Herman Melville's classic novel, first published in 1861. One of world literature's great poetic epics. Melville recounts the Promethean quest of Captain Ahab, who, having lost a leg in an earlier battle with the White Whale, is determined to catch the beast and destroy it. By the time readers meet Ahab, he is a vengeful, crazed, and terror-provoking figure, for Moby Dick has come to represent for him all the evil in the world.