Alabama Booksmith

Description

In 1820, the Essex, a whaleship out of Nantucket, set sail for the South Pacific with twenty crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific, thousands of miles from land, it was rammed by an angry sperm whale and sank. The crew drifted for over 90 days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, and disease, and ultimately turning to cannibalism for survival. Only five men returned.

The story of the Essex was as well known in the last century as the story of the Titanic is today. The events gave Melville the climax for Moby Dick. As narrated by Nathaniel Philbrick, "In the Heart of the Sea" is a fantastic tale of survival and adventure, steeped in the lore of the whaling tradition, with deep resonances in literature and American history, and in the life of the Nantucket community. Though others have told this story in brief, Philbrick has access to little-known documents, including the account written by the ship's Cabin Boy, hitherto unavailable to scholars. This is an affecting and important work of American history, and it is a bestseller in the making.