Nathaniel Philbrick (born June 11, 1956) is an American author of history, winner of the National Book Award, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

His maritime history, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, is based on what inspired Herman Melville to author Moby-Dick, won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction and was adapted as a film in 2015.

In 1994, he published his first book about the island's history, Away Off Shore, followed in 1998 by a study of the Nantucket's native legacy, Abram’s Eyes.

In the Heart of the Sea is the basis of the Warner Bros. motion picture of the same name, directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Ben Wishaw, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, and Tom Holland, released in December 2015.

[12] The book also inspired a 2001 Dateline special on NBC as well as the 2010 two-hour PBS American Experience film "Into the Deep" by Ric Burns.