John's review
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
by Nathaniel Philbrick
John's review
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
John's review
rating:
bookshelves:
cultural-history,
united-states-history
The wreck of the whaling ship Essex in 1819 was a tragedy that haunted its survivors, took on the status of legend in 19th-century America, and inspired Melville's Moby-Dick. Philbrick does a great job not only narrating the wreck and its dire aftermath, but also providing historical context, so that the reader learns quite a bit about both the 19th-century whaling industry and the social history of Nantucket. A solid history that's also a page-turner; quite an accomplishment, and one that's made me want to read his recent book about the voyage of the Mayflower. Fans of nautical histories like Longitude, social histories like Cod, and/or harrowing survival tales like Alive should like this, too.
