount of historical information, which I liked, but the book itself wasn't the best composed or formatted.
Nantucket is a pretty unique place, and its history quite different than a lot of eastern us, so this is worth a read for anyone interested in this niche historical type book.

dswhite's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.5

kenchingfox's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative medium-paced

3.5

ruinedbyreading's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

3.0

jdohman's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative medium-paced

3.0