Bantam Press, 2005. Spine faded and creased.

In 1757, when twelve-year-old Samuel Hearne joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice to the famous fighting captain Samuel Hood, he was embarking on a life of high adventure. This young sailor would become the first European to reach the Arctic coast of North America, the author of a classic work of exploration literature, and the man who inspired one of the greatest poems in the English language. Yet, for over two centuries, Hearne's place in history has been a subject of dispute. In ANCIENT MARINER, Ken McGoogan paints a vivid portrait of life in the eighteenth century, from London through to the farthest reaches of North America.

In a fascinating piece of literary detective work, McGoogan determines that, having returned to London to live out his final days, Hearne met Samuel Taylor Coleridge and inspired the poet to write his classic poem, THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER.