Typee

From its publication in 1846, Typee, Herman Melville's first book, was recognized as a classic of travel and adventure literature. Based on the author's own experiences, as well as oral and written sources, in the South Seas, Melville's story of two runaway sailors held captive by the Typees is a vivid portrait of Polynesian life. Many readers delighted in its racy scenes, but religious fundamentalists saw to it that criticism of missionaries was expurgated from the American text. Five year...