100 books like Immigrant Patriot

By Craig Matthews,

Here are 100 books that Immigrant Patriot fans have personally recommended if you like Immigrant Patriot. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of To The Edge Of The World

Chris Vick Author Of Girl. Boy. Sea.

From my list on the power of the ocean.

Why am I passionate about this?

I romantically believe that the sea runs in my blood. On the Norwegian side of my family, my grandfather was a boat builder, and my uncle a whaler. I’m a surfer, and I’ve worked in whale and dolphins conservation for many years. So I’m drawn to the ocean and – as work and family duties keep me inland more than I’d like – when unable to get in or on the water, I get my fix with salty tales; some of which I read and some of which I write. The books on this list are all classics, in my view; they all speak to the enigma of the ocean; an ever-changing scape, full of alien life. I hope you enjoy them, and also Girl. Boy. Sea.

Chris' book list on the power of the ocean

Chris Vick Why did Chris love this book?

This is a beautiful story, simple yet profound. It’s about young, innocent, and a wee bit naïve Jamie, led to adventure by troubled but brave Mara.

The adventure takes us to St. Kilda’s, the remotest inhabited Scottish island. The island, the sea, and the quest to explore are used as metaphors for mystery and the pull of the unknown.

By Julia Green,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked To The Edge Of The World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A beautifully written tale of courage, friendship, and survival.
Imagine a tiny island far out in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. On some days, you can hardly see where the sea ends and the land begins, everything merged in a blue-grey mist of sea spray and wind-blown sand. There is nothing between here and America. I say nothing, but what I mean, of course, is nothing but ocean. And about sixty-five kilometres out to sea, one last remote outcrop of islands and sea stacks, with the highest sea cliffs anywhere in the UK-St Kilda. Distant,
desolate,…


Book cover of St Kilda: A People's History

Donald S. Murray Author Of The Guga Hunters

From my list on Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child growing up in a rural community in the isle of Lewis, there were very few books I read which had any real connection with my local environment. This changed in my late teenage years when I encountered some of the books I mentioned here, together with some works about rural communities and islands in Ireland. I loved the way these books – including poetry, drama, non-fiction, short stories, and novels – opened my eyes and enabled me to see familiar surroundings in new and enlightening ways. The legacy of this still persists within me today.

Donald's book list on Scottish Highlands and Islands

Donald S. Murray Why did Donald love this book?

There are probably more fantasies and myths about the Hebridean island of St Kilda than any other location in existence – though there are a few other Scottish islands that compete in this field!

Roger’s book is excellent because it is grounded in fact and meticulous research, yet it is also a celebration of this unique landscape to be found at the far western edge of the Outer Hebrides. 

By Roger Hutchinson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked St Kilda as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

St Kilda is the most romantic and most romanticised group of islands in Europe. Soaring out of the North Atlantic Ocean like Atlantis come back to life, the islands have captured the imagination of the outside world for hundreds of years. Their inhabitants, Scottish Gaels who lived off the land, the sea and by birdcatching on high and precipitous cliffs, were long considered to be the Noble Savages of the British Isles, living in a state of natural grace.

St Kilda: A People's History explores and portrays the life of the St Kildans from the Stone Age to 1930, when…


Book cover of A Place Called Freedom

Eddie Price Author Of Rebels Abroad

From my list on the unquenchable Irish spirit of freedom.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a retired history teacher with 36 years of teaching experience in high school and college. I am also a passionate world traveler and for over four decades led students on overseas tours.  In 2012 (the year I retired from teaching) I released my first novel, Widder’s Landing set in Kentucky in the early 1800s. One of my main characters came from a family of Irish Catholics—and he is featured in Rebels Abroad. Ireland has always fascinated me and in my nine trips to the country, I smelled the peat fires, tasted the whiskey, listened to the music and the lyrical tales told by the tour leaders—and came to love the people.

Eddie's book list on the unquenchable Irish spirit of freedom

Eddie Price Why did Eddie love this book?

A Place Called Freedom attracted me instantly because of its multiple settings (Scotland, London, and Virginia) and the theme of ordinary people struggling against adversity. 

The novel provides vivid insight into governmental repression of religion and the denial of basic human rights. As a historian, I enjoy reading historical fiction. Follett is a master of his craft, blending human interest stories with accurate history. Through his characters, he shows how people lived and reacted to historical events.

A Place Called Freedom transports the reader into the years prior to the American Revolution, and his vivid geographical descriptions made me feel like “I was there!”  

By Ken Follett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Place Called Freedom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Set in an era of turbulent social changes on both sides of the Atlantic, A Place Called Freedom is a magnificent historical fiction novel from the undisputed master of suspense and drama, Ken Follett.

A Life of Poverty
Scotland, 1767. Mack McAsh is a slave by birth, destined for a cruel and harsh life as a miner. But as a man of principles and courage, he has the strength to stand up for what he believes in, only to be labelled as a rebel and enemy of the state.

A Life of Wealth
Life feels just as constrained for rebellious…


Book cover of Young Men and the Sea: Yankee Seafarers in the Age of Sail

Denver Brunsman Author Of The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

From my list on grateful for not being a seaman in the Age of Sail.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for tales of seafarers and Atlantic history, more generally, emerged from my own wanderlust and love of travel. I’m constantly amazed at how early modern sailors crossed the globe amidst the most pressing challenges imaginable. By reading these sailing histories, with accounts of everything from monsoons to cannibalism, we might not feel quite so inconvenienced by a short flight or train delay! During my academic career, I have had the opportunity to complete research in different parts of Britain. This experience of living transatlantically has transferred to my scholarship and outlook. I hope you find the books on my list as fun and fascinating as I have!   

Denver's book list on grateful for not being a seaman in the Age of Sail

Denver Brunsman Why did Denver love this book?

I appreciate this book for bringing the local into the world of Atlantic seafarers. Daniel Vickers is one of the deans of early American social history (he is one of the historians mentioned in the Harvard bar scene in the film Good Will Hunting) and turns his talents here to explain how American seamen were different in the Age of Sail. The simple answer is that they were young. Unlike the long-distance professional seafarers of Europe, sailing in America, especially New England was more of a life stage on the way to other jobs and pursuits.

These sailors were not rootless wanderers forced to go to sea because they were poor; they were rooted in specific communities and filled a necessary role in local economies. As exciting as we find tales of mutiny, scurvy, and shipwrecks, most early American seafarers lived much more stable lives. I find this variation…

By Daniel Vickers, Vince Walsh,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Young Men and the Sea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Two centuries of American maritime history, in which the Atlantic Ocean remained the great frontier.

Two centuries of American maritime history, in which the Atlantic Ocean remained the great frontier Westward expansion has been the great narrative of the first two centuries of American history, but as historian Daniel Vickers demonstrates here, the horizon extended in all directions. For those who lived along the Atlantic coast, it was the East-and the Atlantic Ocean-that beckoned. While historical and fictional accounts have tended to stress the exceptional circumstances or psychological compulsions that drove men to sea, this book shows how normal a…


Book cover of Last Voyage

Margaret Moore Author Of From Sri Lanka with Love: A Tapestry of Travel Tales

From my list on travelogue memoirs to reminisce or plan a holiday.

Why am I passionate about this?

Primarily I’m a wife and mother, who loves holidays and writing about our experiences: from the many family holidays in a static caravan 90 minutes’ drive from our hometown in Scotland to the wonderful opportunities we’ve had to travel the world since, including through my work as a lecturer (when the family came too for a holiday while I worked!) or with friends. I like reading other authors’ personal experiences especially when I’m drawn into feeling I’m with the author during the travels, experiencing what’s not always included in travel guidebooks: the not-so-good as well as the good, the challenging as well as the amazing.

Margaret's book list on travelogue memoirs to reminisce or plan a holiday

Margaret Moore Why did Margaret love this book?

This book is out of print but available in a second-hand market and worth finding. My copy once belonged to my Grandma.  

I’ve learned preparation for a holiday or journey is key to success. This book tells the background which led to Ann and her husband acquiring Reliance, a 2-masted sailing ship. Making it sea-worthy was far from straightforward. Their journey to cross the Atlantic began in extremely difficult circumstances. The book recounts in agonising detail the journey’s progress and ending.   

I felt as I read this book I was with Ann and Frank, through the many ups and downs they experienced. I’m full of admiration for their resilience and determination.

The author, Ann, later became the first woman to single-handedly sail across the Atlantic Ocean in 1952.

By Ann Davison,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Last Voyage as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

LAST VOYAGE is the enthralling true story of Frank and Ann Davison; of their search for a life of freedom and adventures that was to end so tragically.

Frank and Ann Davison were both joyride pilots when they met, fell in love and married. They pursued various ventures bebore buying an island in Loch Lomond, where they reared geese and goats. Their apparently idyllic lifestyle turned sour, so they bought an old and dilapidated fishing ketch, RELIANCE, in which they planned to voyage to the far corners of the world. But the Herculean task of conversion stretched their finances too…


Book cover of Carpathia

Kathleen McGurl Author Of The Lost Sister

From my list on the ships Titanic and Carpathia.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a historical and dual timeline novelist, and I sometimes think I love the research phase more than the writing phase. For each novel I start with a vague idea, then buy or borrow books to read around the subject in the hope that a story will gradually emerge. I was lucky with The Lost Sister in that a chance remark of my brother’s sparked an idea, and he had a large collection of Titanic books which he let me borrow.

Kathleen's book list on the ships Titanic and Carpathia

Kathleen McGurl Why did Kathleen love this book?

The two previous books in this list had given me a little taste of Carpathia’s story, the ship that came to Titanic’s rescue and picked up all the survivors.

And then, after my book was published, a book blogger got in touch to say she’d been inspired by my book to find out more about Carpathia, and had bought this book by Jay Ludowyke which she recommended to me.

I bought it, read it, and realised there was another novel in this, one set mostly on Carpathia after the rescue… and so I wrote it. It’s to be published in November 2023!

Ludowyke’s book tells the whole story of Carpathia, not just that famous night. From how she was named, to how her wreck (she was torpedoed in the First World War) was discovered and identified, this book reads like a novel in itself, and I highly recommend it.

By Jay Ludowyke,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Carpathia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the early hours of 15 April 1912, the Cunard steamship Carpathia receives a distress call from the new White Star liner Titanic. Captain Arthur Rostron immediately turns Carpathia northwest and sails full speed through the dark night, into waters laden with icebergs, on a rescue mission that will become legendary.

Almost a century later, Carpathia's wreck has finally been located. She's over 500 feet down and only a few divers in the world can attain these depths. Among them is Englishman Ric Waring's team.

In this captivating and intensively researched story, we follow the dual narratives of Rostron and…


Book cover of Oceans of Wine: Madeira and the Emergence of American Trade and Taste

Robert S. DuPlessis Author Of The Material Atlantic: Clothing, Commerce, and Colonization in the Atlantic World, 1650-1800

From my list on innovations in the first consumer revolution.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always wanted to know why people acquire the things they choose, how they get them, and what they do with them. For years, too, I’ve been fascinated by the period when modernity was being born, a time full of worldwide exploration, the founding of new nations and societies, and the invention of new ways of making, transporting, and distributing all sorts of goods and services. I discovered that studying consumers, consumer goods, and trade from the mid-seventeenth to the late eighteenth century was the perfect way to satisfy my curiosity. The Material Atlantic is my report about what I’ve learned.

Robert's book list on innovations in the first consumer revolution

Robert S. DuPlessis Why did Robert love this book?

I like a good wine (though Madeira isn’t one of my favorites). I like even more a book that tells me about wine—and about many other things that I had not previously connected to wine. That’s what Oceans of Wine does and does magnificently.

David Hancock is a pioneering scholar who has taught us to understand the Atlantic Ocean “world” as an interconnected space of exchanges that remade all the individuals and societies surrounding it. In this book, he shows how merchants in Britain, Portugal, and British North America transformed Madeira from a rather ordinary wine into a transatlantic bestseller.

Like most of my favorite historians, Hancock has dug up a treasure trove of unexplored sources to write a big story in a wholly new way.

By David Hancock,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Oceans of Wine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This innovative book examines how, between 1640 and 1815, the Portuguese Madeira wine trade shaped the Atlantic world and American society. David Hancock painstakingly reconstructs the lives of producers, distributors, and consumers, as well as the economic and social structures created by globalizing commerce, to reveal an intricate interplay between individuals and market forces. Wine lovers and Madeira enthusiasts will enjoy Oceans of Wine, as will historians interested in food, colonial trade, and the history of the Atlantic region.

Using voluminous archives pertaining to wine, many of them previously unexamined, Hancock offers a dramatic new perspective on the economic and…


Book cover of Unravelled Dreams: Silk and the Atlantic World, 1500-1840

Robert S. DuPlessis Author Of The Material Atlantic: Clothing, Commerce, and Colonization in the Atlantic World, 1650-1800

From my list on innovations in the first consumer revolution.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always wanted to know why people acquire the things they choose, how they get them, and what they do with them. For years, too, I’ve been fascinated by the period when modernity was being born, a time full of worldwide exploration, the founding of new nations and societies, and the invention of new ways of making, transporting, and distributing all sorts of goods and services. I discovered that studying consumers, consumer goods, and trade from the mid-seventeenth to the late eighteenth century was the perfect way to satisfy my curiosity. The Material Atlantic is my report about what I’ve learned.

Robert's book list on innovations in the first consumer revolution

Robert S. DuPlessis Why did Robert love this book?

Across the globe, silks have been the most prized textiles for a very long time. They are also among the most expensive, owing to the difficulties and skills involved in cultivating silkworms, unreeling and spinning raw silk, and then weaving it into cloth.

Despite the complications involved, silk’s desirability led settlers throughout the colonial Americas to try time and again to establish silkworm-raising and silk-making enterprises. Their ambitions were just as repeatedly frustrated.

Ben Marsh’s beautifully written, deeply researched study tells why they kept trying and why they kept failing. When I first encountered this book, I wondered whether a study of flop after flop could possibly be interesting. I wonder no longer. Failure turns out to make for a fascinating story.

By Ben Marsh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Unravelled Dreams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the greatest hopes and expectations that accompanied American colonialism - from its earliest incarnation - was that Atlantic settlers would be able to locate new sources of raw silk, with which to satiate the boundless desire for luxurious fabrics in European markets. However, in spite of the great upheavals and achievements of Atlantic plantation, this ambition would never be fulfilled. By taking the commercial failure of silk seriously and examining numerous experiments across New Spain, New France, British North America and the early United States, Ben Marsh reveals new insights into aspiration, labour, environment, and economy in these…


Book cover of Category Five

C.A. Farlow Author Of The Paris Contagion

From my list on geopolitical thrillers from today’s headlines.

Why am I passionate about this?

Three people changed my life: my grandfather, a self-taught naturalist, the cardiac surgeon I worked for to put myself through college, and a nuclear engineer I worked for at Los Alamos National Labs. Summering on an island in northern Ontario I was immersed in a world with minimal human impact. As an exploration geologist, I traveled the world and saw first-hand the impact humankind is having on our world. My books focus on man’s threats and dangers to our world—be they environmental, medical or the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

C.A.'s book list on geopolitical thrillers from today’s headlines

C.A. Farlow Why did C.A. love this book?

Threats to our world are not limited to those created by despots, terrorists, and weapons of mass destruction.

Climate change and associated global warming may be the biggest threat as sea levels rise as polar ice melts, threatening coastal environments. Increases in sea temperature fuel ever larger and more powerful storms and weather systems. Donlay captures this threat in Category Five, Hurricane Helena is growing into the greatest storm ever recorded.

Eco-watch races to save the scientists who are studying the storm. This amazing thriller combines climate change with intrigue, suspense with death threats. Can they defuse a storm great than Category Five?

By Philip Donlay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Category Five as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author

When the only option is to maneuver a crippled plane into the calm eye of a category five hurricane

In the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Helena is gathering strength, becoming the most powerful storm in recorded history. As Helena bears down on Bermuda, Donovan Nash, along with other members of the scientific research organization Eco-Watch, are called to fly in and extract key government people who have been studying Helena.

For Donovan, the routine mission turns deadly when an attempt is made on the life of the lead scientist. A woman from the past, Dr. Lauren McKenna,…


Book cover of Under the Sea-Wind

William Stolzenburg Author Of Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators

From my list on nature by naturalists.

Why am I passionate about this?

Will Stolzenburg writes about wild things, with particular focus on great predators and the vanishing places they inhabit. A wildlife biologist and magazine editor in former lives, he has since written three non-fiction books concerning those irreplaceable predators, plus a children’s story about a dog with a magically happy tail that's pretty close to true.

William's book list on nature by naturalists

William Stolzenburg Why did William love this book?

Rachel Carson will forever be known for Silent Spring, her courageous, farsighted warning of our pesticidal poisoning of the world. But it was her three ocean-oriented books preceding Silent Spring that best showcase her artistic melding of meticulous research with her wide-eyed sense of wonder. And none more so than Under The Sea Wind, her first and most intimate work, tracing the seasonal travails of fish and shorebirds—living, heroic creatures we come to know by name—through their inspiring, interlocking circles of life.

By Rachel Carson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Under the Sea-Wind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Under the Sea-Wind" presents a naturalist's picture of ocean life. This book is her breathtaking canvas of the fierce, competitive struggle for life takes place along the shore, in the open sea, and along the sea bottom.


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Atlantic Ocean, influenza, and Italy?

Influenza 13 books
Italy 401 books