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First published in 1902, ’Typhoon’ can be easily passed as pre-twentieth century literature. It’s a short story depicting a ship experiencing a terribly destructive typhoon and coming out of it, but not without coming inch-close to death. Typhoon is a classic sea yarn, possibly based upon Conrad’s actual experience of seaman’s life, and probably on a real incident aboard of the real steamer John P....

In The Pilot (1824), James Fenimore Cooper invented a new literary genre: the sea novel. Bold, vigorous, original, it is a tale of high adventure that vividly captures the majesty and power of the seafaring life. Cooper drew on his direct knowledge of ships and sailors to present a truer picture of life on the sea than had ever before achieved in literature. As a boy of seventeen he had experienced...