National Book Award Non Fiction Winner
In the Heart of the Sea
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Summary
The harrowing true story of the Nantucket whaleship Essex, stove and sunk by a sperm whale in the South Pacific in 1820, and the months its crew spent adrift in open boats. Philbrick reconstructs the ordeal—including starvation, lottery, and cannibalism—using the long-overlooked account of cabin boy Thomas Nickerson alongside first mate Owen Chase's narrative. The result is both a maritime adventure and a study of the whaling industry that produced Moby-Dick.
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Historical Context & Significance
Philbrick used the long-lost narrative of the ship's cabin boy to reconstruct the crew's 90 days of starvation and cannibalism in open boats.