Almost everyone who has visited Nantucket can recite its official history. But very few know the real reasons why things turned out as they did. Why the British first came to Nantucket and why the Indians let them in. Why Nantucket eclipsed all other ports in whaling wealth and why its fortunes ultimately fell. How the tiny hamlet of 'Sconset saved Nantucket from becoming a near ghost town. The true mission of a top secret Navy Base at Tom Nevers, the attempted Federal takeover of the whole island in 1972, and three unrelated events that triggered Nantucket's recent real estate feeding frenzy. In Tom Never's Ghost you'll gain a fresh new understanding of the Island's history, both past and present, and learn much that has never been reported before, all in a lively historical narrative format that goes well beyond a straight history to connect all the dots. At 288 pages, the book is illustrated with 32 historical maps and photos.