Publisher Description
From the author of In the Hurricane’s Eye and Valiant Ambition, the riveting and critically acclaimed bestseller and a major motion picture starring Chris Hemsworth, directed by Ron Howard. Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson star in a film based on this National Book Award–winning account of the true events behind Moby Dick. In 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale, leaving the desperate crew to drift for more than ninety days in three tiny boats. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents and vivid details about the Nantucket whaling tradition to reveal the chilling facts of this infamous maritime disaster. In the Heart of the Sea—and now, its epic adaptation for the screen—will forever place the Essex tragedy in the American historical canon.
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“The sinking of the Essex was headline news in its day, but reading primary source accounts from the 19th century can sometimes feel like treading water in its own right. Nathaniel Philbrick brings the tragedy of the doomed Nantucket ship to life with fast-moving prose that reads at times almost like a novel and present-day survival adventure rolled up into one. It’s a pretty quick read, and Philbrick’s many asides to describe Nantucket life, effects of dehydration, and the mental state of the crew flow seamlessly into the narrative.”
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G.L. (5 out of 5 stars)
