Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33562 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The appeal of Dava Sobel's Longitude was that it illuminated a little-known piece of history through a series of captivating incidents and engaging personalities. Nathaniel Philbrick's In The Heart of the Sea certainly covers the same area, by examining the 19th-century Pacific whaling industry through the arc of the sinking of the whaleship Essex by a boisterous sperm whale. The story which inspired Herman Melville's classic, Moby Dick, has a lot going for it--derring-do, cannibalism, rescue--and Philbrick proves an amiable and well-informed narrator, providing both context and detail. We learn about the importance and mechanics of blubber production--a vital source of oil--and we get the nuts and bolts of harpooning and life onboard whalers. Neither are we spared the nitty gritty of the open boats and sucking human bones dry.

By sticking to the tried and tested Longitude formula, Philbrick has missed a slight trick or two. The epicentre of the whaling industry was Nantucket, a small island off Cape Cod; most of the whales were in the Pacific, a huge journey around the southernmost tip of America. We never learn the reason for this distance and why no one ever tried to create an alternative whaling capital somewhere nearer. Similarly, Philbrick tells us that the story of the Essex was well known to Americans for decades but he never explores how such legends fade from our consciousness. Philbrick would no doubt reply that such questions were beyond his remit and you can't exactly accuse him of skimping on his research; 50 pages of footnotes is impressive by any standards and to give him his credit he wears his learning light. Unlike many academics, he doesn't get bogged down in turgid detail and the narrative rattles along at a nice pace. And when the story line is as good as this, you can't really ask for more.--John Crace

Synopsis
The Number One best-selling, epic true-life story of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the 19th century, beautifully reissued alongside Philbrick's new paperback, Sea of Glory. The sinking of the whaleship Essex by an enraged spermwhale in the Pacific in November 1820 set in motion one of the most dramatic sea stories of all time: the twenty sailors who survived the wreck took to three small boats (one of which was again attacked by a whale) and only eight of them survived their subsequent 90-day ordeal, after resorting to cannibalising their mates. Three months after the Essex was broken up, the whaleship Dauphin, cruising off the coast of South America, spotted a small boat in the open ocean. As they pulled alongside they saw piles of bones in the bottom of the boat, at least two skeletons' worth, with two survivors -- almost skeletons themselves -- sucking the marrow from the bones of their dead ship-mates.

Customer Reviews

Superb
It's not often that you find a work of historical non-fiction that's as compelling as this.

While the history of the Nantucket whaling industry that starts the book may at times be a little dry, it does give some very useful background to what's to come. The account of the voyage leading up to the ship being sunk is excellent and would stand alone as a description of life abourd a whaleship of the period. What follows the sinking is a horrendous yet fascinating study of the suffering endured by the crew as they tried to navigate the vastness of the Pacific Ocean in open boats.

The language is at times a bit quirky and the way some of the supporting detail is woven in is occasionally a little jarring, but as a whole it's a book that is hard to fault, and is very difficult to put down: and what an incredible tale!

Just the best
By far one of the best books I have ever read and truely found it difficult to put down.

Sea Epic
I never thought there was a recorded account of an actual sinking of a ship by a whale...how wrong I was! This is the true story of the sinking of the whale ship Essex by an 80 ton sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in 1820. This is `thee' actual story that prompted Herman Melville to write his famous Moby Dick novel.

Having been rammed by an angry whale the Essex sank within ten minutes and its twenty one man crew took to the sea with scant provisions in three whaling boats. What follows is a four thousands mile plus sea odyssey of incredible suffering and privation. Despite some serious errors of judgement where closer landfall could have been reached such as Easter Island, Pitcairn or Tahiti...the survivors show remarkable seamanship in reaching Chile after spending a desperate three months adrift.

This is not a tale along the lines of Shackletons epic South however where all live to tell the tale of their ordeal. Only two of the three boats reach safety and only eight of the twenty one crewmen survive the journey, the remainder die a terrible death mainly from lack of food, water or from the elements. When I say `mainly', some of the occupants die by `lot' selection by their crewmates and are simply killed....you can guess what comes after that...yes you guessed it messmate cannibalism!

This is a well written explanatory book that as well as highlighting the individual characters involved also gives a good descriptive narrative of the whaling techniques and equipment of the period. The description of the boat journeys however is the coup de main as the suffering and the despair of the crew leaps out from the pages....a great read!