16 h 11 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 16 h 11 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a warship becomes a whole world, and one captain’s word governs every life aboard?
In Herman Melville’s White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War, a young sailor’s homemade white coat sets him apart. Aboard the Neversink in Callao, Peru, he prepares for the voyage home around Cape Horn. He wants to return safely, but freezing weather and dangerous work aloft are only part of what he faces.
Below deck, hammocks crowd together; above them, rank decides who commands and who endures. White-Jacket watches Captain Claret demand obedience and finds a friend and guide in the admired sailor Jack Chase. Through daily routines, sharp humor and scenes of punishment, Melville asks what nearly absolute power does to those who wield it—and those who cannot answer back.
What you’ll discover
- A floating town Explore the distance between the commodore’s cabin and the crowded hammocks of ordinary sailors.
- A friend worth knowing Meet Jack Chase, whose skill and dignity earn admiration across the ship.
- The passage around the Horn Feel the danger of freezing rain, towering waves and winds that tear at sails.
- Authority under scrutiny Look closely at flogging and the cruelty that strict naval discipline can shelter.
- Humor amid hardship Follow a wry observer among stern officers, rough shipmates and a poet writing at sea.
Who will love it
Readers who love sea stories, vivid portraits of rank and character, Melville's humor, and debates about justice will find a sharp-eyed, big-hearted narrator here.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A homemade jacket makes its owner conspicuous
- A frigate sorts five hundred men into stations
- Jack Chase shows what a sailor can be
- Rank shapes dinner, speech, and even daylight
- Crowded ship life leaves no privacy or safety
- Cape Horn tests officers more than sailors
- Flogging degrades men and answers to no law
- Rio brings liberty, royal visitors, and a surgeon
- The Articles of War treat citizens as subjects
- A trivial order tests loyalty and courage
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Giacca bianca, ovvero Il mondo su una nave da guerra
by Herman Melville · 1850
A homemade white jacket soaks up rain, draws pickpockets and shines like a ghost on a frigate off Cape Horn.
Challenging5–10 hours to readItaliano
Learn a language with challenging classicsSpagnoloFranceseTedescoItalianoGiapponesePortogheseIngleseHow we measure levels
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In short
Why would a sailor beg for a few brushfuls of black paint? Because his own jacket glows white in the dark, soaks up every rainstorm and marks him for every errand.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A homemade jacket makes its owner conspicuous
The narrator sews his own coat before the frigate leaves Callao. He slits a white duck shirt and pads it with old socks and trouser legs, hoping to survive Cape Horn. The result is white as a shroud, and he warns that it nearly becomes one.
The padding soaks up water like a sponge. He hopes to paint the cloth waterproof, but the sailors have stolen so much paint that it is locked away, and the first lieutenant refuses him any. On dark nights the jacket glows like a ghost, so officers always pick that white figure for any errand.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1850
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 10 h 35 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Melville, Herman. White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/white-jacket-or-the-world-on-a-man-of-war.
Melville, H. (2026). White Jacket; or, the world on a man-of-war. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/white-jacket-or-the-world-on-a-man-of-war (Original work published 1850)
Melville, Herman. White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/white-jacket-or-the-world-on-a-man-of-war.
@book{melville2026white,
author = {Melville, Herman},
title = {White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/white-jacket-or-the-world-on-a-man-of-war},
note = {First published 1850}
}
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What is White-Jacket about?
It follows a sailor aboard the frigate Neversink on a voyage home from Peru around Cape Horn. Through his odd white jacket and his shipmates, it shows life aboard a warship, its ranks, its customs and its harsh discipline.
Is White-Jacket a true story?
It is a novel, but Melville built it from his own experience as a seaman in the United States Navy in the 1840s. Many scenes and arguments come from real conditions, though the ship and characters are named differently.
Why is the jacket white and what does it mean?
The narrator makes it from a white duck shirt, padded with scraps, to face Cape Horn. Its color makes him easy to spot, so it stands for how one odd mark can set a man apart on a crowded ship.
The author
Herman Melville
1819–1891 · American novelist and poet
Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He was born and died in New York City and also lived in Massachusetts. He published Moby-Dick in 1851, Pierre in 1852, and The Confidence-Man in 1857. His unfinished Billy Budd was published after his death, in 1924.
More by Herman Melville
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