Breadcrumb Home New book by David Dowling investigates true story behind Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ Tuesday, August 9, 2016 https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/do-you-know-the-truth-behind… David Dowling's Surviving the Essex discusses the 1820 shipwreck that inspired Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Dowling is an associate professor at the University of Iowa's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.