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Search - In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
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In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Paperback, Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio CD, Paperback
Book Description:
In the Heart of the Sea brings to new life the incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex--an event as mythic in its own century as the Titanic disaster in ours, and the inspiration for the climax of Moby-Dick. In a harrowing page-turner, Nathaniel Philbrick restores this epic story to its rightful place in American history.
In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.
In the Heart of the Sea tells perhaps the greatest sea story ever. Philbrick interweaves his account of this extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men with a wealth of whale lore and with a brilliantly detailed portrait of the lost, unique community of Nantucket whalers. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, the book delivers the ultimate portrait of man against nature, drawing on a remarkable range of archival and modern sources, including a long-lost account by the ship's cabin boy. At once a literary companion and a page-turner that speaks to the same issues of class, race, and man's relationship to nature that permeate the works of Melville, In the Heart of the Sea will endure as a vital work of American history.
"Nathaniel Philbrick has taken one of the most horrifying stories of maritime history and turned it into a classic. This is historical writing at its best--and at the same time, one of the most chilling books I have ever read." --Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm
In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.
In the Heart of the Sea tells perhaps the greatest sea story ever. Philbrick interweaves his account of this extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men with a wealth of whale lore and with a brilliantly detailed portrait of the lost, unique community of Nantucket whalers. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, the book delivers the ultimate portrait of man against nature, drawing on a remarkable range of archival and modern sources, including a long-lost account by the ship's cabin boy. At once a literary companion and a page-turner that speaks to the same issues of class, race, and man's relationship to nature that permeate the works of Melville, In the Heart of the Sea will endure as a vital work of American history.
"Nathaniel Philbrick has taken one of the most horrifying stories of maritime history and turned it into a classic. This is historical writing at its best--and at the same time, one of the most chilling books I have ever read." --Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm
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Genres:
- History >> Americas >> United States >> 19th Century >> General
- History >> World >> Transportation >> Ships >> General
- History >> World >> Transportation >> Ships >> Ships & Shipwrecks
Top Member Book Reviews
Sheila M. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I found this book to be captivating, suspenseful, and heartbreaking. It is a detailed account of the whaleship Essex, its crew, and the Nantucket whaling industry of the early 1800s. In the South Pacific in 1820, the Essex was rammed and sunk by an enraged sperm whale. The crew took refuge in three small boats and struggled to survive until they were rescued three months later. What happened to the Essex was the basis for Melville’s Moby Dick.
Excellent research and writing.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Fascinating non-fiction martime epic story of horror and survival. A great read.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Outstanding book based on a true event. Well written and well-researched
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Wow, what an interesting read. The whaleship Essex gets rammed by a sperm whale off the coast of South America, thousands of miles from land. And through a series of bad decisions spends months asea trying to survive and some day return to their home in Nantucket, MA. Some disturbing stuff in there, but handled with minimal gore.
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