Showcasing the evocative artwork created by John Moll for this special edition, James A. Michener’s The Watermen is a unique tribute to the adventurous seafarers of the Chesapeake Bay. Excerpted from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s classic Chesapeake, this enthralling novel has a unity and a spirit all its own, telling the story of the bay and its wildlife, but especially of the watermen, from their favorite pastimes to their rivalries in hunting, oystering, racing, and fighting. Gorgeously illustrated, brilliantly conceived, The Watermen is a narrative and visual feast from one of America’s favorite storytellers.   Praise for Chesapeake   “Another of James Michener’s great mines of narrative, character and lore.” — The Wall Street Journal   “[A] marvelous panorama of history seen in the lives of symbolic people of the ages . . . an emotionally and intellectually appealing book.” — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution   “Michener’s most ambitious work of fiction in theme and scope.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer   “Magnificently written . . . one of those rare novels that is enthusiastically passed from friend to friend.” —Associated Press