In the Heart of the Sea - The Epic True Story That Inspired 'Moby Dick' (Paperback)

"A classic… historical writing at its best – and at the same time, one of the most chilling books I have aver read."
SEBASTIAN JUNGER, author of 'The Perfect Storm'

"Superbly readable… he gives us, in fascinating detail, the stark, bloodstained true story… Philbrick's book is more than a piece of elegantly written maritime history… It is a compelling study of the infinite human meanings of the sea itself."
ANDREW RISSIN, 'Guardian'

The sinking of the Nantucket whaleship 'Essex' by an enraged spermwhale far out in the Pacific in November 1820 set in train one of the most dramatic sea stories of all time. Accounts of the unprecedented whale attack inspired Herman Melville's mighty novel 'Moby Dick', but 'In the Heart of the Sea' goes beyond these events to describe what happened when the twenty mixed-race crewmen took to three small boats and what, three months later, the whaleship 'Dauphin', cruising of the coast of South America, discovered when it spotted a tiny boat sailing erratically across the open ocean.

"The approach is unusual and fresh, the book intelligent, probing, scholarly, gripping and satisfying. It sets a new mark for maritime literature, away from the traditional adventure pattern… much of the literary excellence of 'In the Heart' lies in its fine and introspective passages… Philbrick relishes words and language, and skilfully uses them to carry the reader into cubby-holes of darker causes and effects."
ANNIE PROULX, 'Irish Times'