When Ishmael joins the crew of a whaling ship, he doesn’t know that the captain is obsessed with taking revenge on Moby Dick, the great whale that ripped off his leg. Ishmael recounts their adventures aboard the ship as the captain pursues his foe – but Herman Melville’s richly textured novel is more than a classic adventure. Exploring themes of ambition, self-discovery and the wonder of the natural world, it ranks among the foremost works in the English language.