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In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

by Nathaniel Philbrick

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Cover

ISBN13: 9780670891573
ISBN10: 0670891576
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Description:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [279]-289) and index.
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
effiemihopoulos, February 15, 2007 (view all comments by effiemihopoulos)
This is an intriguing tale, very thorougly researched. Ironic in that the whaling sailors wouldn't go to closeby islands fearing cannibal natives, but wound up becoming cannibals themselves to survive. Also a very sad tale of how they devastated Charles island of its wildlife and vegetation--because of a silly prank.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780670891573
Subtitle:
The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
Author:
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Author:
Philbrick, Nat
Publisher:
Viking Adult
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Ships & Shipbuilding - Shipwrecks
Subject:
Maritime History
Subject:
United States - 19th Century
Subject:
Shipwrecks
Subject:
Pacific ocean
Subject:
Essex (whaleship)
Subject:
Modern - 19th Century
Series Volume:
105-544
Publication Date:
20000508
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
9.26x6.24x1.08 in. 1.37 lbs.
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