Bedford Public Library

In the heart of the sea, the tragedy of the whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-289) and index

platesmapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

In the heart of the sea

bibliography

by Nathaniel Philbrick

the tragedy of the whaleship Essex

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

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