In the heart of the sea : the tragedy of the whaleship Essex Cover Image

Book

In the heart of the sea : the tragedy of the whaleship Essex / by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Summary:

In 1819, the 238-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, the unthinkable happened: in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, the Essex was rammed and sunk by an enraged sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, decided instead to sail their three tiny boats for the distant South American coast. They would eventually travel over 4,500 miles. The next three months tested just how far humans could go in their battle against the sea as, one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease and fear. ... This is a timeless account of the human spirit under extreme duress, but it is also a story about a community and about the kind of men and women who lived in a forbidding, remote island like Nantucket. -- Dust jacket.

Item details

ISBN: 0670891576
ISBN: 9780670891573
ISBN: 0141001828
ISBN: 9780141001821
ISBN: 9780606365741
ISBN: 0606365745
ISBN: 9780143126812
ISBN: 0143126814
ISBN: 0613338200
ISBN: 9780613338202
Physical Description: xvi, 302 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Publisher: New York : Viking, 2000.

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-289) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Preface: February 23, 1821 -- Nantucket -- Knockdown -- First blood -- The lees of fire -- The attack -- The plan -- At sea -- Centering down -- The island -- The whisper of necessity -- Games of chance -- In the eagle's shadow -- Homecoming -- Consequences -- Epilogue: Bones.
Study Program Information Note:	Accelerated Reader AR UG 8.8 14.0 45207. Reading Counts RC High School 11 18 Quiz: 31543 Guided reading level: NR.
Awards Note:	National Book Award for Non-fiction, 2000