In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
The appeal ofDava Sobel'sLongitudewas, in part, that it illuminated a little-known piece of history through a series of captivating incidents and engaging personalities.Nathaniel Philbrick'sIn the Heart of the Seais certainly cast from the same mold, examining the 19th-century Pacific whaling industry through the arc of the sinking of the whaleshipEssexby a boisterous sperm whale. The story that inspired Herman Melville's classicMoby-Dickhas a lot going for it--derring-do, cannibalism, rescue--and Philbrick proves an amiable and well-informed narrator, providing both context and detail. We learn about the importance and mechanics of blubber production--a vital source of oil--and we get the nuts and bolts of harpooning and life aboard whalers. We are spared neither the nitty-gritty of open boats nor the sucking of human bones dry.By sticking to the tried and testedLongitudeformula, Philbrick has missed a slight trick or two. The epicenter of the whaling industry was Nantucket, a small island off Cape Cod; most of the whales were in the Pacific, necessitating a huge journey around the southernmost tip of South America. We never learn why no one ever tried to create an alternative whaling capital somewhere nearer. Similarly, Philbrick tells us that the story of theEssexwas well known to Americans for decades, but he never explores how such legends fade from our consciousness. Philbrick would no doubt reply that such questions were beyond his remit, and you can't exactly accuse him of skimping on his research. By any standard, 50 pages of footnotes impress, though he wears his learning lightly. He doesn't get bogged down in turgid detail, and his narrative rattles along at a nice pace. When the storyline is as good as this, you can't really ask for more.--John Crace, Amazon.co.uk--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.