The Man Without a Country

by Edward Everett Hale

"The Man Without a Country" by Edward Everett Hale is a short story first published in 1863. A young American officer, charged with treason, rashly declares he never wants to hear about the United States again. The court grants his wish literally, condemning him to spend his remaining years aboard naval ships, forever exiled from his homeland and denied any news of his country. As decades pass at sea, his bitter renunciation transforms into profound regret and desperate longing for the nation he cast away.